- Title: Katy Keene – Pilot
- IMDb: link
The sunnier and less-murdery Rivendale spin-off is also features modern interpretations of several classic Archie Comics characters starting with personal shopper and aspiring fashion designer Katy Keene (Lucy Hale). The show’s pilot episode features the arrival of Katy’s friend Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) in New York which helps our titular character reexamine the state of her life working for a bitchy boss (Katherine LaNasa) instead of perusing her own dreams (and pursuing one’s dreams seems to be the show’s not-so-subtle primary theme). The other Archie character’s filling out the foursome are aspiring Broadway performer Jorge “Ginger” Lopez (Jonny Beauchamp) and the less developed “it girl” Pepper Smith (Julia Chan).
While introducing the various characters the show’s first episode also introduces a very small slice of New York through the eyes of newcomer Josie whose dreams all almost come true before the first episode comes to a close. Each character struggles a bit here, although through mostly cute problems that are either quickly forgotten by a night of drinking or solved by the dawn of a new day. Hale is the stand-out here, and the biggest asset to the show, although Murray steals a moment or two as the wild-eyed New York newbie. There’s an optimism that’s refreshing about the series, something pulled from the original comics. There’s also a shallow depth to these characters that likely limits how they can be developed over the course of a single season (let alone beyond).