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Riverdale finally returns from its long winter break and whatever happened in the first third of the season … seems to have been forgotten. We still don’t really know if Betty actually did put Dark Betty to rest, and we don’t know if Alice and all the other Farmies have been deprogrammed because we didn’t see a single one of them this week. Nor has the show addresses the mystery of the VHS tapes, or why everyone in Riverdale still has working VHS players. We don’t even know what’s up with Hermione or Hiram’s other daughter or Penelope Blossom. Kevin and FP made basically cameo appearances this week. Heck, Mary Andrews got more screen time. It must be crazy being an actor on this show if you’re not in the core cast of four because one week you have a major storyline and the next week you’re reduced to sitting in the bleachers cheering on the Riverdale High football team, waving a little flag and smiling maniacally without a word of dialogue.
But I digress.
I have to say I am enjoying this season more than most of Seasons 2 and 3 combined … even if the storytelling is all over the place. There are some through-lines tying episodes together, but there have still been quite a few things thrown at the wall to see what sticks. I have a feeling Uncle Frank is going to be the latest plot device after springing him on us right at the end of the last episode. To Mary, he’s black and white, a ne’er-do-well (her words) who puts himself ahead of others, including his brother Fred. She’s not happy he’s in town, and she’s even less happy that he’s worming his way into Archie’s world, camping out at the youth center, possibly putting on an act for something more nefarious down the road.
Mary’s pissed because of the night he got drunk and wrecked her and Fred’s car and then let Fred take the DUI because it would have been Frank’s third strike. Learning of this, Archie confronts Frank but he has a convincing story that Fred took it upon himself to take the hit because that’s who Fred was. And then Frank split because that’s who he is. But he’s got more shades of grey to him, including some issues from his time in the military during Desert Storm. Archie takes pity on Frank and even manages to get Mary to let him stay on the couch instead of a cot at the gym. And then Frank goes and screws up all that goodwill by offering Monroe (aka Mad Dog) some pills to help him play in the football game after he was attacked by some goons from Stonewall Prep. Archie’s not having it but Monroe says it’s his decision, and he ends up playing in the last game of the season (and the last game of their time in high school). They lose but the scout from Notre Dame is impressed enough to have a chat with Monroe so … it’s okay with Archie now that Frank gave him the pills? Alrighty then. So what else does Uncle Frank have up his sleeve?
Veronica is going full steam ahead with her war against Hiram, producing and bottling her own version of the family rum recipe, the one she was forbidden from using because Hiram has the formula copyrighted. Ronnie thought that by adding some spices of her own would be enough to render his claims null and void … but it wasn’t and when he got wind of her little operation, he served her with a cease and desist and the threat of a lawsuit since she refused to partner with him. But at the football game, Cheryl gave Ronnie a sno-cone drizzled with Blossom Maple Syrup (looks like the family business is back in business) and that gave Ronnie the idea for her rum and a new partnership combining Luna rum and Blossom syrup. And Reggie keyed Hiram’s car in the school parking lot at half time.
Speaking of Cheryl, she had her own battle of wills this week with the principal and the new cheerleading coach, Miss Appleyard. Cheryl was none-too-thrilled to have her power over the Vixens usurped and rallied the girls to stand up to authority. But when Honey suggested none of them would go to prom if they didn’t cheer under Appleyard’s guidance, they turned their backs on Cheryl. But … you don’t mess with Cheryl Blossom and on the day of the big game, she managed to lock Appleyard in her office and took over the squad, doing a full on musical performance to the song ‘Cherry Bomb’ … which must have been very distracting for the players and perhaps why Riverdale lost? It was cruel for Principal Honey to try to take away Cheryl’s last hurrah with the Vixens, but now what price will she pay for her insubordination?
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Jughead is now a member of the Quill & Skull secret society at Stonewall, but his world clashes with Betty’s when she learns that Stonewall always wins their football games because they play dirty. And the head dirt bag is none other than Bret Weston Wallis, of course. Hoping to get some dirt at a Stonewall party, Betty enlists Veronica to go undercover but just as Bret is about to drunkenly spill some secrets, Jughead recognizes the bewigged beauty and blows her cover … and Betty’s story. Principal Honey wanted her to write a puff piece to juice up the school spirit so he wouldn’t have published her exposé anyway but that isn’t going to stop her from digging. She did write the puff piece though and suggested that if Riverdale High couldn’t beat Stonewall on the football field, they could try in the academic arena and now Betty is the captain of the team which will face off on Riverdale’s version of It’s Academic.
What Betty didn’t know was that Professor Dupont asked Jughead to ask Betty to drop her investigation, but he refused to do that, putting his college future in jeopardy because Jughead was lined up for an interview with a rep from Yale … the university Betty wanted to go to but was not accepted. Refusing to play ball with Dupont, Jughead assumed that was the end of his Yale dream but … he got accepted (cue the FP cameo at Stonewall to help celebrate). The question is, will be make it to Yale?
Yes, that is the big question that has been hanging over Riverdale since the Season 3 finale. This season has been giving us end scene flash forwards to spring break and the last one we got had Bret and Donna Sweett identifying Betty, Archie and Veronica as Jughead’s killers. This week, Betty was in Juggie’s room packing up his things when a visbily upset Bret enters and tells her to save her tears because no one is watching. He also ominously says that since he and Jughead won’t be going to Yale together now, it will just be him and Betty. Wait what?! Betty does get accepted to Yale? I’m digging these little teases but we still have 12 episodes to go before the season finale. A long way to go but at least it seems like it’s going to be fun getting there, depending on what the writers throw at us next week. Stay tuned!
What did you think of this episode? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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