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Let’s Talk About ‘Death at a Funeral’:
- Jughead is struggling with his hearing loss to the point that he can no longer write.
- Britta notices something odd about Mistress Cheryl, and Nana Rose confirms she swapped Cheryl’s soul with Abigail’s and Cheryl’s is no more.
- Veronica admits to Reggie that she put the hit on Hiram, and now they are hosting his memorial service at the casino.
- Kevin is staying in Riverdale to take care of Baby Anthony, and he wants to his father’s new deputy.
- Betty gets a call that Glen has gone missing, and then receives a package with a horrifying clue.
- Veronica’s abuelita arrives for the funeral, accompanied by a young man named Heraldo, her godson.
- At the town council meeting, Percival Pickens introduces himself and Abigail is shocked to see her beloved Thomasina.
- Hermione and her reality TV crew descend on Riverdale.
- Archie discovers his Kryptonite.
- TBK is unmasked.
This week’s episode of Riverdale was very soap opera-y with so much going on and scenes that lasted for maybe a minute or so before moving on to the next and then circling back. It was positively head-spinning, so let’s break it down by character.
Cheryl/Abigail
Britta notices Cheryl is acting more odd than usual and Nana Rose confirms she swapped Cheryl’s spirit with that of Abigail and Cheryl is no more. Abigail now has to adjust to modern life — including dressing like ‘harlots’ — but to carry out the plan to regain control of Riverdale, she needs to see the lay of the land. Attending a city council meeting is the first step. There, Percival Pickens introduces himself to the town and says that he wants to make Riverdale one of the most prosperous communities in America. Abigail remembers the Blossom family having dealings with the Pickens family in the past and Nana reminds her that it did not go well. But Abigail is distracted when Toni enters the room, seeing her beloved Thomasina again. Whatever plans Nana has for Riverdale are pushed to the side as Abigail attempts to pursue Toni. Learning that she is a teacher and guidance counselor at Riverdale High, Abigail hopes to bring Toni to her school at Thorn Hill, but when she goes to the Whyte Wyrm and learns that Toni is in a relationship with Fangs, a descendant of ‘warlock pirate’ Finn Fogarty (the man who murdered Thomasina), Abigail decides she needs to put a stop to that. But when Nana admonishes her for losing sight of their mission, Abigail banishes her to a room furnished with nothing but hay.
Jughead
Juggie is not dealing with his hearing loss very well, frustrated that it has complicated his writing process because he can’t listen to music or hear the clacking of the typewriter keys. Tabitha is trying to support him, but he really screws up one day by taking is frustrations out on a motorcycle ride … that ends in a wipeout. Jughead is a little battered physically, but it’s the emotional injuries he’s suffered that are taking a toll. Archie and Betty don’t know about Jughead’s condition at this point, but Archie does find out when he goes to ask Jughead if he’s experienced anything strange since the explosion. He doesn’t reveal his own super strength or Betty’s ability to see threatening auras, but Jughead says he has experience nothing but the hearing loss. Tabitha brings a therapist to see Jughead, Daniel, a man who has experienced something similar, and Jughead agrees to go to his office. There, Daniel leaves Jughead alone for five hours and tells him to just focus on writing. It doesn’t work but Daniel says it will take time. He then shows Jughead a graphic novel that he drew and wrote, and that is the inspiration Jughead needed to get his creative juices flowing. Tabitha is thrilled that he’s found a creative outlet, and while he’s writing he hears Tabitha wonder if she left the oven on at Pop’s. She says she didn’t say a thing, and as he goes back to his writing he hears her say she did turn off the oven but did she lock the door? He asks her if she just asked if she locked the door at Pop’s, she said no and Jughead now realizes he does have a special ability to read someone’s thoughts.
Veronica
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Veronica has to come clean to Reggie about putting the hit on Hiram, and he’s not all that thrilled about her choice. To complicate things, she also informs him that they are hosting the memorial service at the casino. Awkward. But Reggie agrees to stand by his girlfriend. Hermione arrives with her reality TV crew in tow and tries to turn her daughter’s grief into sound bites for her show. Veronica finally shoos everyone out of the room and admits to her mother that she put the hit on Hiram, and Hermione isn’t surprised or sad or disappointed. She admits that she was always jealous of the father/daughter relationship, feeling that they both loved each other more than they loved her, but Veronica assures her that isn’t the case. And now that they’ve shares such a raw, emotional moment together Hermione wants to re-stage it for the cameras. At the memorial, Reggie is introduced to Veronica’s abuelita Lordes and her godson Heraldo. Abuelita says she always knew her son’s life would end like this — Veronica confirms he was shot in the back of the head four times — and that she wants Veronica to deliver the eulogy. Awkward. Before the service, Veronica gets a surprise visit from hitman Anatol and realizes he’s there to kill her. Before he can take his shot, another shot rings out and Anatol is killed. It was Heraldo, who makes it his business to know everything going on in the family and making sure it doesn’t touch abuelita. But who put a hit on Veronica? She assumes it was her sister. Veronica asks how Heraldo can do what he does then sit down to dinner with abuelita like nothing happened and he says he doesn’t see the world as black and white, but shades of gray. That seems to resonate with her as she delivers the eulogy. She publicly apologizes for all the terrible things Hiram did to Riverdale and her friends, but she also admits that he did many good things, like paying for Fred Andrews’ funeral, and that no matter what she loved him deeply. Afterwards Reggie, who was the only member of their friends to attend, tells her he never really knew what she had with her father so it wasn’t his place to judge her for what she did. He loves her and that’s enough. And then Heraldo pops in to ruin the moment, but he has something for Veronica — a tape made by Hiram right before he died. She listens to the tape and hears her father’s voice, recounting their tumultuous relationship but also the deep, deep love he had for her. He doesn’t suggest that he knows she put the hit on him, but his words tear at her heart and her actions will hang over her for quite some time (or until the next episode when all is forgotten). In the end, he left her his rum business because he really enjoyed their sparring during their ‘rum war’.
Archie & Betty
Archie, Betty, Uncle Frank and a crew are making repairs to the house. Archie is still super strong, showing Betty just how much by having her squeeze his hand in a vice. Betty receives a call from one of her agents that Glen’s car was found at Pop’s but there is no sign of Glen, so she goes to the office to start a search. While there she gets a package and inside is … Glen’s foot. She knows now that he’s being held and tortured by the Trash Bag Killer. Back at the house, one of Archie’s crew has found a piece of palladium and Archie offers to split it with him. The man, Dennis, declines but Archie says if he finds another piece he can keep it. Archie puts the metal in his pocket and then goes upstairs. The floorboards, however, are still weak from the explosion and he drops to the first floor, hurt and bleeding. Has he suddenly lost his power?
Back at the field office, Betty is napping but is awakened by a surprise visitor — TBK who used Glen’s ID to get in. He says Glen is still alive and bring her half of an arm. He says he came to Riverdale after he heard she was nearly killed in the explosion. But he warns that she and Archie are getting close so don’t make him go after Archie next. Interestingly, Betty does not see an aura around TBK which she takes to mean he isn’t a threat to her. So does that mean it’s someone she knows? (The voice actually sounds a bit like Hiram, or maybe her father.) Also, why is Betty handcuffed to the cot? TBK just leaves her there, but she somehow makes it back to Archie’s and tell him what happened. Archie also tells her about his injury and he realizes he had the palladium in his pocket. That seems to be his Kryptonite. He gives it to Betty for safe keeping (but they don’t stop to think that maybe it could also be hers).
Some time later, Dennis shows Archie another piece of palladium he’s found and when Archie takes it and asks where he found it, Dennis answers with a wrench to Archie’s head, dragging him away. Betty gets a phone call saying TBK has been spotted at the end of Sketch Alley but when she gets there all she finds is a homeless man in a mask, saying he’s not who she’s looking for but he was to deliver a message to the blonde girl who showed up — check the trash cans. She knocks them over and finds the rest of Glen (apparently including his head). Meanwhile, TBK (who we are now to assume is rando Dennis) has Archie restrained upstairs, the piece of palladium next to him. TBK reveals he’d been listening to Archie and Betty and knew the metal would weaken him so now he will start taking Archie apart. But Alice lets herself in, yelling at Archie about his dog (which she’d been sitting) has chewed up a pair of her favorite kitten heels so he’s not welcome in her house anymore. Archie has to yell down at her to just leave Bingo there and he’ll take care of it because TBK threatens to take care of her if she doesn’t leave (but then he tells Archie she’ll be next on his list anyway). As TBK is about to start cutting on Archie, Bingo enters the room and Archie gives him the attack to kill. The dog rushes at TBK, pushing him through a boarded up window, saving Archie’s life but getting away in the process. Later, Betty and Archie talk about the day, and Archie said he hired Dennis who saw an ad for workers in Jughead’s newspaper, probably hoping to keep tabs on Betty that way. But how long had he been spying on them? Long enough to know about Glen’s behavior and their powers, but with TBK still on the loose Betty decides she has to leave Riverdale to keep everyone else safe because he will follow her. She feels being a moving target is better than standing still so she’ll lead TBK out of Riverdale and circle back. In a poor choice of words, Archie tells Betty to come back in one piece.
But do we all really think Dennis is TBK?
Riverdale airs Sundays at 8:00 PM.
What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments section below.
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