Riverdale - My Take Part 3

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 4^th 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.
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