What's new in Riverdale?

In the first episode of Riverdale itself, the new version of the classic American teen comic Archie, Veronica tells Betty her friendship means far more to her than the company of Archie Andrews. And just like that, the stereotype is broken.

Betty and Veronica are two of the world's most common female stereotypes. While Betty is the all-American, sweet, innocent, studious and helpful girl-next-door, Veronica is the quintessential rich snob and mean girl, with shades of anti-Semitism. But the new television series on Netflix is giving the characters we grew up reading a whole new twist. A feminist twist, which uplifts it from the 'basic' petty high school drama to something more complex and dark.

"Betty is a woman on a mission to find the truth. She stands up to her parents," says Smita Sahay, who works in the field of Mental Health and is a long-time Archie fan. "Veronica stands up to bullies and thinks independently. For instance, she joins Josie and the Pussy Cats, not to spite Archie, but by her own admission to vent pent up aggression productively. I'm glad their lives don't revolve around Archie," she says.

The small shift of writing in a backstory and self-awareness for the female characters, immediately transcends them. Ron (Veronica) is a NYC queen b**** on rehab; she knows this is a fresh start and a chance for her to make real friends and she recognises how a deep friendship with Betty would nurture her. Betty's polished persona belies toxic parenting. Issues such as slut-shaming also make it to the story.

"American television writing has come of age with all these flesh-and-blood multidimensional female characters," says film-maker Faraz Mariam Arif Ansari. "I was haunted by the scene where Betty's mother suggests she wear a pink lipstick and then wipes away the red one from her lips. Also, there are hints of Betty's mental illness. The scene where she dresses like a dominatrix, and almost drowns a jock in a Jacuzzi raised so many questions. I mean what if there is no Pauly? Even when she met Pauly, Jughead was not allowed to meet Pauly. So what if Betty has a split personality?"

Communication and not catty pranks is how the new characters resolve differences. Veronica reaches out to mean girl Cheryl Blossom when she suffers a panic attack; the two teenage girls communicate like mature people and end up becoming friends. Whenever an undesirable trait runs the risk of dominating a character, the plot quickly reveals an underlying catalyst — Josie bosses over her band mates but then we find out her dysfunctional relationship with her father.

Additionally, Riverdale doesn't whitewash its women into paragons of virtue. "They don't try to hide that what Ms Grundy is doing is wrong," says Sahay. "Jughead points out as much to Archie instead of congratulating him for 'getting laid' by an older woman. The plot humanises Grundy as someone who perpetuates the cycle of abuse, since she is a victim of domestic abuse, however never justifies her actions." There are also the vulnerable men of Riverdale. "Archie doesn't realise he is the victim of sexual abuse and tries to protect Miss Grundy. Betty's dad worries about his daughters, but can't quite stand up to his wife Alice."

Ansari also loves how Riverdale does not assign gender to emotions or behaviour and people are not defined by their sex or sexuality. "Jughead is into gossip, usually a feminine stereotype. Kevin is a social butterfly. Alice Cooper is manipulative and terrifyingly aggressive. Macho man Moose could be bisexual and Archie is so torn between football and music," he says.