‘Riverdale’ Showrunner Did Not Want To Repeat This ‘Stranger Things’ Mistake

Riverdale made a pretty bold choice in tonight’s episode, and its showrunner has a good reason for it.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Riverdale, ‘Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher In The Woods’, below.

Tonight’s episode resolved the cliffhanger of last week’s ‘Nighthawks’, revealing that Moose and Midge actually survived the attack from The Black Hood. And according to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, keeping the pair alive was definitely a goal, so as not to fall in line with another subversive genre show.

“If we’ve learned nothing from season one of Stranger Things,” Aguirre-Sacasa told Glamour. “it’s that we do not want to “Barb” any character.”

As fans of Stranger Things (or those who just kept up with 2016 pop culture) will remember, the series introduced Barb Holland (Shannon Purser), a secondary character who was promptly killed off several episodes later.

While Riverdale has already temporarily alleviated that pain, by casting Purser as Ethel Muggs, Aguirre-Sacasa said he wanted to avoid those same tropes when it came to Moose and Midge.

“I think people really love finally getting to meet Midge, and people always like seeing Moose.” Aguirre-Sacasa argued. “It would be a sad thing if we met Midge and then she ended up one of the Black Hood’s victims so quickly.”

Seeing as Moose and Midge survived The Black Hood (thanks to some insane circumstances, and the help of Kevin Keller), it’s safe to assume that the villain will strike again in some way. But according to Aguirre-Sacasa, fans shouldn’t expect a character to die every episode.

“Ultimately, as dark as it gets, I don’t think the show is a slasher show.” Aguirre-Sacasa explained. “I don’t think it’s Scream, for instance. The ambition is to do something that still keeps the characters in the foreground and the violence as a backdrop. In our lowbrow way, we’re kind of trying to follow the model of Zodiac, which is less about a serial killer. It’s not really a serial killer movie; it’s more about the psychological toll that the serial killer takes on this city. You always want a little excitement and horror, but there won’t necessarily be someone shot every episode.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.