"It Got Weird": One Riverdale Star Agrees Later Seasons Got Too Out Of Hand As They Reflect On Their Show Exit 5 Years Later

Feb 10, 2025 - 17:00

0 1

Riverdale

F. P. Jones with a serious look on his face

Skeet Ulrich looks back on his experience filming Riverdale, how his personal life changed during production, and how a change in the show's structure and style ultimately left him uneager to return. The CW teen drama was a grittier, darker reinterpretation of Archie Comics' tales of high school teen Archie Adams (KJ Apa) and friends, though its later seasons would see several dramatic and even genre twists. In Riverdale's cast of characters, Ulrich portrayed F.P. Jones, the biker gang leader and once-estranged father of Cole Sprouse's Jughead Jones.

As Ulrich shared tales of his career during a panel Screen Rant attended at MEGACON Orlando, the actor turned focus to his Riverdale tenure. While Ulrich began by highlighting his growing friendship with his on-screen son played by Sprouse, the actor admitted that the travel for production took up most of his memory of the production. As his time on the show continued, his family requested that he takes things easier, and he sought a healthier balance between work and his home life:

You know, I think, in hindsight, the thing that changed was my friendship with Cole, to be honest. He's a lovely human being who is deeply insightful and intelligent and interesting and funny, and he's become a dear friend of mine. So, when I look back at that show, I really think of that relationship that became part of my life.

The show itself was — I raised my twins on my own, so I only worked in LA from the time they were born until I did Riverdale, when they were almost 16, like a month before they turned 16, and I didn't have nannies or anything like that. So, they were always on set, they were always with me. And when I took that show, I was doing four flights a week to Vancouver, because it was the first time out of town, so it was 170 flights a season, a lot of it is a blur. Most of those seasons are airports in my memory. When we got to season 3, my kids begged me to slow down a bit and take some time up there. If I didn't work for two days, I came home, then we said this thing, like, "If you don't work for three days, you know, then come home." So, I got to slow down a bit and enjoy it a little more and see Vancouver a little more.

His family also played a part in his desire to be a part of the show, as his original motivation for being part of Riverdale was being able to tackle human tales that he felt viewers could relate to, something he felt later season shakeups strayed from and ultimately didn't interest him. Check out Ulrich's response below:

But in terms of the plot of the show and the story and all that, it got weird. I love the human aspect of the first season, and I thought it was what really drew people in. And my kids being that age, that sort of was the demo at that time. I felt like the parents, really, the reason it resonated around the world like it did was that it gave kids an opportunity to go, "Wait, my parents are screwed up like that," or, "My parents had those flaws or those faults." There was a relation aspect to it to the viewers. And I'm not you guys, or whoever was a big fan of it, but I think that's what the linkage was in my mind. So, I thought there was a lot of value in the beginning of that show that sort of went into oddities that I didn't really understand. So, when it came time for me to re-up my contract or not, I just wasn't in love with the show anymore.

How Riverdale's Seasonal Shake-Ups Impacted The Series

Viewership Changes Suggest The Changes May Have Proven Difficult

Ulrich's criticism is a widely-shared perspective by many Riverdale viewers, who were left conflicted by how later seasons would shift the direction of his character and the overall show. Early season stories tackled murder-mysteries and troubled family pasts, from the death of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) and Veronica Lodge's (Camilla Mendez) troubled parent's lives. But even season 2 saw a turn, as its murder mystery turned to a battle of vigilantes that showed the show would not be beholden to a consistent world.

Riverdale’s 10 Best Episodes, Ranked

Discover which are the very best 10 episodes from Riverdale. From fighting bears to being drugged in a hot jacuzzi, this series had it all.

Across the following seasons of Riverdale, the show continued to throw major curveballs that included a cult, mystery pandemics, serial killers, a post-high school time jump, and outright occultism and witchcraft. While Riverdale's changes may have kept viewers interested through mere curiosity, the series' shifts could also make the show inaccessible to both newcomers and those who had been present since the beginning, as the show could undergo several changes within a single season. By the time Riverdale season 7 had aired, its average viewership had significantly diminished.

Our Thoughts On Riverdale's Seasonal Changes

The Series Currently Holds An Infamous Reputation

Ultimately, time may be the only way to tell whether Riverdale's formula changes will have a positive or negative impact on its legacy. The drastic direction changes have kept people discussing the show long after it aired its final episode in 2023. As such, there is a cult-like fascination with the show that could bring the curious back as its infamy grows. However, Ulrich's response does show that the changes did have an effect on the crew behind the show. While Ulrich has admitted his dissatisfaction, many may wonder if other former Riverdale stars share his perspective.