Is Riverdale doing an Oppenheimer episode?
The CWRiverdale harkens back to the nuclear bomb in its most recent episode, in what is perhaps a nod to the recent blockbuster Oppenheimer.
Love it or hate it, Riverdale, the drama-mystery series that brought Archie Comics characters to life in variously wacky ways, has certainly made a name for itself in pop culture.
Now, the popular CW series is finally coming to an end, with its seventh season being its last – and it’s certain to go out with a bang. We’re enjoying the season so far, and you can read our review of the first three episodes here.
This season has fully dove into it’s mid-twentieth century setting, and it seems like that’s now being taken to new heights, with the most recent episode appearing like new movie Oppenheimer.
Riverdale’s new episode and Oppenheimer share many similarities
Unless you live under a rock when it comes to cinema, you know what Oppenheimer is. Christopher Nolan’s historical thriller about the man who helped birth the atomic bomb has taken the cinema by storm, and will no doubt have a lasting impact upon media, like most Nolan film’s do.
In fact, it could already be influencing other media, including episodes of Riverdale. This most recent one of the final season, “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five: For A Better Tomorrow,” stands out from previous episodes due to its sudden use of black and white filming, which is a technique that Oppenheimer also implements.
And as you can see from the trailer below, it touches upon a very similar topic: That being the atomic bomb. There’s also the case of Russian threats, communism, trials and spies, all of which come to a head both in the climax of Oppenheimer, and the climax of this episode.
A number of the adults in Riverdale are after “Palladium,” which, as described by Dilton Doily: “In its inert state, Palladium is basically harmless. But, in its purest state, concentrated and compressed, scientists speculate it could be more volatile than plutonium. And if detonated, more destructive than a hydrogen bomb.” Sound familiar?
Riverdale has paid homage many times before
Now, this episode isn’t a direct homage to Oppenheimer. It’s easy to say that as Riverdale has done homage plenty of times before, in fact practically every musical episode episode they’ve done is a homage.
This episode doesn’t recreate Oppenheimer, that probably would have been impossible, given that Riverdale Season 7 began long before Oppenheimer even came out. Plus, the episode focuses on a ton of other plot lines that have nothing to do with the themes mentioned above.
No atom bomb blows up in the epiosde, it’s actually not that big of an issue, so it’s more likely that Riverdale was attempting to pull in Oppenheimer fans by evoking the movie in their promo material. Still, it’s definitely one of the better episodes of the season, so make sure to check it out.
