10 RIDICULOUS RIVERDALE EPISODES THAT MADE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE

Riverdale has a complicated legacy in pop culture. Despite being one of the final popular teen dramas to follow the 22-episode format and having seven seasons to its name, many remember the show for its bizarre storylines. The series, which started out as a simple murder mystery, went off the rails rather quickly after that.

The series, which ran from 2017 to 2023, was based on the light-hearted Archie Comics. The series, however, featured the characters of the small town of Riverdale dealing with threats from masked killers, organ-harvesting cults, aliens, witches, and parallel dimensions and timelines. Out of the 137 Riverdale episodes, ten episodes stood out as especially bizarre, leaving audiences confused and dumbfounded.

The Carrie Episode Broke the Show's Tone

The Random Musical Numbers Made No Sense

When Riverdale began, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa stated that music would be a part of the series but that it would be done naturally, rather than the characters randomly breaking out into song. However, this went completely out of the window when the series started its tradition of musical episodes. The first of these episodes came with Season 2's "A Night to Remember," which saw the students of Riverdale High put on a musical of Carrie.

Episode Title

"Chapter 31: A Night to Remember"

Episode Number

Season 2, Episode 18

IMDb Rating

5.8

While an episode based around a school musical could be done well, with the characters only singing when they are on stage or in rehearsal, the episode immediately opens with a full-on musical sequence, with the characters singing at home and in the school hallways. While Carrie is a bizarre choice for a high school musical, it fits well with Riverdale's dark tone, but the execution was poor, and it set the precedent for future bizarre musical episodes to follow.

The Epic Highs and Lows of High School Football

For many fans, the third season of Riverdale was where the series really went off the rails. Firstly, there was the introduction of The Farm, which ended up being an organ-harvesting cult. Secondly, Archie Andrews is sent to prison after the Season 2 finale, and his time there was anything but ordinary. While at the Leopold and Loeb Juvenile Detention Center, Archie decides to bring some hope and joy to his fellow inmates, and the show handles it just as awkwardly as one would expect.

Episode Title

"Chapter 37: Fortune and Men's Eyes"

Episode Number

Season 3, Episode 2

IMDb Rating

7.5

This episode featured the infamous scene in which one of the prisoners says he spent his childhood selling drugs, unable to take part in school activities. Archie responds by saying, "That means you haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football," a line so odd that even the show references it in Season 7. The most bizarre part of this episode, however, was the sequence in which Riverdale High's Cheer Squad, the River Vixens, perform a rendition of "Jailhouse Rock" outside the prison for the inmates, who react as if it's the greatest performance they've ever seen.

Big Fun Went Even Further With the Musical Numbers

The Season 3 Musical Episode Was Even More Confusing

Of all of Riverdale's musical episodes, it could be argued that the Season 3 Heathers episode was the best. However, the episode still made absolutely no sense. Firstly, the show took the random musical numbers of the Carrie episode and doubled down on it, featuring several instances of the characters breaking out into song outside of rehearsals.

Episode Title

"Chapter 51: Big Fun"

Episode Number

Season 3, Episode 16

IMDb Rating

4.3

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This episode features several bizarre moments, including Cheryl Blossom publicly condemning Toni Topaz for wearing red to school, stating, "I invented red. I am red," leading to Toni singing a musical number that leads into an attempted three-way hookup in the auditorium. The episode ends with the students performing the musical on stage, only for the audience to be filled with members of The Farm, who stand up and creepily applaud.

"Wicked Little Town" Had an Interesting Premise But Terrible Execution

The Season 4 Musical Episode Was the Most Confusing of All

While the Carrie musical episode started the tradition, and the Heathers musical episode was clearly the best attempt, the Hedwig and the Angry Inch musical episode was easily the worst. This episode does do a good job at highlighting the vocal talent of Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, but the episode did a terrible job at telling a good story and confused many viewers.

Episode Title

"Chapter 74: Wicked Little Town"

Episode Number

Season 4, Episode 17

IMDb Rating

3.5

The entire premise of the episode revolves around the students of Riverdale High wanting to put on a production of Hedwig, but the new school principal, Principal Honey, refuses, believing that the subject matter was too risqué for a school musical, leading to a protest in which all the students come to school dressed as Hedwig. While this could've been an interesting story, Glee'sRocky Horror Picture Show episode did a much better job at tackling the issue of mature subject matter in school musicals.

The Season 7 Premiere Threw the Cast Into the 1950s

Season 7 Completely Lost the Plot

The seventh season of Riverdale was by far one of the weirdest. After the introduction of parallel universes in the sixth season, Season 7 fully embraced it, opening with Jughead Jones finding himself in a universe in which Riverdale and all of its characters are in the 1950s, with no one remembering what had happened in the previous six seasons.

Episode Title

"Chapter 118: Don't Worry, Darling"

Episode Number

Season 7, Episode 1

IMDb Rating

6.6

The season itself was an interesting way to reinvent the show, but if Riverdale wanted to do a fun time-period show, it should've been done from the first season, especially given the vaguely '50s era of the Archie Comics. Introducing this storyline this late in the show frustrated many fans, as it felt like the entire series hadn't even happened.

The Arrival of Sabrina Spellman Had Bizarre Implications

The Crossover With the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Made No Sense

Many might not know the popular character of Sabrina the Teenage Witch debuted in the Archie Comics. When Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina aired, many fans wondered if she would cross over into the Riverdale universe, as both series made several small references to the other. While the idea was fun in theory, actually crossing over the two shows would mean that all of the events of Chilling Adventures were canon to the Riverdale universe.

Episode Title

"Chapter 115: The Witches of Riverdale"

Episode Number

Season 6, Episode 19

IMDb Rating

6.7

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When Kiernan Shipka reprised her role as Sabrina Spellman in Riverdale, she brought with her some insane storylines. Firstly, the character of Percival Pickens, an evil sorcerer, brings biblical-like plagues to the town of Riverdale, leading to Cheryl Blossom (now also a witch) bringing in Sabrina to help. At this point, Riverdale had completely lost the grounded story it set itself in with the first season.

Cheryl Became a Scarlet Witch Look-a-like

The Season 6 Finale Saw Cheryl Trying to Save Riverdale From the Impact of a Comet

Cheryl's arc of becoming a witch came to a head in the Season 6 finale. Percival Pickens, after spending his entire arc creating obstacles for Archie and his friends, predicts the arrival of Bailey's Comet to Riverdale, which would wipe out the entire town. The sixth season also weirdly introduced the idea that all of the major characters had superpowers, and so, when the comet threatens to arrive, all the characters decide to transfer their powers to Cheryl.

Episode Title

"Chapter 117: Night of the Comet"

Episode Number

Season 6, Episode 22

IMDb Rating

6.0

The scene in which Cheryl uses her powers to stop the comet is completely ridiculous. For whatever reason, the costuming department decided to dress her very similar to the MCU's Scarlet Witch, with no explanation given whatsoever. While Cheryl does fail to save the town, the impact of the comet is what transports the town to the 1950s, which then led into Season 7.

This Season 6 Episode Made Toni La Llorona

The Rivervale Arc Seriously Confused Fans

Riverdale had a tradition of featuring a few anthology-style episodes in which the episode is broken up into several individual arcs for the characters. Usually, these episodes featured a spookier tone than the average Riverdale episode. Season 6's attempt, "Chapter 97: Ghost Stories," was easily the most insane. With Season 6 introducing the parallel universe of Rivervale, where the supernatural was common, this episode went full horror movie featuring the horror figure of La Llorona.

Episode Title

"Chapter 97: Ghost Stories"

Episode Number

Season 6, Episode 2

IMDb Rating

4.9

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When Toni Topaz accidentally kills a baby in a gang war, Darla Dickenson summons the ghost of La Llorona to Riverdale. The ghost targets both Betty's unborn child and Toni's baby, with Toni ending up sacrificing herself and taking on the mantle of La Llorona by the end of the episode. Killing off one of the few LGBTQ+ characters was certainly a bizarre choice, made only more confusing given that once the Rivervale arc was over, it seemed that the entire episode never happened.

The Season 3 Penultimate Episode Failed to Answer the Viewers' Questions

The Resolution to The Farm Arc Made No Sense

For many Riverdale viewers, Season 3 marked the turning point of the series. The series introduced the organ-harvesting cult known as The Farm, who served as the mystery villain of the season. The penultimate episode of the season, "The Dark Secret of Harvest House," revealed the true nature of the farm, and while this would've explained all of the strange events of the season, it ended up confusing audiences even more.

Episode Title

"Chapter 56: The Dark Secret of Harvest House"

Episode Number

Season 3, Episode 21

IMDb Rating

8.0

Besides The Farm arc, this episode also features the infamous scene in which Betty Cooper learns that she inherited the "serial killer gene" after her father, Hal Cooper, was revealed as the masked killer of Season 2. The episode also showed the empty coffin of Jason blossom, which seriously annoyed fans, as the Jason mystery is often considered the one plot of the show that was done well.

"Dog Day Afternoon" Made Absolutely No Sense

By far, the most insane episode of Riverdale that made absolutely no sense was the third episode of the fourth season. This season felt like a breath of fresh air after the bizarre events of the third season, going back to the more high school drama plots, as well as an arc for Jughead that was inspired by The Secret History by Donna Tart.

Episode Title

"Chapter 60: Dog Day Afternoon"

Episode Number

Season 4, Episode 3

IMDb Rating

6.8

Many fans were relieved that Season 4 would mean the end of the organ-harvesting cult. However, the fourth season still had to tie up some loose ends of the third season, so the third episode saw the return of Chad Michael Murray as Edgar Evernever, the leader of The Farm, planning to escape on a homemade rocket. While this could've been a commentary about the insane lengths cult leaders will go, the image of Edgar standing on the rocket in his ridiculous outfit left many fans scratching their heads in frustration. It's a shame that many fans probably stopped watching the show around this point, as Season 4 was arguably the most grounded season after Season 1.

Riverdale
Release Date  January 26, 2017
Rating  Not Rated
Genres  Drama
Cast  Madelaine Petsch, Marisol Nichols, Lili Reinhart, Luke Perry, Cole Sprouse, Ashleigh Murray, Camila Mendes, K.J. Apa, Ross Butler, casey cott

2025-02-04T08:30:03Z