THE DAY BEFORE

The CW’s Riverdale gets a prequel.

It’s the day before Riverdale’s annual 4th of July Summerfest Carnival, and four teens are making the most of their summer. Sweetheart Betty Cooper is launching her writing career with an internship at HelloGiggles in Los Angeles and is assigned to write up a profile on Veronica Lodge, a young and extremely influential New York socialite who has been interning with Vogue and happens to have her own connection to the sleepy town of Riverdale. A rift has formed between best friends Jughead Jones and Archie Andrews. Jughead is working at the local drive-in theater and trying to keep an eye on his dad, a member of the Southside Serpents biker gang. Archie has fallen in love with both his music and his music teacher, Ms. Geraldine Grundy. Everyone has secrets, and some of Riverdale’s darkest are about to be unveiled. It starts with a gunshot heard around town and the disappearance of Riverdale High’s beloved football star, Jason Blossom. Ostow’s (Mean Girls, 2017, etc.) characterization stays true to the show, from Jughead’s wry cynicism to Betty’s growing internal darkness. The Lodges are Latinx, and diversity in the rest of the ensemble is assumed based on the show’s casting. The story alternates points of view, and multimedia text messages, emails, miscellaneous documents, etc., provide insight into various minor characters.

Not a must-read, even for Riverdale fans, but sufficiently entertaining.