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There was a lot going on in this week’s Riverdale that even packed a real emotional punch in the end.
There’s no sign of Jughead this week, and no one seems to be looking for him anymore and that’s because Betty and Tabitha have moved back on trying to find the Highway Killer, and figure out what happened to Polly. Betty’s out on the road pretending to be a trucker hoping to entrap the killer — without getting herself killed — and when she thinks she’s found a target he turns out to be FBI. Luckily she’s FBI too … but she isn’t and her ex Glen is all too happy to remind her of that, threatening to arrest her for impersonating an officer and taking her badge and gun.
But if she can’t prowl the highway, she and Tabitha are going to bring the highway to them, convincing Fangs to turn the Whyte Wyrm into a ‘Coyote Ugly’ joint that is sure to lure in the truckers. They also enlist Cheryl and Veronica for the entertainment, Alice pouring drinks, and Kevin and Reggie will break into the trucks to see if they can find anything other than cargo. The plan actually works, and the boys find blood inside of one empty truck. But it was just a shipment of meat so they struck out. But they now have a data base of names and driver’s licenses for Betty to dig into, but before she can get out of Pop’s parking lot another trucker pulls in. Since he missed the night’s entertainment, he asks if Betty would like to have some fun … and she agrees. Okay, earlier she said the cardinal rule was that no one goes off with a trucker alone, and here she goes. She did text Tabitha to track her so at least there was that.
Driving to a hotel, the trucker claims, they have a very odd conversation about him being in town to visit his dying grandmother, and how wonderful it is to watch that light go out as someone dies. Um, red flags! He pulls over to stretch his legs for a couple of minutes but comes around to the passenger side of the truck with a huge knife. Betty is waiting and knocks him down with the door … and then turns her back on him to call Tabitha. Betty! You should know better than that by now. Of course he’s gone when she turns around but he’s not far, coming back around the truck … with a chainsaw! He is so determined to kill Betty that he starts carving up his own truck. Seriously? Betty was able to grab a large wrench and also managed to throw it just right so that it hit him square in the face, knocking him out. Tabitha shows up and wants to call the FBI, but Betty has other plans. They need to hide the truck, and then she’s going to take him somewhere for safe keeping (not mentioned but I’m going to guess the bunker) so she can question him about Polly before then turning him over to the FBI.
Veronica needs to drum up some business because her jewelry store isn’t the cash cow it needs to be, especially since she has to pay off Chad’s Ponzi scheme, so she decided to get back into her ‘She-Wolf of Wall Street’ mode to do her own investment banking with a list of potential clients. But she’s not having much luck closing deals so Reggie, who seems to be working for her at the store now, sells himself to her as a closer. She gives him the chance to try to make a couple of deals and is impressed with his salesmanship. She should have known he’d be good at that if he was a used car salesman. As he secures more clients, her list of contacts is dwindling so he comes up with the idea to go after Hiram’s investors, selling them the line that Sodale is a scam and there will never be a Sodale. And it works. But what happens with Hiram finds out he’s losing investors to his own daughter?
Kevin is feeling down about how he left things with Fangs, and Cheryl suggests he attend one of her and Mumsy’s church services. He agrees but doesn’t last more than a few minutes. Cheryl confronts him again about the Fangs situation and says that another way to find salvation is to see Fangs face-to-face and make some atonement for his actions. Kevin does just that and finds Fangs with another man — Moose! Fangs tries to say it isn’t what it looks like (but it is) and Kevin excuses himself. Back at school he’s even more despondent. Cheryl thinks he’s been fired for his continued cruising in the woods (where Cheryl encountered him earlier), but it’s even worse: he’s been awarded Teacher of the Year. This is not how his life was supposed to turn out. He enjoys teaching but he should be in New York writing, directing and performing, not getting awards from a dying school. Cheryl has an idea to get his creative juices flowing. At the next service she introduces their new musical director, Kevin Keller, and the two perform ‘Everything’s Alright’ from Jesus Christ Superstar, much to Penelope’s chagrin. She doesn’t want someone stealing her spotlight, but Kevin does just that, appearing to have a true epiphany at the end.
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Archie is still dealing with his friend Eric, attempting to get him the assistance he needs from the VA. For as ridiculous as Riverdale can be, this is a very realistic, hard-hitting topic. Archie keeps getting the runaround, and Eric is obviously suffering from PTSD, at one point nearly shooting Archie before Uncle Frank intervened. But Frank has an idea and brings a rescue dog home to try and help Eric with his PTSD. Except the dog was rescued from a dog fighting ring and at one point it freaked out during a walk and bit Eric. Frank takes responsibility for bringing a dog that needs just as much care as Eric does, but Archie is horrified to learn there is a dog fighting ring in Riverdale. Archie also tells Frank about their platoon dog Bingo that got caught in the crossfire the same night Eric’s leg was blown off, and he was unable to save the dog. Frank beings to wonder if Archie is in need of help as well.
But Archie, Eric and Fangs find the dog trainer, the rescue the dogs and Archie gives the guy a brutal beat down, complete with brass knuckles. Eric and Fansg have to pull him off the guy, and when they get home Archie just goes to shower, avoiding Uncle Frank. But Frank knows where they went, and he mentions Bingo to Eric. But Eric has some shocking information for Frank: Bingo wasn’t a dog, he was another member of the platoon. Archie was forced to leave him in the middle of a shoot-out or end up dead himself. Frank has to sit Archie down and tell him he made the right decision or none of them would be here today. In the morning, Archie’s phone wakes him up and it’s the VA. Archie again tells them he’s trying to get some help for his friend, but when he looks over in the corner of the room he sees Corporal Bingo. Archie then realizes he needs help as well. That was a powerful and emotional ending to the episode.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM.
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