In the history of television, LGBTQIA characters have been few and far between, and the ones that did make it onto our screens for years were either reduced to stereotypes or punchlines. We’ve come a long way but bisexuality still sometimes gets watered down as an “in between phase” between gay and straight and often gets misunderstood or used to cause drama between characters. It is often hypersexualised or attached to cheating, and those who might be considered bisexual never claim the identity, leaving it up to interpretation and thus possible erasure.

For those who don’t feel like they are just attracted to one gender, to see a character on the screen that they can identify with is extremely powerful. It helps us see that our experiences are real and that we are not alone. Television allows you to spend quite a bit of time with a character and get to know their entire experience. In recent years, more and more characters have been open about their sexuality and have been exploring the many different experiences bisexual people can have, which helps people feel seen, and helps people understand what bisexuality really is. We still have a long way to go, but every step helps bisexual people of all ages come to understand their sexuality and feel valid. Everyone deserves to see themselves on television and these characters are just a few of canonically bisexual characters that are incredible and deserve to be celebrated.

Rosa Diaz

Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an extremely private person and although she doesn’t come out on the show until Season 5 Episode 10, she has known that she is bisexual since she was 7. When she finally does come out to her friends and family, the plot is handled with extreme care and respect. Her coming out arc with her parents shows a more bittersweet, authentic experience where her parents do not understand it at first and their relationship becomes more complicated. The actress, Stephanie Beatriz, is also a bisexual icon, just adding more authenticity and clear representation to this world. In an interview in 2018, she said, “I never had anything like that representation when I was growing up, I didn’t know how to name myself for a really long time”. Her sexuality is not treated as a tragic storyline, or a problem to overcome, it is an important part of her identity that is named and not pushed to the margins. Rosa’s bisexuality is not her entire identity as well, which is an important step to normalising all types of experience and validating so many people!

Sara Lance

Sara Lance, the bisexual former assassin and current captain of a time ship on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, was one of the first openly queer characters in the cinematic DC universe. She is very open about her sexuality and has very deep relationships with both men and women, including Oliver Queen, Nyssa Ra Gul, and now Ava Sharpe, her “co-captain for life”. Sara and Ava’s relationship is beautiful and healthy, with many plotlines dedicated to them working out problems together, communicating and building a life together through all the chaos of their time traveling jobs. Throughout her travels, she has quite a few flings with characters throughout history, and helps some women find freedom in their sexuality, no matter what time period they are from. Sara is never reduced to just her sexuality, but it is a celebrated part of her that no one questions, a trend that is so inspirational and important.

Petra Solano

Petra is another character that has a sexual revelation in the middle of the series. Introduced on Jane the Virgin as a villain, she has incredible character development as she becomes a better person and learns to be more open with others and herself. She figures out that she is not straight later in life, after having children and relationships with a few male characters. Her feelings for her lawyer JR are unexpected and take her out of her confident comfort zone as she begins to overanalyse text messages, get jealous and make romantic gestures to win her over. Their relationship progression is adorable and accepted quickly by everyone in Petra’s life. Her family is the driving factor for Petra’s development, but her relationship with JR definitely pushes her to be more vulnerable and honest, while still allowing her to stay true to her ambitions and tough exterior. Petra is another character that also says the word bisexual, providing more explicit representation that people can look up to.

Avatar Korra

Avatar Korra is one of the original animated bisexual icons. After a love triangle with her friends Mako and Asami at the start of Legends of Korra, she ends up having relationships with both of them by the end of the series. Her and Asami’s relationship was groundbreaking for television and their relationship is a beautiful progression that takes the subtext between the two and leans into it. Their relationship is natural and builds upon incredible chemistry, and instead of just ignoring it and letting fans read into it forever, the show makes it canon. Although the two women don’t progress more than holding hands at the end of the series (though that’s enough in my book to demonstrate a relationship), the comics that follow delve deeper into their relationship.

Darryl Whitefeather

Darryl’s arc on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend proves that it is never too late to figure out your sexuality. He is a middle-age divorced man that realises that he is bisexual and explores his sexuality after being attracted to another man. Not only does he say that he is bisexual on the show, but he also sings it! During a meeting at his law firm, he comes out to everyone in the song “Getting Bi” which has quickly become a bisexual anthem! He sums up the bisexual experience really well, celebrating his identity while calling out biphobia and stereotypes such as bisexuality being a “phase” or that he is just being indecisive. It’s an incredibly fun jam, and extremely refreshing that when he performs this song, people are more annoyed that he is taking up time in the meeting to sing, rather than reacting negatively to his bisexuality. He provides some of the most explicitly bi representation on television and validates bisexual people no matter how old.

Toni Topaz

Toni has a very casual coming out on Riverdale, normalising bisexuality further, when she comes out to Jughead after they spend a night together. She is bisexual in the comics and though Riverdale is not always a show to stay close to the comics, they continue to explore her sexuality and relationships with Jughead and Cheryl. She is very confident and engaging already as a character, and she helps Cheryl come to terms with her own sexuality. Admittedly she really does deserve better, as she is often reduced to a sidekick or love interest and hasn’t had much character development since she was introduced. Sometimes it feels like Toni is just a way to boost Cheryl’s character up more but she has so much potential and should be treated as the independent queen that she is.

Eleanor Shellstrop

The protagonist of The Good Place, Eleanor has never defined her sexuality on the show. However she has many flirtatious moments with Tahani, and they were even soulmates for a split second while they ran through all the different simulations. Eleanor has never been shy about her feelings and admits at one point that she might actually might be into Tahani, though never pursues it. William Jackson Harper, the actor that plays Eleanor’s main love interest, Chidi, confirms her identity in an interview with Metro in 2018, saying “There’s a million different possibilities and one of the things I think the show does well, and [which I’m] really kind of into, is the fact that Eleanor is super bisexual and it’s not something that we just focus on. It’s not the reason for the show and it’s not a thing that is harped on, it’s just who she is”. All the characters accept each others’ sexualities without question and although it would have been great to dive deeper into her sexuality, it wasn’t the direction of the show.

Luz Noceda

Perhaps the newest (and youngest) character on this list, Luz Noceda is the protagonist of the new Disney show Owl House. She is an incredibly imaginative young human thrown into a magical world, and is unapologetically herself. Throughout the first season, she has already shown hints of being attracted to male and female characters, and the creator, Dana Terrence has officially confirmed that she is bisexual. This is an incredible feat, especially considering Disney’s track record with representation. Terrence herself is bisexual and especially pushed back against Disney officials’ initial hesitation because she knew how important it would be for the community and the character. If I had seen a character like Luz when I was young, it would have saved years of confusion and uncertainty. It will be very exciting to see Luz grow and come into her sexuality in the coming seasons!

Do you have any other favourites? Tell us in the comments below!

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First, we get to see Jughead’s underground life, which he’s decided is about as close to death as one can come despite the fact that he’s obviously alive. For two weeks, he microwaved his meals, typed away on his typewriter, and studied everything he knew about the kids at the prep school. Oh and he didn’t shower (we think).

He also breaks down who knew what: Jellybean figured out he was alive on her own, and Betty told FP (but only after awhile). Archie went rogue and told his mother, and Veronica was backed into a corner and had to tell Hermosa after she started snooping.

Now, Betty and Jughead are headed to Stonewall Prep to lock Mr. DuPont, Donna, Bret, and Joan in a room and try to unravel this mystery, in an extremely dramatic way.

The two start at the beginning when Moose was invited to Stonewall Prep, then Jughead was drugged, woke up in a coffin, and was freed in time to find out Mr. Chipping had practically shoved Moose out the door and into the Army. Why would he do that, you might ask? Well, because Moose was going to get murdered and Mr. Chipping was trying to save his life.

This then brings us to the Baxter Brothers writing competition. Jughead reminds Mr. DuPont that he exploited his grandfather for the original Baxter Brothers novel, a secret he would do anything to keep lest someone find out that the franchise upon which he built everything wasn’t his idea. And it all goes back to the Baxter Brothers contract: Why did Chipping’s wife say he hated it so much? Because there was one part of the writing competition Jughead never heard about: In order to prove you could write the perfect murder, you first had to commit it. Betty and Jughead linked each of the missing Stonewall Four to the years that new ghostwriters. That brings us back to Moose.

Chipping invited Moose to Stonewall Prep to be the next victim to be killed by the next chosen ghostwriter. But when Chipping couldn’t go through with it, he told Moose to run, and then he killed himself. And when Jughead won the contract, DuPont gave the students a new challenge: Commit the perfect murder against Jughead and get the contract.

So, the students worked together: Donna kept Betty busy, while Bret led Jughead into the woods, and Joan hit him over the head with a rock. It was Jonathan’s job to make sure Jughead was dead (and he clearly failed). Then, they placed the rock in Betty’s hand and pointed Archie and Veronica in her direction.

But when Betty finally came to, she immediately started CPR on Jughead, while Veronica used the beanie to stop the bleeding. They were able to revive Jughead long enough to tell them not to take him to a hospital as Jughead had a plan. So, Betty called Charles and the FBI medical van to take Jughead away, where he didn’t regain consciousness for thirty-six hours.

Once Jughead came to, he met with the former Baxter Brothers ghostwriters and told them their theory: That they’re all murderers. Additionally, Jughead and Betty discovered that three members of the original literary society had been murdered, otherwise known as the only people who would know that DuPont stole the idea from Jughead’s grandfather. There’s only one living member left, and that’s when Betty opens the door to reveal FP, Charles, and the original Forsythe. Apparently, one of Forsythe’s classmates came to him and warned him about DuPont years ago, and when that person turned up dead a few days later, Forsythe had no choice but to abandon his family and run, and ever since he’s been collecting evidence against DuPont.

And that’s when Chipping invited Jughead to Stonewall Prep: as a way to lure Forsythe out so that DuPont could finish the job. Now, the FBI is at DuPont’s house but before Charles can arrest him, DuPont jumps out the window. (Charles is not a good FBI agent, as we’ve already seen.)

After that, Charles interrogates the world’s most privileged kids, and when that doesn’t work, he lets FP and Jughead work on Bret with some brass knuckles – so clearly a bad FBI agent – until he gives him the location of his videotapes and Quill & Skull is officially disbanded.

As for Betty, she has another thing to take care of: At Donna’s dorm, Donna is packing and preparing to transfer schools and relaunch the Baxter Brothers books as Tracy True. And that’s where Hermosa’s information comes into play. It seems Donna’s grandmother was one of the original classmates that DuPont killed to cover up the truth. Furthermore, DuPont stole the character of Tracy True from Donna’s grandmother. So not only does that give Donna a motive, but it links everything back to her. Betty then threatens to send out the medical file linking Donna to her grandmother if Donna does anything Betty doesn’t like.

Back at Riverdale High, Cheryl tells Betty that ‘no one ever really dies in Riverdale’ despite the fact that people definitely have. Then, she calls Betty out on her feelings toward Archie. Betty says it was all pretend but Cheryl responds and says, “It looked real to me.”

When Jughead goes back to Riverdale High, the core four meet at Pop’s. They only have a few months left of senior year, and they’re determined to graduate on time. And it ends with Kevin telling them about his variety show (or rather the annual musical episode).

Final Thoughts?

So, thankfully this episode actually did kind of make sense and showed that the writers actually had a plan for this season’s mystery, however, the season is far from over so I am a little worried about what will happen in future episodes…

What did you think of ‘The Locked Room’? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 4.16 ‘The Locked Room’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Monday

Archie wakes up before 5am in order to give everyone at Andrews Construction coffee and doughnuts, and then also makes coffee for Monroe’s mother, who has been helping watch the community center. And somehow, in the middle of all this, Archie decides now that he’d like to go to college, but Mr. Honey quickly informs him that he’s too late to apply and that he can’t walk with his friends at graduation.

Then, we switch to Hiram Lodge who’s disease is affecting his muscle control, and when he yells that he doesn’t need Veronica’s help, she decides just to go to school. Veronica has a new attitude about life: stop thinking about the future and enjoy the time she has left with Archie. And by this, it means have sex every chance they get.

Over at Stonewall Prep, Jughead is kicked out of Quill and Skull. DuPont also informs him that they’re terminating his Baxter Brothers contract for ‘failure to deliver satisfactory material by March 15, which is on Friday, so it hasn’t even happened yet. Jughead vows to write an entirely new novel in five days and Betty gives him the idea to base it on his experience at Stonewall. So, it’s a prep school thriller, which really makes me believe that this might just be the plot of his book.

Monday then ends with Hiram showing up at the community center looking to train away his weakness.

Tuesday

Jughead gets to writing, but seeing as how it took him a full day to write 10 pages about Jarhead and the prep school students plotting to kill Bison, it’s not really going well. But Jughead has another problem: DuPont informs him that Jonathan is accusing him of plagiarising the short story that qualified him for Yale. When he goes to find his old laptop, it’s gone, so he can’t prove the story was his. He has until Friday, the Ides of March, before he goes in front of the disciplinary committee.

For now, Betty has an idea: She has Jughead take a lie detector test in front of the other Stonewall students, which I guess proves something but is actually pointless.

Then, she and Jughead search all of Stonewall for his old laptop, but they come up empty-handed. Well, sort of. What they do find in DuPont’s desk is a Baxter Brothers envelope that reads ‘ready to print’ and contains an edited version of Jughead’s original book: The Boy in the River. DuPont explains that the Baxter Brothers contract details that the brotherhood owns everything Jughead submits, even if Jughead’s classmates rework the material.

Elsewhere, Veronica is trying her best to ‘have fun’ but work gets in the way. When a mystery woman who is very clearly Hermosa in a wig tries to get into the Maple Club, so Toni, Cheryl, and Veronica set a trap. It ends with Veronica ripping off Hermosa’s wig and finding out that Hiram only told one of his daughters about his illness.

Speaking of Hiram, he suggests that an exhausted Archie sell one of his businesses, and his plan is to let go of Andrews Construction and pay Tom Keller a legit salary to help run the community center. But that plan will have to wait until after Archie takes the fall for the rum Mr. Honey finds in Veronica’s locker (which only results in Archie getting a week’s detention).

Tuesday ends when Archie confronts Veronica on her behaviour and she tells him Hiram is dying. His advice? Get Hiram fired up.

Friday (The Ides of March)

Veronica, in her plan to make Hiram mad, throws together an ad campaign presentation for Red Raven rum, demonstrating that it demolished Lodge rums in a taste test and surprisingly, this works.

Betty is back at it with her murder board, and she has a new theory: DuPont is the master mind controlling the students. She takes Donna out for some milkshakes to see if she’s on the right track, but Donna literally laughs in her face.

Cut to Jughead, who threatens to tell the disciplinary committee everything about this school, at which point Bret reveals that he does have a sex tape of Betty and Jughead and he’s not afraid to use it. At the hearing, Jughead agrees to leave Stonewall Prep.

When Bret invites Betty and Jughead to the Ides of March party in the woods, Jughead says yes, before promising Betty that he has a plan and is going to take care of things. Then he tells her he loves her before they kiss.

Archie couldn’t bring himself to sell Andrews Construction and as far as school is concerned, he has a plan: go to summer school for his diploma, take a gap year, and apply to colleges for the spring semester. Veronica is on-board.

At the party, Jughead shows up wearing his Serpent jacket and a mask, at which point he follows Bret into the woods to settle unfinished business. But as he follows Bret, Betty follows Donna. Alone with Betty, Donna reveals that she’s done some investigating of her own. It seems she paid Evelyn Evernever a visit and learned ‘the magic word’. She’s talking about the world that makes Betty go into a fugue state and hurt people she loves.

Veronica and Archie then find Betty holding a rock over Jughead’s dead body.

What did you think of ‘The Ides of March’? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 4.13 ‘The Ides of March’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Archie

Archie and Uncle Frank are wrapping up a workday when Ted Bishop, an old friend who served with Frank, shows up to deliver some bad news: Someone named Greg died. As Ted puts it, cancer rotted him. Archie invites him over to his house for dinner, where he asks him to stay the night.

When another old friend calls Frank saying someone else died, Frank realises something is off just in time when Ted tries to stab him. Archie hits Ted over the head with a frying pan, but Ted runs off. Frank explains that after the war, Ted hired Frank to work at a private security firm and they were mercenaries. Now, Frank thinks Ted has been sent to tie up the company’s loose ends and Ted isn’t going to stop until Frank is dead. Archie gets FP involved and the plan is to use Frank as bait and then have FP arrest Ted, and at first it works, until Ted tells Frank that he broke the code, which means ‘all bets are off now.’

Just as Frank decides to run away to Alaska, Ted breaks out of prison because Riverdale cops aren’t good at their jobs. Ted then attacks Archie at school, where the guy slams Archie’s head into a mirror and then throws his body through a porcelain sink (um how is he still conscious?). Kevin walks in and distracts Ted, giving Archie an opportunity to knock him out with the toilet lid. The guy gets up again like three seconds later and chases the two of them down. He knocks Kevin out with one push into the lockers and starts strangling Archie before Frank returns and knocks him out with a trophy. And somehow, that works. (This is Riverdale, we just go with it.)

They turn Ted over to the feds, and Archie convinces Frank to turn himself in as well but Frank doesn’t listen. Instead, he leaves Riverdale and Archie behind.

Veronica

Veronica heads to New York with her parents as they’re going on business and she has an interview at Barnard. She meets up with her old friend Katy Keene, who is into fashion so she’s the obvious choice to help Veronica pick out the perfect college interview outfit.

After this, Katy takes Veronica to a drag show and they catch up. Katy asks if Archie will follow Veronica to college, and she says Riverdale wouldn’t survive without him, so their plan is to do the long-distance thing. Katy then reveals that her mother is sick and though we don’t know her yet, the news somehow ties into the episode.

It turns out that Hermione and Hiram didn’t go to New York for business. They went to see a specialist. Hiram has a neuromuscular disorder that will weaken him and cause him to lose his motor skills. They did catch it early, so maybe there’s a chance he’ll be okay. Veronica changes her name back to Lodge and tells her parents that she’s been accepted to Barnard.

Cheryl

Cheryl finally fills Toni in on her past with Nick St. Clair when he shows up at the Maple Club. Toni sees this as an opportunity for revenge: she drugs Nick and enlists Kevin and Fangs to make a video with Nick to use as blackmail if he ever sets foot in Riverdale or assaults another woman again. I am not okay with this storyline, but again, it’s Riverdale.

Betty and Jughead

Jughead and Bret duel in this episode. They agree to the terms: there will be a fencing match, a ‘bare-knuckle brawl’, and a chess match as a tiebreaker (if necessary). They’re each allowed to choose a ‘second’ to help them, and Jughead chooses Donna for some reason.

The fencing match goes down in the seminar room and Bret wins and we move to the brawl, which Jughead wins with one punch (huh!).

While all of this is going on, Alice is trying to fix her mistake: She tells Mr. Honey that she acted alone in getting the quiz show answers, but he doesn’t believe her. Instead, he suspends Betty for a week, strips her of her editor-in-chief title at the paper, and bans her from her senior prom. Oh and Bret also took out a restraining order against Betty.

But Betty has other things to work on: she enlists her mother in looking into Mr. Chipping’s death. They start by talking to Mrs. Chipping, who doesn’t believe for one second that her husband was having an affair with a student. All she knows is that Mr. Chipping wished he never got the Baxter Brothers contract, so why would he kill himself when he was so close to being done? Mrs. Chipping has a lot of questions, and she leaves behind a box of her late husband’s personal things so Betty and Alice can look through it and find army pamphlets.

This brings us to Moose who reveals that not only did Chipping suggests the army, but he was actually the person who recruited Moose to play football for Stonewall Prep in the first place. Then, when the story came out about Moose, Chipping practically shoved Moose out the door. Apparently, he learned that Bret had videotaped Moose having sex with a classmate in their dorm and added it to ‘his collection.’

So, Betty and Alice head to the dorm to see if they can find said collection. Instead, they find Bret, who denies any knowledge of such tapes. That leads to Plan B: while Jughead and Bret play chess in the seminar room, Betty and Alice will search the school’s basement where the Quill and Skull meetings take place.

And Betty does find a tape collection there, but it’s not what she thinks. When Bret gets alerted that the Quill and Skull alarm is going off, they pause the game and head downstairs, where he reveals that all Betty has found are the tapes of every Quill and Skull member’s initiation testimony. So she hands them over and he and Jug get back to their game, at least until Jughead throws it. It seems Jughead is no longer interested in honour the way Stonewall defines it.

Once back home, Betty reveals that she managed to sneak Donna’s tape out and her confession is similar to the story she told Betty about her affair with Mr. Chipping, except her tape is about an affair with a different teacher. Turns out, Donna’s been lying this whole time. Her story about Mr. Chipping was a rehearsed speech that she’s given at least twice.

Final Thoughts?

I really liked seeing Katy Keene for the first time, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for us!

What did you think of ‘Men of Honor’? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 4.12 ‘Men of Honor’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

We start this episode with Spirit Week at Riverdale High as they are leading up to the big state championship football game. Thanks to Munroe, the Bulldogs have finally made it to the big game where they will face the Stonewall Prep Stallions who are apparently really good. However, it’s because they cheat. Betty discovers this while writing an article on the game that the Stallions consistently injure the star player of their opponent and yet somehow have never been caught?  Brett tells Betty in a scene that, “Football is a sport of gladiators and you win by debilitating and slaughtering your enemies.”

The Stallions then take a golf club to Monroe’s knee, after which the Bulldogs show up at Jughead’s new school and start a fight where Brett seems genuinely surprised that he can bleed? What even is this show sometimes?

Archie’s uncle picks him up from jail after the fight. Remember Frank? I didn’t, but he’s been staying at the community center for a while now, and Archie decides it’s time for them to tell his mother. She is not a fan of Frank but decides he can work at Andrews Construction until he screws it up. Archie and Frank then bond over boxing, however, eventually things get complicated and Archie learns that his dad took the blame for Frank’s DUI back in the day. Archie confronts his uncle and they talk it out, but when Frank offers Munroe some drugs to play through the pain, Archie’s not too happy. However, Munroe plays well enough to get an offer to play at Notre Dame and suddenly Frank is allowed to stay at Archie’s house.

Then that takes us to the Vixens. Mr. Honey brings in the cheer squad’s new coach, Ms. Appleyard, and Cheryl has them go on strike until Honey threatens to ban them from prom. In the end, Cheryl locks Ms. Appleyard in a classroom so the Vixens can go cheer, but they aren’t able to cheer the Bulldogs to victory.

While all of this is going on, Veronica has been fighting with her dad. She launches her rum, which she’s been able to make and sell even though she’s not even old enough to consume alcohol? Hiram however delivers a cease and desist as a chemist compared their rums and decided the recipes were too similar. But by the end of the episode, she decides to combine her rum with the Blossom’s maple syrup.

Over at Stonewall Prep, Jughead gets a new laptop and a Yale interview (despite never applying). DuPont claims his friend is the recruiter and that he slipped him some of Jughead’s stories. Jughead is hesitant seeing as how it’s Betty’s dream school and she was rejected, but he decides to sit for the interview and he is praised and offered a spot.

Betty discovers that Jughead is in a secret society when she sends Veronica to a Stonewall party as part of an undercover operation and she is not pleased. However, they ultimately work it out but it takes us one month into the future where Jughead isn’t going to Yale (because he’s dead) and Brett and Betty are? This is just even adding more twists to the story.

Also, as the final part of Jug’s initiation into Quill and Skull (the secret society), he has to divulge his ‘deepest, darkest secret’, which seems a little personal and also something not everyone can just come up with at a moment’s notice. Donna’s has to do with an uncle who made a pass at her when she was 13 and caused her to cut herself and Brett’s is about a night he spent with a hooker at the age of 14 because he was scared his father would kill him if he didn’t. Jughead decides to go with a night where he watched some drunken businessman beat up the guy who used to protect him from junkies when he was homeless. He says that not doing anything to help is his greatest shame and he’s never even told Betty this. (I think he has darker secrets, but whatever. This show doesn’t make any sense anyway.)

Final Thoughts: Overall, this was a fairly uneventful episode, but I am excited that it’s back.

What did you think of ‘Varsity Blues’? Sound off in the comments below!

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With one day of summer left, Jughead fills us in on how the past weeks have gone. Since Fred’s death, the core four have spent every day together to try and help Archie grieve and attempt to move forward. On their last night before the school year, they’re hanging out at Veronica’s (where there are no parents in sight), and reminiscing about how they suck at reminiscing. Also, apparently getting sentimental makes Betty horny because she starts making out with Jughead while both Veronica and Archie are still in the room. Archie and Veronica then go to her bedroom… All of them then oversleep and are late to high school the next morning.

The next morning, as the core four run into school late, they meet their new principal. Mr. Honey is the new principal as Weatherbee is gone. Mr. Honey is not okay with their tardiness and makes that very clear.

At school, Archie invites Mad Dog (who’s real name is Monroe) to join the Bulldogs, a move that makes Reggie very angry, mostly because Monroe makes Reggie look bad at practice and his abusive father watches every practice. Long story short, Veronica tells Archie about Reggie’s dad so Archie confronts him during practice one day, and then Reggie takes matters into his own hands and takes a baseball bat to his dad’s car’s windshield. Apparently this causes the two to talk things out, which seems very suspicious, but I’m glad that they are tackling this.

Elsewhere at school, Jughead is called to the principal’s office to meet Mr. Chipping, a teacher over at Stonewall Prep who served as a judge in a writing contest over the summer. It seems Jughead had submitted a short story, and even though it didn’t win, it left an impression on Mr. Chipping, who invites Jughead to switch schools. Jughead is not interested but when FP gets involved, he agrees to go on a tour with Betty.

The tour then turns into Jughead sitting in on an English class where they discuss Moby Dick and Jughead is so pleased that everyone has actually read the book. It’s Betty who tells Jughead that he should transfer schools. How much do you all want to bet that this school is creepy or has something weird happening in it because Jughead goes missing come spring break?

As for Betty, she spends the episode plotting with Charles. It seems Alice missed another check-in with the FBI and Betty is very worried. And when Kevin comes to her and tries to apologise for the way that he treated her (aka dragging her across the floor into an operating room so Edgar could harvest her organs), Charles sees an opportunity. After he catches Betty reading classified information, he just decides to tell her everything (okay, so he’s a terrible FBI agent), and explains that Kevin still texts with Fangs, but Fangs has refused to meet with him in person. So, Betty pretends to forgive Kevin and tells him some fake information about how they have found someone to testify against the Farm, and just like that, Fangs meets with Kevin to get the intel. However, the Farm won’t let Kevin come back in unless he finds out the identity of the witness.

Of course, Betty calls out Kevin on meeting with Fangs, and together with Charles, she interrogates him. But when Kevin claims he was lonely all summer and Fangs was the only person who would text him back, Betty believes him. She goes against Charles’ advice and warnings and tells Kevin the truth about her mother being an informant. She asks Kevin to help her find out where the Farm is hiding. She believes that if Kevin tells Fangs that Penelope Blossom is the informant, they’ll give him that information. And it works as Fangs takes Kevin to the Farm’s new digs at an abandoned motel, and though he didn’t see Alice, he did see Edgar and he’s armed.

In less exciting rivalries, Cheryl declares Mr. Honey her new enemy after he cancels the back-to-school dance because people were murdered at the last one, which honestly is a good idea to cancel it. Instead, Cheryl throws a party which is quickly broken up by the police after Mr. Honey calls in a noise complaint. Cut to Cheryl dropping a literal beehive on the new principal’s desk. Honestly, this is such a weird storyline. These kids have no respect for authority.

Veronica, meanwhile, finds herself at the center of a media scandal when an article comes out claiming that she’s responsible for the crimes that put her father behind bars. Also, apparently the paparazzi get into the school which is not something that would be allowed at all. With her parents’ court dates coming up, she’s being pushed to pick a side and release a statement. She visits her father in jail and asks why he leaked the story about her crimes (because he’s clearly evil, obviously), she makes a decision: she’s going to change her last name to Gomez (aka her mother’s maiden name) and she’s going to release a statement to the press.

She invites them to her club for a press conference, which comes after a ‘special performance’. She takes the stage with Toni and Cheryl and performs “All That Jazz” for no reason which was super random and unnecessary.

At the press conference, she admits to doing everything the article said she did, and says she did it under duress as Hiram threatened her. As for which parent she supports in the trials, she answers saying neither of them.

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t love this episode but it wasn’t terrible. I still think that there is a serious lack of suitable guardians in this town.

What did you think of ‘Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High’? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 4.02 ‘Fast Times At Riverdale High’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Speaking of Cheryl, she has kept her brother’s corpse and reads him the newspaper, which is super creepy. When she reads about the parade, she goes to Pop’s and confronts the core four, indicating she’s going to protest the event. The group are planning a camping weekend and discussing Archie’s uncanny ability to survive bear attacks when his phone rings and as he collapses to the ground, and it’s clear something is very wrong.

Back at Archie’s house, FP explains that Fred was on his way back from Cherry Creek when he pulled over to help someone whose car had stalled on the side of the road. Another car came around the curve way too fast and struck Fred, killing him. Archie is furious and focuses on the fact that it was a hit and run and says they have to catch the person who did it. FP assures him that they will, but says he and his mother have to make some decisions. The service is planned for after the 4th because no one can drive the body to Riverdale until the 5th. Archie then joins his friends in their yard, where everyone shares fond memories of Fred.

That night, Archie has a dream where his dead grandpa and other relatives ask him where his father is, which results in Archie waking up in the middle of the night and saying he has to go get his dad and bring him home. He doesn’t tell his mother and Archie and Veronica get Betty and Jughead to come with them. Also, the super weird thing is that Reggie lends them a hearse because he claims that it has been sitting on the lot as no one wants to buy it.

Regardless, the core four head over to Cherry Creek, where after Archie’s mother talks to the funeral home director, Archie is allowed to take Fred’s body. He wants to make sure it’s actually his dad and of course Archie is way too emotional to check for himself so he asks Veronica and Betty to help him. They confirm that it is Fred, and they get his possessions as well as the keys to Fred’s truck which apparently is still at the side of the road.

The four head out to retrieve Fred’s truck as the funeral home needs a couple hours to prepare the body. As Archie is having a moment, another car pulls up behind Fred’s truck. Out steps Shannen Doherty (who starred alongside Luke Perry in Beverly Hills, 90210) holding a bouquet of flowers. She’s the woman who Fred saved and she apologises to Archie and explains that one of her tires blew and she was stranded until Fred showed up. He pushed her out of the way of the car and saved her life. She asks if they would say a prayer with her and so the five of them join hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer and it was honestly one of the saddest moments ever.

Back in Riverdale, Cheryl goes to Mary (Archie’s mother) to tell her how sorry she is and to ask her for her permission to do something special for Archie and his dad.

Back in Cherry Creek, they find a diner to pass the time in and Archie is very upset. He asks why his father had to be the hero and when he walks outside to get some air, FP calls him to let him know that they found the person responsible for the hit and run. FP tells Archie the name (stupidly) and that the guy confessed and is out on bail. Archie is so mad and wants to take justice into his own hands. He shows up on the guy’s doorstep and starts threatening him and pinning him against a wall and then he finds out the truth. He finds out that the guy was covering for his teenage son who messed up and took the car out without permission and doesn’t even have a license.

Betty, Veronica, and Jughead find Archie sitting outside the man’s home and he tells them how upset he is. He explains that it was the son who did it and the dad was just protecting him and then he says it’s what Fred would have done. Archie spirals about whether his dad would be proud of him and Veronica tells him to finish what he started: to take Fred home.

FP meets Archie and the others at the town border and offers him a police escort, which leads to what Cheryl had planned. She turned the Fourth of July parade into a parade for Fred as people hold up “Welcome home, Fred” signs.

We then get to Fred’s service, which features Josie singing “Amazing Grace” and Archie gives a speech about how his dad (and Luke Perry) helped build Riverdale. He then tells a story about one Fourth of July when his dad brought home fireworks because the town ones were cancelled and they set them off in the backyard. He ends his speech saying, “He’s the greatest man I’ve ever known. It hurts me that I never got to say goodbye, that I won’t get to see him again or talk to him. But his spirit and his memory lives on, in this town, in everyone he’s never met. Fred Andrews will always be a part of Riverdale. I love you so much dad.”

Jughead then starts writing Fred’s obituary and we see other character’s reading it: FP, Hermione crying in jail, Hiram (who paid for the funeral), Alice, and even Pop Tate.

The episode then ends with everyone gathering in Archie’s backyard for a fireworks show and Archie says, “Imagine if everyone was even half as good as my dad.” Veronica says that he already is but Archie denies it and says he’s trying. Then, Archie goes into the garage and we see some old clips of Luke Perry and Archie finally cries.

Final Thoughts?

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever cried so much during a TV show episode. This episode was a beautiful tribute to a beloved character and a beloved man. Thank you and well done, Riverdale.

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 4.01 ‘In Memoriam’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

South Side Serpents Hoodie

“No Serpent stands alone”. While nobody wants to face the initiation into the South Side Serpents, you can still throw on a South Side hoodie to add to your cred while also staying comfortable and warm! Available from Society6.

Riverdale Tote Bag

Pretend you’re a student of Riverdale High School with this tote bag! Throw in your books, cheer uniform, and more in this perfect sized bag! Available from Red Bubble.

Road To Riverdale Graphic Novel

Timed alongside the first episode, it captures the New Riverdale that inspired the show and is a guide for new readers to explore the variety of Archie comics and graphic novels. Available from Amazon and Book Depository.

Jughead T-Shirt

If you love Jughead, then why not be proud of it by wearing a t-shirt with his name across your chest! Available from Red Bubble.

Riverdale Zipper Pouch

Keep your stationery, make-up, or your copy of Gryphons and Gargoyles in this fantastic zipper pouch which features locations, quotes, characters, and more! Available from Red Bubble.

Riverdale Monopoly

Love Monopoly too? Then Riverdale Monopoly would be perfect for you where you can play as Archie’s guitar, Veronica’s pearls, Betty’s diary, Cheryl’s brooch, Jughead’s hat, or Pop’s milkshake. Available from Amazon.

Archie Comics Collage Tote Bag

If you also love, or perhaps prefer, the original comics, then this Archie Comics tote bag features all of your favourite characters! Available from Society6.

Jughead’s Beanie

If wearing a shirt with Jughead’s name on it isn’t enough, then perhaps wear his iconic beanie! Available from Amazon.

Riverdale Phone Case

Always on your phone? Then keep your Riverdale favourites close with this Riverdale phone case, which is available in a range of phone sizes! Available from Amazon.

Riverdale Socks

Keep your feet warm while also looking cute with these South Side Serpents, Whyte Wyrm, and Pop’s themed socks! Available from Hot Topic.

Riverdale Sticker Set

Want to adorn every surface with your favourite series? Then this 60 piece sticker set features your favourite couples, characters, and locations that will look fantastic wherever you place them! Available from Etsy.

Riverdale Girls Enamel Pins

If you have a pin collection, or fancy starting one, then Cheryl, Betty, and Veronica will be a great start or addition! Available from Merch Yes.

Riverdale High Travel Mug

Feel as though you’re part of Riverdale High with this Riverdale Travel Mug, which is perfect for a delicious cup of coffee, tea, or an equally yummy drink! Available from Society6.

HBIC Shirt

Have a lot of sass? Then give Cheryl a run for her money by donning the HBIC (Head Bitch In Charge) t-shirt! Available from Amazon.

I’m Weird Riverdale Quote

If you’re a little (or lot) weird like Jughead, then this Riverdale quote would be the perfect fit for your bedroom, or perhaps a more obvious area so people know what to expect of you before you give them that look. Available from Etsy.

Pop’s Chock Lit Shoppe Candle

If you want to feel as though you’re in Pop’s Chock Lit Shoppe, then this candle will be perfect with its delicious milkshake scented candle. Available from Etsy.

Do you have any other Riverdale recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post The Perfect Gifts For ‘Riverdale’ Fans appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Know Your Self-Worth

“Listen up fives, a ten is speaking”

Cheryl can be catty and savage, but her put downs and one-liners add humour to the show. A lot of it can be seen as a mask that she uses to hide some of her insecurities.  We could all take something from her quips and cheekiness though!

Expand Your Vocabulary

I’ve not heard “Hobgoblin” thrown as an insult in a long time, and I want to bring it back (bow and arrow optional).

Make A Memorable Entrance

Cheryl may have stolen this moment from Toni in Episode 6 of Season 2, however it was great scene between the pair. I guess if you see an opportunity you think you are good for then go grab it. “I was born for this moment”…. and she was.

Confidence Is Key

“Everything looks good on me”

Yes Cheryl, work it. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will? Also, she’s not wrong; she totally pulls off ginger hair and a bright red jacket. In true Cheryl style she has to be that bit extra and gets herself a red version as opposed to the usual black.

Know Where The Best Place Is At Parties

Cheryl knows where it’s at; “Let’s get you a good spot by the food.” Food is the way to a girl’s heart right? It’s always good to get to the buffet first for first dibs, and if you hang out in the kitchen with the snacks, that’s usually where the gossip is at.

Stand Up For Yourself (And Be Terrifying)

Not one to do anything by halves is she! The musical episode where Cheryl confronts her mother and stands up to protect her Nana Rose was a great moment! Be dramatic at all times to get your message across.

Do you love Cheryl Blossom? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Motivational Tips From Riverdale’s Cheryl Blossom appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Archie believes he can survive Hiram considering he survived a bear attack and within less than a day of being home, he and Veronica are having sex in her speakeasy. Poor Reggie! But everything is not back to normal as many things about Archie have changed and his friends have noticed. The SATs are this upcoming Saturday and he starts panicking. Apparently they now have to find the time to study for the SATs.

Betty is busy dealing with the fact that her mother just gave away all of Betty’s money (including her college fund), in order to help the Farm. Betty realises that her dad’s signature on the form has been forged by her mother and she has to go get her father to sign an affidavit stating that Alice forged his signature. Meanwhile, Principal Weatherbee meets with Archie in order to suggest that he repeat junior year and he’s probably right as Archie’s SAT studying isn’t going well with his combined score of 600 on his practice test. Archie is working with Betty and Jughead on studying for the SAT, and when Jughead leaves, Betty decides that what he needs is to dye his hair back and then go to Veronica’s welcome home party.

At the welcome home party, Archie storms out and Reggie then knows he’s had enough. He attempts to confront Archie in the locker room, but when Reggie sees the scars from the bear attack, he backs off.

Elsewhere, Fred threatens Hiram’s life if he ever comes after Archie again, and Hiram decides that Claudius will be the new sheriff of Riverdale whether he likes it or not. As for Fangs, he successfully infiltrates the Gargoyle Gang and tells Jughead about a ceremony taking place the following night in Fox Forest. The plan is for the Serpents to show up and take down the King.

Speaking of the Gargoyle King, when Betty goes to jail to get her father’s signature, he claims that he was the Gargoyle King during the Midnight Club days and that he was the one who invited everyone to ascension night and killed Principal Featherhead. He then signs Betty’s affidavit in exchange for a G&G manual. But Hal has been lying. Penelope Blossom has been paying him visits, posing as Alice Cooper and she told him everything he knows about ascension night, so he lied in order to keep Betty coming back. And it works because by the end of the episode, Betty visits Hal for actual fatherly advice.This is all because Alice gave away all her money so that the Farm could buy the Sisters of Quiet Mercy’s old convent, giving the Farm a permanent home in Riverdale. As she explains, Hal’s the only one who can understand Alice’s particular brand of crazy.

Then, at the Gargoyle King ceremony, we finally learn who the Gargoyle King is. When the Serpents manage to tackle and unmask the Gargoyle King, it’s Tall Boy, whom I swear was dead. Once they tie him up in the bunker, Tall Boy confesses to scaring Betty and Alice that night in her house and for killing Joaquin. He agrees to help them get to Hiram and needs bait who happens to be Archie.

Archie agrees and Tall Boy calls Hiram but Hiram doesn’t show up to the meeting and instead Claudius is sent. FP makes a citizen’s arrest and Claudius ends up dead in a jail cell later on. Hiram calls Hermione who is at work and then gets shot in his office.

At school, Reggie is swiping on a dating app when Archie shows up to ask him about cheating. Archie means on the SATs but Reggie thinks that Archie found out about him and Veronica which is his mistake. By the time Archie gets home, Veronica is waiting and upset. Archie assures her that she didn’t do anything wrong but it’s not the same between them. Archie asks if they can have the conversation tomorrow and stay together tonight (aka have sex) and she agrees.

The next day at the SATs, Archie storms out and when he meets up with Veronica later in the day at the hospital, Hiram is in intensive care. She asks if he was the one who shot her dad and he is horrified that she would think that. It’s clear their relationship is over. Reggie shows up to the hospital with flowers and hugs Veronica and I am so glad that they didn’t blow off Reggie and Veronica.

Then, Tall Boy tries to escape and Fangs accidentally shoots and kills him. He and Sweet Pea are distraught and Jughead covers it up by throwing a party with the Serpents. At their party a cop car shows up and Fangs is convinced they know and will arrest him. However, the cop turns out to be FP who is the new sheriff, appointed by Hermione herself.

We end the episode with Archie whose room is bare and now contains a punching bag. He also keeps a bottle of alcohol in his drawer and takes a swig from it. When Fred asks if he’s okay, he responds that he is. And I am officially not a fan of the new Archie.

Final Thoughts?

This episode was okay but I am very confused and wondering what direction this is going in. I’m kind of glad that Archie and Veronica have broken up as sometimes it seemed like a toxic relationship. Archie needs to sort through everything now.

What did you think of ‘Chapter Forty-Five: The Stranger’? Sound off in the comments below!

The post Riverdale Recap: 3.10 ‘The Stranger’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.