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Let’s Talk About ‘Mr. Cypher’:
- Pop Tate suffers a heart attack after seeing a horrifying vision outside the window of the diner.
- Reggie is nervous about the opening of the casino, but Veronica assures him it will be the biggest thing in Rivervale since maple syrup.
- Betty gets a call from Glenn that they’ve caught the Trash Bag Killer, but he will only speak to her.
- A mysterious man named Lou Cypher — seriously — reveals to Tabitha that Pop’s father sold his soul to make the diner successful, then Pop took on the deal to save his father’s life. Now Tabs must decide if she wants to trade her soul, or the diner, to keep Pop alive.
- Alice is going to prove to be a thorn in the side of the casino, not subtly named Babylonia, so Veronica invites her to the opening to prove it isn’t the den of sin Alice believes it to be.
- Mr. Cypher offers Kevin a deal of fame and fortune, and after a quick glimpse of what lies ahead — including having Fangs, or Finn, back as his boyfriend — he signs the contract without hesitation.
- Veronica learns that Reggie made a deal with Cypher to make the casino a success for the price of a soul.
- Betty questions TBK who does nothing but taunt her, so she calls Glenn to find out exactly why he wanted Betty to question him. Glenn shocks her with the news that TBK has not been apprehended. So who is she talking to?
- Jughead wants to interview Cypher, and the Devil makes him an offer — all the gory details of his life which Jughead can publish to great acclaim but he can never write again, or the tell-all stays between them and Jughead’s creative juices flow like Niagra Falls even though he may never get published again. Jughead goes for the fame but realizes the price was too steep.
- Veronica finds a way to make a trade with the Devil, Reggie’s soul for the soul of slimeball Nick St. Clair but after the deal is made she learns Reggie actually sold her soul which is due for collection at midnight.
- Betty realizes TBK may be Satan under that mask as he taunts her with the voices of Hal and Polly burning in Hell. After she snaps and stabs the man several times, she’s shocked to learn who is under the mask.
- Tabitha receives some Heavenly intervention in the coming battle of good and evil, learning that Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe is the true soul of Rivervale.
- To save her own skin, Veronica nearly tricks Alice into signing away her soul to Cypher but her conscience won’t let her do it. But she’s a smart businesswoman and has another deal for the Devil.
It’s the third chapter of the Rivervale event and this one brings the Devil himself to town, almost as charming as Lucifer Morningstar but more prone to allowing his targets to dig their own graves, tempting them as the Devil does to get their heart’s desire … for a small price, of course. And in the end we nearly lose Pop, but at least three major souls are taken while others are just sitting in the Devil’s waiting room.
Tabitha & Pop
Pop Tate sees a man standing outside of the diner and is shocked so badly when the man’s face turns into something horrible for a second that it gives him a heart attack. At the hospital, the man returns and introduces himself to Tabitha as Mr. Cypher. Lou Cypher. I don’t know if that’s hilarious or sad. The Devil’s name is Lou? Anywho, he reveals that the diner has been a success because her great-grandfather sold his soul to Mr. Cypher, and not wanting to see his father be dragged to Hell, Pop took on the burden and now Lou has come to collect. But, as the Devil does, he tempts Tabitha with a new offer — her grandfather’s soul in exchange for the diner. She’ll think about it. When Pop wakes up he tells her she can’t sell the diner to him because it is the true soul of Rivervale and Cypher wants to destroy that.
At the diner, Tabitha gets a little Divine Intervention when the angel Raphael shows up, explaining that his ‘boss’ is pleased with what they’re doing at the diner (namely, helping the less fortunate of Rivervale with free food). He warns her that a battle is coming and gives her a vial of liquid. When Pop returns to work and Lou shows up to collect on the new deal, Tabitha says she’s like one last milkshake before they go. Lou agrees but notes the taste is a bit off. Well that’s because the vial contained the tears of the Virgin Mary from the Crucifixion. Lou vomits up a little blood, and Tabs reveals that she and Pop are untouchable now because they also ingested the tears. Cypher stumbles out and they rub more of the liquid on the door frame, declaring Pop’s consecrated. But will that be enough to stop what’s coming or will Lou Cypher return?
Veronica and Reggie
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Reggie’s got butterflies about the opening of the casino but Veronica assures him it will be fine. They do have a small problem in the form of Alice, who has already labeled the casino a den of iniquity. Veronica has to fight fire with fire and invites Alice to the soft opening to prove to her she’s got the place all wrong (but does Ronnie know that Reggie is telling the staff the complete opposite of how to run an above board establishment?). Mr. Cypher is also enjoying the opening, easily running a table and forcing Veronica to shut it down and ask him to leave. Lou has already promised Kevin fame and fortune, plus the return of his boyfriend Fangs … or Finn … and with a glimpse of his future Kevin eagerly signs the contract without so much as a glance at the fine print. But Lou reveals to Veronica that he is, in fact, an invited guest of Reggie’s because her boy toy also made a pact with the Devil to make the casino a success. And at midnight Saturday, Lou will come to collect. Ronnie comes up with an idea to offer Cypher a better (worse) soul than Reggie’s and the next thing you know she’s entertaining the repugnant Nick St. Clair, apparently now a senator. Of course he is. While they share a drink in her office, Ronnie asks Nick to tell her all of his dirty secrets, the badder the better to turn her on. He rattles off a few DUIs and hit-and-runs, and that is enough to satisfy Lou and, poof, Nick is gone straight to Hell. Which is all well and good but Cypher tells Ronnie he’ll still be back Saturday because … Reggie traded his worthless soul for Veronica’s. Reggie tricked her into signing the contract with Cypher’s pen when she thought she was signing off on some invoices. Reggie, that should be sneaky enough to get you into Hell. So now Veronica must come up with a new plan, a new soul she can offer.
Well, there is town busybody Alice whom Veronica summons to her office for a chat. She wants to make a deal with Alice to donate a percentage of the casino’s profits to Rivervale, giving Alice complete oversight into how it is distributed. But before the intrigued Alice can sign the contact — which is actually Cypher’s contract — Veronica has an attack of conscience and withdraws the deal, saying that Alice doesn’t deserve to burn in Hell. Alice is offended by Ronnie’s behavior and promises she will continue her crusade against the casino. But Veronica still has to save her soul, so she gives Kevin the night off (he’s not thrilled) and she takes to the stage one more time to perform ‘Marry the Night’. Sidebar: who thought it was a good idea to include the sound effects of the dancers stomping around on the stage? In real life you’d never hear that over the music. It was very distracting. But midnight comes and Ronnie is still in the casino much to Reggie’s relief. His rationale for selling Cypher her soul was that she’d figure out a way to beat the Devil. She did. She made a deal in which she would provide him with one lost soul from the casino every week for as long as she lived … starting with Reggie. Buh bye.
Betty & Jughead
Betty’s encounter with evil comes when she gets a call from Glenn that the FBI has captured the Trash Bag Killer. But he will only confess his sins to her. Not thrilled to have to face the man who had imprisoned and tortured her, Betty puts on her game face and tackles the challenge. TBK talks to Betty about evil in the world, and how she is not only evil inside but is covered with evil as well. This freaks her out a bit, driving her to try to scrub the evil off in the shower. She calls Glenn to find out what the point is to all of this, and Glenn is perplexed because the FBI has not apprehended TBK. So then who is she talking to?
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It becomes clear that she’s talking to the Devil, especially when he taunts her with the voices of her father Hal and sister Polly burning in Hell, calling for her help. Using Hal to draw her into his scheme was not the brightest move since she could not care less about her father, but Polly is a different matter and hearing the screams of her sister causes Betty to snap. She grabs a pair of scissors and starts stabbing TBK in the chest and when she’s satisfied that he’s dead she removes the mask, only to find … Glenn. Cypher may not have gotten Betty’s soul through a signed contract, but he did trick her into committing murder, a sin worthy of a spot in Hell, and to make matters worse she hid Glenn’s body under her house, claiming she had no idea where he was when an FBI colleague called.
As for Jughead, after Tabitha told him what was going on with Pop’s, Juggie decided this could be his big break — an interview with the Devil. Jughead summons Cypher to the school to pitch him the interview, and Lou is intrigued. So much so that he agrees to give Jughead the juiciest tell-all of all-time. But, and there’s always a but, Jughead has to choose from one of two offers: he gets the interview and can publish it, receiving all the acclaim and awards he’s deserved but he will never be able to write again, or he can have the interview but it stays strictly between them, never to be published, but Jughead’s creative juices will flow freely again … even though he may never have another published work (which seems likely if you’re dealing with the Devil). Jughead takes the former and is thrilled with the attention his interview has garnered (no one even seems to disbelieve Jughead interviewed Satan himself in this weird universe), but he is tortured when he realizes the consequences of the deal, sitting down to type with only gibberish appearing on the page.
Jughead summons Lou again and tells him he wants to change the terms of the deal — how is he going to put a cork back on that already published interview? — saying he’s nothing if he’s not a writer. Lou actually agrees, probably because in the end he got Jughead to sign his soul away and that was all he really wanted (judging from his little notebook he carried, crossing off names of his latest acquisitions).
So where does that leave us and the town of Rivervale for the next episode? Hard to say but one thing we know for sure now — Sabrina Spellman will be making an appearance. Fans of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have wondered how she would appear on the show since she sacrificed herself in the finale of her own show on Netflix and now we seem to know: Cheryl conjures her spirit up from Hell. So will this all tie together by the fifth episode? And why didn’t they use the Devil from CAOS to really make it tie together?! Well, at least it will be good to see Sabrina one more time.
Riverdale airs Tuesdays at 9:00 PM.
What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments section below.
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