It’s a new year which means Riverdale is back with its midseason premiere and it’s just as crazy and insane as ever. This week’s midseason premiere caught us all up as Archie is now living in a cabin with Vegas in Canada and the town of Riverdale had its quarantine lifted, but it is experiencing a very high crime rate (partially due to Cheryl and Toni breaking into houses together). Then, Veronica’s speakeasy is gaining lots of business and Betty is busy housing all the kids from the Sisters.
Alice has apparently decided to allow Jughead to sleep over in Betty’s bed, and have the children from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy sleep in the living room. Betty discovers that Tyler, one of the kids, is sneaking in Fizzle Rocks and she discovers they come from a Serpent. Jughead, calls a Serpent meeting to order where he puts an end to all illegal activity by Serpents and says if they break this code, they will be exiled.
Meanwhile, Reggie is driving some beer across the border when he is attacked by the Gargoyle Gang on behalf of Hiram. Hiram Lodge wants 10% of Veronica’s earnings, but she only is willing to give him 5%. Finally the two have to meet and Hiram asks for 15. Veronica agrees to 10, but when she tries to cook the books, things backfire. Hiram says that if Veronica wants his protection, she has to give him 15% and a fancy jewelled egg that Cheryl and Toni stole from his apartment.
This brings Veronica to Jughead. She asks him to help her get the egg back and she agrees to employ the Serpents as her protection, eliminating the need for Hiram. Jughead has to exile Toni and Cheryl who get super mad, but he’s just fulfilling the rules and his promise. He also finds out Fangs was the one dealing Fizzle Rocks and when Cheryl outs that secret in front of all the Serpents, Jughead has no choice but to exile him too. By the end of the episode, the Serpents make sure the Gargoyle Gang knows they’re Team Veronica.
Back at Betty’s house, Alice is sick of housing all the children, but Betty doesn’t want to send them to the Farm. She says that she’s their Gryphon Queen and has sworn to care for them. Betty’s plan is to keep them safe until they can get the Sisters to testify against Hiram, but the only problem is that the nuns have taken a vow of silence. Then we see a new woman in Betty’s house who happens to be a social worker with an important piece of knowledge for Betty.
Apparently, the church disbanded the Sisters of Quiet Mercy for cruel and inhumane practices and they haven’t been nuns for more than 60 years. In other words, a vow of silence won’t hold up in court. And so, Sister Woodhouse agrees to testify against Hiram. But none of this matters because by the end of the episode, Hiram posts the nuns’ bail and they rush back to the Gargoyle King’s chambers and drink cyanide. As for the kids, Alice ships them off to the Farm and Tyler also claims that he saw the Gargoyle King in the forest. So, on Betty’s side, she isn’t having much luck.
As for Veronica, she returns the egg to her father but in pieces, accompanied by a note that says: New deal. No deal. She then sings at the speakeasy until Reggie returns and the two kiss. (I love this new couple!)
Meanwhile, Archie is in the woods getting attacked by a bear. After Archie is attacked, he and his dog Vegas make it back to the cabin and he puts in a distress call before doing a bad job at dressing his own wounds. Also, when he is asked how severe his injuries are, he can just say “it’s bad”.
Then he either passes out or starts hallucinating. I’m not sure but it’s Riverdale so I’m never sure about anything. Anyway, he’s sitting in the cabin with Cassidy Bullock and the three dead guys from the mines and they want him to play G&G. They claim it’s the only way he can get back to Riverdale (or Eldervair). His first task is to defeat the Black Hood and goes back to the moment before the Hood shot his father and he takes him down. Then he’s playing the game with Warden Norton and his new task is to kill the Man in Black.
Archie stabs Hiram, no questions asked. And that gets him to the last level: He’s playing with Betty, Jughead, and Veronica, and his task is to kill the guy who got himself into this mess aka himself. With a bat in his hand, he is in his own bedroom telling his father that this is all his fault for being weak and stupid (so he beats himself).
Apparently something happens and then help gets to Archie. By this time, he’s lost a lot of blood and is laying on his bed with his eyes open, seemingly dead…
Final Thoughts?
This episode was interesting. I like that Riverdale is back but I’m still very very confused with this storyline. Also, is Archie okay? Until the next episode!
