‘The Love Hypothesis’ Star Lili Reinhart Just Delivered Her Brutally Honest Ranking of All Seven ‘Riverdale’ Seasons
Cast reflections on beloved teen dramas tend to follow a predictable pattern, filled with vague nostalgia and diplomatic praise for every era of a show’s run. Actors typically avoid ranking their own work too critically, especially when the fanbase remains as devoted as this particular one.
Lili Reinhart has never been the type to play it that safe, though. Since ‘Riverdale‘ wrapped its seven-season run back in 2023, she’s continued speaking candidly about her time on the show, and her latest comments take that honesty a step further than fans might have expected.
Appearing on Capital Buzz while promoting her new film ‘The Love Hypothesis,’ Reinhart was asked to rank all seven seasons of ‘Riverdale.’ Rather than dodge the question or insist every season held equal value, she ranked them straightforwardly by release order, placing Season 1 at the top and Season 7 at the bottom, implying the show’s earliest chapter remained her clear favorite.
Reinhart didn’t hold back explaining the reasoning behind her ranking. “I do think quite literally we may have lost the plot as time went on,” she said, acknowledging the show’s well-documented shift away from its grounded teen drama roots into increasingly supernatural territory involving cults, superpowers, and eventually time travel.
That admission lines up with how ‘Riverdale’ actually evolved on screen. What began in 2017 as a moody, murder-mystery-driven take on the Archie Comics universe gradually spiraled into some of television’s most memorably chaotic plotlines, culminating in a Season 6 finale that saw characters gaining superpowers and blasting energy from their hands, followed by a final season set entirely in the 1950s.
Lili Reinhart ranks the seasons of ‘RIVERDALE’: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 (via @capital_buzzz) https://t.co/8R1SlK1rwi
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 23, 2026
Despite ranking the later seasons lower, Reinhart made clear her critique was aimed squarely at the writing rather than her actual experience on set. “Not that to say I didn’t have fun doing every single one,” she added, clarifying that her assessment wasn’t a reflection on her relationships with castmates or her overall time working on the series.
That distinction matters given how openly Reinhart has spoken about ‘Riverdale’s’ reputation over the years. In an earlier interview with Vulture conducted before the show ended, she discussed how difficult it was watching the series become “the butt of a joke” online, noting that clips taken out of context often left viewers confused about how a show that started as straightforward teen drama had spiraled into something so wildly different.
Trailer for the final season of #Riverdale!
— What's on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) March 2, 2023
Season 7 begins dropping weekly in international Netflix regions later this month and arrives on Netflix US later in the year. pic.twitter.com/G5LoTPH8TI
Reinhart’s comments echo a common trajectory for actors who spend formative years on a single defining project, eventually gaining enough distance to look back with a more critical, clear-eyed perspective. Having played Betty Cooper across all 137 episodes and seven seasons of the series, alongside co-stars KJ Apa, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, and Madelaine Petsch, she’s uniquely positioned to speak to exactly how far the show drifted from its original premise.
Given how widely ‘Riverdale’s’ escalating absurdity has been discussed and memed online over the years, Reinhart’s ranking likely won’t come as much of a surprise to longtime viewers. If anything, her willingness to openly acknowledge the show “lost the plot” probably resonates with a fanbase that’s spent years making similar jokes themselves.
With Reinhart now several years removed from the series and focused on new projects like ‘The Love Hypothesis,’ this kind of candid retrospective feels like a natural next step in how she’s chosen to discuss her ‘Riverdale’ legacy going forward.
Which Riverdale season do you think was the show’s peak?
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