Riverdale Series Finale Gives Archie & The Gang A Perfectly Nostalgic Ending
This article contains spoilers for "Riverdale" Season 7, Episode 20, "Goodbye, Riverdale."
It truly has been a wild ride, and the end of "Riverdale" Season 7 leaves no stone unturned. In the seven years of epic highs and lows, the iconic characters of Archie Comics have endured serial killer genes, Gargoyle Kings, and organ harvesters. But the series ends in the only way it could: with the friends we made along the way. Season 1 of "Riverdale" starts not just with the death of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines), but also introduces us to the moving friendship between the four main characters. Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) made "Riverdale" what it is, and we will never forget it.
Thankfully, the finale doesn't forget either. After a season with the characters we know and love thrown into the '50s, it all culminates with them regaining their memories of everything that came before. And although they can't travel back to the present day, nothing has changed. Everything that happened before still happened, and they get to live their lives as happy and complete people. "Riverdale" ends the way it begins, with four friends drinking milkshakes at Pop's. With a series so steeped in darkness, it was a real hat trick to pull off a moving finale that does the characters justice.
In the end, no one has to choose
"Goodbye Riverdale" went to work solving the eternal question: How does this foursome shake out? Archie, Betty, and Veronica are the prototypes for all love triangles, and it was an issue that needed to be solved. From the onset, it didn't seem "Riverdale" would make it easy. As Betty pines for the boy next door, she falls quickly for the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Though she is popular and he is the self-proclaimed weirdo, Betty and Jughead's relationship stands above the rest. Betty's constant communication with her dark side and passion for solving mysteries matches Jughead's, and a phenomenon is born.
But as the seasons progressed, the ties that bind became inextricably entwined with Betty and Archie, Archie and Veronica, Veronica, and Betty, and — strangely — Veronica and Jughead. The amount of relationships between the four seemed never-ending, so it makes perfect sense that they would all be together in one form or another. In the final episode, the audience learns that all four were in a polyamorous relationship during their senior year. The only downside is that we don't see Archie and Jughead together like the others. It was the only way to appease passionate fans who wanted to see their favorite couples end up together — but it was also the most logical. Ultimately, they all love each other equally, and that is the only way "Riverdale" could end on a satisfying note.
Each pairing gets their due
The entirety of "Goodbye Riverdale" is honoring the characters we have stuck with throughout all these years. It isn't just the romantic quadrangle that gets its due. Each pairing of the core four is honored in its own special way. As Archie says, the whole show started with one couple. Betty and Archie get the most official goodbye, harkening back to Betty looking at Archie through her window across the street. Even more fitting is the final goodbye between Betty and Veronica. Though they have at times quarreled over who gets the heart of the redheaded boxer-musician-poet-soldier, their friendship is even more important. Strawberry and chocolate, light and dark, B and V. When Veronica tells Betty she is moving back to Los Angeles, they have the most heartfelt goodbye. These two could not have been more opposed at the beginning but have forged strong bonds of friendship — and occasional kissing.
And though Betty and Jughead had perhaps the harshest falling out, they get their moments too. When Betty begs to go back to that last day of senior year, Jughead is, of course, her guide. They have been through the darkest parts of their lives together, and even when they are not romantic, they have a special connection. Jughead is Betty's emotional anchor, leading her through her memories. And even though there is nothing overtly romantic about her scenes with Angel Jughead, their hand-holding should warm the cockles of even the coldest of hearts.
It's okay that time is fleeting
True to the episode's title, this is a goodbye above all else. Though our favorite characters can go down memory lane and have their respective moments, that doesn't stop reality from setting in. The four main characters have their time together, but life goes on. The bittersweet aspect of the episode comes in with the knowledge that in their adult lives, they all drift apart. As they say, don't be sad that it's over. Be happy that it happened. A big part of Betty's journey is to come to terms with the fact that she lost touch with her friends, but that doesn't lessen the impact of what they went through together.
"Meeting you is the best thing that could have possibly happened to me," Betty says with an inflection that should move everyone to tears. At the end of all things, "Riverdale" acknowledges the most important part of this show. It wasn't the cults, serial killers, or maple syrup conspiracies. It was the friendship at the heart of every episode. There were times when they drifted apart and perhaps even hated each other. But the final episode brings them together in a resoundingly nostalgic way. Archie recites in poetry form all the best "Riverdale" moments no one can forget. From Veronica's life to being a famous movie producer to Jughead starting an iconic magazine, each person lived full lives with few regrets. Even though they were apart, they were each other's soulmates.
It all ends in a chock'lit shoppe in the sky
Living lives apart from each other adds a surprising layer of realism to "Riverdale." Archie always wanted to have a traditional life, which he lives in Modesto until his death. Veronica embarks on her final business while Betty and Jughead have successful careers in publishing. Even more significant is that not everyone needs to be married for fulfillment. Though Betty adopts her daughter, she also has a great professional life. These were the paths that their lives took, but they still find a way back to each other in the very end.
Betty is the last one who dies and finally makes it to The Sweet Hereafter. Returning to Pop's as a forever 17-year-old, Betty meets her old friends in their normal booth. With a milkshake waiting for her, this is confirmation that the most important parts of her life were the moments she spent with Archie, Jughead, and Veronica. This ending also puts a satisfying cap on years of heartache and darkness. Even after the time they spent broken and hurting because of the emotional crimes they committed against each other, this final scene puts everything into perspective. They find the closure of moving past that, and now they can spend an eternity existing in each other's company. Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead were everything that "Riverdale" was, and no series could have ended better.