This week on Riverdale
Jughead’s monotone voice, once again, compelled us to listen
as he explained last week’s mishaps and turmoils. He recapped Cheryl Blossom’s earth
shattering statement “I’m guilty.” Then he introduced us to this week’s episode
with an opening scene of Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee escorting a
pouty Cheryl down the hall to the principal’s office.
Cheryl clarified that she wasn’t guilty of killing her
brother but lying about what happened on July 4th. Jason had a plan to leave
Riverdale and to never return but he needed Cheryl’s help. Jason and she were
supposed to go out on the boat at Sweetwater and stage a tragic accident. The
story would be - the boat tipped and capsized and when the police could not
locate Jason’s body he would be presumed dead, of which he originally was. They
actually made it safely to the other side of the river and Jason was supposed
to call Cheryl when he got somewhere safe, only she never heard from him as the
days went by. Subsequently his body was discovered months later at Sweetwater, with
a hole in his head, and the autopsy declared his date of death to be around
July 11th. Cheryl explained that they went to such drastic measures so he would
not get pulled back in by his parents. To
go to such great lengths to get away, maybe Mrs. Copper was right about that
family being evil.
With good reason, the sheriff thought Chery’s story was
farfetched and questioned her about having a hand in his death. She admitted to
hearing a gunshot that day but the sheriff found that quite convenient. Before
the sheriff could ask for more details, her parents barged in and put a stop
to the line of questioning.
The heart throb Archie finally confessed to Principal
Weatherbee and Sherriff Keller that he was at Sweetwater on July 4th
weekend and heard a gunshot like Cheryl. He claimed to have been alone while he worked
on his music. He left Ms. Grundy out of
it but I have a sinking feeling that somehow she will get dragged in.
The Coopers own the Riverdale Register and Betty was quite
upset with the story that her parents spun about Jason’s murder. They claimed
Cheryl was “guilty as sin”. Betty wanted more than ever to wake up the
school newspaper – the Blue and Gold. She all but begged Jughead to work with
her and already knew that he’s writing a novel about Jason’s death. After
convincing him, his first assignment was Dilton Doiley and his scouts. They
were at the river that July 4th weekend too but no one was talking to them
about it.
Archie’s dad confronted him about going to the
principal’s office to confess his whereabouts on July 4th weekend. He and
Jughead were supposed to have hung out but he lied so he grounded Archie. Do parents still do that?
Veronica Lodge went on a date with Chuck Clayton, the
varsity football coach’s son, and captain of the football team but he’s also a
known player. Yes they had lots of chemistry, but the next day he slut shamed
her. Chuck claimed to have given her a “sticky maple” and all over social media
there was a brown stain across her face. Veronica was fuming and wanted revenge.
Betty suggested that they go to the principal’s office but Veronica could have
cared less about following the good-girl proper protocol rules. So this week’s
witty banter by Veronica was. “You want to help me get revenge on Chuck, Betty?
Awesome. Well you had be ready to go full dark, no stars. What do you say?” A reluctant
Betty agreed and they boldly marched into the boys locker room to confront
Chuck but, not surprisingly, he did not back down. She ordered him to take it
back but he told her she rode the “Chuck wagon” and could not handle it. Did
she really think he was going to admit to anything in front of his boys?
Jughead confronted Dilton Doiley about the gunshot but the
scout leader denied anything. Little did he know that, behind his back, a
scout gave Jughead a look of panic. When Jughead confronted that scout he
confessed that it was Scout Master Doiley who shot that gun on July 4th and
warned them that they needed to know how to use guns in order to protect themselves.
Protect themselves from what?
Cheryl was grateful to Archie for backing up her story,
regarding the gunshot, so she offered him anything he wanted. He eagerly asked
her to get him in with Jose and the Pussy Cats. After weeks of Josie turning Archie
away, Cheryl finally got Archie in. So all week long Archie had to sneak out
the house to hang with the Cats. Love, love LOVE Josie and her confident,
self-assured, attitude with her honey sweet voice. I’ve always wondered about
their name so Josie broke it down. She explained that they are seen as “Divas
of Color” and pussycats means they have to claw their way into places where
Archie can waltz into. Archie finally got
to see the Cats at work and they all vibed well. He even helped them write a
song.
Betty discovered a group of girls who said that Chuck lied
about them too, one in particular named Ethel. Supposedly, the guys kept score
of each conquest. Each hook-up earned them points and they kept track in a
book. Cheryl refused to believe this because her twin was on the football team
and he would have told her. RIGHT! Who are these girls who thinks their
brothers tells them everything? Well, there was a play book after all. A kid
who used to play for the team quit because of it and he told them right where
to find it.
So Betty, Veronica, Ethel, Kevin decided to break into the
school in order to find the book and Cheryl just so happened to pop up. And not
only was Jason’s name in it, Polly - Betty’s sister, was right next to his with
9 points. Each girl had a description next
to their names. Polly’s was – “the shy/reserved girl”, Veronica another 9
pointer, was – “the new girl in the school” and Ethel was - “the big girl” who got 7.5 points. I mean really!
Cheryl finally had to admit that maybe she didn’t know Jason
as well as she thought. Betty wanted vengeance and was ready to go “full dark,
no stars”. Riverdale has this things with bold red lipstick and that was
exactly what Betty applied as she got ready to set Chuck up, but her overbearing mom
was there to wipe it off smearing it across her cheek. Never the less, Betty
replaced it and found an innocent looking Chuck at Pop’s diner where she told
him to meet her the next night. He agreed to but not before he told her about her freaky
sister Polly. Because I want to hear that about my sister.
Finally after a week of sneaking out, Archie got busted by his dad.
Then he had the nerve to ask if he could go see the Pussy Cats perform since he
helped write the song. His dad flat out told him no. They argued over his musical direction and Archie said that he didn’t respect his music and if it were
football then he would not be so hard on him.
So the next night when Chuck went to hook up with Betty, he
was met by Veronica instead. She told him they were no longer fighting over
Archie and had no problems sharing - as in men. And as Veronica slipped into the
hot tub, Chuck asked “Shouldn’t we wait for Betty to get here?” Shockingly a
half-naked Betty strutted in with only a bra, a short skirt and a black wig.
Chuck lost all ability to speak but not Betty who said “Betty couldn’t make it
so she sent me instead.” I think even Veronica was like DAMN!
While Betty was losing her mind, her mom, Alice Copper, was
at the mayoral function agitating everybody. First she got punched by Mrs.
Blossom who was mad that she wrote about her children, then she moved over to
Hermione Lodge and reminded her that she went from “Park Avenue Princess to
cater waiter”. Afterwards Mrs. Cooper shoved the knife in deeper and informed
her the that Veronica was getting slut shammed at school. I just love her.
During the function, Archie’s dad talked to Ms. Grundy about Archie and his
music. He wanted to know why she took such an interest in his son. If he only
knew. Of course Archie snuck out the house to watch Josie and the Pussy Cats
Dolls perform and noticed his dad talking to Ms. Grundy a lot that night.
Jughead finally got Dilton Doiley to confess he shot the gun
that weekend and told him to meet them tomorrow at the Blue and Gold office.
Back at the triple date, Betty jumped into full crazed mode
on Chuck. She drugged his alcohol and even Veronica told her to slow it down.
He was handcuffed to hot tub, the water was getting hotter by the minute and in
her hand was a bar of soap. Veronica was recording everything but it was clear
she was uncomfortable. Betty wanted Chuck to confess on camera of which he did
but then Betty took her heel and shoved him down and demanded that he apologize
for shaming Veronica. A panicked Chuck did just that.
A sadistic Betty poured maple syrup on his face and shouted at
him “Apologize for ruining Polly. Say you’re sorry for destroying me. Apologize
for what you did to me!”
Chuck yelled. “I’m not Jason!” AKA You are crazy!
Veronica yelled at Betty “Enough. We did it. You did it.”
Afterwards it seemed like Betty finally snapped out of her twisted trace and
found her senses. Hell even I was a little afraid for chuck. Nope!
The next day Archie’s dad sound proofed the garage and told
him that Ms. Grundy was hot. Uh-oh competition with your dad, Archie? Veronica
thanked Betty for her help and tried to talk to her about her odd behavior but
she was not hearing it. Betty would not even admit she called Chuck, Jason or
that she called herself Polly. Veronica got nowhere with her and let it go, for
now, and as they walked off down the hall, we fade into Betty’s locker and see
the very same wig she wore the night before.
After Betty wrote the scandalous ledger story, Principal
Weatherbee chastised Veronica and Betty for what they did to Chuck and coach
Clayton was forced to cut his own son and half the team. The football team’s score ledger was
finally burned and Cheryl apologized to Betty for Jason hurting Polly.
Dilton Doiley met up with Betty and Jughead the next day but
begged them that if they wrote his story he would get cut from the scouts. He
offered them an even bigger story. He told them that he saw Ms. Grundy’s car at
Sweetwater River that very weekend. And while he was divulging all, Archie had
Ms. Grundy pinned up against the wall in her classroom. I swear steam was
radiating off them both.
Jughead’s voice fades us away explaining that in the weeks
to come if he could have done anything to protect Archie he would have but
Dilton Doiley had already opened up Pandora’s Box and there was nothing he or
anyone else could do to save him.
Overall: It gets better and better. The drama is fierce and the attitudes are real. Still not disappointed. I cannot wait until next week's episode because its about Ms Grundy.
Stay tuned, I will give weekly updates on this one.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by.
