Over the last season and a half, Riverdale has kind of gone off of the rails, hasn’t it? From the Black Hood and Archie’s criminal behavior to the Gargoyle King, what happened to teen drama?

Riverdale season 1 was very much grounded in reality, showcasing teens dealing with a tragic event in their town amid high school drama and raging hormones. The most unbelievable part was the incest twins, father by Jason Blossom, that Polly gave birth to (which still boggles my mind to think about).

Once season 2 began, Riverdale was almost a completely different show. Gone was the lighter tone to accompany the teen characters, and instead the writers followed a much darker path that rivaled other CW dramas.

The unbelievable and unrealistic moments became the focus of the show after the inaugural season, leading to events like the underground juvie fight club that Archie took part in earlier in season 3.

Of course, the dialogue was awful in season 1, yes, but it’s not much better now. At least they weren’t running around as 16-year-olds pretending to be 25 and living their best lives.

It seems as though Riverdale and its writers consider the show itself a joke at this point.

For example, how could one write this line (shown below) and still consider this a non-satirical piece of fiction?

If the writers visibly aren’t taking their own work seriously, how can fans be expected to do the same? Riverdale has become the punchline of the internet, and the show isn’t helping itself by taking ridiculous plots and introducing them into what was originally supposed to be a teen drama.

Going forward, it’s time for the show to become less of a sci-fi wannabe and more of a teen drama. After all, it’s based on Archie comics. Unlike Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, there’s no need for the darkness in Riverdale.

I miss the simple murder of Jason Blossom and watching the characters act like teenagers, struggling to deal with everything in their lives.

After Archie is free from the law and no longer being pursued as a fugitive, and the Gryphons and Gargoyles story wraps up, Riverdale needs to take the opportunity to make a fresh start.

The current path of the show has it set for cancellation soon. There’s no way anyone is going to keep watching if this teen drama goes further underwater. What’s next, an alien invasion in Riverdale?

The Riverdale writers have taken the “remain interesting” order from The CW and turned it into “this could never, ever happen in real life, so let’s have Archie and his friends deal with it.”

A cult or two? That’s fine. But when there’s a possibility for the leader, AKA the Gargoyle King, to be a supernatural being in a show that is not privy to supernatural acts, something is wrong.

Give Betty and Jughead a mystery that teenagers should be investigating (maybe take a cue from Veronica Mars), let Archie deal with the things a 16-year-old should, and have Veronica deal with her terrible family.

There are so many options for stories that Riverdale could pursue that wouldn’t be, well, completely ridiculous.

This show has the potential to be great, but the actors aren’t being used for their strengths (as we saw from how good season 3 episode 5, “The Midnight Club,” was).

The show honestly deserves to be taken as a joke, as the internet treats it, because there’s barely an attempt to prove itself a real contender in the teen drama category.

Becoming more grounded would help the show advance in the future, provide a more realistic relatable connection between the characters and fans, and would allow an episode to air without backlash over another unnecessary choice.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.