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Riverdale returned this week after a brief vacation and gave us several major storylines that may carry us through the final nine episodes of the season (yes, there are just nine episodes left!). Archie, the Lodges, Jughead and Betty all had some major [BLEEP] to deal with.
Archie and Josie are definitely getting closer (too bad for Archie though with Josie potentially being spun off into a new series) but Archie still has a lot of pent up rage to deal with. Luckily Kevin’s dad knows a thing or two about boxing and happily takes Archie under his wing to show him the ropes (pun not intended … maybe). Archie, however, is a bit too impetuous for his own good and feels that while he has the drive, he can’t accept Coach Keller’s assessment that he doesn’t have the finesse to actually survive a sanctioned bout.
So what does Archie do when he overhears junior gangster Elio looking for someone to fight his champ? Jumps right on that opportunity with both feet … even if it means taking a fall for the sum of $5000. Tom is not happy with Archie and basically breaks up with him, and Josie questions Archie’s self-worth if $5000 is what he’s happy with to put his own reputation on the line. Archie thought it was a golden opportunity but then he realized everyone was right and gave Elio his down payment back. But that’s not how it works with underworld figures like him, and he warned Archie that if he didn’t show, he’d be dead. If he didn’t throw the fight as planned, he’d be dead.
Arch swallowed his pride and admitted to his coach that he really screwed up and Tom offered to be in his corner for the bout, which was taking place the same night Josie was performing at the Speakeasy, her rendition of Tina Turner’s ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ playing over the fight, possibly signifying something major and tragic happening to Archie in the ring. But no, he put up a good fight but still lost the bout possibly because Elio had it rigged either way. That he went through with it and didn’t get paid or take the fall was a turn on for Josie, so Archie did come away with a win after all … but is Elio actually going to let him get away with his act of defiance?
Jughead doesn’t seem to know how intertwined his life is about to become with Hiram Lodge. Hiram is already quite suspicious of his wife’s and daughter’s participation in the destruction of his drugs and drug-making equipment and had some very threatening words for Hermione which prompted Veronica to admit it was she who destroyed everything. With that settled, Hiram said she owed him $75,000. But Ronnie also had a suggetion for him — focus on the prison, a legal way to make a ton of money, and leave the drugs to someone else. Namely Gladys Jones, who had already suggested that if a deal wasn’t struck, she’d sing real loud about her mother’s complicitness. She also wanted Ronnie to feed her information about Hiram’s business decisions. When Hiram summoned Gladys for a sit down, Veronica interjected herself into the meeting, pretending it was her first encounter with Gladys and they both coincidentally had the same idea about Hiram running the prison and Gladys running the drugs … or candy. Hiram reluctantly agreed provided Gladys could guarantee a steady stream of prisoners and the deal was done. But is a deal with the Devil ever really done?
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Meanwhile Juggie’s Serpents kingdom was falling apart and he considered bringing Toni back into the fold as she is a legacy member. She considered it as long as she could be the queen. Yeah, Betty’s already got that position so Toni stuck with her new gang with Cheryl, who wasn’t happy with Jughead trying to muscle in on their territory, or Toni, and Cheryl took a few of her girls to give Sweet Pea and Fangs a roughing up to send Jughead a message. That didn’t sit well with Toni, who felt Cheryl was over-stepping her bounds and not telling Toni what she was doing. But Jughead still needed bodies to refill the ranks of the Serpents and Gladys suggested the Gargoyles, who seem to be rudderless now that Tall Boy is dead.
It’s not something Jughead wants to do, but he relents after the attack on his men and pays a visit to the Gargoyles lair … and finds them all pretty much strung out on Fizzle Rocks and G&G, asserting that the Gargoyle King still lives. The whole experience freaks out Jughead and he puts the kibosh on the plan, but Gladys has other ideas and recruits the Gargoyles herself with the guaranteed protection of the town’s new sheriff F.P. Jones. This all sounds like a very, very bad idea, but as long as it keeps Gina Gershon around to stir the pot, I’m on board.
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And Betty has her hands full with Alice who is having her wedding dress altered for her ‘rebirth’ ceremony at The Farm. When expressing her concerns about his whole Farm thing to Kevin, Betty is shocked to find that after the departure of Moose, Kevin has been lured in to the group by Evelyn with the promise of meeting some gay boys. So he’s not going to be any help. And Jughead suggests that Betty just be supportive while keeping an eye on things. She almost gives in and then discovers people have died during this ceremony that her mother is about to partake in.
Meeting with a woman who escaped The Farm, Betty finds that people have drowned during the baptism ceremony and takes off in the middle of her interview to prevent the same from happening to Alice. Betty RUNS all the way to The Farm from the bunker and finds Evelyn conducting the ceremony. (Ummm, wouldn’t this be something Edgar should actually be presiding over? Asking for a friend.) Alice has already gone underwater in the tub and Betty is shocked to see Polly holding her down while Alice frantically grabs at Polly’s arms until she goes lifeless. Betty drags Alice out of the tub and revives her with CPR, takes her home and is still panicked that her mother almost died.
But Alice is now convinced the ceremony didn’t almost kill her, it was her rebirth and now she has to get rid of the last thing that’s holding her back from achieving her full potential at The Farm — she’s going to sell the house so they can all live happily ever after with Edgar. Will Betty find herself dragged into this cult? And will we ever see anymore floating babies?
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM.
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