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Welcome back to Riverdale. The last we saw of Archie Andrews, he was being carted off to prison, a victim of his own doing really, but the trumped up charges came solely from Hiram Lodge. And now three months later — in Riverdale time — Archie is standing trial with his mother and Sierra McCoy by his side. But they are up against a fierce opponent in Mrs. Wright (guest star Penelope Ann Miller), the prosecuting attorney … and someone probably under Hiram Lodge’s thumb, or heel. With the two sides arguing for and against Archie’s innocence in the murder of Cassidy (who was killed by Lodge’s henchman André, who is also now dead himself), it will come down to the jury to make a decision.
But since it’s the Labor Day weekend, the judge advises Archie to spend that time with his friends and family. Which he does — a pool party at Cheryl’s (with the burned out remains of Thorn Hill as a backdrop, getting a Serpents tat from FP, finishing the restoration work on the jalopy, and enjoying a day at a local swimming hole with Ronnie, Jughead and Bettty — but boy do the rest of them have their own full plates to deal with.
With the reveal of Hal Cooper as the Black Hood last season and the rest of the Coopers barely escaping death, Alice seems to have fallen under the spell of a potential cult leader named Edgar. It’s Edgar this and Edgar that with her, driving Betty a little more crazy than she already is, to the point that Alice suggested to Betty that she burn all of her diaries because that’s all the pain of her past (of course, Edgar is the one who came up with this idea). But Betty is seeing her own therapist, Dr. Glass and taking Adderall. Except … Dr. Glass isn’t real and she’s forging prescriptions for the drug. Whoops. But being called out by Polly and Alice may have been the wake up call she needed since she spent the entire summer helping Archie’s mother put together his defense. She really needs a little Betty time before she completely loses it.
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Jughead is taking to his role as the leader of the Serpents (now taking up residence in the North Side thanks to the Ghoulies taking over the South Side), but the news that the Ghoulies have kidnapped Hot Dog puts Jughead and the Serpents in mission mode. Paying a visit to the Ghoulies’ digs one night, Juggie attempts to rescue the dog but cutting the chain set off all the lights — all of them — with Penny Peabody ready to rumble. Unless Jughead give her his Serpents jacket. Before things got too out of hand, Cheryl fired a warning shot into one of the Ghoulies’ shoulder and Jughead told her to aim her next arrow right between Penny’s eyes — and she never misses. Penny allowed Jughead to go, but warned him the Ghoulies were coming for the North Side next and Betty was a target.
With Archie certain he’s facing jail time, he’s asked Betty to check in on his dad and told Veronica not to come visit him in prison. She said he was not breaking up with her, and she’s be there with all the ‘prison widows’ every week. But she’s determined to prove Archie’s innocence. Archie insists they do not return to the Lodge Lodge to try to find André’s gun because they’ve been over the area with a fine tooth comb, but Josie may have a way for Ronnie to make a difference — getting her into the hotel where the jury is sequestered. All she has to do is convince one juror of Archie’s innocence and that could swing the result. But Hiram assumed she would attempt such a stunt and had the sheriff lying in wait for her.
Confronting Hermione at the police station, her mother laid down the Lodge law to her. Being the daughter of Hiram affords her certain protections, something Hermione does not have. Hiram would slit her throat if he felt she was going behind his back, but not Veronica’s. But she assures Ronnie that she is not Hiram’s puppet. So an attempt at jury tampering went unmentioned by the time Archie was due back in court (even after Jughead suggested he just run to Quebec with the aid of the Serpents in the area), and then things went completely sideways …
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The jury was deadlocked, six to six, with no hope for movement from either side (so Ronnie didn’t even need to put herself in jeopardy). But before any decision on a mistrial could be made, Mrs. Wright offered Archie a deal — no prison time, but two years in juvenile detention if he would plead guilty to the charge. While Archie had time to think over the long weekend, he convinced himself that while he didn’t pull the trigger, he let Cassidy die by not staying there with André, so that makes him guilty of the murder. Before his mother could even entertain the deal, Archie accepted it to the surprise of even the judge. And he plead guilty, and was carted off to detention.
Veronica, of course, is furious at Hiram and back at their apartment she asked him if he was happy now, getting what he wanted for Archie’s betrayal. Ah, but it wasn’t Archie’s betrayal that set all of this in motion, he explained, it was hers, choosing ‘that boy’ over her own blood. This was her reward for being a disobedient daughter. Veronica informed him he no longer has a daughter. Back at the Andrews home, Mary was on her way back to Chicago but said she would file an appeal, and Fred said they would get Archie out of jail, and he has back-up in the form of FP Jones and Tom Keller.
And then things got even crazier.
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Dilton Doiley had been seen a few times throughout the episode, first playing some kind of role playing game of sorts in school. Then he was at Cheryl’s party after really weird. Then he showed up at the Jones’ trailer just as they were about to head to the courthouse. Concerned about his wild-eyed behavior, Jughead told him to crash there until they got back and Dilton blurted out ‘The Gargoyle King is real!’ The what? When Jughead returned to the trailer, he saw a rolled up piece of paper on the table. On one side was an odd drawing — the Gargoyle King, perhaps? On the other was what appeared to be a game board but it looked suspiciously like a map of Riverdale and the outskirts of town. Following the map to a wooded area just outside the city limits, he found some kind of altar where Dilton and another guy were bowing down to the Gargoyle King, or a representation of whatever it is, odd symbols carved into their backs, and foaming at the mouth. That can’t be good.
Back at the Cooper home, Betty hears what sounds like chanting coming from downstairs. But there was no one in the living room. Following the sounds, Betty strolled out onto the deck and saw her mother, sister and some other people in white standing around a fire pit. But they weren’t enjoying white wine and light conversation. Betty watched as Alice and Polly held Polly’s twins over the fire and then they dropped them … and watched the children FLOAT above the fire. Betty, naturally, had a seizure and collapsed as anyone would after witnessing two babies floating in mid-air.
So did she really see what she thinks she saw? Is Edgar’s cult something more than just a cult? Have the show’s producers been lying to us all this time promising the show would not veer into supernatural territory, meaning that perhaps there will be some crossover between Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix? Or is Betty just crashing from going cold turkey with her Adderall? It certainly seems like a little bit of Greendale is creeping into Riverdale.
And, by the way, loved the 80s-style slasher movie musical score this week.
Riverdale airs Wednesday at 8:00 PM.
What did you think of the season premiere? Is Riverdale heading to the really dark side? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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