Season Analysis

Riverdale

Season 7 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

Picking up where season 6 ended, season 7 finds Jughead Jones trapped in the 1950s. He has no idea how he got there, nor how to get back to the present. His friends are no help, as they are living seemingly authentic lives, similar to their classic Archie Comics counterparts, unaware that they’ve ever been anywhere but the 1950's. Will Jughead and the gang be able to return to the present? Or will our characters be trapped in the 1950’s forever? And, if so…is that such a bad thing?

Season Review

Season 7 shifts the narrative to a 1955 setting, using the classic American era as a target for progressive critique. The entire plot is predicated on the idea that the 'wholesome' past is deeply flawed and oppressive, serving as a historical canvas for modern social justice lectures. Key characters, who retain their modern-day sensibilities despite having their memories wiped, begin a sustained, season-long rebellion against the repressive social norms of the decade. The storyline centers the struggles of characters who are people of color or LGBTQ+ as they navigate a hostile environment, with their former identities and relationships being forced 'back in the closet.' The narrative explicitly links the suppression of individuality and self-expression to the dominant cultural institutions of the 1950s. Female characters, initially relegated to stereotypical roles like 'housewife,' lead the charge to break free of these constraints, reaffirming the 'Girl Boss' identity by rejecting the traditional feminine archetype. The show positions its teen protagonists as enlightened revolutionaries, fighting for a modern vision of justice against a static, bigoted past. This constant conflict of 'present good vs. past evil' makes the season a heavy vehicle for contemporary political and social commentary.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics9/10

The plot exists primarily to critique the 1950s through an intersectional lens, featuring heavy-handed conversations about racism and using historical events like the murder of Emmett Till as explicit plot points to lecture the audience on privilege and systemic oppression. Characters' lives and struggles are fundamentally defined by their immutable characteristics as they confront the restrictive era.

Oikophobia9/10

The season's core premise is a civilizational critique, framing the iconic 1950s Americana setting as inherently 'repressive and oppressive.' The story's internal 'quest for justice' functions as a wholesale deconstruction and demonization of this period of Western heritage, with authority figures (the older generation) consistently depicted as bigoted gatekeepers of a corrupt status quo.

Feminism8/10

The main female characters, such as Betty, are deliberately shown to be 'regressed' into disempowered 1950s archetypes, a state they actively work to escape by reclaiming their sexual and intellectual autonomy. The narrative champions the 'Girl Boss' mentality by presenting the traditional female role (the 'housewife') as a form of social and personal imprisonment from which women must rebel.

LGBTQ+9/10

Alternative sexualities are a central focus, as all queer characters are forcibly placed 'back in the closet' by the 1950s setting. Their entire struggle is centered on the deconstruction of the normative structure of the era, which is presented as deeply homophobic and hostile, making their sexual identity the most important and defining trait for a significant portion of the cast.

Anti-Theism8/10

The conservative morality of the 1950s, often rooted in traditional religion, is a key element of the oppressive society the characters fight against. Institutions associated with religion, like the Sisters of Quiet Mercy (a recurring symbol of institutional abuse), are implicitly part of the static, judgmental system that must be overthrown in favor of subjective, individual truth and expression.