"Chapter One: The River's Edge" taps into ... feelings of promise, anxiety and hopeful soul-searching, and that's a solid foundation for Riverdale to build on.
Knowledge of previous teen dramas certainly makes Riverdale feel more complete, but outside of that, Riverdale succeeds just by being different from The CW's current programming and even Freeform's or MTV's.
The tone is slower, the colors are darker, and the characters have their own wants and desires. This is a juicy mystery served like a soda pop at Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe.
I'll continue rewatching how [Veronica] takes down Cheryl -- "You wanted fire? My specialty's ice" -- in what I can only describe as fabulously brutal and brutally fabulous.