Riverdale Crossing Over With DC’s Best Series?
Doom Patrol dropped a reference to one of Riverdale's best lines, making it the second DC show this year to acknowledge the CW series.
The DC series Doom Patrol, currently rocking through its fourth season, dropped a hilarious reference in its latest episode, and fans on the internet have run with it. The latest episode of Doom Patrol, titled “Youth Patrol”, contains a not-so-subtle reference to The CW show Riverdale, leaving fans wondering if Riverdale and Doom Patrol are headed for a crossover. A report from Comicbook.com breaks down the moment and its reference to one of The CW’s fan-favorites.
In the episode, the gang races against the effects of a de-aging spell. As the episode nears its conclusion and the spell has had a considerable effect, Jane, Vic, and Cliff find themselves at a drug and booze-fueled pool party. The Riverdale reference in Doom Patrol came from Cliff Steele, played by Brendan Fraser, after Janes asks him why he’s being so weird about leaving the party.
“I’m a weirdo,” Cliff responds, “Look at my hand. Have you ever seen me without this stupid oven mitt on? That’s weird.” The line, though abbreviated, is a direct reference to a similar moment in season one, episode 10 of Riverdale in which Jughead tells Betty, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in, and I don’t want to fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That’s weird.” Whether the Riverdale reference is simply Doom Patrol poking fun at The CW show or is meant to imply something more is uncertain, but fans have drawn another hilarious connection thanks to the line.
Users on Twitter noted that 2022 began with a DC show making a Riverdale reference in an episode of Peacemaker, and now the year is ending with another reference from DC’s Doom Patrol. The full-circle reference has fans rolling, but while Peacemaker’s reference to Riverdale came in the form of a throw away joke, Cliff’s borrowed line in Doom Patrol is, while funny, a bit more substantive.
Doom Patrol creator Jeremy Carver spoke to Comicbook.com about Cliff’s oven mitt and what it represents for his character. The mitt, in Carver’s view, is a key piece of Cliff’s arc. Cliff uses the mitt to reserve his budding sense of touch for when he is able to see and touch his grandson, Rory, but as is often the case for Cliff, things don’t turn out the way he expects; the mitt not only makes him weird, but it makes him tragic.
On HBO Max, Doom Patrol is in the midst of its fourth season, while Riverdale is gearing up for its seventh and final season over at The CW. The new season, set to premiere in 2023, has been teased to return to its murder mystery roots after several seasons of off-the-rails storylines. The CW has a reputation for cheesy, cringy shows that make for easy joke targets, but Riverdale has a loyal fan base that, apparently, has quite a bit of crossover with Doom Patrol.
Riverdale managed to survive a hefty round of cancellations after The CW was purchased by Nexstar Media Group, much like Doom Patrol made it through the Warner Bros. Discovery merger (though time will tell what the new DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have to say about it). As Riverdale heads into its finale season, the show looks to pay a new kind of homage to its Archie Comics roots. The first six seasons of Riverdale can be streamed on Netflix, and Doom Patrol drops new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.
