‘Riverdale’s KJ Apa Gives His Take on Cheryl And Archie’s “Relationship”

For fans of the show Riverdale, and the character Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) in particular, this has been a harrowing few weeks. Cheryl is a character who is fiercely and loyally protected by the viewers, not just for Petsch’s pristine portrayal but also for the fact that she went through a critically lauded coming-out storyline in Season 2 that led to one of the most beloved couples on the show — Cheryl and Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), aka Choni — as well as Cheryl’s own self-identification as an out and proud lesbian. Then, not only did Season 7 put her back in the closet, but it paired her up with Archie Andrews (KJ Apa). And in a cliffhanger at the end of last week’s episode, seemingly the two slept together.

Good news for those panicking that Riverdale had gone horribly wrong over the past week… In this week’s episode, “Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One: Love & Marriage”, it is very quickly revealed that Cheryl was lying about “going all the way” in order for Cheryl to throw her extremely heterosexual relationship in her mother’s face. And though Archie calls her on it, he also quickly agrees to keep the lie going in order to help Cheryl. Unfortunately for both of them, the lie spins wildly out of control when their parents get wind of it, and given the 1950s setting, force the two of them to get married (or at least, engaged).

For KJ Apa, getting to contextualize an LGBTQ+ storyline in the ’50s era was part of the appeal.

“We had to explore all of that stuff in this ’50s world, which is really cool,” Apa told Decider. “Because back then we didn’t get to talk about that kind of stuff. And the LGBT community wasn’t as prominent back then, obviously. But I think having the ’50s element gives us another angle, with the 1950s and the lightheartedness and being in this heightened reality, it gives us a whole other angle to approach those kinds of conversations.”

Apa noted that it felt “relatively original” in terms of the dialogue and conversations between the characters — including Cheryl, and fellow closeted gay character Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), who has a coming out of his own this episode; versus simply rehashing coming out storylines that already happened seasons prior.

It also allows characters to interact in different ways… Instead of the always-confident Cheryl of the previous six seasons, Cheryl in the 1950s is more insecure and more nervous about revealing herself; and her sexuality in particular. That also changes the way she interacts with Archie, and therefore the way Archie interacts with her.

“I know for Archie specifically for that storyline, I was really pumped because it really brings out the purity of Archie,” Apa continued. “He’s so naive and so innocent, and he doesn’t really understand a lot of those conversations… It’s not an ignorance, it’s more of he sees the best in people, and he doesn’t see why everyone can just get along. And while being that way, he’s also a character who will go to the ends of the earth, for his friends… Even for Cheryl, who he’s not incredibly close with, he does go really out of his way. At the expense of his own future, you have to help someone.”

Over the course of the episode, the two of them try to make things work in different ways, with Archie even coming up with the solution that they should elope and run away to California. There, Archie figures, he can figure out what he’s supposed to do with his life; and Cheryl will be far enough away from her family that whatever is upsetting her will be behind them. Naturally, he doesn’t know that no matter how far Cheryl runs, she’ll still have to confront what’s inside of her: she’s a lesbian.

By the episode’s end, Cheryl has at least partially begun her road to self-acceptance by refusing Archie’s offer and pointing him toward Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) instead. Meanwhile, she’s approached Toni about her confused feelings, with the latter handing the former a copy of The Cost of Pepper. While this isn’t a real novel, it is a shout-out to the pulp novels of the ’50s and ’60s that helped closeted lesbians better understand their feelings towards others, and themselves; and more specifically The Price of Salt, a 1952 novel by Patricia Highsmith that was lauded as one of the rare lesbian novels of the time that includes a happy ending. The Price of Salt, as a side note, was later adapted into the movie Carol. We’ll see if Cate Blanchett is available for The Cost of Pepper as well.

Though Cheryl is moving forward, and there’s clearly plenty more to come on that front, Archie still has a lot to figure out, too. When we leave him in the episode, he’s taken Cheryl’s direction and started writing a poem for Betty — only to be interrupted by his Uncle Frank (Ryan Robbins), who is ready to knock some heads based on Archie’s recent behavior. Uncle Frank doesn’t know this bad behavior (aka losing his virginity to Cheryl) is a lie, but even with the renewed focus off Cheryl and onto Betty, it’s clear that Archie still needs a lot of sorting out.

“His heart breaks for Cheryl,” Apa said. “The whole relation to his relationship with her and the reasons for them being in this relationship [were] happening so quickly. And it was a little confusing for Archie… His purity got the better of him… These are things that you really need to think about it as a young person. Making these kinds of decisions is huge. And it’s not to be taken lightly. This is your life. And ultimately, it’s Cheryl who decides for him that it’s not going to be that way.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.