The CW is known for making huge sensations out of their teen drama franchises, and it’s latest addition to the long line of captivating teen dramas, Riverdale, has the potential to be the new Gossip Girl. Now, as a shocked gasp ripples through all of young adult America, let’s start off with the disclaimer that there will never be another series that even comes close to replacing Gossip Girl. The appeal was simple. Us peasants could live the lives of the glamorous and fashionable trust funded teens of Manhattan, while simultaneously feeling better about our own because we would never suffer the problems they did. Mo’ money, mo’ problems. Ammirte? If you push past the designer clothes, confusing lack of supervision, and the fact that nobody ID’d this twerps, there are a lot of similarities in the structure of Riverdale and Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl was not only known for it’s fashion, set design, and hot AF characters, but it was also know for it’s ever exciting plot. Shit was always going wrong. If you’ve been following the current plot of Riverdale, shit also seems to always be going wrong. Pair that with some striking character archetype similarities, and we might as well be in the Upper East Side. Now, for most teen drama series, obviously there are going to be parallels between series, because those are components that just make a series work. However, the accumulation of all of these elements in Riverdale have been patched together so distinctly, that one can’t help but wait for one of the characters to start wearing a tragic muck colored lipstick, and call it a day.
When it comes to characters, the Riverdale and Gossip Girl posse is almost identical. Betty Cooper is the Serena van der Woodsen of 2017. She’s bright, blonde, and is way too nice for the shit she gets herself into. Throw in a micromanaging mother who’s dillusionally trying to do what’s best for her daughter in the worst way possible, and the comparison is too striking. Veronica Lodge has the makings of a good Blair Waldorf. She’s fierce, borderline a complete bitch, and isn’t afraid to access her crazy side to accomplish what she needs to; however, she possesses the unbreakable loyalty for her close friends that Blair had as well. Archie Andrews is almost a complete mirror of Nate Archibald. He’s just a nice kid with a dream…that his father doesn’t share. He has a penchant for older women, which is so Nate it’s not even funny. Jughead, seemingly an outsider who finds himself now in the thick of the drama, gives us the awkward, earnestness we found in Dan Humphrey-that is until Dan became a bitter little B. Charlotte Blossom of course is probably our Georgina Sparks of the series, as she’s a bit of a lunatic, pushes people’s buttons, but we kind of like her because of it. We’re still waiting on the appearance of our Chuck Bass parallel, but seeing as the CW never fails to insert a suave yet lovable douchebag into the mix, it won’t be long.
Not only do the main teens in our teen drama have their own craziness to deal with, many of the side plots starting to develop involve their parents-which is a very Gossip Girl-esque thing to do. There was the random unknown past relationship with Lily and Rufus in Gossip Girl, that exactly is duplicated with Veronica and Archie’s parents. Right down to the upper class woman who once loved a sruffy, less refined man situation. Archie’s father wanted him to take over the family business, and while owning a construction company and going to Yale isn’t the same, Nate and his father had essentially the same expectations versus dreams argument.
It takes some looking, but not that much, to notice the fact that Riverdale has the potential to reach the heights that Gossip Girl managed to reach in it’s 6 season run. For Pete’s sake, if the CW can manage to get 6 seasons out of a show that many didn’t think would go past the first couple episodes, there’s no reason why Riverdale would see it’s end any time soon. All the pieces are there, it’s up to the writers and the actors to bring it all together in that dynamic way that we’ve seen in the past. It’s very likely, and very possible.
