The Riverdale Scene That People Think Crossed A Major Line
Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) and the gang have faced some seriously bizarre threats since "Riverdale" started airing back in 2017. While it initially began as an edgy reimagining of the characters from the long-running "Archie Comics," it's pushed its hyper-stylization further than anyone could have imagined, almost to the point of self-parody. So far, audiences have seen Archie, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), and Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) solve mysteries behind serial killers, take on mob bosses, and even take on a demonic cult obsessed with a "Dungeons & Dragons"-like game. Oh, did we forget the part where Archie literally fought a bear? Leonardo DiCaprio, eat your heart out.
So yes, the series has delivered a slew of outlandish moments that are wildly unrealistic for anyone's life in high school, but where would be the fun in watching normal kids deal with studying for exams and trying to enjoy their teenage years? But "Riverdale" lets its characters get away with much more than a little underage drinking and partying on the weekends, especially when Jughead literally joins his dad's motorbike gang, the Southside Serpents. One by one, Archie, Betty, and Veronica all wind up involved with the gang somehow. But there's a particular scene which might've taken things a step too far.
The Whyte Wyrm in Riverdale
Because "Riverdale" is no ordinary small town in the heart of America, the Southside Serpents have their own bar called the Whyte Wyrm, and they've got a very particular initiation ritual for new members. (Someone call the "Sons of Anarchy," this is a crossover we need to see.) But in Season 2, Episode 8, Betty Cooper made a surprising dedication to her boyfriend Jughead, who was currently the leader of the Serpents. As part of her initiation into becoming the Serpent Queen, she had to perform a striptease for the entire bar. Let's just reiterate that: She's a high school student, stripping for a bunch of bikers while her boyfriend, her friends, her mother, and her boyfriend's father watch. Yikes.
What makes it even stranger is while she's dancing, Betty sings the Gary Jules version of the Tears for Fears song, "Mad World," which most audiences might know from its appearance in the cult classic "Donnie Darko." It's hardly the sexiest song in the world. Sure, it's easy to attribute the lyrics to match Betty's further descent into the darkness that resides in her, but it's an extremely odd moment. Or as Puffe1327 put it for Buzzfeed: "Almost everything in 'Riverdale' crosses the line at this point, but the wildest moment was when Betty stripped in front of old men at the bar." They've got a point. Then again, "Riverdale" also saw Archie get incarcerated at Shawshank Prison, so it's not the most subtle of shows really, is it?