Riverdale

The narrative gives an explicitly elevated role to the biracial and bisexual Toni Topaz, a move which followed public critique of the show for sidelining its non-white characters. The ensemble continues the historical 'race-swapping' of classic comic characters. Characters’ value and development are treated as a corrective response to an intersectional hierarchy narrative.

The central plot involves the main characters returning to find their hometown, Riverdale, in a state of decay, on the verge of becoming a 'ghost town,' and thoroughly corrupted by its own leaders. The town is depicted as a fundamentally broken, morally bankrupt place, suggesting the institutions of home and community are failing and must be rebuilt from scratch, though the heroes are fighting to save its memory.

The female leads are immediately established as high-powered and competent professionals—an FBI agent, a successful businesswoman—while the primary male lead, Archie, is often portrayed as a less complex, physically-focused savior returning from the military. One female lead escapes a toxic, controlling husband, furthering the theme of patriarchal figures being evil or incompetent, and female self-fulfillment being achieved through career success and liberation from traditional relationships.

Alternative sexualities are a fundamental and centered aspect of the main cast's lives. Two main gay characters form a committed male couple, and Toni, a bisexual woman, is pregnant with the male gay character's child in a planned arrangement. This successfully deconstructs the traditional nuclear family and frames non-heteronormative pairing as the positive, functioning structure, with sexuality being a dominant, public, and essential character trait.

Morality is driven by individual trauma and the chaotic, subjective pursuit of 'justice' rather than an objective moral code. Previous seasons established a strong anti-theistic trope by portraying the religious institution of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy as the perpetrators of horrific gay conversion therapy and child abuse. This established view frames traditional religion as a root of systemic evil and abuse.