There's a common thread among your favorite soapy teen dramas: sex. Lots of it. Even though the characters on shows like The O.C., Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and Pretty Little Liars are under 18, that hasn't stopped them from doing it—often. Sex sells, and high-school-set soap operas are notorious for cashing in on it. (If you need proof, just look at these Gossip Girl billboards.)
But Riverdale feels different. Yes, the show has sexual tension among its (very attractive) protagonists, but aside from a questionable storyline about Archie's "relationship" with his teacher, there's a distinct lack of, ya know, actual sex. Is this an intentional move?
Turns out, it is. We recently caught up with the Riverdale cast, and they revealed the show's shortage of hookup scenes is both a tension-building device and the result of the characters' very young ages. (Remember, they're all pretty much under 18.)
"I think it’s kind of nice that we don’t [have sex]," Madelaine Petsch, who plays Cheryl Blossom, said. "Personally, when I was younger, I wasn’t doing the dirty, especially at that age, so for them to be showing that on Gossip Girl or shows like that gives people a different impression of what high school should be like."
Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones) agrees. “Definitely [the lack of sex is intentional]. I think it makes it more about the mystery," he said. "First of all, they are all 15, 16, 17 years old, so that’s an inherently complicated notion, but I think it also makes it much more about the characters' interactions with each other outside of a kind of sexual influence. Sex does come into play, obviously like it does in every sort of teen’s life, and I think whether it becomes more or less prominent in season two is a question for the writers. But I actually like how sparse it is right now, and I prefer it that way, to be honest.”
Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa says sex is "taboo" in the Archie Comic Books universe, which helped inform the show's direction. "Over my computer I have the words, 'Betty and Veronica: Handle with care,'" he said. "I so treasure these characters that I thought, I can’t do anything that’s just for shock’s sake. And I really believe in the integrity of the characters…. There’s always kind of been this naughty, forbidden element to Archie Comics—the girls are a little too beautiful, the guys are a little too girl-obsessed—so it’s nice to unpack and play with that tension…. Our characters must be sexual even if they’re not necessarily having sex."
That being said, Aguirre-Sacasa says more between-the-sheets business is on the horizon. "We have some really sexy young people on the show, and they are starting to have relationships and they are starting to get older," he said.
Petsch says sex will play a larger role in the second season too. "Right now we’re developing characters and focusing on that aspect," Petsch said. "And developing independent characters who can build their own stories and don’t need partners in order to do that, and once we do that, I think we’ll be able to delve more into relationships.”
Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge) notes that season one also focused on Jason's [Trevor Stines] death, so the characters' relationships obviously took a backseat. "The murder was the most important [plot point], and I think season two will amp up the sex."
Reporting by Jessica Radloff.
More Riverdale News:
