‘Riverdale’ Producer Says This Queer Sex Scene Was ‘Too Hot For TV’

Riverdale has had no shortage of absolutely bonkers plotlines. Cults, murder mysteries, bear attacks, superpowers, ghosts, angels — you name it, Riverdale did it at some point across its seven-season run.

But the one thing the show won’t air? A sex scene between its two male leads.

In Riverdale’s long awaited series finale, the show’s central question of who will end up with who was finally answered: everyone ends up with everyone, but also, no one ends up with anyone.

In simpler terms (or as simple as Riverdale gets), with the show jumping forward 67 years to the end of the main characters’ lives, we see that none of the core four (Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead) ended up together after high school. However, a flashback shows that at one point, all four of them were in a polyamorous relationship — or a quad, as the show puts it.

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That four-way relationship was consummated with on-screen hookups between most of the pairs within it, including Betty and Veronica (a win for the sapphics). But notably, the two men in the relationship, Archie and Jughead, weren’t shown getting it on. What gives?

Sarah Schechter, chairperson of Berlanti Productions and executive producer of Riverdale, told Variety that the pair’s omission from the montage was nothing more than coincidence.

“I mean, that’s, like, too hot for TV,” Schechter said. “I don’t think there was a reason for it. I think there’s a fantastic, fantastic amount of LGBTQ representation on the show.”

But fans aren’t convinced, and for good reason. Why set up a four-person relationship and depict any of the characters in it having sex if the show wasn’t going to follow through?

Some fans also speculated that Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead, could have been opposed to doing a sex scene with his co-star KJ Apa. As Archie, Apa’s already kissed guys on screen, so if anyone would be opposed, Sprouse would be the culprit.

That’s not even to mention the show’s bizarre double standard for queer sex. Describing an MLM relationship as “too hot for TV” while very casually showing two women having sex perpetuates the idea that queer men’s relationships are inherently more sexual than queer women’s, fetishizing both demographics in the process.

So if you’re looking for quality polyamorous representation, Riverdale’s probably not for you. Luckily, as ethical non-monogamy becomes more mainstream, it’s cropping up more and more across television. From shows specifically about polyamory like You Me Her and Trigonometry to series with polyamorous subplots like Good Trouble and the Gossip Girl reboot, poly rep is plentiful if you know where to look.

And as for Riverdale, maybe there’s still time for reshoots to give us the Archie/Jughead scene we deserve. Do it, you cowards!