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After last week’s ultra-dramatic episode of Riverdale, it seems like the season finale went out a bit more quietly than expected, although the drama and tension certainly did ramp up throughout the hour leaving us booing and hissing at the TV screen, as the producers intended. But it opens up a very important question heading into Season 3 — what is so important in Riverdale that Hiram needs to have complete control of?
But first … we knew Jughead wasn’t really dead, right? The show is certainly not going to risk losing its entire fan base by killing off the most popular character, not to mention the most popular actor, on the show. Even with that fake out cemetery scene (which I thought would turn out to be for Fangs but … he’s still alive too!). But we did finally learn that Jughead is NOT his name. Didn’t he claim that was his given name back in Season 1? Well, now we know it’s ‘Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, Jughead to his friends’ as it said on the headstone. And now we know what the FP stands for too. That might have been a bigger mystery than the Black Hood.
Speaking of mysteries, did the show blow its crowd scene budget on the last episode? FP told Jughead, and us, that the Ghoulies did go to war with the Serpents and the Serpents lost hard. The trailer park was torched, and most of the Serpents defected, were arrested, are in hiding, or left town. For all intents and purposes, the gang is no more. And furthermore, FP is insisting it’s time to cut out of Riverdale while they can, move to Toledo with Mrs. Jones. Jughead’s not giving up that easily, and he’s especially not leaving Betty behind.
Poor Betty is not dealing well with the fact that her dad is the Black Hood. Alice is having an even harder time, especially with the townspeople gathering in front of their house, turning it into a macabre tourist attraction. Polly seems to be the only one not bothered, prepared to make peace with Hal so she doesn’t become him, something she urges her sister and mother to do. Alice is on board, but Betty wants nothing to do with Hal. But she eventually did go to see him and told him the one thing he didn’t expect to hear: Goodbye. Betty’s basically taken Hal’s power away but has she also banished the darkness she fears lives inside of her?
But with the Serpents basically disbanded and Hal behind bars, there was still a question of that second Black Hood and who was going to win the mayoral election (not to mention the student body presidency? As to that second Black Hood, there had apparently been a fan theory since he was introduced as to who it was until the connection to Betty made it obvious that the Black Hood was Hal. But the second Black Hood made the original theory seem more valid once we started to think about it. The second Hood has only been known to attack Fred Andrews. And who in Riverdale has a grudge against Fred? Hiram Lodge, or course. Not that Hiram would ever stoop so low as to do his own killing, but he did have someone who was already on his payroll who matched the description of the Hood — disgraced Serpent Tall Boy. He already was fingered as the one who chopped off the head of the General Pickens statue to cause trouble between the North and South Sides, and that directive came from Hiram Lodge. So with Fred putting his plans to have Hermione installed as the new mayor of Riverdale, it only makes sense that Tall Boy is the second Black Hood.
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Which shows that Hiram will go to any lengths to get what he wants, and for the people of Riverdale that should be a frightening proposition. Speaking of propositions, after Sierra McCoy helped finalize Cheryl’s emancipation from her mother (naming Nana Rose as her legal guardian), Cheryl wanted to deliver the news herself but spied Hiram meeting with Penelope and Claudius in one of the barns. And she promptly delivered the news to Veronica, who then questioned Hiram’s intentions. He claimed he just wants in on the maple syrup business but she’s not buying it (she also thinks he hired Claudius to be the second Black Hood, a theory I can get behind).
It also comes to light that Hiram is about to make a deal to buy the Serpents’ hangout, the White Wyrm, where the now homeless stragglers are residing. But Hiram made have made a serious mistake by underestimating his daughter. Catching wind of his plans, which would then give him total control over the South Side, she hired Sierra to be her lawyer to negotiate the return of her million dollars so she could buy the Wyrm before he did. The threat of exposing all of his dirty secrets caused him to relent but it’s putting a serious wedge in their relationship. Once she gets her money, she does indeed buy the Wyrm but then makes Hiram an offer for an even exchange — the Wyrm for Pop’s.
Because Ronnie was not having it after she found out Hiram fired FP. His ownership of Pop’s has taken away the one place in town where Ronnie and her friends can go and just relax and be themselves. Hiram considers the deal on several conditions: he cuts off her allowance, she loses her trust fund, credit cards are cancelled, and she relinquishes her third of the shares in Lodge Industries. And she accepts. Turns out there’s a secret room under Pop’s that used to be a speakeasy and she plans to reopen it as a cabaret and let FP manage it. But something tells me Hiram isn’t going to make any of this easy on her, especially now that Hermione is the new mayor of Riverdale (Fred lost by less than 200 votes).
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Despite Fred opening his home to the Serpents after word came down that Hiram’s new puppet sheriff was going to raid the Wyrm, he just didn’t have enough votes to clinch the victory. But thanks to all the recent events, Hermione has had her eyes opened to the probability that Hiram did hire someone to shoot up the debate which put her life in danger as well. She knows the lengths Hiram will go to and it looks like she’s about to team up with Veronica, Fred and Archie to make his life a little more difficult.
In fact, while Hermione and Ronnie were at the Andrews house (when they should have been celebrating her win), Archie was waiting at the Lodge home … and he has a knife! Archie knows all of Hiram’s secrets as well which puts him in danger, but he makes it clear that he knows he was taken advantage of, that Hiram hired Tall Boy, that Hiram killed Papa Poutine, that Andre killed Cassidy Bullock and there’s more. Hiram says Archie is delusional but Archie does not back down, threating Hiram that he will expose everything and make his bones once and for all. Hiram looked a bit worried.
In addition to the mayoral election, the Student Council election was held. By the time all was said and done, everyone had dropped out of the race except for Ethel and Archie, and Archie wins. As he is about to be inaugurated as the Student Council president, Josie launches into the National Anthem and Archie spots a very smug looking Hiram in the shadows. On the opposite side of the gymnasium, Sheriff Minetta and his men barge in and arrest … ARCHIE! For the murder of Cassidy Bullock.
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And that’s when we all go ‘who is Cassidy Bullock?!?!’ Well, remember when the four friends went to the Lodge Lodge and Veronica and Betty sort flirted with the cashier at the general store, and then that guy and some friends paid them a visit and attempted a robbery? And said assailant was shot in the woods by Andre? Yeah, that little weasel was Cassidy Bullock. And he’s going to have a hard time proving he didn’t do it considering Small Fry murdered Andre last week. But it just proves one thing — you don’t mess with Hiram Lodge.
Notables of the season finale
- It seems that Fangs’ death announcement was also engineered by Hiram to launch the Ghoulies/Serpents war. He looked remarkably well though at the Serpents’ gathering.
- Despite evidence to the contrary — like neither Hiram or Minetta being present during the riots — most of Riverdale believed the Lodges helped quell the riots.
- Moose was upset that all of the notes left for Midge at her locker after her death were destroyed, but Kevin ended up ‘comforting’ him.
- Principal Weatherbee was threatening to bus all former South Side students to a school two hours away due to the destruction at Riverdale High, but when all of the students put up a united front Weatherbee relented.
- Sheriff Minetta is the one who claimed Tall Boy was the second Black Hood, and he knew that because he claimed to have killed him in a shoot out. Do we believe him? I don’t think so. I still think Claudius could have been BH2.
- FP gathered the Serpents on the site of the very first Serpents meeting to say … he’s retiring but he’s handing the mantle of Serpents leader to Jughead. They give a special red leather Serpents jacket to Cheryl. Is he going to stick around to manage Pop’s Cabaret?
- We learn more about Hiram’s plan for Riverdale, working with Claudius (see, I told you he could be BH2!) and Penelope (to run their drugs through the prison), the Ghoulies (to be the drug dealers), and Penny (the troubleshooter). And Penelope is also expecting a brothel of her own.
- Polly is acting a bit culty, telling Alice about a man at ‘the farm’ who has helped her and she’d be more than happy to have him talk to Alice. Uh oh.
- Jughead asked Betty to be his Serpent Queen. Awwwwwwwww.
- No sign or mention of Chic. Are we to assume he really is most sincerely dead?
Riverdale will return in October.
What did you think of this episode? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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