Riverdale returned this week after its mid-season break, and it looks as though things will be heating up in the fair town of Riverdale. Last time we checked in, the Black Hood was ‘revealed’ and he was not who we expected; Betty and Archie shared a kiss, but Archie got back together with Veronica, and Jughead and the Serpents ran Penny out-of-town.
This week starts off with Cheryl and her mother as Cheryl’s told her to get a job and that job? A lady of the night. Or as Mrs Blossom puts it, she provides “comfort and companionship to the lonely men of Riverdale”.
Veronica has become a full Lodge and promises her parents to get her friends on-board with the plan, which is to buy the land where Southside High is. Mayor McCoy closes Southside High down and in exchange for her help, the Lodge’s will give her a generous donation for her reelection campaign.
At Betty’s, she discover Polly is there getting a few things and somehow she’s had the twins. Apparently “the leaders of the farm” (sounds like a cult to me) thinks it’s best if she severs all ties to her family. To top it off, she tells Betty she’s named her kids Juniper and Dagwood and then leaves before their parents get home.
Betty contemplates about telling her mother about Polly, but decides to track down her long-lost brother instead. A social worker informs her his name is Charles Smith and his last known address is in Centerville. When Betty tells her parents, her father is against it, but Alice comes to her later and they go to see him.
Charles (nicknamed Chic) has been staying at the Last Resort Hostel, where he works in the “fantasy fulfilment” business. He isn’t interested in getting to know Alice because she gave him up, but he is a little bit interested in getting to know Betty. When Betty decides to pay Chic another visit, she ends up saving his life with pepper spray as he is being stabbed by some man. Betty takes him home, where Hal and Alice patch him up and put him to bed.
Archie spends the episode trying to decide where his allegiances lie. The person taking pictures of Archie was FBI Special Agent Adams who’s investigating Hiram Lodge who may be conducting criminal activity with ties to organised crime. He asks Archie about Nick St. Clair’s “accident”, which Archie knows nothing about so he looks into it. Archie then discovers that his dad got in deeper with the Lodge family as he traded 20% of his construction company to pay them back for the hospital bill.
Archie attempts to get information out of the Lodges over a family dinner, but he only manages to learn about Nick having an accident in Vail and how the St. Clairs are no longer investors in the Lodges’ business.
Fangs and Sweet Pea are the ones to happily tell Jughead and Toni that Southside High is shutting down, but Jughead isn’t happy. Neither is most of Riverdale High who are upset when Principal Weatherbee informs the students that some of Southside High’s students will be joining them.
Veronica asks Archie to help her welcome the Serpents to Riverdale High and he agrees. When they attempt to welcome the Serpents, Cheryl and Reggie butt in order to draw a clear line between “them” and “us” (Cheryl, Jughead used to go here, you know?). After a fight breaks out between the jocks and Serpents, Principal Weatherbee ends up forcing the Serpents to take off their jackets (which Jughead insists on calling their “skins”).
Cheryl pulls Archie aside and tells him that if he doesn’t switch sides, she’ll tell Veronica about his kiss with Betty. Archie later meets with Cheryl again to ask her about Nick, and she assumes Archie knew about what happened with Veronica and him.
Archie speaks with Agent Adams and asks for assurance that his father won’t go to jail. He comes up with a plan to talk to Nick by going to Cheryl’s and asking her if she wants another cheque. He even borrows one of Jason’s blazers (how did this escape the fire?) and then goes to Nick claiming he wants another cheque for Cheryl. Nick writes another without hesitation, but then figures out that Archie is there for another reason and wonders how “deep in shark-infested waters” he is. He warns Archie to be careful as he says Veronica will turn on him too. This cause Archie to lose his cool and he beats him up—Archie, he literally has two broken legs. Chill!
When Archie gets home, Nick has texted Veronica about his newly broken nose. Cheryl apologises about telling Veronica’s secret and so Archie tells Veronica that he kissed Betty when they were broken up. She forgives him rather quickly and Archie continues his investigation.
Archie wants both Veronica and his father off-limits and asks that if the FBI have been watching them, then they know about the Black Hood. He wants to know if the FBI thinks they got the right guy, as Archie doesn’t.
Meanwhile, Jughead wears his Serpent jacket to school again even when he was told not to and the other Serpents take theirs off. Then when his dad asks him what his problem is, he says he wanted a place for the Serpents. Jughead then decides to remove his jacket during school hours in exchange for starting the Swords and Serpents Club, which he claims is for LARPing, but it’s for the Serpents to hang out. Jughead says they’re, “laying low in the grass”.
Cheryl gives her mother the new cheque from Nick hoping she’ll stop comforting the men of Riverdale, but Penelope loves her new job and won’t return to her old life.
The episode ends on a darker note where Chic is standing over Betty’s bed while she sleeps. There’s definitely something up with that kid.
Final Thoughts?
This episode was quite enjoyable! We didn’t have to deal with too many high stake moments and we got to see more of the characters, especially the Serpents! I personally was shocked by the final scene because I did not expect Chic to that creepy!
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