# data[].attributes.headline
Everything you need to know about Riverdale before binge watching it

# data[].attributes.subject
Everything you need to know about Riverdale before binge watching it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Riverdale? Everything you need to know about the new Netflix series

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is Riverdale? Where can I watch it? Who's in it? Head over to heatworld for all the answers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Review: The CW's 'Riverdale' is a vital and invitingly dark take on Archie Comics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You will have guessed by now that this is not your grandmother's "Archie," but the comics have spanned several parallel universes. The characters have lived in prehistoric times and in the future; Archie has married both Betty and Veronica; been shot to death; and weathered a zombie apocalypse, in a 2013 series, "Afterlife with Archie," written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who developed "Riverdale" and is also the chief creative officer of Archie Comics; this iteration could not be more official.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
which 'riverdale' character are you? quiz

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's time for a little small-town pep in your life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How psychology has helped society accept homosexuality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Attitude change and acceptance towards homosexuality have been facilitated through psychological science.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of modernism; rejection of epistemic (scientific) certainty or the stability of meaning; and sensitivity to the role of ideology in maintaining political power. Claims to objectivity are dismissed as naïve realism, with attention drawn to the conditional nature of knowledge claims within particular historical, political, and cultural discourses. The postmodern outlook is characterized by self-referentiality, epistemological relativism, moral relativism, pluralism, irony, irreverence, and eclecticism; it rejects the "universal validity" of binary oppositions, stable identity, hierarchy, and categorization.

Initially emerging from a mode of literary criticism, postmodernism developed in the mid-twentieth century as a rejection of modernism, and has been observed across many disciplines. Postmodernism is associated with the theories of deconstruction and post-structuralism. Various authors have criticized postmodernism as promoting obscurantism, as abandoning Enlightenment rationalism and scientific rigor, and as adding nothing to analytical or empirical knowledge.

Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse which challenges worldviews associated with Enlightenment rationality dating back to the 17th century. Postmodernism is associated with relativism and a focus on the role of ideology in the maintenance of economic and political power. Postmodernists are "skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person". It considers "reality" to be a mental construct. Postmodernism rejects the possibility of unmediated reality or objectively-rational knowledge, asserting that all interpretations are contingent on the perspective from which they are made; claims to objective fact are dismissed as naive realism.

Postmodern thinkers frequently describe knowledge claims and value systems as contingent or socially-conditioned, describing them as products of political, historical, or cultural discourses and hierarchies. Accordingly, postmodern thought is broadly characterized by tendencies to self-referentiality, epistemological and moral relativism, pluralism, and irreverence. Postmodernism is often associated with schools of thought such as deconstruction and post-structuralism. Postmodernism relies on critical theory, which considers the effects of ideology, society, and history on culture. Postmodernism and critical theory commonly criticize universalist ideas of objective reality, morality, truth, human nature, reason, language, and social progress.

Initially, postmodernism was a mode of discourse on literature and literary criticism, commenting on the nature of literary text, meaning, author and reader, writing, and reading. Postmodernism developed in the mid- to late-twentieth century across many scholarly disciplines as a departure or rejection of modernism. As a critical practice, postmodernism employs concepts such as hyperreality, simulacrum, trace, and difference, and rejects abstract principles in favor of direct experience.

The term postmodern was first used in 1870. John Watkins Chapman suggested "a Postmodern style of painting" as a way to depart from French Impressionism. J. M. Thompson, in his 1914 article in The Hibbert Journal (a quarterly philosophical review), used it to describe changes in attitudes and beliefs in the critique of religion, writing: "The raison d'être of Post-Modernism is to escape from the double-mindedness of Modernism by being thorough in its criticism by extending it to religion as well as theology, to Catholic feeling as well as to Catholic tradition."

In 1942 H. R. Hays described postmodernism as a new literary form.

In 1926, Bernard Iddings Bell, president of St. Stephen's College (now Bard College), published Postmodernism and Other Essays, marking the first use of the term to describe the historical period following Modernity. The essay criticizes the lingering socio-cultural norms, attitudes, and practices of the Age of Enlightenment. It also forecasts the major cultural shifts toward Postmodernity and (Bell being an Anglican Episcopal priest) suggests orthodox religion as a solution. However, the term postmodernity was first used as a general theory for a historical movement in 1939 by Arnold J. Toynbee: "Our own Post-Modern Age has been inaugurated by the general war of 1914-1918".

Portland Building (1982), by architect Michael Graves, an example of Postmodern architecture

In 1949 the term was used to describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture and led to the postmodern architecture movement in response to the modernist architectural movement known as the International Style. Postmodernism in architecture was initially marked by a re-emergence of surface ornament, reference to surrounding buildings in urban settings, historical reference in decorative forms (eclecticism), and non-orthogonal angles.

Author Peter Drucker suggested the transformation into a post-modern world that happened between 1937 and 1957 and described it as a "nameless era" characterized as a shift to a conceptual world based on pattern, purpose, and process rather than a mechanical cause. This shift was outlined by four new realities: the emergence of an Educated Society, the importance of international development, the decline of the nation-state, and the collapse of the viability of non-Western cultures.

In 1971, in a lecture delivered at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, Mel Bochner described "post-modernism" in art as having started with Jasper Johns, "who first rejected sense-data and the singular point-of-view as the basis for his art, and treated art as a critical investigation".

In 1996, Walter Truett Anderson described postmodernism as belonging to one of four typological world views which he identified as:

Neo-romantic, in which truth is found through attaining harmony with nature or spiritual exploration of the inner self.

Postmodern-ironist, which sees truth as socially constructed.

Scientific-rational, in which truth is defined through methodical, disciplined inquiry.

Social-traditional, in which truth is found in the heritage of American and Western civilization.

The basic features of what is now called postmodernism can be found as early as the 1940s, most notably in the work of artists such as Jorge Luis Borges. However, most scholars today agree postmodernism began to compete with modernism in the late 1950s and gained ascendancy over it in the 1960s.

The primary features of postmodernism typically include the ironic play with styles, citations, and narrative levels, a metaphysical skepticism or nihilism towards a " grand narrative" of Western culture, and a preference for the virtual at the expense of the Real (or more accurately, a fundamental questioning of what 'the real' constitutes).

Since the late 1990s, there has been a growing sentiment in popular culture and in academia that postmodernism "has gone out of fashion". Others argue that postmodernism is dead in the context of current cultural production.

Structuralism was a philosophical movement developed by French academics in the 1950s, partly in response to French existentialism, and often interpreted in relation to modernism and high modernism. Thinkers who have been called "structuralists" include the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, the Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, and the semiotician Algirdas Greimas. The early writings of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and the literary theorist Roland Barthes have also been called "structuralist". Those who began as structuralists but became post-structuralists include Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, and Gilles Deleuze. Other post-structuralists include Jacques Derrida, Pierre Bourdieu, Jean-François Lyotard, Julia Kristeva, Anthony Giddens, Hélène Cixous, and Luce Irigaray. The American cultural theorists, critics, and intellectuals whom they influenced include Judith Butler, John Fiske, Rosalind Krauss, Avital Ronell, and Hayden White.

Like structuralists, post-structuralists start from the assumption that people's identities, values, and economic conditions determine each other rather than having intrinsic properties that can be understood in isolation. Thus the French structuralists considered themselves to be espousing relativism and constructionism. But they nevertheless tended to explore how the subjects of their study might be described, reductively, as a set of essential relationships, schematics, or mathematical symbols. (An example is Claude Lévi-Strauss's algebraic formulation of mythological transformation in "The Structural Study of Myth").

Postmodernism entails reconsideration of the entire Western value system (love, marriage, popular culture, shift from an industrial to a service economy) that took place since the 1950s and 1960s, with a peak in the Social Revolution of 1968-are described with the term postmodernity, as opposed to postmodernism, a term referring to an opinion or movement. Post-structuralism is characterized by new ways of thinking through structuralism, contrary to the original form.

One of the most well-known postmodernist concerns is deconstruction, a theory for philosophy, literary criticism, and textual analysis developed by Jacques Derrida. Critics have insisted that Derrida's work is rooted in a statement found in Of Grammatology: " Il n'y a pas de hors-texte" ('there is nothing outside the text'). Such critics misinterpret the statement as denying any reality outside of books. The statement is actually part of a critique of "inside" and "outside" metaphors when referring to the text, and is a corollary to the observation that there is no "inside" of a text as well. This attention to a text's unacknowledged reliance on metaphors and figures embedded within its discourse is characteristic of Derrida's approach. Derrida's method sometimes involves demonstrating that a given philosophical discourse depends on binary oppositions or excluding terms that the discourse itself has declared to be irrelevant or inapplicable. Derrida's philosophy inspired a postmodern movement called deconstructivism among architects, characterized by a design that rejects structural "centers" and encourages decentralized play among its elements. Derrida discontinued his involvement with the movement after the publication of his collaborative project with architect Peter Eisenman in Chora L Works: Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman.

The connection between postmodernism, posthumanism, and cyborgism has led to a challenge to postmodernism, for which the terms Post-postmodernism and postpoststructuralism were first coined in 2003:

In some sense, we may regard postmodernism, posthumanism, poststructuralism, etc., as being of the 'cyborg age' of mind over body. Deconference was an exploration in post-cyborgism (i.e. what comes after the postcorporeal era), and thus explored issues of postpostmodernism, postpoststructuralism, and the like. To understand this transition from 'pomo' (cyborgism) to 'popo' (postcyborgism) we must first understand the cyborg era itself.

More recently metamodernism, post-postmodernism and the "death of postmodernism" have been widely debated: in 2007 Andrew Hoberek noted in his introduction to a special issue of the journal Twentieth-Century Literature titled "After Postmodernism" that "declarations of postmodernism's demise have become a critical commonplace". A small group of critics has put forth a range of theories that aim to describe culture or society in the alleged aftermath of postmodernism, most notably Raoul Eshelman (performatism), Gilles Lipovetsky ( hypermodernity), Nicolas Bourriaud ( altermodern), and Alan Kirby (digimodernism, formerly called pseudo-modernism). None of these new theories or labels have so far gained very widespread acceptance. Sociocultural anthropologist Nina Müller-Schwarze offers neostructuralism as a possible direction. The exhibition Postmodernism - Style and Subversion 1970-1990 at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 24 September 2011 - 15 January 2012) was billed as the first show to document postmodernism as a historical movement.

In the 1970s a group of poststructuralists in France developed a radical critique of modern philosophy with roots discernible in Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Heidegger, and became known as postmodern theorists, notably including Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jean-François Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and others. New and challenging modes of thought and writing pushed the development of new areas and topics in philosophy. By the 1980s, this spread to America (Richard Rorty) and the world.

Jacques Derrida was a French-Algerian philosopher best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, which he discussed in numerous texts, and developed in the context of phenomenology. He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy.

Derrida re-examined the fundamentals of writing and its consequences on philosophy in general; sought to undermine the language of "presence" or metaphysics in an analytical technique which, beginning as a point of departure from Heidegger's notion of Destruktion, came to be known as deconstruction.

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic. First associated with structuralism, Foucault created an oeuvre that today is seen as belonging to post-structuralism and to postmodern philosophy. Considered a leading figure of French theory, his work remains fruitful in the English-speaking academic world in a large number of sub-disciplines. The Times Higher Education Guide described him in 2009 as the most cited author in the humanities.

Michel Foucault introduced concepts such as discursive regime, or re-invoked those of older philosophers like and genealogy in order to explain the relationship between meaning, power, and social behavior within social orders (see The Order of Things, The Archaeology of Knowledge, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality).

Jean-François Lyotard

Influenced by Nietzsche, Jean-François Lyotard is credited with being the first to use the term in a philosophical context, in his 1979 work The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. In it, he follows Wittgenstein's language games model and speech act theory, contrasting two different language games, that of the expert, and that of the philosopher. He talks about the transformation of knowledge into information in the computer age and likens the transmission or reception of coded messages (information) to a position within a language game.

Lyotard defined philosophical postmodernism in The Postmodern Condition, writing: "Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity towards metanarratives...."  where what he means by metanarrative (in French, grands récits) is something like a unified, complete, universal, and epistemically certain story about everything that is. Postmodernists reject metanarratives because they reject the concept of truth that metanarratives presuppose. Postmodernist philosophers, in general, argue that truth is always contingent on historical and social context rather than being absolute and universal-and that truth is always partial and "at issue" rather than being complete and certain.

Richard Rorty argues in Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature that contemporary analytic philosophy mistakenly imitates scientific methods. In addition, he denounces the traditional epistemological perspectives of representationalism and correspondence theory that rely upon the independence of knowers and observers from phenomena and the passivity of natural phenomena in relation to consciousness.

Jean Baudrillard, in Simulacra and Simulation, introduced the concept that reality or the principle of the Real is short-circuited by the interchangeability of signs in an era whose communicative and semantic acts are dominated by electronic media and digital technologies. For Baudrillard, "simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being or a substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal."

Fredric Jameson set forth one of the first expansive theoretical treatments of postmodernism as a historical period, intellectual trend, and social phenomenon in a series of lectures at the Whitney Museum, later expanded as Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991).

In Analysis of the Journey, a journal birthed from postmodernism, Douglas Kellner insists that the "assumptions and procedures of modern theory" must be forgotten. Extensively, Kellner analyzes the terms of this theory in real-life experiences and examples. Kellner used science and technology studies as a major part of his analysis; he urged that the theory is incomplete without it. The scale was larger than just postmodernism alone; it must be interpreted through cultural studies where science and technology studies play a huge role. The reality of the September 11 attacks on the United States of America is the catalyst for his explanation. In response, Kellner continues to examine the repercussions of understanding the effects of the 11 September attacks. He questions if the attacks are only able to be understood in a limited form of postmodern theory due to the level of irony.

The conclusion he depicts is simple: postmodernism, as most use it today, will decide what experiences and signs in one's reality will be one's reality as they know it.

Neue Staatsgalerie (1977-84), Stuttgart, Germany, designed by the British architects James Stirling and Michael Wilford, showing the eclectic mix of classical architecture and colourful ironic detailing.

Ray and Maria Stata Center (2004), designed by the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Modern Architecture, as established and developed by Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, was focused on:

They argued for architecture that represented the spirit of the age as depicted in cutting-edge technology, be it airplanes, cars, ocean liners, or even supposedly artless grain silos. Modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is associated with the phrase " less is more".

Critics of Modernism have:

argued that the attributes of perfection and minimalism are themselves subjective;

pointed out anachronisms in modern thought; and,

The intellectual scholarship regarding postmodernism and architecture is closely linked with the writings of critic-turned-architect Charles Jencks, beginning with lectures in the early 1970s and his essay "The Rise of Post Modern Architecture" from 1975. His magnum opus, however, is the book The Language of Post-Modern Architecture, first published in 1977, and since running to seven editions. Jencks makes the point that Post-Modernism (like Modernism) varies for each field of art, and that for architecture it is not just a reaction to Modernism but what he terms double coding: "Double Coding: the combination of Modern techniques with something else (usually traditional building) in order for architecture to communicate with the public and a concerned minority, usually other architects." In their book, "Revisiting Postmodernism", Terry Farrell and Adam Furman argue that postmodernism brought a more joyous and sensual experience to the culture, particularly in architecture.

Postmodern art is a body of art movements that sought to contradict some aspects of modernism or some aspects that emerged or developed in its aftermath. Cultural production manifesting as intermedia, installation art, conceptual art, deconstructionist display, and multimedia, particularly involving video, are described as postmodern.

April Greiman

Early mention of postmodernism as an element of graphic design appeared in the British magazine, "Design". A characteristic of postmodern graphic design is that "retro, techno, punk, grunge, beach, parody, and pastiche were all conspicuous trends. Each had its own sites and venues, detractors and advocates."

Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature

Jorge Luis Borges' (1939) short story " Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote", is often considered as predicting postmodernism and is a paragon of the ultimate parody. Samuel Beckett is also considered an important precursor and influence. Novelists who are commonly connected with postmodern literature include Vladimir Nabokov, William Gaddis, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, Pier Vittorio Tondelli, John Hawkes, William S. Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, John Barth, Robert Coover, Jean Rhys, Donald Barthelme, E. L. Doctorow, Richard Kalich, Jerzy Kosiński, Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon (Pynchon's work has also been described as high modern), Ishmael Reed, Kathy Acker, Ana Lydia Vega, Jáchym Topol and Paul Auster.

In 1971, the American scholar Ihab Hassan published The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature, an early work of literary criticism from a postmodern perspective that traces the development of what he calls "literature of silence" through Marquis de Sade, Franz Kafka, Ernest Hemingway, Samuel Beckett, and many others, including developments such as the Theatre of the Absurd and the nouveau roman.

In Postmodernist Fiction (1987), Brian McHale details the shift from modernism to postmodernism, arguing that the former is characterized by an epistemological dominant and that postmodern works have developed out of modernism and are primarily concerned with questions of ontology. McHale's second book, Constructing Postmodernism (1992), provides readings of postmodern fiction and some contemporary writers who go under the label of cyberpunk. McHale's "What Was Postmodernism?" (2007) follows Raymond Federman's lead in now using the past tense when discussing postmodernism.

American singer-songwriter Madonna

Jonathan Kramer has written that avant-garde musical compositions (which some would consider modernist rather than postmodernist) "defy more than seduce the listener, and they extend by potentially unsettling means the very idea of what music is." In the 1960s, composers such as Terry Riley, Henryk Górecki, Bradley Joseph, John Adams, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and Lou Harrison reacted to the perceived elitism and dissonant sound of atonal academic modernism by producing music with simple textures and relatively consonant harmonies, whilst others, most notably John Cage challenged the prevailing narratives of beauty and objectivity common to Modernism.

Author on postmodernism, Dominic Strinati, has noted, it is also important "to include in this category the so-called ' art rock' musical innovations and mixing of styles associated with groups like Talking Heads, and performers like Laurie Anderson, together with the self-conscious 'reinvention of disco' by the Pet Shop Boys".

In the late-20th century, avant-garde academics labelled American singer Madonna, as the "personification of the postmodern", with Christian writer Graham Cray saying that "Madonna is perhaps the most visible example of what is called post-modernism", and Martin Amis described her as "perhaps the most postmodern personage on the planet". She was also suggested by assistant professor Olivier Sécardin of Utrecht University to epitomise postmodernism.

Modernism sought to design and plan cities that followed the logic of the new model of industrial mass production; reverting to large-scale solutions, aesthetic standardisation, and prefabricated design solutions. Modernism eroded urban living by its failure to recognise differences and aim towards homogeneous landscapes (Simonsen 1990, 57). Jane Jacobs' 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was a sustained critique of urban planning as it had developed within Modernism and marked a transition from modernity to postmodernity in thinking about urban planning.

The transition from Modernism to Postmodernism is often said to have happened at 3:32 pm on 15 July in 1972, when Pruitt-Igoe, a housing development for low-income people in St. Louis designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, which had been a prize-winning version of Le Corbusier's 'machine for modern living,' was deemed uninhabitable and was torn down. Since then, Postmodernism has involved theories that embrace and aim to create diversity. It exalts uncertainty, flexibility and change and rejects utopianism while embracing a utopian way of thinking and acting. Postmodernity of 'resistance' seeks to deconstruct Modernism and is a critique of the origins without necessarily returning to them. As a result of Postmodernism, planners are much less inclined to lay a firm or steady claim to there being one single 'right way' of engaging in urban planning and are more open to different styles and ideas of 'how to plan'.

The postmodern approach to understanding the city were pioneered in the 1980s by what could be called the "Los Angeles School of Urbanism" centered on the UCLA's Urban Planning Department in the 1980s, where contemporary Los Angeles was taken to be the postmodern city par excellence, contra posed to what had been the dominant ideas of the Chicago School formed in the 1920s at the University of Chicago, with its framework of urban ecology and emphasis on functional areas of use within a city, and the concentric circles to understand the sorting of different population groups. Edward Soja of the Los Angeles School combined Marxist and postmodern perspectives and focused on the economic and social changes (globalization, specialization, industrialization/deindustrialization, Neo-Liberalism, mass migration) that lead to the creation of large city-regions with their patchwork of population groups and economic uses.

Criticisms of postmodernism are intellectually diverse, including the argument that postmodernism is meaningless and promotes obscurantism.

In part in reference to post-modernism, conservative English philosopher Roger Scruton wrote, "A writer who says that there are no truths, or that all truth is 'merely relative,' is asking you not to believe him. So don't." Similarly, Dick Hebdige criticized the vagueness of the term, enumerating a long list of otherwise unrelated concepts that people have designated as postmodernism, from "the décor of a room" or "a 'scratch' video", to fear of nuclear armageddon and the "implosion of meaning", and stated that anything that could signify all of those things was "a buzzword".

The linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky has said that postmodernism is meaningless because it adds nothing to analytical or empirical knowledge. He asks why postmodernist intellectuals do not respond like people in other fields when asked, "what are the principles of their theories, on what evidence are they based, what do they explain that wasn't already obvious, etc.?...If [these requests] can't be met, then I'd suggest recourse to Hume's advice in similar circumstances: 'to the flames'."

Christian philosopher William Lane Craig has said "The idea that we live in a postmodern culture is a myth. In fact, a postmodern culture is an impossibility; it would be utterly unliveable. People are not relativistic when it comes to matters of science, engineering, and technology; rather, they are relativistic and pluralistic in matters of religion and ethics. But, of course, that's not postmodernism; that's modernism!"

American author Thomas Pynchon targeted postmodernism as an object of derision in his novels, openly mocking postmodernist discourse.

American academic and aesthete Camille Paglia has said:

The end result of four decades of postmodernism permeating the art world is that there is very little interesting or important work being done right now in the fine arts. The irony was a bold and creative posture when Duchamp did it, but it is now an utterly banal, exhausted, and tedious strategy. Young artists have been taught to be "cool" and "hip" and thus painfully self-conscious. They are not encouraged to be enthusiastic, emotional, and visionary. They have been cut off from artistic tradition by the crippled skepticism about history that they have been taught by ignorant and solipsistic postmodernists. In short, the art world will never revive until postmodernism fades away. Postmodernism is a plague upon the mind and the heart.

German philosopher Albrecht Wellmer has said that "postmodernism at its best might be seen as a self-critical - a sceptical, ironic, but nevertheless unrelenting - form of modernism; a modernism beyond utopianism, scientism and foundationalism; in short a post-metaphysical modernism."

A formal, academic critique of postmodernism can be found in Beyond the Hoax by physics professor Alan Sokal and in Fashionable Nonsense by Sokal and Belgian physicist Jean Bricmont, both books discussing the so-called Sokal affair. In 1996, Sokal wrote a deliberately nonsensical article in a style similar to postmodernist articles, which was accepted for publication by the postmodern cultural studies journal, Social Text. On the same day of the release he published another article in a different journal explaining the Social Text article hoax. The philosopher Thomas Nagel has supported Sokal and Bricmont, describing their book Fashionable Nonsense as consisting largely of "extensive quotations of scientific gibberish from name-brand French intellectuals, together with eerily patient explanations of why it is gibberish," and agreeing that "there does seem to be something about the Parisian scene that is particularly hospitable to reckless verbosity."

Zimbabwean-born British Marxist Alex Callinicos says that postmodernism "reflects the disappointed revolutionary generation of '68, and the incorporation of many of its members into the professional and managerial 'new middle class'. It is best read as a symptom of political frustration and social mobility rather than as a significant intellectual or cultural phenomenon in its own right."

Analytic philosopher Daniel Dennett said, "Postmodernism, the school of 'thought' that proclaimed 'There are no truths, only interpretations' has largely played itself out in absurdity, but it has left behind a generation of academics in the humanities disabled by their distrust of the very idea of truth and their disrespect for evidence, settling for 'conversations' in which nobody is wrong and nothing can be confirmed, only asserted with whatever style you can muster."

American historian Richard Wolin traces the origins of postmodernism to intellectual roots in fascism, writing "postmodernism has been nourished by the doctrines of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Blanchot, and Paul de Man -all of whom either prefigured or succumbed to the proverbial intellectual fascination with fascism."

Richard Caputo, William Epstein, David Stoesz & Bruce Thyer consider postmodernism to be a "dead-end in social work epistemology." They write:

Postmodernism continues to have a detrimental influence on social work, questioning the Enlightenment, criticizing established research methods, and challenging scientific authority. The promotion of postmodernism by editors of Social Work and the Journal of Social Work Education has elevated postmodernism, placing it on a par with theoretically guided and empirically based research. The inclusion of postmodernism in the 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education and its 2015 sequel further erode the knowledge-building capacity of social work educators. In relation to other disciplines that have exploited empirical methods, social work's stature will continue to ebb until postmodernism is rejected in favor of scientific methods for generating knowledge.

H. Sidky pointed out what he sees as several inherent flaws of a postmodern antiscience perspective, including the confusion of the authority of science (evidence) with the scientist conveying the knowledge; its self-contradictory claim that all truths are relative; and its strategic ambiguity. He sees 21st-century anti-scientific and pseudo-scientific approaches to knowledge, particularly in the United States, as rooted in a postmodernist "decades-long academic assault on science:"

Many of those indoctrinated in postmodern anti-science went on to become conservative political and religious leaders, policymakers, journalists, journal editors, judges, lawyers, and members of city councils and school boards. Sadly, they forgot the lofty ideals of their teachers, except that science is bogus.

Criticism by "postmodernists" themselves

The French psychotherapist and philosopher, Félix Guattari, rejected its theoretical assumptions by arguing that the structuralist and postmodernist visions of the world were not flexible enough to seek explanations in psychological, social, and environmental domains at the same time. In an interview with Truls Lie, Jean Baudrillard noted: "[ Transmodernism, etc.] are better terms than "postmodernism". It is not about modernity; it is about every system that has developed its mode of expression to the extent that it surpasses itself and its own logic. This is what I am trying to analyze." "There is no longer any ontologically secret substance. I perceive this to be nihilism rather than postmodernism."

Culture and politics

Defamiliarization - Artistic technique of presenting common things in an unfamiliar or strange way

Disenchantment - Cultural rationalization and devaluation of religion apparent in modern society

Syncretism - Assimilation of two or more originally discrete religious traditions

Philosophy

Second modernity - Industrial society transformed into a more reflexive network society or information society

Altermodern - term for art that reacts against standardisation and commercialism

Remodernism - Revival of modernism

1. Nuyen, A. T. (1992). "The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse". Philosophy & Rhetoric. Penn State University Press. 25 (2): 183-194. JSTOR 40237717.

2. ^ "postmodernism". American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018 - via AHDictionary.com. Of or relating to an intellectual stance often marked by eclecticism and irony and tending to reject the universal validity of such principles as hierarchy, binary opposition, categorization, and stable identity.

3. "Postmodernism Glossary". Faith and Reason. 11 September 1998 - via PBS.

4. ^ Harari, Yuval Noah (2015). Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Translated from Hebrew by the author with John Purcell and Haim Watzman. London: Penguin Random House UK. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-09-959008-8. OCLC 910498369.

5. ^ Welsch, Wolfgang; Sandbothe, Mike (1997). "Postmodernity as a Philosophical Concept". International Postmodernism. Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages. Vol. XI. p. 76. doi:10.1075/chlel.xi.07wel. ISBN 978-90-272-3443-8 - via Google Books.

6. ^ Lyotard, Jean-François (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minneapolis University of Minneapolis Press.

7. ^ Baudrillard, Jean (1988). "Simulacra and Simulations". Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 166-184.

8. ^ Fjellestad, Danuta; Engberg, Maria (2013). "Toward a Concept of Post-Postmodernism or Lady Gaga's Reconfigurations of Madonna". Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture. 12 (4). Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. DiVA 833886.

9. ^ Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1963). Structural Anthropology (I ed.). New York: Basic Books. p. 324. ISBN 0-465-09516-X. quoting D'Arcy Westworth Thompson states: "To those who question the possibility of defining the interrelations between entities whose nature is not completely understood, I shall reply with the following comment by a great naturalist: In a very large part of morphology, our essential task lies in the comparison of related forms rather than in the precise definition of each; and the deformation of a complicated figure may be a phenomenon easy of comprehension, though the figure itself has to be left unanalyzed and undefined."

10. ^ Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1963). Structural Anthropology. Translated by Jacobson, Claire; Schoepf, Brooke Grundfest. New York: Basic Books. p. 228. ISBN 9780786724437 - via Google Books.

11. ^ Yilmaz, K. (2010). "Postmodernism and its Challenge to the Discipline of History: Implications for History Education". Educational Philosophy & Theory. 42 (7): 779-795. doi:10.1111/j.1469-5812.2009.00525.x. S2CID 145695056.

12. ^ Derrida, Jacques (8 January 1998). "The Exorbitant Question of Method" (PDF). Of Grammatology. Translated by Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty (Corrected ed.). Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 158-59, 163. ISBN 0-8018-5830-5.

13. ^ Campbell, Heidi A. (2006). "Postcyborg Ethics: A New Way to Speak of Technology". Explorations in Media Ecology. 5 (4): 279-296. doi:10.1386/eme.5.4.279_1.

14. ^ Mann, Steve; Fung, James; Federman, Mark; Baccanico, Gianluca (2002). "PanopDecon: Deconstructing, decontaminating, and decontextualizing panopticism in the postcyborg era". Surveillance & Society. 1 (3): 375-398. doi:10.24908/ss.v1i3.3346.

15. ^ Best, Steven; Kellner, Douglas (2 November 2001). "The Postmodern Turn in Philosophy: Theoretical Provocations and Normative Deficits". UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. UCLA.

16. ^ McCance, Dawne (5 December 2014) [2009: Equinox]. Derrida on Religion: Thinker of Differance. Key thinkers in the study of religion. London: Routledge. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-317-49093-7. OCLC 960024707 - via Google Books.

17. ^ Peters, Michael A.; Biesta, Gert (2009). Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy. New York: Peter Lang. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4331-0009-3. OCLC 314727596 - via Google Books.

18. ^ Leitch, Vincent B. (1 January 1996). Postmodernism - Local Effects, Global Flows. SUNY series in postmodern culture. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4384-1044-9. OCLC 715808589 - via Google Books.

19. ^ Lurcza, Zsuzsanna (2017). "Deconstruction of the Destruktion - Heidegger and Derrida". Philobiblon. Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Humanities. 22 (2). doi:10.26424/philobib.2017.22.2.11. ISSN 1224-7448.

20. ^ "The most cited authors of books in the humanities". Times Higher Education. THE World Universities Insights. 2019.

21. ^ Luke, Timothy W. (1991). "Power and politics in hyperreality: The critical project of Jean Baudrillard". The Social Science Journal. 28 (3): 347-367. doi:10.1016/0362-3319(91)90018-Y.

22. ^ Kellner, Douglas (1988). "Postmodernism as Social Theory: Some Challenges and Problems". Theory, Culture & Society. 5 (2-3): 239-269. doi:10.1177/0263276488005002003. ISSN 0263-2764. S2CID 144625142.

23. ^ Lule, Jack (2001). "The Postmodern Adventure [Book Review]". Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 78 (4): 865-866. doi:10.1177/107769900107800415. S2CID 221059611.

24. ^ Bellalouna, Elizabeth; LaBlanc, Michael L.; Milne, Ira Mark (2000). Literature of Developing Nations for Students: L-Z. Gale. p. 50. ISBN 9780787649302 - via Google Books.

25. ^ McHale, Brian (2011). "Pynchon's postmodernism". In Dalsgaard, Inger H.; Herman, Luc; McHale, Brian (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Pynchon. pp. 97-111. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521769747.010. ISBN 978-0-521-76974-7.

26. ^ McHale, Brian (20 December 2007). "What Was Postmodernism?". Electronic Book Review.

27. ^ Brown, Stephen (2003). "On Madonna'S Brand Ambition: Presentation Transcript". Association For Consumer Research. pp. 119-201. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.

28. McGregor, Jock (2008). "Madonna: Icon of Postmodernity" (PDF). L'Abri. pp. 1-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2010.

29. ^ River, Canavan; McCamley, Claire (February 2020). "The passing of the postmodern in pop? Epochal consumption and marketing from Madonna, through Gaga, to Taylor". Journal of Business Research. 107: 222-230. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.12.005.

30. ^ Goodchild 1990, pp. 119-137; Hatuka & d'Hooghe 2007, pp. 20-27; Irving 1993, pp. 474-487; Simonsen 1990, pp. 51-62

31. ^ Hebdige, Dick (2006). "Postmodernism and "the other side"". In Storey, John (ed.). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A reader. London: Pearson Education.

32. ^ de Castro, Eliana (12 December 2015). "Camille Paglia: "Postmodernism is a plague upon the mind and the heart"". FAUSTO - Filosofia, Cultura e Literatura Clássica. Postmodernism is a plague upon the mind and the heart.

33. ^ Sokal, Alan D. (1996), "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity", Social Text, 46-47 (46/47): 217-252, doi:10.2307/466856, JSTOR 466856, archived from the original on 19 May 2017

34. ^ Sokal, Alan D. (5 June 1996). "A Physicist Experiments with Cultural Studies". Lingua Franca. Archived from the original on 5 October 2007.

35. ^ Jedlitschka, Karsten (5 August 2018). "Guenter Lewy, Harmful and Undesirable. Book Censorship in Nazi Germany. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2016". Historische Zeitschrift. 307 (1): 274-275. doi:10.1515/hzhz-2018-1368. ISSN 2196-680X. S2CID 159895878.

36. ^ "DENNETT ON WIESELTIER V. PINKER IN THE NEW REPUBLIC". Archived from the original on 5 August 2018.

37. ^ Caputo, Richard; Epstein, William; Stoesz, David; Thyer, Bruce (2015). "Postmodernism: A Dead End in Social Work Epistemology". Journal of Social Work Education. 51 (4): 638-647. doi:10.1080/10437797.2015.1076260. S2CID 143246585.

38. ^ Sidky, H. (2018). "The War on Science, Anti-Intellectualism, and 'Alternative Ways of Knowing' in 21st-Century America". Skeptical Inquirer. 42 (2): 38-43. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018.

39. ^ Guattari, Felix (1989). "The three ecologies" (PDF). New Formations (8): 34. Structuralism, and subsequently postmodernism, have accustomed us to a vision of the world in which human interventions - concrete politics and micropolitics - are no longer relevant. The withering away of social praxis is explained in terms of the death of ideologies, or of some supposed return to universal values. Yet those explanations seem to me highly unsatisfactory. The decisive factor, it seems to me, is the general inflexibility of social and psychological praxes - their failure to adapt - as well as a widespread incapacity to perceive the erroneousness of partitioning off the real into a number of separate fields. It is quite simply wrong to regard action on the psyche, the socius, and the environment as separate. Indeed, if we continue - as the media would have us do - to refuse squarely to confront the simultaneous degradation of these three areas, we will in effect be acquiescing in a general infantilization of opinion, a destruction and neutralization of democracy. We need to 'kick the habit' of sedative consumption, of television discourse in particular; we need to apprehend the world through the interchangeable lenses of the three ecologies.

40. ^ "The art of disappearing - BAUDRILLARD NOW". 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021.

Bruner, Edward M. (1994). "Abraham Lincoln as Authentic Reproduction: A Critique of Postmodernism" (PDF). American Anthropologist. 96 (2): 397-415. doi:10.1525/aa.1994.96.2.02a00070. JSTOR 681680. S2CID 161259515. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2020.

Foucault, Michel (17 April 2018). The order of things: an archaeology of the human sciences. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-33667-9. OCLC 1051836299.

Foucault, Michel (2020). Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-241-38601-9. OCLC 1117463412.

Goodchild, Barry (1990). "Planning and the Modern/Postmodern Debate". The Town Planning Review. 61 (2): 119-137. doi:10.3828/tpr.61.2.q5863289k1353533. JSTOR 40112887.

Hatuka, Tali; d'Hooghe, Alexander (2007). "After Postmodernism: Readdressing the Role of Utopia in Urban Design and Planning". Places. 19 (2): 20-27.

Irving, Allan (1993). "The Modern/Postmodern Divide and Urban Planning". University of Toronto Quarterly. 62 (4): 474-487. doi:10.3138/utq.62.4.474. S2CID 144261041.

Lyotard, Jean-François (1989). The Lyotard reader. Oxford, UK / Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-16339-5.

Mura, Andrea (2012). "The Symbolic Function of Transmodernity". Language and Psychoanalysis. 1 (1): 68-87. doi:10.7565/landp.2012.0005.

Simonsen, Kirsten (1990). "Planning on 'Postmodern' Conditions". Acta Sociologica. 33 (1): 51-62. doi:10.1177/000169939003300104. JSTOR 4200779. S2CID 144268594.

Sokal, Alan; Bricmont, Jean (1999). Intellectual impostures: postmodern philosophers' abuse of science. London: Profile. ISBN 1-86197-124-9.

"Graphic Design in the Postmodern Era". Emigre (47). 1998.

Alexie, Sherman (2000). "The Toughest Indian in the World" (ISBN 0-8021-3800-4)

Anderson, Perry. The origins of postmodernity. London: Verso Books, 1998.

Anderson, Walter Truett. The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader). New York: Tarcher. (1995) (ISBN 0-87477-801-8)

Arena, Leonardo Vittorio (2015) On Nudity. An Introduction to Nonsense, Mimesis International.

Ashley, Richard; Walker, R. B. J. (1990). "Speaking the Language of Exile". International Studies Quarterly. 34 (3): 259-268. doi:10.2307/2600569. JSTOR 2600569.

Ulrich, Beck (1986). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity.

Best, Steven and Douglas Kellner. Postmodern Theory (1991) excerpt and text search

Best, Steven, and Douglas Kellner. The Postmodern Turn (1997) excerpt and text search

Best, Steven, and Douglas Kellner. The Postmodern Adventure: Science, Technology, and Cultural Studies at the Third Millennium Guilford Press, 2001 (ISBN 978-1-57230-665-3)

Brass, Tom, Peasants, Populism and Postmodernism (London: Cass, 2000).

Butler, Judith (1995). "Contingent Foundations". In Benhabib, Seyla; Butler, Judith; Cornell, Drucilla; Fraser, Nancy (eds.). Feminist Contentions: A Philosophical Exchange. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415910866.

Dirlik, Arif; Zhang, Xudong, eds. (2000). Postmodernism & China. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-8022-6. OCLC 52341080.

Drabble, M. The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6 ed., article "Postmodernism".

Farrell, John. "Paranoia and Postmodernism," the epilogue to Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau (Cornell University Press, 2006), 309-327.

Gosselin, Paul (2012) Flight From the Absolute: Cynical Observations on the Postmodern West. volume I. Samizdat Flight From the Absolute: Cynical Observations on the Postmodern West. Volume I (ISBN 978-2-9807774-3-1)

Groothuis, Douglas (2000). Truth Decay. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

Honderich, Ted. "Postmodernism". The Oxford Companion to Philosophy.

Lyotard, Jean-François (1988). Pefanis, Julian; Thomas, Morgan (eds.). The Postmodern Explained: Correspondence 1982-1985. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-2211-6.

Lyotard, Jean-François (2004). "Scriptures: Diffracted Traces". Theory, Culture and Society. 21 (1). doi:10.1177/0263276404040482.

Lyotard, Jean-François (2004). "Anamnesis: Of the Visible". Theory, Culture and Society. 21 (1). doi:10.1177/0263276404040483.

MacIntyre, Alasdair (1984). After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (2nd ed.). University of Notre Dame Press.

Magliola, Robert (2000) [1997]. On Deconstructing Life-Worlds: Buddhism, Christianity, Culture (Atlanta: Scholars Press of American Academy of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-7885-0295-6.

Manuel, Peter (1995). "Music as Symbol, Music as Simulacrum: Pre-Modern, Modern, and Postmodern Aesthetics in Subcultural Musics". Popular Music. 1/2: 227-239. doi:10.1017/S0261143000007455. S2CID 193168256.

McHale, Brian (2007), "What Was Postmodernism?" electronic book review, [1] Archived 18 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine

McHale, Brian (2008). "1966 Nervous Breakdown, or, When Did Postmodernism Begin?". Modern Language Quarterly. 69 (3): 391-413. doi:10.1215/00267929-2008-004.

Sokal, Alan; Bricmont, Jean (1998). Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-20407-8.

Veith Jr., Gene Edward (1994). Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Crossway. ISBN 0-89107-768-5.

Windschuttle, Keith (1996). The Killing of History: How Literary Critics and Social Theorists are Murdering Our Past. New York: The Free Press.

(Reprinted 2002) (ISBN 0-7190-5211-4 Paperback).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of modernism; rejection of epistemic (scientific) certainty or the stability of meaning; and sensitivity to the role of ideology in maintaining political power.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work; also : such stylistic imitation; a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : potpourri; hodgepodge... See the full definition

# data[].attributes.headline
Riverdale's Wining awards from 2017 to 2018

# data[].attributes.subject
Riverdale's Wining awards from 2017 to 2018

# data[].attributes.headline
Veronica's dad, Hiram. You can tell he is very serious.

# data[].attributes.subject
Veronica's dad, Hiram. You can tell he is very serious.

# data[].attributes.headline
Other setting where the main characters go to eat and meet to chat.

# data[].attributes.subject
Other setting where the main characters go to eat and meet to chat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It can't be said enough: Riverdale is the type of show where even with the introduction of a (kind of terrible) serial killer, the coma dreams of Dylan McKay, and a haunting "Milkshake" cover on top of a failing diner, it takes a lot for it to achieve its maximum balls-to-the-wall crazy level. Even with all of those things (and more) in the second season's first two episodes, the show hadn't yet felt like it made a true return to Riverdale form. At least, not until now with "Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher In The Woods."

In defense of "Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying" and "Chapter Fifteen: Nighthawks," those episodes were very much early setup for the rest of the season/this particular arc. In my review of "Chapter Fifteen," I criticized the use of reset buttons as part of the setup for this season, and while those are still present in "Chapter Sixteen," there is less of a heavy hand on the button this time around. Instead, "Chapter Sixteen" is a true return to a Riverdale that doesn't need to handhold its audience and completely reintroduce it to the world. There is still plenty of setup, but "Chapter Sixteen" is not a setup episode above all else. It's just Riverdale, and it's a version of Riverdale that even does well for two of its hardest to handle characters, Archie and Kevin.

Kevin Keller is a character who seems like he should be so much easier for Riverdale to grasp. In the first season, he and Veronica were often the only two characters who called attention to just how crazy things are in Riverdale. His relationship with his father was also one of the most surprisingly refreshing aspects of the show, a concept that's thankfully still treated as important in this episode. (Let the record show that while Sheriff Keller is not the best sheriff, he's certainly still the frontrunner for best Riverdale parent. By a country mile. Sorry, Fred.) But a combination of Gay Best Friend characterization and the naïveté in his relationship with Joaquin (as nice as the San Junipero send-off was) led to a case of diminishing returns for the character. It also didn't help that actor Casey Cott was "only" a guest star, making a supposedly important character-as Betty's best friend, the sheriff's son, an openly gay but still rather respected figure in the town, even a reasonably decent contributor to mystery-solving-end up on the outskirts as a result.

But now that he's a series regular, the expectation is that he will have more on his plate. So after a few scenes sprinkled in the second season's first couple of episodes, "Chapter Sixteen" looks like the official beginning to the righting of the particular wrongs with the character. And while it's a bit of a bummer beginning, it is one that does what Riverdale is all about: It peels back the shadows on perceived lightness, as unpleasant as that ends up being. In this case, it comes in the form of Kevin and his new hobby of/compulsion for cruising in the woods at night. This is also how he finds the damaged-but-still-alive Moose and Midge in the woods. But while life-saving is a big deal, it's not the focus of Kevin's story in this episode.

Kevin's dilemma in this episode is one of those Riverdale plots that's realer than most, but it still works effectively without needing any over-the-top bells or whistles to keep it interesting or maintain the tension. The closest the plot even gets to over-the-top is the moment when Kevin imagines the car creep stabbing him. It's legitimately slasher film scary, but it also plays on the show's established unsafe world, as well as the Black Hood's (and a lot of terrible people's) established stance against sinners. Given Riverdale's basic dystopia status, it's believable and a genuine relief once it turns out it was all just a dream. It is a big deal that Kevin gets away unscathed, both in an episode and season in which the writers are attempting to make clear that no one is safe and as a point that Kevin himself makes to Betty. He doesn't have the same romantic options as her, and his high school experience-no matter how accepting the school itself is-won't be the same as hers, no matter how much she wants to use the "we're all in this together" argument for him. Kevin's past two love interests have been closeted jock Moose* and gang member (with ulterior motives) Joaquin. So while Kevin reaches an emotionally cathartic moment with his father at the end of the episode, it's probably for the best that it doesn't erase his earlier fight with Betty. Not because she snitched but because it's time for Riverdale to examine who Kevin really is outside his friendship with Betty.

As for Archie, his PTSD and general trauma-while interesting, provided he finally admits he needs help and gets it-in "Chapter Fifteen" took on a less fun form than expected from "Chapter Fourteen." But here in "Chapter Sixteen," boy does it deliver. Because while there's nothing but disappointment when it comes to Archie considering drug abuse and unintentionally making the argument for gun control, there's nothing but sheer Riverdale-ian joy when it comes to him translating that into a teenage boy militia. A (sometimes shirtless) teenage boy militia, sponsored by Riverdale High School and encouraged by Hiram Lodge. That's what Riverdale should be. That's what Riverdale is. Even better is how Archie's inner circle reacts to his new hobby: like it's any old Archie hobby. They all treat it like it's his new music thing, whether it's Jughead's amusement at his drive to do it or Veronica simply reminding Archie not to bring it up (like he would his music) at dinner with her parents. This is the same episode in which Archie tries to pretend he really did much to help solve Jason Blossom's murder, too, so it makes sense that most characters would just hand wave his decision to be a teenage vigilante. Even when there's a legitimate threat in and around town.

For future reference, this is a list of people who think the Red Circle is a good idea:

Archie, a person who should not be put in charge of things. This was even the case for football. Keep in mind that he only gets the Red Circle idea because he hides his gun under his comics, with his old toys, because he is a youth.

New Reggie, a person who thinks dressing like the attempted murderer of his teammate's dad makes a good prank. He is also a legit drug dealer, so you know, is he really that concerned with cleaning up the town?

Principal Weatherbee, a person who realizes this "school club" is teen vigilantism, but... that's good for school spirit, I guess?

Dilton Doiley, a literal doomsday prepper (and gun runner) who the first season made clear should also not be around kids.

The Riverdale football team, who are mysoginistic at best.

Hiram Lodge, a convicted felon.

Ethel, as they do actually help her. Though now we have to ask who was following her and if it was (unfortunately) standard harassment or Black Hood-related. And if it's Black Hood-related, what's Ethel's sin?

Possibly Jughead, but just as a joke.

While this episode focuses a lot on Archie's teen mob thing, sadly we're deprived of the full potential of a standard awkward Riverdale dinner as a result of that focus. We get a scene where Veronica promises to teach him some common Spanish phrases for the dinner, yet not once do we hear him butcher a foreign language or learn that Veronica is short for Josephine. "Rum?... Like the alcohol?" is still pretty good though.

But as Veronica spends a good chunk of her time making sure her father approves of her boyfriend and friends, she spends just as much time in a bizarre love triangle with her mother for said father's affections and trust. While Veronica might not know it, she's already kind of won. Hiram's very much concerned with keeping his daughter in his good graces and with a belief that he's a good guy, even though the latter isn't the case. And any problems with the former aren't exactly Hermione's fault, as much as he believes they are. When Hiram threatens Hermione for even thinking to "poison" Veronica against him, it's the result of a scene in which Veronica practically goads her mother into telling the truth about Hiram. Hermione doesn't bite and is loyal to her husband, but even that's not good enough for him.

"Chapter Sixteen" continues to successfully plead the case for Hermione Lodge's character transformation into "evil" Hermione, especially when her scenes with Veronica fill the void left by both an absent (and of course Cheryl-controlled) Penelope Blossom and an otherwise preoccupied Alice Cooper. While Alice may get the last word in her scene with Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy, she's still rather subdued in this episode due to Polly's decision to go to "the farm." But Marisol Nichols picks up the slack, consistently surprising everyone with just how cold and petty she can play Hermione. She and Mark Consuelos are playing the most against type of the any of the parent characters, and it's a joy to see. It's also a reminder that Riverdale can continue to surprise even with its more familiar components.

Even though Archie is completely consumed with safety in his community, it should of course be noted that that community doesn't extend to the Southside. Although, if the Red Circle tried to pull their particular brand of jock justice on the Southside, the results would certainly be entertaining.

Over on the Southside, we have Jughead finally back at his actual school, as the show hits the reset button again to pretend this is his first day of school.** With Southside High Day One (take 2.0), we're introduced to a new Jughead/Serpents dynamic, a rival gang called The Ghoulies, and a truly depressing depiction of an underprivileged high school. Jingle Jangle in the hallways, graffiti everywhere, defunct newspapers, and cliques separated by either their gang affiliation or cannibal status. It's moments like these when I can't believe that Riverdale is a television show that even exists for me to write about, and this is the same review in which I just wrote about the supporters of a small town teenage vigilante mob. As is the way of televised squalor, the scenes at Southside High are even darker blue than standard Riverdale. However, unlike the school's introduction in season one, Jughead doesn't have the easiest time at his new school this time around. It's hard to say that anyone watching thought Jughead was really going to be able to fulfill his promise to Betty that he was going to stay out of the Serpent world, but "Chapter Sixteen" makes it clear that just when he thinks he's out, they pull him back in. And this is just the result of being a legacy Serpent, not even being a full-fledged criminal. But while Archie thinks he's helping solve crime in town, Jughead's new surroundings lead him to continue to actually do so; he learns on just his first day that the hard drugs making their way to the Northside are courtesy of The Ghoulies. He also learns he can't just keep using the Serpents as his personal favor service, too, but that's not as easy to learn.

"Chapter Sixteen" is the first episode of the season that truly feels like it's picking back up where peak Riverdale season left off. And while it still leaves a lot of things untouched and unsaid, what it does touch and say is as good as it can be. (Somehow, Archie doesn't have a real reaction to the reveal that he was right about the Black Hood and all the attacks being connected.) As Riverdale opens its world up more, it's becoming even more preposterous that anyone ever thought it was a sweet, perfect town, but that's part of the series' charm. Not only does this episode provide a good showcase for two of its more difficult to nail characters (while Josie's role is still a problem for the show, the show doesn't really have a problem wiht the character itself), but it gets back into the forward momentum of the season. Funnily enough, it does so without actually having the Black Hood go after anyone, but with his motivation now out in the open, it also gives these characters more of a reason to act before it's too late. As I've mentioned before, Riverdale still provides moments that serve as reminders of why it's so enjoyable. But when it does them consistently from scene to scene, with everyone involved getting in on the fun, that's when it works. "Chapter Sixteen" works.

Stray observations

Riverdale Roulette: Technically it might not count as a teen genre piece of media, but I have to suggest Dangerous Minds this week. Specifically for the fact that Southside High School so very much needs someone to Dangerous Minds them. That or Take The Lead them, and I just don't expect that from this show. Part of me wanted to suggest an episode of Finding Carter, in honor of Vanessa Morgan's debut as Toni Topaz. But then I just get angry remembering how quickly that show went off the rails, even if Morgan's character remained the most tolerable throughout, despite being named Bird.

*I need to know that Riverdale knows it's okay for Moose to be a closeted (if he must be closeted) bisexual guy and not just a closeted gay guy. His scene with Kevin is Moose's best and most interesting scene, but even though he says he's not sure Midge is the right person for him, that doesn't and shouldn't necessarily mean it's simply because she's a girl. It's all right for Moose to be into Midge-and even if he's not into Midge, at least other girls-as well as Kevin or any other guys.

**While episode promos tend to play with the concept of the actual truth of the episodes, it's the episode synopses and press releases for "Chapter Sixteen" that keep hitting "first day of school" with Jughead's story. And the plot treats it as such.

Will Riverdale go as predictable as possible with Betty/Jughead/Toni? Jughead already has some Serpent lady trouble with Penny Peabody, so he really does not need more. Though I do wonder if Jughead is going to react with the same amount of surprise every time he meets another female member of the Southside Serpents. Because it would actually be a pretty great recurring bit.

Riverdale is the type of show where I think Jughead might just be a jerk loner calling a Serpent "sweet pea," only to immediately accept, "Of course his 'name' is just Sweet Pea" when Toni also calls him that. This is a good show.

That Kevin points out how untrustworthy dating apps while doing something that can be just as (or even more) dangerous straddles the line between ridiculous Riverdale comment and legitimate grievance. Because while Kevin's right that he could easily be deceived by a false depiction from the dating app, he refuses to acknowledge how dangerous Riverdale itself is, even if you think you know someone. He at least realizes this in his last cruising attempt.

Cheryl's off on the sidelines encouraging risky teenage sexual acts in this episode... until she isn't. Cheryl plays the role of sassy observer this episode, and while that's still technically a good use of her time, it's kind of a waste overall. She gives Betty a speech about Kevin's issues stemming from ugly duckling turned beautiful swan status, but it turns out that's not exactly the case. And really, if Cheryl didn't call Betty, I feel like she would've ended up facilitating something extremely dangerous happening to Kevin.

"Dark Betty" is great, but I don't exactly feel the same way about characters just throwing out "Dark Betty" in conversation. Unless they've been confronted by (or witnessed said confrontation by) Betty in a black wig at any point.

Horror logic dictates that Polly running away to "the farm" is a choice that's going to bite her in the ass, but after Moose and Midge's miraculous escape after last week's conclusion, I can't see Riverdale being bold or brave enough to have the Black Hood do anything to a pregnant Polly. Not that I'm saying I want this psychopath to go after a pregnant girl, but her running and separating herself from her family is obviously a bad choice. If Riverdale does go there though, then wow. (Speaking of horror and Riverdale, props again to the Kevin fantasy scene, as well as the Jughead/Southside After Dark scene.)

Now we're back at square one when it comes to how the Black Hood knew where Grundy was, as his motives are based on her sins as opposed to a personal vendetta. So how did the Black Hood know where she was? How does the guy know about any of these people and their actions? Other than by listening to Jughead's voice-over, that is. By the way, even the Black Hood knows Grundy's a child predator. Will Archie ever realize that? That's the greatest mystery of all. On that note, I will link to this Cosmopolitan article.

I think the funniest thing about Archie's battle cry against the Black Hood is that the guy doesn't even see him as a target: Based on his criteria and letter, if anything, he sees Archie as a victim. So I imagine that either the Black Hood did not watch Archie's YouTube video or he watched it with an amused look on his face (kind of like Hiram).

An amazing shot in this episode: pensive Archie sitting in front of Veronica's fire place, as though he's a character meant to be taken seriously in any form. This is the same scene in which he says "us" when talking about the people who solved Jason's murder. This is why his friends just let him go with his little militia; it's something shiny to distract him.

Jughead: "No, don't stop him. Archie going Travis Bickle is my favorite Archie yet."

Sheriff Keller: "Did ya actually think I'd let a bunch of teenagers form a militia?" Yes, because you did. Also yes, because you continued to allow them to do so. Shirtless, even.

Polly: "I'm an unwed mother, carrying my cousin's babies. I am the poster child for sin, Betty." First of all, it's nice to see Polly get a win on her way out with that line. Second of all, how could Betty seriously say that Polly isn't a sinner? No one's saying Polly's a bad person, but using the matter-of-fact definition of sin that this particular villain is using, yes, of course Polly is a sinner.

Hermione: "You're playing with fire, I want you to know."
Veronica: "I'm polishing cutlery, Mom." Every day Veronica strays closer toward Hermione slapping her.

Hermione: "Pobrecita. Poor little princess. The king will always keep her at arm's length." This is definitely a normal thing a good parent should say to their child.

This episode is technically not as heavy on the Sabrina spin-off teasing, but it does still have a shout-out, specifically in the Red Circle stuff. Red Circle is not an Archie comics character, but it is the imprint that published the fantasy/horror (and later superhero) stories under that umbrella. Specifically Chilling Adventures In Sorcery As Told By Sabrina and the Black Hood comics. It truly must be the season of the witch.

Everyone keeps comparing the Black Hood stuff to Zodiac, but I want it to be Riverdale's . Make of that what you will.

I do appreciate that Hiram's "man-to-man" talk with Archie-as ominous as it first sounds-is just the standard respect talk. Telling him not to sneak into Veronica's bedroom at night? It's a valid request. Of course, it turns into Hiram pushing Archie more and more into teen vigilante justice, so that's... different. Trying to unpack Hiram's actions when it comes to Archie/Red Circle, is the point that Hiram wants to destroy Riverdale and remake it in his image? Because suggesting youths take over crime prevention is definitely key to the first half of that plan.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
With "Chapter Sixteen," Riverdale cruises back into its sweet spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It can't be said enough: Riverdale is the type of show where even with the introduction of a (kind of terrible) serial killer, the coma dreams of Dylan McKay, and a haunting "Milkshake" cover on top of a failing diner, it takes a lot for it to achieve its maximum balls-to-the-wall crazy level.

# data[].attributes.headline
The main characters Jughead, Veronica, Betty, and Archie.

# data[].attributes.subject
The main characters Jughead, Veronica, Betty, and Archie.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Riverdale" Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher in the Woods (TV Episode 2017)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. With K.J. Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse. Archie takes matters into his own hands; An unexpected turn of events leads the town to realize their darkest chapter may be far from over.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reviews about the episode 3 in season 2.

# data[].attributes.subject
Reviews about the episode 3 in season 2.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW

There's no telling if the Black Hood took a break from binging Mindhunter to check out the Red Circle's truly bonkers video threat, but Archie has certainly succeeded in riling up every other human being in Riverdale. Hermione doesn't want Veronica to see her ginger boy toy any more, despite the fact that - unbeknownst to her - her very own husband essentially put Archie up to shooting this junior commando softcore scene. Fred demands his son take the original post down, but he already has. The video, shared and reshared and shared again, belongs to the internet now. In real life, there is no doubt in my mind that Archie and company would have ended up on Tosh.0.

The clip has even spread to Southside High, where Jughead comes upon Sweet Pea suggesting that a newbie Serpent "bring us the head of that northsider" as his initiation. Also, not for nothing, but are Sweet Pea and Jughead related or what? They have the same face. Maybe not on a Cole Sprouse/Dylan Sprouse level of same-faceness, but still! If the Coopers and the Blossoms are in fact one big unhappy family, maybe the Serpents have some genealogical secrets of their own.

Meanwhile, Principal Weatherbee will not stand for this Red Circle malarkey in his school.Unless Archie writes a letter of apology to the Riverdale High community and disbands his peppy little militia by the end of the week, he'll be suspended. And that's not all: Football is cancelled! It's just like Footloose, but ... Footballoose? You know what, I'll keep workshopping that.

Betty discovers a creepy envelope, much like the one her mother received last week, among the Blue and Gold's mail. But this one's addressed to her. Inside is a letter from the Black Hood, in which he tells Betty he's doing all this for her. Romantic! You see, he was inspired to kill by her Jubilee speech. So that means the Black Hood, whoever he (or she? Just kidding - middle-aged white dudes have the serial-killer game on lock) may be, must have been in attendance at Riverdale's anniversary celebration. "The town's sinners must show their contrition," he writes. "If not, there will be more suffering and bloodshed." He also included a cipher for her to solve, which will reveal where his next killing will take place. Betty brings the coded message, without the accompanying letter, to her mother, who in turn brings it to Sheriff Keller. After publishing it first, of course.

Archie tries to rally the Red Circle to take the fight to the south side, the Black Hood's presumed stomping ground, in an attempt to draw him out. This is a terrible plan, as is universally acknowledged by Archie's formerly willing minions. Riverdale: the story of a town tormented by the relentless stupidity of one young man. (That said, I will take Aspiring Charles Bronson Vigilante Archie over Aspiring Sensitive Musician Archie any day of the week.) Veronica, having accepted that her criminal-kingpin dad may have manipulated her impressionable, dopey boyfriend, decides to be supportive. She doesn't just wear a custom-made Red Circle tank to school, but she's also recruited her friends to hand them out to the entire student body. "The Red Circle is no longer a fringe band of radicals," she tells Archie. "It's a movement, with style and panache." Oh, so it's been gentrified.

I hate to say it, but could there be trouble in Bughead paradise? Jughead and fellow serial-killer nerd Toni Topaz are growing closer (how many episodes until they start a podcast?), with Juggie even ignoring Betty's calls to work on the cipher with his new friend. The next night, all three kids plus Kevin come together for a "code-breaking party." There, Toni accuses Betty - who's sure she's seen the cipher's symbols somewhere before - of northside "privilege" for assuming the Black Hood hails from the south side, just because he's been targeting people on the right side of the tracks. Also, did she mention that Jughead has been lying to her about sitting with the Serpents at lunch? Kevin's reaction is very [ Homer Simpson backing into a hedge dot GIF].

Having loaded on up a holster and Kevlar vest at the local army-navy store, Archie very slowly and deliberately spray-paints red circles all around the south side. The Serpents aren't pleased to find him doodling on their turf. Sweet Pea pulls a knife; Archie pulls a gun. The Serpents scatter. On a tip from a bodega owner (are there even bodegas on the north side? The north side honestly sucks), the principal and Officer Krupke - excuse me, Sheriff Keller - pull Archie out of class the next day and search his locker. They find no gun, but they do find an awfully suspicious black hood. It's Hot Reggie's, but Archie claims it as his own. Nevertheless, he's barred from the school.

Not long after Hermione warns her daughter of the dangers of being "blindly loyal" to her boyfriend (gee, it's almost like she's talking about her own relationship!), Archie dispatches Veronica to the school after dark, where she retrieves the gun, wrapped in plastic, hidden in a toilet tank. What a selfish, dick move. Understandably upset, she insists he tell her his true plans. Archie obliges: He wants the Black Hood dead, and he wants to be the one to kill him.

Well, too bad, pal. Veronica threw the gun in Sweetwater River. The football team arrives unannounced, with pizza. Hot Reggie is grateful that Archie, a "top-tier loyal badass," didn't rat him out. If he wants the Red Circle to keep going, they're in. Good timing. Four Southside Serpents appear on Archie's doorstep right then, like they've been summoned via Postmates. The Serpents and the Bulldogs line up in the rain to rumble, because this is now literally just West Side Story.(More like South Side Story, am I right?)Veronica, looking extremely noir in her hooded cape, fires the supposedly disposed-of gun in the air to get the boys to stop, but not before Dilton Doiley gets stabbed in the leg. That night, she and Archie really do throw the gun into river, making this episode a PSA not just about weapons possession, but about litter.

In the notebooks Betty left at Jughead's house, he accidentally discovered the letter from the Black Hood. He assures her that none of this is her fault: "You're like Nancy Drew meets Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." That jogs Betty's memory. They rush to the library, where she finds The Nancy Drew Secret-Code Activity Book, an obsession for her as a little girl. So that's where the symbols are from! The decoded message reads, "I will strike next where it all began." That seemingly refers to the Jubilee, which took place in the town hall - which is where the mayor is right now holding an emergency town meeting. Riverdale's own Romeo and Juliet burst in and demand everyone leave. The lights flicker off, and Betty pulls the fire alarm.

Back home, Betty finally hands over the letter to her mother and Sheriff Keller. But the night's not over yet. Betty gets a phone call from someone who, in a modulated voice, claims to be the Black Hood. Couldn't he have just texted?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW There's no telling if the Black Hood took a break from binging Mindhunter to check out the Red Circle's truly bonkers video threat, but Archie has certainly succeeded in riling up every other human being in Riverdale.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Red Circle and Archie internet Video.

# data[].attributes.subject
The Red Circle and Archie internet Video.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Riverdale 2x03 Ending: The Red Circle make a video threatening The Black Hood (2017) HD