Riverdale’s teens and parents seem to be switching up their roles in season 3.

It’s no secret that ever since Riverdale premiered, the teens have been just a little more mature than the norm. However, that’s how most teen shows work, so that was never a surprise. In order to move a story forward, lead characters on a TV show need to have a certain amount of agency that most teens IRL simply aren’t afforded.

In season 1, the parents also played a fairly typical role in Riverdale. They were there to support and/or oppress the teens as needed, but other than that, they pretty much kept to themselves.

Now that Riverdale is in its third season, the parents have become some of the fans’ favorite characters, in their own right! Falice (FP/Alice) is one of the show’s most popular ships, the Lodge’s are essentially running the town, and the hot dads are always around to make everything better for everyone.

In season 2, Riverdale managed to strike a pretty good balance, allowing the teens to be teens while exploring the parents as characters outside of their role as mom or dad.

Alice and Hal Cooper took center stage as they dealt with all the reveals of season 1 and the appearance of Chic. And then…you know…the whole Black Hood thing. The Lodge’s were still front and center, but their plans were still so mysterious that their primary role was always as Veronica’s parents and Archie’s scary potential in-laws.

Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy had their fling, Fred Andrews ran for mayor, the Blossoms were as nuts as ever, and FP was helping Jughead navigate the drama between the Serpents and the Ghoulies. Everyone had their place and it seemed like they were where they were supposed to be. It really worked, and helped to cement the stories of the parents as essential threads in the fabric of Riverdale.

At this point, in season 3 of Riverdale, I’m tuning in just as much for the parents as I am for the original leads. The lives of Alice, FP, Fred, Mary, Penelope, Hiram and Hermione are becoming just as wild, unpredictable, and hormone driven as their younger counterparts.

So much so…that the teens are beginning to out-adult the adults!

The adults of Riverdale seem to be caught up in a downward spiral toward youth. Is it understandable? In most cases, yes. The people in this town have been through an insane amount at this point, so it makes sense that any of them would fall away from their normal habits. What’s weird, is the teens of Riverdale seem to be handling things a lot better than the adults, despite having had the exact same experiences.

The Lodge’s seemed to be in an endless power struggle in season 2, and now that the dust has settled, it’s very interesting to see where the chips have fallen. Veronica, despite having just watched her boyfriend being dragged off to Juvi for a crime he didn’t commit (at her father’s will), is still killing it at school and running a legitimate business.

And she’s doing this all while thwarting her father’s childish attacks against her! Staging a prison riot and trying to sabotage her club opening? He’s not handling his daughter’s rejection like an adult. He’s lashing out like a child. Even Hermione seems to be going along with his wishes, seemingly ignoring her realizations at the end of Riverdale season 2.

Betty and Alice just lived through something extremely traumatic together. Alice found out that her husband (ish?) was a psycho serial killer and Betty learned the same about her father, on top of questioning if his darkness might also live within her.

Betty seems to be taking the news in stride, slowly getting back into the swing of things at school, with her boyfriend, and with a whole new mystery. Her mother, on the other hand…

Sure, the Farm is definitely weird and there is certainly more than meets the eye, but other than that I’m all for Alice exploring a different side of herself. When Riverdale began, she was horribly uptight and concerned with public perception to the point of cruelty, so there is obviously room for improvement.

What’s unforgivable and incredibly short sighted is the fact that she spilled the entire family’s dirty laundry to the people at the Farm! Also the fact that she’s canoodling with her daughter’s boyfriend’s father without even a thought to how that might affect Betty is pretty immature.

FP and Jughead have always kind of had a relationship of equals, more than one here FP is the clear parent to Jughead. They support each other in different ways, and that seems to be continuing in season 3. What’s strange though, is how Penny Peabody and the other adults in the Serpents and the Ghoulies treat the younger members. Why is every grown-up on the south side so concerned about what a bunch of teenagers are up to? It’s more than slightly pathetic.

Of course, the one shining beacon through all of this is Fred Andrews. Even though this shift between the teens and parents actually began when Archie felt the need to protect his father after the Black Hood’s attack, Fred remains an outstanding parent, maintaining boundaries while having his own life and, you know, just being an adult and stuff.

For now, this role reversal between the kids and adults on Riverdale is entertaining. Realism has never been a core value of the show, so this step doesn’t even feel crazy next to the Gargoyle King storyline and strange prison boxing ring. I just hope they don’t take it too far. If there’s any teens that need some solid parental structure, it’s the teens of Riverdale, after all!