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I wondered how long it was going to be before Riverdale brought Josie back to town after spinning her off — not even as the star! — to Katy Keene, which was cancelled after a single season. This episode is an important one in the grand scheme of things because it directly addresses a lot of wrongs the series and its creators perpetrated against Josie, Valerie and Melody and the actors who played them. If you’ve been out of the loop on this, a conversation erupted on Twitter between Ashleigh Murray and Vanessa Morgan about how actors of color have been treated on the show, which led to a public apology from Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and a promise to do better (his first move was giving Toni Topaze a more prominent role after the seven year time jump, and then her maternity leave has taken her out of the action for a large part of the season). Before Josie was shuffled off to New York, the character was never involved in any of the main storylines, and Valerie and Melody just vanished midway through Season 2. So this episode puts them all front and center, and pointedly addresses the past.
And we get what is probably this season’s musical episode to boot!
At first, we don’t know why Josie is back in town. All we know is that she’s a superstar now, and she vanished in the middle of a global tour. Her first moments in town lead to a production number with Josie singing ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’ and it certainly does. While staying at the Five Seasons, her singing is interrupted by a manager and Hiram Lodge — no live singing after 9 PM. But Josie isn’t having any of that, calling Hiram Lodge a ‘little bitch’. But the next day she goes to Riverdale High to ask Mr. Weatherbee if she can use the music room to write and sing. He’s thrilled to see Josie again and gives her the space on one condition … she teach a music class. She agrees, and Archie immediately knows whose voice he hears as he passes the room.
A quick reunion between them leads to a bigger reunion with the rest of the gang (and it’s at this point one begins to wonder if this episode is playing completely out of order because Jughead is there as if nothing has happened and a very pregnant Toni shows up too), which in turn becomes a brainstorming session as to how they can use a superstar like Josie to reignite interest in Riverdale. But the reunion ends on a really sour note as Josie calls out each and every one of them for how they treated her while they were in high school … and she isn’t wrong. (It’s also a nice way for Aguirre-Sacasa and the writers to admit their fault.) She leaves and runs into Sweet Pea (!) and they hook up, but the next morning Josie has things to do and people to see.
Who she’s going to see are Valeria and Melody. At the top of the episode, we get caught up with the two women, learning Melody has written a book (she realized her voice could be put to better use as an author rather than a lawyer) that’s been optioned by Tyler Perry, and Valerie is a barista with acting aspirations. In fact, she believes she’s up for the lead in the movie based on Melody’s book (but Melody doesn’t want to tell her that Perry wants a big star or it’s no deal). Josie, Valerie and Melody also have a chance to hash out their differences, and Josie tells them she really wants to collaborate with them on a song on her new album, if they’re still performing. That leads to a medley of songs performed by Valeria and Melody at the Whyte Wyrm, which totally impresses Josie. But can they put all the hurt behind them to work together once more?
Josie returns to the Five Seasons to find her mother (Robin Givens returns, and she also directed this episode!) waiting for her. It’s an emotional reunion and now we learn why Josie disappeared from her tour — right before going on stage in Berlin, Sierra called Josie to break the news that her father died suddenly from a heart attack. Devastated, Josie just left, returning to Riverdale to try and gather up the pieces of her broken heart. One thing Sierra tells Josie is that her father’s last wishes were to have his ashes spread at all the various places around the country where he played his gigs. Looks like Josie has a new tour in the works.
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Josie doesn’t know that Sierra has called Valerie and Melody to also break the news to them, and they immediately rush to Josie’s side to offer her support and to tell her they will absolutely sing with her on the album. Josie is touched deeply by their friendship, and offers up another idea — maybe it is her chance to give back to Riverdale, so she proposes they all do a one night only Josie and the Pussycats reunion to raise money for the town, with Valerie and Melody getting equal billing. They’re in, and they perform at the Whyte Wyrm to an adoring crowd, including Dr. Curdle Jr. who is a Pussycats mega-fan! Also, during Josie’s solo tribute song to her father, Toni goes into labor, and Fangs and Cheryl help deliver … a boy! Anthony, named after her father.
There is another plotline this week as Veronica is confronted by one of her husband’s clients, Alexandra Cabot, who wants her investment back. Ronnie has already been approached by Tabitha Tate about investing with her to help franchise Pop’s, but with the debt she owes because of Chad, she tells Tabitha it isn’t the right time. But … maybe she can interest Alexandra in this new opportunity. They have a meeting at the diner, Alexandra loves diners and is very interested but she wants a few tweaks — she wants it to be a singing diner (which gives us a ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ number in which Toni makes her first surprise appearance with no explanation), and they need to change the recipe of the milkshakes because they are money losers. Tabitha refuses, reminding Alexandra that Pop’s started with one menu item — the chocolate milkshake, hence the name Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. She also reminds her that Pop’s was open 24/7 so that people like them (i.e. people of color) had a safe space to gather. If the recipe changes, there’s no deal. In the end, Alexandra comes around and a deal is made.
After the Pussycats reunion concert ends, it’s time once again to say goodbye to everyone. But … the night went so well that Josie invites Melody and Valerie to tour the country with her. They think she wants an opening act, but she wants them to headline with her. For Valerie, it means possibly putting her relationship with boyfriend Alan Mayberry on hold … something she’s not too upset about because he’s putting the pressure of marriage on her and she’s just not ready. But he wants to tag along, and he’s okay with letting her make a decision on her own terms. Melody sees the chance to tour as the same as a book tour, and her girlfriend Nancy is supportive of her decision to hit the road. Even Sweet Pea asks Josie if he can join them, as her roadie or whatever. It’ll be crowded on the bus but she’s secretly thrilled to have him aboard.
But right before she says her final goodbyes to Sierra, Candyman shows up (okay, it’s not Candyman but he sure gave off a Candyman vibe) to hint that Myles McCoy might not have simply died from a heart attack. He’d been involved in some shady things including … voodoo while in New Orleans. Sierra says that living in Riverdale, they know that any death is a suspicious death, and Josie knows where the first stop on her tour will be.
So … was this episode a potential backdoor pilot for a Pussycats series? Riverdale always ends with the show’s logo popping up on the screen, but this one ended with ‘The Pussycats’. And while The CW has talked about another spin-off, nothing concrete was mentioned. And would Ashleigh Murray want to commit to playing Josie again? She had major reservations about returning to Riverdale at all because of the past, but perhaps those fences have been mended and if the reaction to this episode is positive, a Pussycats spin-off where they travel around solving mysteries could become a reality. While the timeline of this episode felt oddly out of place, I still found it to be immensely entertaining, finally doing right by the characters who were always pushed aside. So, would you watch a Pussycats series? It it remained faithful to the original comics and cartoon, I’d happily board that tour bus.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM.
What did you think of this episode? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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