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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 15, 2021 11:31:30 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 1: 'Chapter One: The River's Edge'. **spoilers below** I've had the first two seasons of this TV series on Blu-ray sitting for ages in one of the many places I've been struggling to make space for my many DVDs/Blu-rays, then they stopped releasing the show on Blu-ray here for some strange reason, so consequently I have Season 3 on DVD (and it looks like DVD is all the rest is of the series is going to be released on from now). So, I had three full seasons of this show sitting unwatched for at least a year or two and it was only now that I finally decided to start watching them (to be fair, I have more DVDs/Blu-rays than I can count and it's a slow process, working my way through them all. I buy them when they're on special/on sale because I worry they might sell out of them if I wait too long... it happens!). All I knew about the show was that it was NOT going to resemble the Archie comics very much (not that I ever read the comics, but I was familiar with how the characters looked at least) other than using the characters' names (and hair colours). I knew it was meant to be going for that whole 'darker' sort of thing and that was about the extent of my knowledge in regards to this series. The only other exposure I'd had to some of the Archie characters was this brief appearance by them in The Simpsons. I actually do a pretty good impression of the guy who says, "Duh, stay out of Riverdale!" (apparently that character's name is Moose). I had a vague memory of reading that there'd be things like incest in this show, but the Blossom twins that the first episode started with via a flashback were giving off such 'twincesty' vibes that I think I would've thought of them as this show's equivalent of the Lannisters even if I hadn't read about such subjects being in this show beforehand. Anyway, the guy half of the pair mysteriously dies and we have our first season-long mystery. In other news, Archie is so boring. He's got to be the most boring character in the show - which isn't good, since he's the lead. I also found the actor who played him pretty 'weak' (when compared to the rest) in this first episode. And not only is he boring, but he's clearly stupid as well judging from the fact that he has nice girl Betty lusting after him and he's clearly too blind to see it or is just ignoring it. She's way too good for him anyhow, especially considering how easily he's distracted (when poor Betty's trying to tell him how she feels) as new girl Veronica enters the retro establishment they all apparently hang out at. Ah, the ol' love triangle that seems to be a prerequisite for any teen show. I guess what set this love triangle apart from the many many others was the fact that Veronica, while seeming to have a slightly bitchy edge, was actually trying to be decent and befriended Betty despite also immediately taking an interest in Archie (dear lord, why?!). Veronica even tries to help Betty out with pursuing Archie and getting through his Cro-Magnon skull. As comments I read elsewhere said, Betty/Veronica (and the actresses playing them) had far more chemistry together than either of them had with dull-as-dishwater Archie. They were already much more interesting than him, and this was before they'd even shared a snog at one point while trying out for cheerleading. Ditch the ranga, girls - you don't need him! I liked that neither Betty nor Veronica were entirely what they first appeared to be. Betty seemed like the typical 'perfect' nice girl type of character, but when Cheryl Blossom (these names - Moose, Cheryl Blossom...and we haven't even gotten to Jughead yet. I know they're the names of the characters from the comics, but I want to hear the in-show explanation for why these characters were given such weird names, damn it!) was trying to make her mad during cheerleading tryouts, she dug her fingernails into her palms whilst trying to remain calm - she's also on medication, so I get the feeling that underneath her bright/cheery exterior there lurks some 'darkness'. Contrast that with Veronica, who seemed at first like the typical snarky rich girl, but showed she was more than that when she stuck up for Betty against Cheryl and then tried to help her get with Archie and even made an effort to hold off snogging the redheaded plank of wood when Cheryl purposely stuck them in a closet together just to twist the knife into poor Betty. I liked that they stood up for each other (Veronica for Betty against Cheryl and Betty for Veronica against her mum). Too bad Veronica was so into Crimson Cardboard Archie that she couldn't resist the desire to snog (though they were both to blame, as at this point it was pretty damn clear how Betty felt about him...yet he did it anyway). And Veronica was doing so well too! She was shedding her previous self and becoming decent. Disappointing. Damn you, Archie! I think it's his hair that holds power over all the women in Riverdale. It has to be. It's unnaturally bright (like a stoplight) and is the only explanation for not only why these two girls (who're WAY out of his league) like him, but why he managed to bang his music teacher, Miss Grundy, also. You manwhore, Archie! The only one who I haven't seen lusting after him thus far is Cheryl Blossom (though maybe she'll get with him at some point, pretending he's her bro - how messed up would that be?). She was pretty bitchy to poor Betty (I might not get a lot of what 'teenage' characters talk about in shows these days, but at least I got the Betty Draper references), though she was also the character who got the only laugh out of me during the episode. She's pretty horrible, but at least she made me laugh. Unlike Josie from Josie and the Pussycats in this first episode, who managed to make a bad first impression as a character with her bitchiness (when you have me feeling sorry for Archie because of how you acted towards him...something's seriously wrong) and then in her second scene of the episode later on, she proceeded to butcher Cyndi Lauper's song 'All Through the Night'. Cheryl was bitchy, but funny...whereas Josie just seemed to be bitchy (and not great at doing covers). I even felt a bit sorry for her two fellow Pussycats who didn't even seem to get a line this episode. Speaking of not getting much to do, although the character of Jughead had been providing voiceover during the episode and we'd seen him occasionally, his only 'real' scene came towards the end when he chatted with Archie. It was like the show was 'saving' having him properly appear in the episode, like he's something special. From what I've seen on the internet, apparently there are those who do regard him highly...but I myself haven't yet seen anything that really stands out about him other than the fact that in place of his comic book counterpart's crown, this version wears a beanie (big whoop!). The episode ends with Cheryl's bro (and possibly more?) washing ashore, looking all corpsified and gross with a bullet wound in his forehead. Admittedly, I'm quite behind with this show. I remember reading comments hyping it up quite a bit when it first started, but then it seemed to lose people over time. I'm moderately interested, I like the characters of Betty and Veronica (as well as the actresses who play them), plus it's nice to see Marisol Nichols and Mädchen Amick in this (playing parents to the two girls). They both still look good. The reason for why I'll be typing up reviews as I watch the episodes (at least, that's the plan) instead of just typing up one big review once I finish the season (as I've done with other shows I've watched) is because typically I'd jot down a few notes after watching each episode and then put a review together at the end, relying on my memory to fill in the gaps of what notes I took. This has been getting more difficult as my memory gets more shoddy, so now it seems the best way to remember what I thought of each episode is do a review soon after watching.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 16, 2021 3:31:30 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 2: 'Chapter Two: A Touch of Evil'. Okay, so the first episode of the show featured gratuitous Archie shirtlessness, and it seems like this is going to be a regular thing since that's how this second episode begins - him running over to Miss Grundy, at night, shirtless. Who does that?? It's also been bugging me trying to figure out where I recognised the actress playing Miss Grundy from (I do feel it's necessary to include 'Miss' every time I type her name otherwise it just conjures up images of that grey Hulk-like character, Solomon Grundy, from Stargirl and to a lesser extent Gotham). It turns out she was in a short-lived show called Rush alongside Tom Ellis from Lucifer. Thank goodness I finally looked her up on IMDB, since it was driving me nuts trying to work out where I'd seen her before. Of course, she's wearing Clark Kent glasses - Christopher Reeve era (they're HUGE) - so that might've been throwing me off. I forgot to mention in my previous episode review that when she and Archie were bumping uglies on the 4th of July, they heard a gunshot and didn't want to come forth about it because then they'd have to explain why they were out together early morning around where Jason Blossom died. Although, by the end of the episode it appears his sister (who may have been more) could be responsible...except clearly that can't be the case, otherwise this would be the shortest murder mystery in a show ever. Speaking of Cheryl, for the second episode in a row she managed to be the one character to give me a laugh, as she interrupted the principal and sheriff talking about the pep rally and her bro's death being treated as a homicide. She's amusingly over-the-top, but also continued to show how bitchy she could be by acting all nice towards Betty, then turning on a dime, insulting her (which she seems to do a lot) and revealing it was all an act. However, Betty proved to be no pushover and threatened to kill Cheryl unless she got out of her house. Now, this could just be a red herring to make us think Betty's maybe responsible for Cheryl's bro winding up dead, but what surprised me was just how threatening Betty became towards Cheryl. For a minute I thought it may have just been Betty imagining what she wanted to say to her...but nope, it actually happened. So, Betty's not all sweetness and light. She's got a dark side (which makes her more interesting than the typical 'nice girl' type of character). Also proving she wasn't by any means 'perfect' (as the nice girl characters are often accused of being) was the fact that she still hadn't forgiven Veronica and Archie for being stuck in a closet together, even after she said she was happy to just be friends with Archie (I personally think it was his sub-par singing that set her off. She broke down because she realised she'd pined after this dude who wants to pursue a career in music...and he can't even sing that well. That's my 'headcanon', anyway). Meanwhile, Veronica was doing her best to win back Betty's friendship, but not having much luck. I do think Camila Mendes does a good job of making Veronica come across as sincere, when it'd be very easy for her to seem like Cheryl - only pretending to want to be friends with Betty whilst actually stabbing her in the back by pursuing Archie. I don't see it that way. To me it seems like she's wanting to do right by Betty, but also struggling not to fall back into bad habits/her old self. It seemed to be after Betty saw Veronica comforting Cheryl (who'd been nasty to not only Betty, but Veronica too) that Betty finally was willing to give Veronica another chance (complete with 'dark' and 'light' milkshakes). Too bad that after they made a vow to never let a guy come between them again, 3 seconds later Archie and Jughead turned up and Betty could see from the way Veronica looked at Archie that their vow probably wasn't going to last very long. I just hope this Betty and Veronica being at odds, then making up, then being at odds again thing isn't going to be an endless cycle. I went through enough of that with Serena and Blair in Gossip Girl. Thankfully Josie was only in the one scene this episode. It took the show until its second episode to work in The Archies' 'Sugar, Sugar' - which didn't sound that great here (what is it with them messing with classic songs?), but at least it was a slight improvement over Josie and the Pussycats' butchering of Cyndi Lauper's 'All Through the Night' last episode. Josie seemed to get along with Cheryl...but then again, any friend of Cheryl makes you wonder about their taste in friends (and vice versa). There's a connection between this show, the last show I finished on DVD and the movie I watched before that show. One of Josie's fellow Pussycats in this show is played by an actress I first saw in the movie Spontaneous with Katherine Langford whose show 13 Reasons Why was another one I'd held onto for forever without watching and then finally did (after watching that movie), and one of the actors in that show plays Reggie in this show, who was giving Jughead a hard time. Speaking of...I still don't get what's so 'great' about Jughead's character. I can see him 'acting'. It's actually quite distracting. Though I finally noticed his beanie has points on it to resemble the crown his comic book counterpart wears.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 17, 2021 11:18:58 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 3: 'Chapter Three: Body Double' and Episode 4: 'Chapter Four: 'The Last Picture Show'. I watched these^ two episodes in a row, so my thoughts on them kind of blended together - which is reflected in this here review. I remember the third episode had more of Josie and the Pussycats...well...more of Josie, anyway. Her fellow Pussycats barely got a word in, and when one of them did start to say something (the character of Valerie, played by the actress I recognised from the movie Spontaneous which I recently watched), Josie basically told her to shut it. Consequently, I already prefer the other two Pussycats to Josie. Hell, I even like Josie's mother (who's also mayor of Riverdale) more than Josie (whose attitude just annoyed me, especially after her big speech to Archie about how he couldn't possibly write songs for her...and then proceeded to use his suggestion when they were stumped for song lyrics). One 'positive' thing I can say is that their singing of Archie's song was at least better than the two covers they performed in the previous episodes (though I didn't like this episode as much as the previous two). Meanwhile, Veronica goes on a date with a guy who turns out to be a real jerk and who she later finds out has superimposed maple syrup onto her face (ew) in a photo taken during their date and posted it for all to see. Apparently it's known as a 'Sticky Maple' and is 'a visual act of slut-shaming in Riverdale'. This gave me flashbacks to the show I just finished the first season of before I started watching this one - 13 Reasons Why. There was quite a bit of 'slut-shaming' in that too (though I can't recall any involving pancake toppings). There was more heavy-handedness in this show regarding the 'message' they were tying to get across (whereas 13 Reasons Why had a bit of nuance to it), but Veronica continued to prove her awesomeness by once again standing up to Cheryl Blossom and making it clear she didn't approve of her casually calling all the girls 'sluts' (who'd assembled to tell their stories of having similar experiences to Veronica). Things took an interesting turn later on when 'B & V' (as they've come be known as) put together a trap for the jerk (though how he didn't even have an inkling something was up, after the way they'd reacted to him earlier, I don't know. I guess he wasn't really thinking with his upstairs brain). The trap involved Veronica in her swimwear and the jerk getting into a hot tub, then Betty showed up in a black wig and I wondered what that was about - were they going for some kinky double Veronica sort of thing? Anyway, they basically drug him (which is fine, since he's a jerk) with truth serum and handcuff him to the hot tub so he can't get out. Things take a bit of a turn when Betty really lets her feelings be known to him by slowly pushing him down into the water until Veronica stops her. Has Betty got multiple personality disorder? Somewhere along the line Jughead figures out Archie and Miss Grundy were together (in the biblical sense) on the 4th of July. By the fourth episode, Betty and Veronica find out about it too, they confront him, but he stands by his teacher/sex buddy. He's already been grounded by his dad in the previous episode (but sneaks out to go co-write songs with Josie and the Pussycats. Ungrateful Archie! His dad even soundproofs their garage so his son can practice his music whilst grounded...not that it'll do him much good, as it would require him to actually be able to sing), then won't listen to Betty and Veronica when they confront him about Miss Grundy after them having done some detective work and discovering she's not who she claims to be. Elsewhere, Veronica's mum (whose name is Hermione - which will take me a while to get used to not associating with Harry Pothead) proves just as adept at witty comebacks in response to Cheryl's insults (she was really rude, basically accusing Veronica's mum of being likely to steal her money). In contrast, Betty’s mum is constantly bitchy to everyone - which is why I cheered when Cheryl's mum punched her in the face at one point. This isn't enough to slow her down, though, and she goes through Betty's things, finds the gun Betty stole from Miss Grundy earlier (when she was doing detective work and found it in her car) and even reads her diary, then later she is part of a confrontation/intervention featuring Archie, his dad, Betty and Miss Grundy herself. There are a lot of different arguments/exchanges going on in this scene - Archie's dad just wants to protect his dope of a son, Betty's also looking out for his wellbeing, while her mum apparently has a vendetta against Archie, blaming him for all her family problems. Betty stands up for him, while Archie (dope that he is) stands by Miss Grundy who eventually says she'll quit her job and leave. Apparently everyone's cool with this (including the parents) after some negotiating. Clearly Miss Grundy's 'relationship' with Archie wasn't meant to be seen as anything other than disturbing, given the way she eyes some other potential victims before she's about to hit the road (unlike with Pretty Little Liars, where eventually it seemed everyone was cool with Mr. Fitz and his student, Aria, being together). The rest of the episode wasn't quite as interesting, as it was something about Jughead wanting to keep the local drive-in movie theatre open because he lived there...or something. I honestly didn't really care enough to pay that much attention. There was some crossover between it and Veronica's storyline, since the biker who Veronica's mum was paying turned out to be Jughead's dad (played by Skeet Ulrich - it's weird seeing the actors/actresses who are playing the parents of these 'teenagers', as I could see several of them playing those parts themselves back in the 90's when they were younger), and I continue to not get what the big deal is about Jughead. Everyone online seems to act like he's so great, but his voiceovering sucks, he's not terribly interesting to listen to when he's interacting with other characters, and the only thing he did this episode that stood out to me was his graffiti/vandalism that included his comic book counterpart's trademark crown as part of his 'tagging'. Honestly, he kind of bores me. Veronica was the only part I enjoyed of this^ storyline. First, when she said that anything with Audrey Hepburn or Cate Blanchett should be the final film shown at the drive-in (as if I didn't love her character enough already) and then later when she told the noisy/disruptive bikers to shut up so she could watch the movie (sadly, not one featuring Hepburn or Blanchett like she'd hoped for). It was a bit weird how Cheryl just casually joined Veronica and the other guy whose name I'm not even sure of (though he finds himself a new b/f in the form of one of those bikers), making herself at home under the blanket with them in the back of the truck where they were sitting to watch the movie and ordering the guy to go refill the popcorn. Then again, her acting entitled shouldn't really come as a surprise to me, since that's pretty much how she's been from the start. I guess it was more surprising Veronica just went along with it after all the crap Cheryl had given her (and Betty). It seems Cheryl's pulling a Cordelia from BtVS and slowly becoming part of the 'gang', whilst also remaining antagonistic towards them (but having the occasional moment where she shows vulnerability).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 18, 2021 11:10:39 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 5: 'Chapter Five: Heart of Darkness'. {Spoiler}I liked this one more than the last two. What helped was the somewhat amusing creepy atmosphere set up with Cheryl’s gothic house (that has its own graveyard, apparently) and the fact that I thought for this show it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, when she was approaching Jason’s coffin, for Jason to turn up as a vampire. I was half-right - he looked more zombified than anything. Though, ugh, more gratuitous Archie shirtlessness while he's boxing? If this is going to become a regular occurrence, it's only fair we get more of Betty and/or Veronica in their underwear or at the very least skimpy outfits (because obviously they're not allowed to show more than that on this show). At least there were some mildly amusing lines from both Veronica (about Archie's 'Post-Grundy' life) and Cheryl (referring to the gang as 'Sad Breakfast Club'), though she's still being bitchy about Veronica stealing stuff after having acted the same way towards her mother in the previous episode (speaking of Hermione...she received a snake in a box this episode. Hey, at least it wasn't a head). It was interesting that Cheryl invited Veronica to a sleepover, and at the awkward dinner with Cheryl's parents it was revealed that Veronica was the only one Cheryl had invited. The dinner also let us know just how horrible Cheryl's parents are. Her mum makes Betty's mum look not-so-bad (she even goes so far as to threaten to ship Cheryl off to boarding school except they 'won't have her'), while her dad's hair looked like a wig to me and both of them clearly didn't want Veronica there either. I appreciated the scene between Veronica and Cheryl in her bedroom (no, it wasn't like that - though talk about an extravagant-looking bed!), as it allowed the character of Cheryl to show her vulnerable side and for once I didn't think she was just putting on an act (like she had with Betty in a previous episode). Her and Veronica had a really good sincere chat about things and it became clear that Cheryl was just lonely, and that's why she invited Veronica (plus the fact that Veronica was the only one who came after her to be a comfort when she had her panic attack in the second episode). Something else I liked about this episode was that one of the Pussycats who aren't Josie got more screentime than they'd had in all the previous episodes combined. Valerie (played by the actress I first saw in the movie Spontaneous who was the friend of Katherine Langford's character in that movie) gets to step out of Josie's shadow and help hopeless Archie with his music by suggesting someone to him that might be able to make him not suck so much at singing. I thought it was weird that Valerie didn't acknowledge Betty who encouraged Archie to accept her offer, but nevertheless I enjoyed her interaction with Archie, as she was much friendlier/likeable than Josie had been. At first I thought this actress would've made a better Josie, but then figured the character would still be written the same and therefore would probably be just as unlikeable no matter who played her. I much prefer Valerie as a character and wish we could just ditch the other two Pussycats (Josie has done nothing to make herself likeable and Melody is basically a nonentity thus far). I noticed that the tune that plays over the end credits for the show was also used during a short montage of Archie doing stuff that led into the show's title card towards the start of this episode and I thought that music should be used as the show's theme tune and played over some actual opening credits (this series is sadly lacking in the opening credits department). Of course, not even the guy Valerie suggested can help Archie have any musical talent and he tells him like it is. There's another part of Archie's storyline involving him being in direct competition with Reggie for who gets to be captain of the football team, and although Reggie's been a jerk previously, he does suggest Archie not risk injuring his hand further (I totally missed why it appeared Archie had an injured hand just like I missed how he got that injury on his face/around his eye in a previous episode. He may have been in an altercation that I don't even remember because I find him so boring). Anyway, he ignores Reggie's advice but later on when he's presented with the captain's jersey by the coach, he says he can't devote all of himself to football (part of him he wants to save for his nonexistent musical career), and so he tells the coach to give it to Reggie. Aww...now let's see how long they act civil towards each other before getting into arguments/fisticuffs. Betty learns from her dad that her great-grandfather was killed by Cheryl’s over money from their maple syrup company or whatever (it's ALL about the maple syrup! The maple syrup is the key to EVERYTHING!) and that's why her family doesn't like them...or something. I wasn't really that interested, and I blame that on Betty being forced to share screentime with Jughead instead of the person she's most awesome with (ie. Veronica). I'm well aware that there are 'Bughead' shippers out there, but I'm all about 'Beronica'. They're much more interesting, as I find Jughead almost as dull as I find Archie. They learn from Cheryl's creepy grandma that Betty's sister and Cheryl's bro were engaged. Since Betty's sis is in the nuthouse, it appears 'Bughead' make plans to go for a visit and find out more. About the only thing that interests me regarding this storyline is finding out just how nutty Betty's sis really is. What was more interesting was at the memorial, where everyone was dressed in black (Jughead made a half-arsed attempt at dressing for the occasion...but still kept his stupid beanie on. Though at least he wasn't like Archie, who wore a letterman jacket to a memorial) and then Cheryl appeared, all dressed in white, and wasn't going to be deterred by her mother in saying what she wanted to say about Jason and how, when they were kids, she wanted her own birthday party separate from her twin, but he insisted they have them together because no one wanted to come to hers and he was sparing her feelings that way. That was a sad story, and I actually felt a bit sorry for Cheryl as she told it. Once again Veronica proved what a great person she is by being the only one to comfort Cheryl. D'aww! Apparently the name for this ship is 'Cheronica' (damn it! I'm getting sucked back into the world of ship names again!).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 19, 2021 10:39:59 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 6: 'Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!' and Episode 7: 'Chapter Seven: In a Lonely Place'. Once again I must point out how dull/lifeless Jughead's voiceovers are. If you're going to have someone regularly voiceover in your show, at least make sure they can bring something interesting to the table. Kristen Bell on both Veronica Mars and Gossip Girl was able to make every one of her voiceovers interesting. Cole Sprouse could learn some pointers from KB on how to actually have inflections in his voice and not be so monotone. I'm sure hearing this complaint would piss off all his fans...but I honestly couldn't care less. I didn't really know much about the comic book character of Jughead other than his ridiculous name and equally ridiculous crown he wore on his head, but I thought he was going to be a much more entertaining character in this show before I started watching it. I figured he'd be the typical type of 'best friend' to Archie, making quips, being enthusiastic about stuff and just generally more entertaining than his rather dull friend. So far, though, he's failed to live up to any of these expectations I had and I'm really not seeing what others see in him. Still...'boring' is better than 'bitchy', which leads me to the return of Josie (boo!) who we'd been blissfully free of for a couple of episodes. I noticed this is one of those shows that leaves out the actors'/actresses' names from the main cast list if they're absent from any episodes and then their names reappear when they're in the actual episodes. I was saddened to see Madelaine Petsch, who plays Cheryl, was not going to be in this episode, since her name in the main cast list was absent. She may be bitchy, but at least she's the funny/ entertaining kind of bitchy instead of just the annoying kind - speaking of, Josie was being just that, as usual (I see she didn't grow as a person while offscreen), towards Valerie who wanted to sing some lead vocals and Josie wouldn't let her (though from what she said earlier, it sounded like Valerie was the actual songwriter of the group - so who is Josie to tell her she can't even sing the songs she writes?). And despite my constant mocking of Archie's singing ability, the way Josie said almost with glee that he was choking whilst onstage, auditioning, made me like her even less than I already did. As I said after her very first scene in the show - if you're making me feel sorry for Archie of all people, then something's seriously wrong with you as a character. Contrast this^ with Valerie, who's always nice to Archie and offers to help him out on his song. *sigh* Why can't we get rid of Josie and promote Valerie to lead singer? At least then Melody might get more than two lines (as Josie's such a tyrant, she immediately shoots down anyone who speaks up). Due to Josie's crappy treatment of her, Valerie gets fed up enough to quit the Pussycats (good for her!), but unfortunately she's now free to help Archie sing his song, and as a result Veronica (who was going to help him) is basically replaced without warning. So, naturally, she goes to join the Pussycats. At least she looked cute in those ears - that's the one good thing I could say about this whole storyline/episode. I take back anything positive I previously said about Josie's mum. You can see where Josie gets her attitude from, when she was going on about Josie being the only 'irreplaceable' member of the Pussycats and everyone else being 'disposable'. And, to top things off, Josie's dad isn't much better. He's a music snob, it seems, looks down on pop music and only apparently regards jazz as 'real music' or whatever. He was a jerk to Veronica (questioning Josie about her replacing Valerie with Veronica right in front of Ronnie - talk about insulting) and then was also a jerk to Archie's dad. The scene ended with Josie's dad being judgmental of Archie because he didn't know someone Josie and her dad were talking about (there was also a really abrupt cut there. I noticed this in another scene or two as well. Weird editing this episode). Basically, Josie and her parents aren't winning any likeability awards anytime soon is what I got from their scenes. Meanwhile, 'Bughead' had breakfast with Betty's mum and there was, I guess, supposed to be a funny moment involving Jughead distracting her by saying he had to go to the toilet and her showing him the way - all a ruse so Betty could rifle through her mum's purse as part of their plan to go see Betty's sister, Polly, who's locked up in the 'loony bin' (as Cheryl puts it in the next episode). However, I find nothing remotely funny about Jughead so far. I haven't heard anything from him I'd deem as a 'witty oneliner'. The only kind of 'funny' thing in the scene was Betty's mum saying the name 'Jughead' a couple times, since it's such a ridiculous name and she's rather serious - hence it was slightly amusing coming from her. Anyway, Bughead go to visit Polly and she seems okay to begin with, but then starts going nutso once she learns Jason Blossom's dead - especially since she's pregnant with his child (DU DUN DUNNNN! Classic soap). She's dragged off (like we saw her dragged away to the loony bin to begin with via a flashback) after Betty's mum has gotten a call to alert her to Betty being there when she shouldn't be. We also learn from Polly that she was going to run away with Jason. Betty's mum plants seeds of doubt in Betty's mind that this was ever going to actually happen, but later Bughead find the getaway car with Jason's stuff in it (though they stupidly touch the evidence) that backs up Polly's story apparently, then run off to tell the sheriff but by the time he gets there...the car's, of course, on fire (someone was watching Bughead earlier - the camera made a point of showing this, as we saw the two of them from the mysterious figure's POV). The pair discover at the end of the episode that Polly has escaped the loony bin (they also kiss at one point, but like I give a damn). Archie and Valerie continue to be good together, she’s so much friendlier than Josie (who we're obviously supposed to feel sorry for because of her parents, but that's no excuse for her treating everyone else like crap, since most of the other characters have crappy parents too, yet they're more or less civil to each other). Josie's slightly more tolerable in her scene with Veronica where they talk about their dads, but I still couldn't muster up much sympathy when Josie's dad walked off during her performance later on since the song was pretty average actually, so I could understand him not being overly enthused about it. Speaking of average songs, after some pep talks from Valerie and Veronica, Archie performs his song (disappointingly, it appeared Reggie had regressed to his jerk-like behaviour after showing some character growth last episode. Here he just heckled Archie - he'd done so earlier during his audition too - and how is it everyone just let that slide? Surely at least some of the parents would've shut him up). There'd also been this weird thing throughout the episode involving Archie seeing wolf heads/masks in the audience when he was experiencing stage fright or whatever. Archie's song isn't terrible, I'll give him that...but it's hardly worthy of the standing ovation it receives. Riverdale must have a really low bar when it comes to music, since they seem to overpraise pretty meh songs from the few singers in the town. We didn't even really get to hear Veronica sing after all this, she just provides some backing vocals and we can't really tell what her singing's like (also, the one time I wasn't so fond of Valerie was her basically just telling Josie to ditch Veronica and take her back after she had her change of heart regarding quitting. Such a shame. She was better away from Josie than with her, plus poor Veronica. Thankfully, she wasn't immediately kicked out and got to sing along with them - thus making them a foursome). Other stuff going on with Veronica? She catches her mum snogging Archie's dad (ew), gets mad at her mum and won't give her the signature she needs to help out Archie's dad with something involving land or whatever...so Hermione just forges her daughter's signature, which Veronica eventually figures out and is none-too-pleased about. This sixth episode was sorely lacking Cheryl Blossom. She would've made things better (or at least more entertaining). Thankfully, she returns in the seventh episode - though she's back to her usual bitchy self at the beginning with a "Burn the witch!" attitude (which her parents also share) towards Betty's sister once they learn she's escaped the loony bin and they think she killed Jason. Things somewhat take a turn once they learn she is pregnant with Jason's child. Cheryl appears pretty upset at hearing the news (I guess it makes her realise that despite whatever twincest thing she likely had going on with her bro, she wasn't the only one he 'loved'). Her parents act creepy towards Polly as they claim to want to help her, having suddenly changed their tune/attitude towards her from earlier. Thankfully, Betty appears to be cautious regarding their abrupt change of heart and doesn't give out too much information about where Polly is. It becomes clear to her later on, after the Blossoms had arranged to meet Polly, that she made the right choice - as Cheryl comes to warn Polly that her parents pretty much want her out of the way (when Polly thanked Cheryl and told her she knew how much she loved Jason, I thought " Do you, Polly? Do you know just how much Cheryl loved Jason and vice versa? Methinks not."). Consequently, Polly goes to live at Veronica's house (she and Hermione are so accommodating). Frustratingly, this episode Veronica was again stuck with Josie (I miss the earlier episodes of her hanging out with Betty. She seemed like much more of a 'best friend' to Veronica than Josie, who barely seemed to interact with her until last episode. Also, sadly, it appears Valerie and Melody are back to getting no lines this episode. I'd take them having lines over Josie any day), as she went out clubbing to stick it to her mother for forging her signature last episode. She then finds Hermione has cancelled her credit card and this leads to them having negotiations about what each of them will and won't do. This episode started with a weird dream sequence involving the 'core four' dressed in retro outfits to mimic their comic book counterparts, Archie had a knife comically sticking out of his back and was blaming Jughead for it, then Jughead woke up (last episode he'd been voiceovering about 'fear', this episode it was 'hope'. What's next? 'Love'? These voiceovers are as predictable/common as you can get. They follow such a familiar pattern - episode starts with Jughead mentioning something, usually one word, he yammers on about it, the episode features examples of it, then by the end he mentions the word again and offers some pseudo-philosophical BS about it. Put a sock in it, Jughead! Or, better yet, put your stupid beanie in it!) and apparently when there's no Archie shirtlessness in an episode such as this one, Jughead picks up the slack and we're subjected to him shirtless instead. It was mildly amusing seeing Archie and Veronica's reactions to Bughead casually showing PDA and not even realising they were 'outing' their relationship to their friends (for what it's worth, it looked like both Archie and Veronica were jealous of Jughead - and who can blame them? Betty's the one who is the 'catch', after all). This was the first time both Archie and Jughead were somewhat interesting, as their storyline involved both of their dads and talking about what they were like when they were younger, the tension between them, the fact that Jughead's dad (Jugdad?) is now kind of a drunk, but Archie convinces his own dad to give Jugdad a second chance working with/for him. For once Jughead appeared to actually display some feelings (after he'd been arrested, due to it being suspected he was behind Jason's murder, and then got let go thanks to Archie's dad) as he and his dad shared an emotional exchange. Clearly his dad was aware he wasn't the best parent and Jughead would've been better off staying with Archie like he'd offered, but obviously Jughead felt loyalty to his dad and said he wanted to go with him. Mostly, though, I just felt sorry for poor Betty, Archie and his dad in the background, as I'm sure it was awkward for them to just be standing there witnessing this rather personal stuff between the Jugs (which sounds more fun than it is). Skeet Ulrich did a good job and at last I saw Cole Sprouse was capable of doing some proper acting. I do wonder if at some point Jugdad will be creepy towards Betty (as it seems inevitable with a drunk father that eventually he'll be inappropriate with his son's new g/f he only just found out about - not that he actually acknowledged her in this scene...though it's at least understandable, since there was other stuff going on. I do hope they have an 'official' meeting at some point and also that he doesn't get creepy with her. I guess we'll see). This episode was at least somewhat better than the last one (Cheryl's presence always makes episodes better, it seems).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 20, 2021 10:29:25 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 8: 'Chapter Eight: The Outsiders' and Episode 9: 'Chapter Nine: La Grande Illusion'. The eighth episode began with Jughead voiceovering (ugh) about Polly and Jason meeting, hooking up, getting engaged, etc. It's kind of funny how the actor playing Jason hasn't had any lines thus far. Maybe he's someone they got just because they liked the look of him/felt he had that 'twincesty' vibe about him, but who isn't much of an actor? Anyway, Polly asks Betty to be her baby's godmother at one point and Betty decides the best way to have hers and Polly's mother getting along with the Blossoms is to host a baby shower for Polly and have them all there. I think it was Veronica's mum who mentioned that a bloodbath would result from the Blossoms and Betty's family coming together. I definitely remember one funny moment from her, being like "Oh, yeah, no." when Veronica roped her into having words with Betty's mum, which she was reluctant to do (I can understand why). I forget the context for it, but I also remember enjoying Veronica's smile she gave at one point. It really summed up what she was thinking - I just wish I could remember what it was. I think it might've been in response to Betty's mum. I noticed that out of the Pussycats, only Valerie and Melody bothered showing up to the shower (so typical of Josie not to - even when she's absent from the episode, she's still annoying). I was amused by Cheryl's entrance, with her super-expensive baby carriage she brought and also when she said the best way for Polly to repay her was to name her the child's godmother (unaware that position had already been given to Betty). Cheryl's parents soon followed and apparently they wanted Polly to live with them, but this naturally leads to a fight between them and Betty's/Polly's mum (with Betty trying to keep the peace and Cheryl interjecting that Polly "should be so lucky" as to live with her family in their gothic house). Polly, having had enough of all of them, leaves. There was a crossover in this^ scene with Archie's storyline in the episode. His dad's workmen are offered exceptionally well-paid jobs by Cheryl's dad with the bad wig and consequently they leave before they've even begun construction, so then Archie and his pals turn up to help out his dad but some biker goons are sent to destroy equipment and poor ol' Moose ("Duh, stay out of Riverdale!") gets his arse handed to him when he tries to stop them. Later, Jughead just brushes off Betty's enquiry as to whether Moose is okay with "He's Moose." (like, way to care, Jughead). He then tries to stop Archie from taking Moose to go identify which bikers beat him up, and that turns out to be because he doesn't want Archie finding out that his dad is one of them - which he does. Archie's dad turns up and he has words with Jugdad. This leads to Archie figuring out why Jughead didn't want him to go there and he storms in during Polly's baby shower to go yell at Jughead (I would've liked to have seen some of the guests' reactions to this, but they seem to just continue on, trying to ignore the awkwardness). The two of them eventually make up, though, and Archie mumbles that Jughead's like his brother, to which Jughead replies "Nice bro whisper, Archie." (this is the first time I can recall being even mildly amused by anything Jughead has said). We saw that Jugdad had Jason’s letterman jacket at the end of the last episode, and in this episode he gives it to Kevin's (aka Betty's 'gay best friend', whose name I keep forgetting) new biker b/f as 'insurance' and we discover he's only been using Kev because his dad's sheriff...or something. This is also the first 'official' meeting between Betty and Jugdad (since he really didn't acknowledge her during his emotional exchange with Jughead last episode). Later, Veronica’s mum and Jughead’s dad talk and he says that someone alerted her husband/Veronica’s dad to her being with Archie’s dad and that’s who sent people to sabotage the work site (and beat up poor ol' Moose). Elsewhere, Polly reveals that her dad arranged for her to go to an 'appointment' (obviously to get an abortion, not that they actually say the word in the show). Upon hearing this, her mum has had enough of him, he gets threatening and she threatens him back, throwing him out of the house because he wanted her to do the same thing he wanted Polly to do - ie. get an abortion (it's slightly amusing what lengths they go to in avoiding using the word in the show). I'm not really that into unnecessary cuss words, but here it really could've used an F-bomb or something when Betty's/Polly's mum was yelling at their dad, as it felt like she was holding back with what she said to him. The episode ends with Betty trying to smooth things over, but Polly decides to take the Blossoms up on their offer for her to stay with them at their creepy gothic house (Cheryl's dad still has hair that looks like a wig and her mum has patches on the elbows of her tweed jacket that I thought were reserved for professors and the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who). The ninth episode was one of the more interesting ones so far this season. Amusingly, it began with Jughead voiceovering about maple syrup and how much it means to everyone in Riverdale (as apparently they use it a LOT/for everything - it even appears that they drink the stuff. I guess it must be highly addictive). I liked the snowy setting in this episode (snowy landscapes always add atmosphere). Cheryl asks Archie to her family 'tree-tapping' thing they got going on, since distant relatives have shipped in and it's this whole big deal or whatever. Cheryl’s mum is creepy with Archie (like she was at Jason's memorial when she touched his hair and all of his friends noticed/commented on it) and it got me wondering if she's pretending he's Jason (since she keeps making comments about how he looks like/reminds her of him...but she also seems to have a bit of a thing for him at the same time. So, Cheryl and Jason aren't the only ones who give off incesty vibes in that family). When Cheryl called Archie 'Archiekins', I was a bit offended on Veronica's behalf since that's her nickname for him. But Veronica had bigger problems than Cheryl stealing her nickname for Archie. This episode she was trying to help out Ethel Muggs (who was one of the ones who backed up her claims of being treated badly by the jerk in the second episode this season). Veronica makes it her personal mission to brighten up Ethel's day since she's having family woes - this is after Veronica explains to Kevin that she and another girl at her old school were mean to someone there and Kevin immediately thinks she's going to admit they drove the girl to suicide (again giving me 13 Reasons Why flashbacks), but that's thankfully not the case. The one she was mean to just moved instead. Veronica's feeling guilty about that and so she invites Ethel to eat at her place, gives her clothes (that her dad tried to use to buy his daughter's forgiveness for not being around) and everything's going fine until Veronica learns from Kevin that Ethel's dad tried to off himself. I felt so bad for Veronica when she had her breakdown in the bathroom after hearing this news (though NOOOOO! Not the pearl necklace, Veronica! It's your signature just like Betty's is her ponytail or Jughead's is his stupid beanie), but at least Betty came in to comfort her...eventually. Meanwhile, Archie is getting encouragement to be more than just Cheryl's one-time escort/date by not only her mum, but also her dad who makes a deal with him that if he continues doing what he's doing with Cheryl, he'll help Archie with his 'music career'. He says that she's too 'wild' or whatever to hand over the reins of the family business to, but with Archie there to 'rein her in', things would be better. They're basically trying to buy Archie, which Valerie points out to him. She was apparently fine with him doing it as a one-time thing, but not so much when he keeps going off to be with Cheryl. By the end of the episode she's had enough and breaks up with him, I guess. Shame. They were good together. Though I also enjoy his dynamic with Cheryl. Speaking of, she got quite a few funny moments/lines this episode, like when Archie came to her defense as her relatives were badmouthing her and she added to his listing of her qualities the fact that she has a 4.0 GPA (which he immediately repeated) and then later when she was talking to Betty and Jughead, calling him a 'hobo' - I got a laugh out of that. The funniest part, though, was when she turned up at Archie's house to buy him off with a new guitar and his dad answered the door, was unsure what to make of Cheryl being there and she commented how 'DILF-y' he was looking. It also amused me that after she'd done what she went there to do, she was in a hurry to get out of there because of her claustrophobia when inside small houses. She's quickly becoming a favourite of mine due to her being one of the most entertaining characters and getting most of the best lines in the show. It must also be noted she was really making that blue dress work for her (though I wondered how she didn't freeze when out in the snow). I also appreciated that we saw more layers to her this episode and I enjoyed her interacting with Archie more (at least she manages to make him somewhat less boring than he normally is). Yes, she wanted Archie and didn't care that he already had a girlfriend, but she also revealed her vulnerable side to him...though that still wasn't enough to convince him, so she took his rejection about as well as can be expected. I got a laugh out of one comment I read about Archie being part of the origin story for the world's next supervillain: Cheryl Blossom. I imagine she's going to rain hell down upon not just Archie, but everyone else in his orbit as revenge. Other somewhat less interesting things going on in this episode - Archie learned from Polly, which he then relayed to Betty, that she hadn't chosen the Blossoms over her own family but was in fact acting as a spy of sorts. Betty's mum gets so pissed at Betty's dad she throws a brick through his window (I thought the acting from her there was a bit over-the-top and once again a well-placed curse word would've done wonders). She wasn't the only one pissed off this episode, however. Archie’s dad is pissed at Veronica’s mum after he finds out her criminal husband is the one who tried to sabotage his worksite and beat up poor ol' Moose. He's basically done with her now and says they'll only work together, but nothing more. Someone else who's pissed is Ethel's mum once Veronica comes clean to both her and her daughter at the hospital (after bringing flowers), saying her dad is responsible for why Ethel's dad felt the need to off himself. Ethel's mum is a bitch to Veronica, but thankfully Ethel herself appears to be understanding in a later scene at school and not holding a grudge against Veronica for things her dad did. One person who was NOT pissed, but actually helpful, was Jughead who finally did something that made me like him a bit - his talk with Betty, saying how she was stronger than her mother or father, when she was upset about all her family woes. Good pep talk, Jughead. Continue being supportive of your g/f and maybe it'll make me like you more (I said 'maybe').
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 21, 2021 8:55:17 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 10: 'Chapter Ten: The Lost Weekend' and Episode 11: 'Chapter Eleven: To Riverdale and Back Again'. The tenth episode begins with Veronica and Cheryl having a cheerleader dance-off, which Cheryl ends up losing. She then 'fires' her minions who didn't stand up for her (though considering she's not very nice to them, they're probably better off). Meanwhile, Archie's dad has gone off to see Archie's mum (as they're in the process of a divorce, I think) and it's Jughead’s birthday...but he doesn't like celebrating his birthday, apparently. Betty wants to throw him one anyway. She only wants to invite their 'inner circle' (plus Jugdad), but Cheryl is in the mood for causing a little chaos and teams up with the guy who's a jerk to women (Chuck is his name) to go crash the party along with a bunch of other randos. It's a shame her character backslid into how she was in the first episodes, as she'd somewhat 'grown' (if one could call it that) since. At the very least, I think Veronica had proven a good friend to her and Cheryl really should've remembered that when she was helping Chuck to cause problems. Cheryl makes them all play a game that's about them owning up to their 'truths'. She takes potshots at Veronica while Chuck does the same to Betty, having claimed he knows the 'real' Betty and wanting to bring out 'Dark Betty' (as he calls her) - the version of her who would've pushed his head under water if Veronica hadn't stopped her. Although I've liked Cheryl previously, I was totally Team Veronica when she was pointing out Cheryl's twincesty feelings for Jason (FINALLY someone mentions it out loud! About damn time). Of course, this makes Cheryl uncomfortable...but she brought it on herself/deserved it, I thought. Things were already going sideways when Jughead made clear to Betty all he wanted was her and Archie to hang out with him on his birthday. He even makes a point of saying Veronica is not his 'friend' or whatever (which is kind of a dick move, since she's done nothing to him personally to warrant such an attitude towards her). Overall, he's pretty dickish towards Betty too (who, btw, can sing 'Happy Birthday' like nobody's business. She was almost Marilyn Monroe-esque with her singing) and it just seems like 'manufactured drama' - ie. drama just for the sake of it, as they've been pretty decent together up until this point. It feels like the argument he has with her is just there to throw a spanner in the works of their relationship. He moans about how he's a 'weirdo' and they're too different for each other or some BS (at least he acknowledges how weird it is he never takes his stupid beanie off - though, ironically, by the end of the episode he does in fact take it off for once). Adding to the list of things going awry at this party is Valerie still holding a grudge against Archie and him being drunk whilst trying to get her to let him explain things. I saw one overexaggerated comment about him 'assaulting' her because he grabs her arm and then tries to stop her leaving briefly, but she automatically throws her drink in his face and although Archie may be a lot of things (boring, dumb, a mediocre musician, etc), one thing I think it's pretty obvious he isn't is someone who assaults women - Chuck is much more closer to being that than Archie. Speaking of Chuck, the things he says to Betty definitely warrant the punch Jughead delivers to him, and I say good on Jugdad for throwing Chuck out since he didn't just punch Jughead back, but started pummeling him on the floor repeatedly (plus, he's a bigger guy than Jughead, so it wasn't exactly an 'even fight' either). While it was kinda weird for Jugdad to be hanging out at a party with a bunch of 'teenagers', just as well he was there and told everyone to go home. About the only 'bright spot' of this whole storyline/episode was Archie's dog getting some more screentime. Sadly, it was screentime shared with Jughead...but hey, it was worth it to see more of Vegas the dog. The episode ends with Archie's dad returning and apparently divorcing his mum turned into bringing her home...and she's played by Molly Ringwald (it was funny seeing her in this after seeing her cameo appearance in Not Another Teen Movie, which I'd just finished rewatching for the umpteenth time before I watched this episode). How many dances do they have at this school? There was yet another one in the eleventh episode. Archie wants to sing and I thought it was funny seeing everyone's reactions to that - especially Jughead's line about Archie's songs making people want to slit their wrists (yet again I got 13 Reasons Why flashbacks). Too bad he then backpedaled. Thankfully, Veronica's going to sing with Archie and hopefully make him suck less. I forgot to mention about the two of them snogging at the party in the previous episode (I guess I didn't find it particularly memorable. Though I noted when the two of them awoke, they weren't in bed together...so it seems left open to interpretation just how far they took things). Naturally, Veronica just sees it as a casual thing, but Archie wants it to be more. How many women have shown an interest in his boring self so far this season? Betty, Miss Grundy, Valerie, Cheryl, Veronica - WHY does this keep happening? It can't be because of his singing. Anyway, Betty, her mum, Jughead and his dad (who seems to have cleaned up his act because he's shaved) have dinner together and it's all a plot to see if he's behind Jason's murder, as Archie and Veronica are off snooping through his trailer. As soon as the two of them agreed that Betty and Jughead should never find out about what they were up to, I automatically knew that they were going to find out about it. Betty figures out her mum's part in the plan, but doesn't immediately tell Jughead which causes problems later on when he finds out and he gets mad at all of them, but especially Betty for some reason despite the fact that she wasn't in on the plan. Before that^, though, Archie and Veronica sing their cover of 'Kids in America'...and it's not too bad. It certainly beats all of the Pussycats' songs thus far as well as what bits and pieces we've heard Archie sing prior to this. Of course, Veronica is the one who really stands out - she can certainly sing (and it's good that we got to hear her properly this time around, after barely being able to hear her when she was providing backing vocals for the Pussycats in a previous episode). She and Betty should do a duet, if Betty's sexy singing of 'Happy Birthday' last episode was an indicator of her singing ability. Cheryl's upset while watching the pair sing. Other stuff going on with the Blossoms this episode involves her mum having been making Polly drink a daily milkshake that eventually puts her to sleep (it was kind of creepy how they were all standing around her as she slept). Cheryl tells her parents she flushed her grandmother's ring down the toilet (because it could cause problems later on due to Polly figuring out how they got it back off Jason, despite the tale Cheryl spins. I was amused by Cheryl's "Hands off, Gollum." when Polly tried to reach for it). I could immediately tell from the way Cheryl was acting that she hadn't in fact flushed it...which is indeed revealed to be the case later on. And FINALLY they confirmed that Cheryl's dad not only wears a wig, but he's got a whole selection of them - 'one for every mood' according to Cheryl, when she's telling Polly about how her dad's real hair turned white overnight after seeing a ghost of a dead relative or something. I kind of love the gothic haunted house feel to everything Blossom-related, and although Cheryl calls Polly 'Pollykins' one second, the next she's threatening her, saying just because she's carrying twins that doesn't make her safe. I'm still waiting for the actual ghosts (and possibly vampires) to show up, as they wouldn't feel out of place in this setting. The episode ends with the sheriff finding a gun in Jugdad’s trailer that wasn't there earlier when Archie and Veronica searched it, and they come to the conclusion he's being set up. Well, duh.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 22, 2021 6:22:11 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 1, Episode 12: 'Chapter Twelve: Anatomy of a Murder' and Episode 13: 'Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter' (the Season 1 final). {Spoiler}It was interesting that one minute Betty was thinking that Archie and Veronica just missed seeing the gun when they'd checked Jugdad's trailer before the sheriff went there and found it, but later she was on the side of Team Jugdad and maintaining his innocence. I felt slightly sorry for Jughead when he apologised to Cheryl in the school cafeteria. Even though he didn't want to believe his dad was guilty, he still apologised...and then she proceeded to slap him and pummel his chest with her fists. It's not very often I feel sympathy for Jughead, but I did here (though I could also understand Cheryl's misplaced anger towards him). I'm glad Jughead's friends leapt to his defense and when it seemed like he was the one getting into trouble with the principal, I was also glad that Archie pointed out that Jughead was apologising/did nothing wrong. I like Cheryl, but she does tend to lash out at people who don't deserve her wrath at times. It was good of Betty to go check on her, though. Jughead was having a pretty rough time this episode. On top of his guilt and Cheryl taking her anger out on him (plus the fact that he has to sleep in the same room as Archie who insists on sleeping shirtless...because of course he does. It's no wonder Jughead tells Archie he'll sleep in the garage), he also had his dad telling him to his face how he'd committed the murder which he admitted to being guilty of. However, there was never any doubt in my mind that Jugdad wasn't actually guilty. He was clearly taking the fall and if it wasn't already obvious, when he told Jughead never to come back to visit him in jail, there was this long look between father and son which made it abundantly clear that Jugdad just wanted to keep Jughead a safe distance away from all of this. Meanwhile, Archie and Veronica continue doing their sleuthing together, and after talking to Kevin's biker b/f, they pay a visit to the biker dude who Archie got into a fight with that time he took Moose to the biker club to identify the guys who beat him up, but find the biker dude dead, apparently having overdosed (though it's immediately obvious he's just been set up to look like he overdosed). Veronica's convinced her father is behind all this. Things got really interesting when Betty and her mum heard the sound of someone sneaking into their house (Betty's mum was amusing with her gun and using it in place of her finger to shoosh Betty), discovered it was Betty's dad trying to destroy evidence and he told them the tale of how Betty's great-grandfather who was killed by Cheryl's great-grandfather Blossom and they were in fact brothers. Betty's face/reaction to this was pretty great. Even better was the scene straight after, when she and her mum went to get Polly out of the Blossom's creepy gothic house that just took on even more of a creep factor considering both of Cheryl's parents were fully aware of the whole incesty thing between Polly (who obviously wasn't aware, but when she finds out, you can't help but feel sorry for her since she just learned she's carrying the twins of someone she was related to) and Jason, but then Cheryl's dad dismisses the incest (which I think was a word that didn't really get mentioned prior to this episode, but certainly makes up for the lack of it before now by getting uttered umpteen times in this scene) by saying that it's not like Polly and Jason were brother and sister or anything. Cheryl's mum, if it's even possible, becomes even creepier by saying how it's good breeding and basically making out that it means Polly's and Jason's kids will be 'pure Blossom' (it's like she wants to create a race of Blossoms or something). This scene was equal parts gross and engrossing. Later, super-sleuth Betty (who should be commended for being able to think straight at all considering the massive revelation she was dealing with) is the one to solve the mystery of who murdered Jason, as she gets an idea and tells Archie to put on Jason's letterman jacket (they found it in a bag in the woods earlier thanks to Kevin's biker b/f). After stating that she knows about losing things in holes of clothes which end up in the lining, she discovers that's just what's happened here, producing a USB from the hole in the pocket of Jason's jacket. I thought it was an interesting choice to play the scene of them all watching the USB footage entirely on their faces, with us just seeing their reactions to it (kind of funny, though, how everyone except Archie and Betty were covering their mouths in reaction). It certainly ramped up the tension. Especially when the first person who Betty called after watching it was Cheryl, who then calmly walked downstairs and confronted her father, saying "You did a bad thing, Daddy." (thus telling us who the murderer was). Although I thought it was an interesting choice not to show us the footage as the gang watched it, the impact when we finally did flashback to what they were seeing was somewhat lessened since we already knew who the killer was. The biker who'd been set up to look like he overdosed was on the footage, Jason was tied to a chair and looked to have been beaten up, and then Cheryl and Jason's dad walked in and shot his own son in the head. Poor Jason...he died without ever having a single line of dialogue that we actually got to hear. And colour me shocked that the incest in this show didn't end up being between Cheryl and Jason, but rather Jason and Polly. I thought for sure there was a twincest vibe going on between Cheryl and her bro. It was somewhat morbidly amusing how both Cheryl and her mum calmly pointed (in unison) to their barn as Sheriff Clueless (as Betty's mum refers to him as) and the cops went in there to find Cheryl's dad had hanged himself amongst all the maple syrup barrels (earlier when Cheryl had asked her mum questions about her dad, she'd gotten pretty intense with her daughter and basically dragged her to the barn to say that was where her answers were). Of course, there's still the mystery of why Cheryl's father killed his son...which he's not going to be much help answering now, since dead men tell no tales. This episode was one of the best of the season, I thought. I was surprised when it finished, as the time flew by. It also felt like a season final...but it wasn't. The actual season final was the next episode, which amusingly began with Jughead almost breaking the fourth wall by describing what had just happened as "the ultimate cliffhanger". I was surprised that he shared his voiceovering this episode with Betty's mum, who was typing up her exposé (at least she knows how to make her voiceover more interesting than Jughead's and not so monotone). Too bad the show returned to using the same old recap from the first half of the season, involving the car driving by in the town, Cheryl and Jason in white going to the river, etc - I was actually glad when they eventually stopped having that at the start of every episode. Anyway, despite Jason's real murderer being uncovered, Jugdad is still in jail (the reason is although he was innocent of killing Jason, he'd still helped cover things up because Jason's murderer/father had threatened Jughead if he didn't comply). I was disappointed that it all ended up being about drugs and not actually maple syrup. Sheriff Clueless proposes a deal with Jugdad that if he gives up the names of the bikers involved in the drug-dealing with Cheryl's dad, he may get a lighter sentence. Jugdad refuses to be a snitch. Elsewhere, Archie wants to sing a song to help his friends who've all been through hell...but naturally, Josie being Josie, she refuses to let him do so at the town Jubilee. Her mother's not much better, excluding Jughead because of his dad (once again, like mother like daughter). She's all for Betty giving a speech, though. I wonder how long they're going to keep saying that Veronica's dad is on his way to Riverdale (at this stage he's taking as long to arrive as winter did in Game of Thrones). Veronica's sorry she ever thought her dad was Jason's murderer and I can't remember if it was this episode or the last one that she apologised to her mum for thinking that. Speaking of apologies, Cheryl apologises to Jughead in the school cafeteria for her emotional/physical outburst last episode, wishing to leave him with her spider brooch (she's giving away her stuff...which should've immediately raised alarm bells, but I didn't really twig to what was going on). She kind of gets the brushoff, though, when the gang are alerted to someone having written a threatening message to poor Betty on her locker that says 'Go to hell serpent slut' (in pig's blood, it turns out - how very Carrie) complete with a Betty doll hanging from a noose. Why is it whenever threatening messages like this are written, no one ever uses a comma? Betty's not the only one having a rough time, as Cheryl keeps reaching out to her mum for some sympathy, but all she can do is suggest that suicide is a better option than living (giving me 13 Reasons Why flashbacks for the last time this season) and she won't even let Cheryl stay home from school when her daughter pleads with her to do so. Clearly she cares very little about Cheryl's mental state and we learn the full extent of just how badly Cheryl's dealing with everything when she texts Betty that she's going to be with Jason and the gang figure out she means the river where she went with Jason on the 4th of July and he supposedly drowned. Apparently Cheryl's intention is to kill herself, but because the river is frozen over, she has to work at breaking through the ice. Despite Archie telling the gang to stay off the ice which is cracking, once Cheryl falls into the water they ignore that advice and all as one they go after her. Cheryl's look before she fell in really said how much she was done with everything. Despite the fact that they ignored their own advice, I was glad the gang showed they had come to care so much about Cheryl (given how she'd treated all of them previously). The best part, though, was that this was the MOST interesting Archie's ever been, since he showed how determined he was to save Cheryl by repeatedly punching the ice to get to her, causing himself serious injury as he did so. I think there was more blood in this scene than the rest of the season combined. I was surprised to learn the actor who plays Archie apparently injured his hand for real while filming this scene and Madelaine Petsch who plays Cheryl almost froze. You could tell just how cold it was during this scene by the fact that Archie's lips were almost purple in colour. He eventually saves her (after she's seen a zombified Jason while in the water) and carries her off, Veronica lets her stay at her place to warm up, but her mum makes it clear she doesn't like having Cheryl there. We also see in this scene, as Cheryl's warming herself in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate that Veronica brought her (Veronica's so nice), that Cheryl's makeup/bright red lipstick she usually has on alters how she looks quite a bit. It's kind of nice seeing her looking more 'natural' (for lack of a better word) in this scene. The next time we see Cheryl, she's making the most of the moody/creepy atmosphere in the gothic Blossom house, holding a candelabra in front of her own fireplace with her back turned as her mum walks in and smells gas, then Cheryl proceeds to toss the candelabra onto the floor, lighting up the room. At first I thought this was her second attempt to off herself (this time taking mummy dearest with her), but it turns out she just wanted to burn the place down and all the feelings she associated with it, I guess, ignoring her mother hitting at her back as she calmly watches the place go up in flames. I didn't think about it before reading comments online, but I was morbidly amused once I did read people asking whether Cheryl bothered to get her grandmother out of there first (since she seemed to be stuck in the attic). So long, gothic Blossom house. Your creepiness will be missed. The other stuff going on this episode wasn't quite as dramatic nor as interesting. Both Archie and Veronica have checked with Betty, on separate occasions, that she’s okay with them being together after telling her that they kissed a couple of times. She naturally says she's fine, and at least she does a good job of acting like it, as I didn't really notice any longing looks at Archie which you usually get immediately after someone says they're fine with two people being together in these types of shows. However, when they go to find Jughead (who's not being allowed to live with Archie and is being fostered out/sent to another school), he's seemingly fine at this other much rougher-looking school and Veronica mentions to Archie that she noted a 'wistful' look from him when watching Bughead together. Clearly she's worried he still has feelings for Betty, but he says he just wants to have with Veronica what Bughead have together. 'Varchie' (as I've just learned their ship name is) eventually get it on, which is intercut with Bughead doing the same, but this is after the Jubilee where Josie relents and lets Archie sing his song to the town, then Betty delivers a speech about how everyone 'is Riverdale' (including Jughead and his dad the townspeople were so quick to blame for Jason's murder). She tells them they need to do better to prevent further tragedies and the mayor looks none-to-pleased with this since she had previously silenced Betty from talking about such things. Everyone (but the mayor) cheers, though. Getting back to the teens getting it on...Bughead are the unluckier of the two romantic couplings, as their makeout session is interrupted by a knock at the door and it turns out to be the bikers who say they'll look out for/take care of Jughead since his father proved his loyalty to them by not snitching. They toss Jughead a jacket with the serpent insignia on it and he tries it on, clearly tempted into joining them, but then Betty saying his name seems to snap him out of it. Earlier, Jugdad warned Archie about there being darkness in Jughead or something and then it cut to Jughead taking a giant bite of his sandwich at school, which I thought was mildly amusing. I almost forgot that Betty learned she has a brother, as her mum reveals to her that Betty's dad wanted her to 'deal with it' differently to how she wanted to. So, Betty's got a mystery brother out there somewhere and we're left wondering who it could be (hopefully it's no one she's kissed or anything - it's not like this show needs more incest). The last scene of the episode involves Archie and his dad at the retro diner, Archie goes to the bathroom and you can tell by the fact that there's just time being wasted on seemingly nothing (plus the fact that Archie seems happy) that something bad is about to go down. Sure enough, someone's robbing the place, Archie wants to intervene but his dad indicates to him with slight shake of the head not to...so, of course, Archie being Archie, he ignores his father and then steps in front of him when the guy is about to shoot. Surprisingly, though, it's Archie's dad who is the one who gets shot. When the episode ended with Jughead's voiceover about "the last bit of Riverdale's innocence finally died and darkness won", I couldn't help but think, "Innocence? Jason's own dad offed him after being fully aware his son was having incest with his third cousin...and only now you think 'innocence was lost'? I'm pretty sure it lost it well before now." (or something like that). I think I liked the previous episode a bit more than this one, but there was still some good stuff to be found here. Final thoughts on this first season as a whole:I really liked the characters of Betty, Veronica and Cheryl (I was surprised by that last one. Almost as surprised as I was to discover that although I'd originally thought Holland Roden had been cast in this series just as Teen Wolf had finished when I saw the first promos for this show, that was in fact not the case. However, Madelaine Petsch quickly made me forget about any similarities I'd seen between the two). All three characters proved to be more than they first appeared and I thought the three actresses who played them were the strongest of the 'teens' in the show. I was less fussed on Archie and Jughead, but by the end of the season I'd come around to not-minding them and the actors playing them had shown they were capable of portraying a decent amount of emotion. I didn't feel like I got to know Kevin enough to really form much of an opinion of him, but he seemed alright. Valerie was also good...until they broke up her and Archie. I hope she's not just going to be angry at him for the rest of the show. She was easily the best/most memorable of the Pussycats. I'd like to get to know Melody a bit better too. Josie, however, I would be happy to never see again (though I know that's not going to happen). The rest of the school characters seemed pretty stereotypical and therefore I didn't really care one way or the other about them. Out of the parent characters, Betty's mum seemed the most interesting. Even if I didn't like her half the time, at least she wasn't as bad a parent as Cheryl's mum. Veronica's mum was okay, but she fell into the same category as Archie's dad, for me - ie. not the most memorable of characters. I think Skeet Ulrich had the strongest impact of the adults, playing Jughead's dad. Cheryl's parents were literally THE WORST. Archie's mum didn't hang around long enough to really get a 'feel' for her. I'm waiting to see who they'll cast as Veronica's father and Jughead's mother. The show didn't end up being quite as 'dark' as I was expecting it to be when I first heard about it. More or less, it's basically like every other teen drama I've watched (with some creepy elements thrown in). I've read some comments that make it sound like basically the show is all downhill from here, but I'm hoping I won't feel that way when watching. It had some really good stuff throughout this season, but it was the characters (or at least some of them, anyway) that kept me interested. Considering how long it took me to get around to finally watching these Blu-rays I'd had sitting in my cupboard for ages, it's kind of funny I had this show I would really get into just waiting for me to watch it. I'm glad I finally did, as now I kind of don't want to stop.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 23, 2021 11:05:18 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 1: 'Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying'. {Spoiler}Dang it, the Jughead voiceovering will just never go away, will it? Though I admit to being slightly amused that his voiceover was mainly about Archie driving without a license (I feel like he drove last season...but maybe I'm misremembering) and managing to get his father, who'd been shot, to the hospital without wrecking the truck. Although the first person Archie called was Betty, I don't take that to 'mean' anything just because he's with Veronica now. Betty's been his friend for a long time, he probably knew she'd call the others. More distracting was the overly-dramatic way Jughead pulled the cover off the motorcycle which he rode to the hospital. It was interesting that not only were Archie's friends there to support him, but also their parents - especially Betty's mum, who had told Betty to block Archie's number when she received the call from him alerting her to his father having been shot. I was mildly amused when Veronica was listing to Betty the things she's better at than anybody else, including 'dance-offs' (I imagine Cheryl's still sore about that one), before she proceeded to mention the stuff she wasn't so good at (ie. 'grief, bedside vigils, comforting boyfriends'). You could tell from the way Archie kept pausing as he told his friends what had happened that he was leaving something out - and, sure enough, towards the end of the episode he revealed that instead of immediately going to comfort/help his dad after he'd been shot or trying to subdue the gunmen, he just froze and closed his eyes until he heard the doorbell that signified the shooter had left. Obviously he's feeling pretty bad/guilty about this, and that's why it takes him so long to tell the full story. I must admit that although I wasn't particularly impressed with K.J. Apa throughout the first season of the show, he showed some significant improvement in this episode and did a good job of conveying the many emotions Archie was going through. At least he wasn't as boring. While I LOVED seeing Vegas the dog again this episode, I was sad that he was home all by his lonesome and especially when Archie pointed out to Veronica that the poor pooch wouldn't know what was going on/why Archie's dad wasn't there. I also appreciated the little moment where Veronica offered to walk Vegas, but Archie pointed out she'd probably never walked a dog herself. I liked the story he told about how he'd been so desperate to get a dog, though his dad had made clear he'd have to look after it, but Archie's dad has always walked Vegas when Archie gets home late from practice, takes him out on Saturday mornings so Archie can sleep in and goes to the vet with Archie whenever Vegas gets sick (it's worrisome that he made it sound like Vegas gets sick often - I hope this doesn't mean the pooch's days are numbered ). I know what Archie meant when he said no one loves Vegas more than his dad...but I still thought to myself the dog would be like, "So...that means you don't love me as much, Archie? You dick!". It was annoying that Archie got angry at Veronica later on because she emptied the bag of his dad's things the hospital sent home with them and his dad's wallet wasn't among them. I can understand Archie being emotional, but as Veronica said, she was just trying to help. Thankfully, she's no pushover and even when Archie forcibly told her to go, she wouldn't be deterred from staying by his side and supporting him. They also weirdly decided to take a shower together (though Veronica kept her pearl necklace on - that is, of course, the replacement pearl necklace she got last season, as she ruined the original one). I saw people commenting about how weird it was for them to do this, since Archie's dad was fighting for his life, but...eh, people do weird things when they're upset, and Riverdale's full of more weirdos than most places. I guess it was just their way of coping (plus, it seems we can't go too many episodes without either Archie or one of the other guys in the show being shirtless). 'Varchie' are good together...though I still can't get used to that particular 'ship' name. Speaking of ship names, Bughead go to the retro diner and there's still the pool of blood from Archie's dad on the floor, looking as fresh as if it just happened. That can't possibly be hygienic and is surely a health code violation. Only now was the owner getting around to mopping it up. On the plus side, I think he got more dialogue in this one scene than he did all of last season (from what I can recall). Betty talks about the bikers coming to pay Jughead a visit in last season's final and how he seemed to be in a trance when trying on the Serpent jacket they tossed him. He also mentions that he's not living with a foster family, but they're instead covering for him as he lives in his dad's trailer because he wants to hold onto a part of him...or something (since he's stuck in jail still). Despite Betty obviously not liking Jughead hanging around the bikers, he's doing so to find out whether they had anything to do with Archie's dad getting shot. Towards the end of the episode they turn up at Jugdad's trailer with one of their own who they've clearly given a working over. It seems Jughead's storyline this season is going to be about him being tempted to join the bikers and getting involved with their shady goings-on. Since Cheryl became an unexpected favourite of mine during Season 1, I was anxiously awaiting seeing her this episode (as the last time we saw her she was burning her gothic house down). I kind of loved the fact that when she finally shows up at the hospital in this episode, she does so complete with hair flip. I was confused when her mum was being wheeled in on a gurney, covered in bandages, since last we saw she was outside with Cheryl as the house burned down. Did Cheryl toss her back in there? I wouldn't put it past her. I was amused at how she interacted with Betty and Kevin, acting like what had happened was no big deal. Even better was when she threatened her mum and briefly cut off her oxygen supply. Can't say I felt much sympathy for that horrible woman given how she treated Cheryl last season. If you raise someone the wrong way and mistreat them to such an extent that they become unhinged...don't be surprised when they turn on you is the lesson to be learned here, I think. It was cathartic to finally see Cheryl getting some revenge on the one parent she still had alive for all of her cruelty. Cheryl's last scene in the episode involves her paying Archie's dad a visit. He still hasn't woken up and she kisses his forehead (leaving her signature red lipstick stain) and informs Archie's it's "The kiss of life" in return for him saving her from the river she tried to drown herself in during the Season 1 final. I liked that she reassured Archie his dad was going to be fine and then exited with a cheery "Toodles!". I loved the creepy/crazy vibe she was giving off (I wouldn't even put it past her to truly believe that she has the power to give the kiss of life). Also creepy this episode? Veronica and her mum's interaction. Veronica seemed to think her mum put out a 'hit' on Archie's dad, and speaking of hitting, Hermione said she'd slap Veronica...except she 'isn't a violent person'. There were other thinly-veiled threats about Veronica's dad showing up, as well as giving her hell for drinking the champagne that was being saved for when he came home. Near the end of the episode he FINALLY showed up, all Mafia boss-like and shrouded in shadow, saying how 'disrespectful' it was for Veronica to drink his Cristal (after Hermione dobbed her in). At least we got to actually see him eventually (though I don't recognise the actor). While I was glad Veronica stood up to her dad, I'm thinking he's probably going to make things more difficult for her than they have been thus far. The vibe he was giving off was that he may be yet another less-than-stellar parent in the show. Perhaps Cheryl can help Veronica fix that? Apparently the show recast Reggie from last season, as he's no longer played by the actor I recognised from 13 Reasons Why. Josie and the Pussycats showed up to be supportive for Archie in regards to his dad...and I think that was the nicest Josie has ever come across. Sadly, though, no lines for Valerie (I would've thought she'd have at least given Archie a supportive hug and said something to him since they were together at one point, no matter how things ended between them). Meanwhile, Archie's dad was stuck in Dream Sequence Land. The first dream was about being at Archie's graduation and the core four pointed out to him that he never actually made it to the graduation...on account of being dead, then there were other ones I don't really recall, but the last one was a Varchie wedding which was rudely interrupted by the gunmen who shot Archie's dad (this was after he'd seen Cheryl's dead dad and Jason there among the guests). Basically, it was a bunch of dreams that started out okay, but then turned 'bad' for poor ol' Archie's dad. But, hey, at least now Archie's all protective of him and determined to stay up every night (armed with a baseball bat - because that'll do wonders against a guy armed with a gun), guarding the house. I wonder if Vegas is all like, "Hey, that's my job!". The episode ends with Miss Grundy, who evidently hasn't given up on her predatory pursuits of students, as she's still giving 'music lessons' to one. However, the shooter must be in the know about the sorts of stuff she gets up to, as he proceeds to strangle her to death. The music playing during the scene, with the creepy 'la-la-la-ing', sounded eerily familiar to me when I heard it, but it wasn't until I went online and read that it was the music from the movie Rosemary's Baby that I realised where I'd heard it before. And so we have another murder mystery to solve. Honestly, wouldn't most parents be moving their kids away from Riverdale at this point, considering all the murders that happen there?
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 24, 2021 11:28:06 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 2: 'Chapter Fifteen: Nighthawks' and Episode 3: 'Chapter Sixteen: The Watcher in the Woods'. **spoilers below** The title of the second episode immediately reminded me of Xander's lame codename he came up with for himself in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 episode 'Dead Man's Party' (a very frustrating episode). Anyway, this episode begins with Jughead voiceovering about how the retro diner that everyone seems to hang out (Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is its full title) was exceedingly popular...that was until Archie's dad got shot there. When Pop asked Jughead whether he'd seen what had been written on the front of his shop, I answered "no", because I'd somehow totally missed that what Jughead reacted to before he walked in there was graffiti saying 'DeAth DINER'. Firstly, who the hell spells the word 'death' with the letters 'D' and 'A' in capitals but not the rest? I guess the same sorts of people who wrote 'Go to hell serpent slut' without a comma on Betty's locker last season. And secondly, as has been pointed out elsewhere, no one actually died in that diner. Sure, Archie's dad came close to dying, but he's still very much alive, as evidenced by Archie attempting (and failing) to cook breakfast for him at home. Some of it falls on the floor, but this means more food for Vegas the dog, who I'm glad to see again. Something I was less happy to see was that Archie even answers the door shirtless. Apparently he has as much trouble finding a shirt to put on as Jacob did in the Twilight films. Archie continues to sit up at night with his trusty baseball bat at the ready against an armed gunmen and the ridiculousness of this is pointed out to him by New Reggie when he gets attacked by Archie (who thinks he's seeing the shooter everywhere, and once he finds out about Miss Grundy's death - and that she was strangled using the cello bow he gifted her last season - he's sure that it's connected with his dad getting shot/someone's out to get all the people he cares about. He even confesses to Sheriff Clueless that he and Miss Grundy were 'close', without going into explicit detail). The reason for New Reggie coming over is because Archie's wanting some drugs to help him stay alert at night. Attacking your drug-dealer with a baseball bat probably isn't the best way to score drugs, Archie. New Reggie feels quite a bit different to Old Reggie since they recast him (the original actor went off to do 13 Reasons Why - which, ironically, I had watched the first season of on DVD prior to starting this show). New Reggie also interacts with a female character I can't recall ever seeing before called Midge, who will become important by the end of the episode. Once Betty learns of Pop’s retro diner closing, she makes it her personal mission to help save it (since it's a place of fond memories for the gang, but especially Betty). She asks Cheryl, who announces that Josie is joining the cheerleaders (Josie seems friendly at first, but then claims to be a 'team player' while insisting she be at the front - which draws reactions from the other cheerleaders. This is why I can never warm up to Josie as a character), but Cheryl refuses to help. She's also not very helpful when Bughead go over to her new place of residence in the hope that she'll help reduce Jugdad's jailtime by speaking in his defense (this is after Jughead's gone to a Serpent lawyer - called a 'Snake Charmer' - against his dad's wishes. It's kind of ridiculous she asks Jughead for a favour in return for her advice which is simply to get the Blossoms to speak favourably about his dad. Anyone could've told Jughead that, and unlike her, they wouldn't have asked for shady favours in return). I'm bummed that Cheryl and her scarred mum are now living in what looks like an extravagant greenhouse (I miss the old gothic Blossom house), but it's kind of worth it for two reasons - one being how Cheryl greets Bughead as 'Hobo' and 'Bride of Hobo', and the other being Betty saying (after their unsuccessful attempt to appeal to Cheryl's humanity) that she's 'gone full Poison Ivy'. Considering where she's now living (plus, the red hair...not to mention her flower-related name), I wouldn't put it past Cheryl to wind up with plant powers in her next step towards becoming a supervillain. Jughead's so worked up that he tells Betty's he'd blackmail Cheryl...except she just lost her dad. It's kind of a shame that even after Betty and Jughead helped save her in last season's final (sure, Archie did all the ice-punching and performed CPR on her, but Betty was the one who figured out what her text message meant and if she hadn't, they wouldn't have gotten there in time), Cheryl's still acting like her old self towards them. However, Betty's not done with Cheryl yet. She accosts her in the girl's locker room...and THANK YOU, show, for finally being equal opportunity with the near-nakedness in this episode. If we had to endure shirtless Archie again, it was only fair we were also treated to Cheryl in her sexy red lingerie - which she looks smokin' in, btw. 'Dark Betty' appears to emerge, as she has no such qualms like Jughead did about blackmailing Cheryl, saying she'll send footage of Cheryl's dad shooting Jason out there for everyone to see unless she does what they want. Cheryl begrudgingly agrees, calling Betty a 'stone-cold bitch' in the process, and then later she is doing her best to convince the judge, but when it doesn't appear to be working, she lies about having heard her father threaten Jughead if Jugdad didn't cover up for him. Now, I know for a fact last season we learned that was indeed the reason why Jugdad went along with the covering up after Cheryl's dad, so I guess when she talks about lying under oath, what she means is she didn't actually hear the threatening when it happened (though obviously found out about it later). It was a nice touch, seeing her wearing her spider brooch again (the one she was going to give Jughead last season, when she was apparently giving her stuff away before she attempted to off herself). Towards the end of the episode, Cheryl and two of the Pussycats - Josie and Melody (who gets one line of dialogue) - show up at Pop's diner, as apparently Valerie's sick, and Betty's finally managed to get people to help support the place staying open. She wants them to sing, Josie refuses, but Cheryl says she can assist. They then proceed to sing the song 'Milkshake' on the roof of the diner. Considering what that song's actually about, it seemed a bit inappropriate for Pop's supposedly family-friendly establishment (though it's the first cover version of theirs that I've actually not-minded). I was amused by Cheryl's comment about Bughead's PDA at the diner, saying how they looked like 'chimps in captivity grooming and picking lice off each other'. Cheryl usually gets the best lines. She also thinks that showing the footage of her dad killing Jason (once Betty hands it over) to her scarred mum will somehow bring her peace/closure. Other things happening at the diner were Veronica giving her parents a 'fresh start', as prior to this she'd attempted to show her mum what sort of man her dad is by presenting her with a letter she'd received that threatened her mum if she didn't defend her dad/speak in his favour, only for her mum to turn around and inform her she wrote the letter to herself. There's also the matter of Smithers (who I could never hear the name of and *not* associate with The Simpsons), the Lodge family butler and Veronica's only ally against her shady dad, who tries to help her avoid running into him as she exits the building near the start of the episode, but it doesn't work and he catches what Smithers is trying to do - which is obviously why by the end of the episode Smithers has been replaced by someone who's clearly more loyal to Veronica's dad. Veronica doesn't look happy about this, especially after Jughead had managed to convince her earlier on to give her dad a second chance since Jughead's dad is in jail and Archie's dad just got shot (Veronica and Jughead really need more scenes together, as it's so rarely just the two of them). To top things off, little does Veronica know that her mum was just covering for her dad when she said she wrote that threatening letter to herself, thus meaning he was in fact the one behind it. Veronica's parents aren't the only crappy ones this episode, though. Betty's mum, Alice, spends her time at the diner filming/taking photos of different people on her phone and then informs Betty that she has singlehandedly made Pop's a haven for drug-dealers, as she's just observed several drug-dealings going on that very night. Typical Alice, she's never very encouraging towards her daughter. I mean, surely drug-dealing was happening there before Betty decided to try to save the place. The episode ends with Archie getting a gun from some creeper by the name of Dilton Doiley (seriously), and that girl New Reggie was talking to earlier - Midge - along with poor ol' Moose, who just can't catch a break, as last season he got beaten up and this episode he gets shot at by the guy in the black mask who shot Archie's dad and killed Miss Grundy. It's all very 80's horror movie-inspired, with the killing two lovers in a car on Lovers' Lane at night (honestly, I was half-expecting one of them to get out of the car to go investigate a mysterious noise and the one left in the car would soon hear a banging sound on the car roof, then bolt from the car only to turn around and find the killer banging the head of the other one on the roof...but I guess that would've been more of a Supernatural type of thing rather than this show's type of thing). However, it's revealed in the third episode that Midge and poor ol' Moose didn't in fact die (we later find out that Moose shielded Midge with his body). That's kind of lame. The shooter must have really poor aim if he couldn't even kill two 'teens' stuck in a car at close range. Bizarrely, Kevin is out night jogging around Lovers' Lane and then seemingly starts snogging the first rando he runs into. It was pretty weird. Betty says it's not safe and I couldn't understand Kevin's anger at her, since she was just thinking of his wellbeing but he somehow makes it about her not wanting him to find someone to be with or some BS. He goes on about how she has plenty of options but he has very few - though I don't get this, since I can't recall anyone giving him a hard time about being gay last season, he seems pretty 'accepted' by most people and even his dad's cool with it...so why is he making it sound like he has to sneak around to find anyone to be with? He had his biker b/f last season and didn't run into too many problems with people hassling him that I can recall. I mean, unless you count Cheryl's insults towards him...not that he even hears them in this episode. Speaking of Cheryl, this episode her purpose seems to be just hovering around Betty and Kevin, eavesdropping (the shot of her walking back and forth past them in the hallway at school was amusing). She has a talk with Betty, then they track Kevin down in the woods. Considering everything he knows is going on out there, he's an idiot to keep putting himself in danger. At least when a seemingly dodgy guy in a car propositions him later on, he finally gets it through his thick skull that being out in the middle of the woods just to get some action when there's a killer on the loose might lead to him getting the wrong kind of action, so he runs home. Even his dad, Sheriff Clueless, has more of a clue than his son, saying they should talk about the stuff they don't want to talk about normally. I was over Kevin this episode, as he just annoyed me. Other things going on this episode - Jughead goes to the Southside school, meets Toni Topaz (who was more likeable in this one episode, during her first appearance in the show, than Josie has been over the course of a whole season...plus two episodes). We finally heard Jughead's real name - Forsythe Pendleton Jones III (no wonder he goes by 'Jughead'. I didn't think it was possible for his real name to be worse than his nickname...but I was wrong) - but it was weird that out of all the characters, this new character of Toni got to be the one to utter it in the series first (that I can recall, anyway). I'm hoping the gang knows what Jughead's real name is and he just told them it offscreen, as I'd hate to think a character he just met knows more about him than Betty or his friends do. Anyway, Toni wants him to sit with the Serpent students, but he doesn't want to. There's other students there she refers to as 'Ghoulies' who want to give him a hard time and even beat him up later on (which he lies about to Betty. BAD Jughead!). He meets other Serpent students and one of them manages to have an even more ridiculous name than Jughead (his name's Sweet Pea, for crying out loud. Also ridiculous? Their name for the drugs they deal at that school is 'jingle-jangle'). Betty and Toni meet, they seem friendly enough to each other but there's an undertone of them not actually being as 'cool' with one another as they act in front of Jughead. Though they do think alike - both of them bringing Jughead a jug (how imaginative) now that he's trying to get the school's defunct newspaper going again. I certainly hope this doesn't become a 'love triangle' (we already get enough of those). Bughead and Archie also meet Veronica's dad in this episode. He seems friendly enough to them, but asks Veronica to leave him alone with Archie, then he delivers the usual fatherly threats to the boy dating his daughter (but seems extra dangerous). He's already threatened Hermione about turning Veronica against him (this was in spite of the fact that Veronica's mum still hasn't been very nice to her daughter so far this season. She's seemingly changed quite a bit from last season. Veronica hasn't really changed though, as she still has her priorities. There may be a masked killer out there, but she's not going to miss The Matchelorette - this universe's version of The Bachelorette), and he's especially creepy with the Veronica painting he has hanging in his study and likes to look at apparently, then after he asks Archie if he's ever had rum (Archie's response: “Rum? Like the alcohol?”. No, Archie, some other kind of rum), he encourages Archie to do more than just start a neighbourhood watch group - which he decided to do after a letter is sent out from the shooter who wishes to be referred to as 'Black Hood' (personally, I would've gone with 'Black Mask'...but then they might've confused him with the Batman villain) and he's included not only the wallet Archie's dad had been missing, but also Miss Grundy's red sunglasses. Consequently, Archie is now more convinced than ever that this is ALL ABOUT HIM, so he thinks having students be extra watchful will somehow help. Ethel is chased by someone in a truck, but Archie - along with New Reggie, who is now apparently his sidekick - come to her rescue. Anyway, Archie interprets the suggestion from Veronica's dad in the strangest of ways (as only people in Riverdale can) - he forms a shirtless army. Literally, all the guys behind him are shirtless from what I can remember, plus they're wearing red hoods (Archie has comic books called the 'Red Circle', which is what he decides to call his shirtless army). It looks as ridiculous as it sounds (though it's odd that this is the one time it'd make sense for Archie to be shirtless...yet he isn't). "We are Legion", Archie? Really?? I'm not sure who on the writing staff for this show came up with this harebrained idea, but Archie and a bunch of red-hooded shirtless 'teens' aren't the least bit intimidating when they send out their video saying they're 'coming for/going to hunt and find and end' Black Hood. Heck, Veronica's creepy painting was more intimidating.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 26, 2021 9:41:49 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 4: 'Chapter Seventeen: The Town That Dreaded Sundown' and Episode 5: 'Chapter Eighteen: When a Stranger Calls'. {Spoiler}After last episode ended with Archie and his Shirtless Army's ridiculous video designed to threaten the Black Hood (but probably just gave him a good laugh), this episode he suffers the consequences for it. His dad's not happy with him, and neither is Veronica. Though little does she know her father was the one who put the idea into Archie's head. Thankfully, it wasn't long before Archie told Veronica as much (though I liked the part where she was skeptical that her dad told Archie to get a bunch of his buddies together, minus their shirts, and put on red hoods. I think if her father had told Archie to do exactly that, it would've been pretty weird and like Veronica's dad had something rather suspect planned for them...which, ew). Archie quotes exactly what Veronica's dad said to him, so then she goes to confront him about it. Naturally, he's still playing innocent but Veronica knows something's up. For some strange reason she changes her tune and wants to support Archie's Shirtless Army 'Red Circle'. What probably isn't the smartest move, though, is walking around with shirts that basically have targets on the front of them (why even have them specially made up when she could've just gone to Target and bought a bunch of shirts with their logo on them?) - which Archie points out to her (when Archie is pointing out to you that you're doing something dumb, Veronica...be afraid). Meanwhile, Betty’s mum is not happy about Betty helping Polly get gone last episode (her reason for wanting to hightail it out of there was because the Black Hood is apparently targeting 'sinners' and, as she puts it, she's the 'poster child for sin' on account of her being an unwed mother carrying her cousin's twins) and says she’s scared every time Betty walks out the door, etc. I found Mädchen Amick's acting a bit too much in that scene. I get that Alice worries about Betty (though she treats her pretty shoddily a lot of the time too), but it seemed kind of over-the-top. Betty receives a letter from the Black Hood along with a cipher that he says only she can crack. She keeps the letter secret from everyone after talking to Kevin (who, btw, is still giving her a hard time despite the fact that it was him who was making the stupid decisions last episode, going out into the woods and putting himself in danger). Jughead ends up working on the cipher with Toni Topaz who he met last episode (Jughead makes a reference to the Black Hood possibly being a Batman villain), then Betty says they should all work on it together. Their attempts to crack the code aren't going so well, Betty's getting frustrated and Toni makes a snarky comment under her breath about Betty loosening her ponytail. Kevin scores some points back by vehemently defending/sticking up for Betty's ponytail that, in his words, is 'iconic and beyond reproach'. Then things turn a bit nasty when Toni verbally lashes out at Betty, accusing her of always blaming the Southside for everything and hating the Serpents (so she managed to last one episode before annoying me). Someone really should've let her know that Betty made a speech at the town hall all about accepting the Southside, had 'serpent slut' written on her locker in pig's blood and has been trying to help Jughead get his dad (who is a Serpent) out of jail. This just felt like an excuse to have Betty and Toni opposing each other (even though Betty really didn't do anything wrong). Here's hoping Toni takes it down a notch and apologises for her unwarranted outburst, otherwise she's going to become a very tiresome character to have around if all she does is argue with Betty (and come between/break up Bughead in the process). Archie's not having the best time either, as he's told by the principal to disband his Shirtless Army 'Red Circle' otherwise there'll be no more football team (I'm pretty sure that would do more harm for the school than anything). New Reggie and the others aren't happy about this, but Archie reckons the reason why he had the others in his video wear masks was to protect their identities so they wouldn't get into trouble. Veronica figures out he wants to go it alone, and despite her protestations, he goes and buys ammo, a holster and a Kevlar vest from an army shop using a fake ID and then proceeds to go around the Southside, spray painting red circles everywhere, when he's accosted by Sweet Pea (the guy with the even more ridiculous name than Jughead) and a couple of his minions. They threaten Archie and Sweet Pea pulls a switchblade...but Archie pulls a gun, thus giving them a quick lesson in bringing a knife to a gunfight, before chasing them off. The next day at school, the principal comes to get Archie, Veronica says the shirts were her idea, but it’s not about that. It's because Southsiders reported Northsiders waving a gun around at them. While all this is going on, Betty is still trying to crack the cipher that the Black Hood said only she could do - which, when combined with Jughead referring to her as 'Nancy Drew', gives her an idea of how to do it. They go to the library and find her Nancy Drew Secret-Code Activity Book, which she apparently used to borrow out all the time, and she uses it to decipher the code. At the same time, New Reggie and the other members of Archie's Shirtless Army 'Red Circle' have decided to support Archie in whatever he wants to do since he didn't rat them out. Then the Southsiders turn up at the door (how'd they find out where Archie lives? And when Sweet Pea said Archie came to his door, I thought "No he didn't. He was out on the street.") and are ready to rumble, but Veronica acts as referee and says there should be rules such as no weapons. The Northsiders vs Southsiders decide to have a moody fight in the rain while a town meeting is being held discussing what should be done about the Southside. Alice is against them, of course, but Archie's dad stands up for them. While they're arguing, Hermione whispers that Archie's dad is going to be a problem, but Veronica's dad says the town trusts/respects him and they can use that. The two rival gangs start fighting after Archie lands the first punch against Sweet Pea (who wasn't so tough after all), and at the same time Bughead are figuring out that the code was saying the Black Hood's next target would be at the town hall. They run to interrupt the town meeting, but nothing actually really happens, though Betty pulls a fire alarm and then finally has to give up the letter she received to the Sheriff Clueless, her mum, the mayor, etc (her reason for keeping it from everyone, which she explains to Jughead at one point, is that because the Black Hood said in it that he was doing what he was doing for Betty and that he was inspired by her speech at the end of last season, she thought Archie would blame her for his dad getting shot). Back at the rainy fight, Dilton Doiley (who may just have the MOST ridiculous name out of everyone...and this is in a show where someone's actually named Sweet Pea) gets stabbed in the leg (or did he stab himself? It's unclear) and the fight is finally broken up when Veronica arrives, looking spectacular in her hooded cape, firing a gun into the air (the one that Archie had asked her to retrieve from a toilet tank at school, which he hid there so it wouldn't be found when his locker was searched, and that she said she'd thrown away). Naturally, Archie's shirtless later on as Veronica tends to his wounds. They then go to toss Archie's gun into the river (though don't weapons keep finger prints even after getting wet? I'm sure it'll resurface at some point and be used to frame Archie somehow) while Jughead voiceovers about how Riverdale's now 'the town that dreaded sundown' rather than what it used to be known as (and says on its sign) - 'The Town with Pep!' (personally, I would've said its new slogan should be 'The Town of Death!'). The episode ends with Betty receiving a call asking what her favourite scary movie is from the Black Hood. The most disappointing thing about this episode was that while Cheryl appeared in it, she didn't actually get any lines (and her lines are usually the best). She just handed out the T-shirts Veronica had made up for Archie’s Shirtless Army ‘Red Circle’ and was in the background of a few scenes...and that was it. What a waste of a great character! No Jughead voiceover at the start of the fifth episode - hurray! We did get Lili Reinhart, who plays Betty, saying the "Previously on Riverdale...", though - which makes sense, since this episode was kind of a big one for her. It picks up right where the previous one left off, with Black Hood on the phone to her. He goes on about how he's trying to 'purify' Riverdale or whatever, getting rid of the 'sinners', etc. To show he means business, he says he's going to kill Polly (the self-admitted 'poster child for sin carrying her cousin's twins') and the only way to prevent him from doing so is for Betty to do what he says (and, of course, not tell people about his phone call to her). I found it odd that Alice couldn't tell how upset her daughter was when she came into her bedroom...but she was doing some ranting, so that may have blinded her to the obvious. Black Hood's first demand of Betty is that she print a mugshot of her mum that basically says she was once a Southside Serpent. Considering how vocal Alice has been about how bad they are, this makes her seem like a major hypocrite. Meanwhile, Jughead is trying to get the Serpents to calm down and NOT build a pipe bomb to go after the Northsiders and blow up their newspaper office. Toni Topaz basically tells him his dad kept the peace in the Serpents and if he wants to do the same, he's got to be all-in. After some thinking about it, Jughead says he will. Him and Betty have one scene together before everything goes to hell (if only they could've gotten away from Riverdale like they talked about doing). While they were probably aiming for 'scary' with the snake masks, when the Serpents rudely awake Jughead...they're more unintentionally comical than anything. And that's not the only unintentionally funny thing they do, as later they have Jughead reciting their Serpent laws by yelling at him and him yelling back. He also has to take care of 'the beast' aka Hotdog III (so, there's been a few), a mutt that's apparently nowhere near as good a doggie as Vegas is (judging by Jughead's complaints about it after only a day), stick his hand in a rattlesnake cage to retrieve a knife (he gets bitten, but is informed that the snake's venom glands have been removed) and the final test is him surviving 'the gauntlet' - which is basically just all the Serpent guys beating the crap out of him until they think he's had enough and then shake his hand. Before all that transpires, though, Veronica's told by her parents that an old friend of hers, Nick St. Clair (played by an actor I recognised as the same one who played the son of Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife), is coming to town with his parents and she has been tasked with showing him around Riverdale/basically keeping him happy if she wants to have a seat at the table in her parents' business. She's fully aware that Nick's a flirt and obviously the two of them got up to some bad stuff when they used to hang out. He's clearly still interested in Veronica (he even gets forceful with her at one point), as well as her Pussycat ears and the Pussycats themselves...but not Archie (who doesn't think much of Nick either). Betty thinks she's found a loophole in the Black Hood's rules about not telling anyone, since among the names he listed, he never mentioned Archie and she thinks it won't look odd for them to be chatting on their way to school, so she tells him about the calls. Of course, he's not much help and Betty is forced by the Black Hood to cut Veronica out of her life (if she does so, he says she can ask him a question). When Veronica gets everyone together hanging out, Nick shows that unlike Veronica, he's still all about the bad habits and is offering that ridiculously-named drug (jingle-jangle). At first Veronica won't partake and neither will Archie (which Nick gives him a hard time about), but then Veronica finally does. Betty decides this is the best time to do what the Black Hood wants and starts really laying into the unsuspecting Veronica, calling her out on her 'trashy' past and clearly hitting some nerves before leaving. I felt bad for both Betty and Veronica here - the former because she obviously hated hurting her friend and the latter because she had no clue where any of this was coming from. Everyone's thoroughly confused, as Betty sits alone on a moody bench and gets to ask the Black Hood one question (though only now does he limit it to not including asking him what his name is - the cheater!). She asks if she'd know/recognise him and he says 'yes'. Later at an event, Alice shows up in a booby dress with an IDGAF attitude towards all those passing judgement on her (telling her husband to "shove it" before he can say anything). Nick drugs Cheryl and takes her to a room, clearly about to rape her, but thankfully Veronica and the Pussycats can tell something's up and they get there in the nick (no pun intended) of time to stop the rapist before he can do anything...then they proceed to beat/kick the crap out of him. It was a glorious cheer-worthy moment, for sure. I was glad the show demonstrated some restraint and didn't actually have the rape happen to poor Cheryl. What happened to her was enough, and she obviously can be taken at her word when she says she wants Nick to 'burn in hell' (just ask her mum). At least in the scene where they're all comforting Cheryl, Betty reassures Veronica that what Nick did wasn't her fault (which probably confuses Veronica even further after the way Betty last talked to her, but hopefully it lets her know that Betty wasn't actually herself when she was being nasty). Unfortunately for Betty, Black Hood isn't through with her and next he wants her to cut Jughead out of her life. She's still talking to Archie about all this and asks if he can go break up with Jughead on her behalf - but in such a way that the two of them can come back from it when all this is resolved. Archie starts off doing as Betty wished, but when the Serpents appear, he loses it and basically ensures that Jughead won't think there's any possible way of getting back with Betty. This leads to the infuriating moment where Toni (who wastes no time at all making her move after Bughead has literally just broken up) snogs Jughead. As if I didn't dislike her enough already when earlier she'd called him 'Juggie' (that's BETTY'S nickname for him, ho-bag!). Congrats, Toni, you have officially dethroned Josie as my least favourite character on this show. One thing I haven't mentioned so far is the hilariousness of Betty's ringtone being the song 'Lollipop'. It's so bright and bouncy/cheery...yet every time Betty's phone rings and the song plays, it's always either during or just after something serious/dramatic. The first time I heard it, it gave me a good laugh (as I totally wasn't expecting it), and then it continued amusing me every time after. I kept thinking that surely Betty would want to change her ringtone, since every time she heard that song it usually meant something bad...but nope, she keeps it. Black Hood finally says he'll let her know who he is (which seems like total BS, considering he'd made clear earlier she couldn't even ask him his name) and directs her to a large abandoned building in the middle of nowhere (because that seems safe), where her ringtone plays (I lost count of how many times it played during the episode) and once again it cracks me up, as it's always in the most inappropriate settings/at the most inopportune times. He directs her to a box on the floor which has a black hood in it just like the one he wears, tells her to put it on, and once she does he says they're the same as she's facing a mirror. Later on when he calls Betty at home, he says he knows she's been talking to Archie and although she points out to him that he never said she couldn't speak to Archie, he still considers it breaking the rules and tells her he's going to off Polly unless she gives him the name of another 'sinner'...so she names Nick St. Clair (can't say I'm going to be too broken up if Black Hood does actually go through with offing Nick, since one less rapist in the world can only be a good thing. The downside is the guilt Betty would feel over it). The episode ends with Black Hood reminding her that he told her they were the same.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 27, 2021 9:54:28 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 6: 'Chapter Nineteen: Death Proof' and Episode 7: 'Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside'. {Spoiler}Argh! Jughead's voiceover returns! I didn't miss it AT ALL during the previous episode. After giving Black Hood the name of Nick St. Clair as the 'sinner' he should go after, to spare her sister's life, Betty goes to check whether he's still alive (which I wouldn't have bothered doing, considering he tried to force himself on Veronica and was about to rape Cheryl in the previous episode). Sadly, Nick still draws breath. He does get taken away by the sheriff, but unfortunately his parents have made deals with not only Veronica's parents, but also Cheryl's mum. Speaking of, Cheryl's pretending to be okay after her ordeal, but Veronica can tell she isn't. It's too bad Cheryl isn't pressing charges like she'd originally said she wanted to - this is because of her mum. Veronica encourages her to, even telling Cheryl about her own rough encounter with Nick, but Cheryl basically shoos away Veronica's pleas to pursue justice and says if she wants it, she should do it herself. The mayor gets everyone together who was involved in that night of partying with Nick, New Reggie was the one who brought the jingle-jangle drugs, Josie partook in them - which her mum isn't happy - and Veronica shows what a supportive friend she is to Josie, holding her hand as Josie's mum reminds her daughter that her dad struggled with addiction himself. Ew, Jughead and Toni spent the night together (though she claims that it was just a "PG-13 grope session"), she recognises that he's still got feelings for Betty and says she doesn't want to be a rebound, then at school she gets carted away when the sheriff and his men start grabbing students on the mayor's orders, while Archie manages to get Jughead out of there. They go to visit Jugdad in jail and he 'whispers' to them that they should challenge the Ghoulies to a street race (not sure how this wasn't overheard by the guard standing not too far away) for territory, meaning the winner takes full control over Southside, including all the properties that were owned by the Serpents. Meanwhile, Black Hood wants Betty to find out the identity of a drug-dealer called the 'Sugar Man', but she knows he’ll kill him if she gives him a name. I was actually a bit sad that she apparently replaced her 'Lollipop' ringtone (despite me wondering all last episode why she hadn't). It was giving me a good laugh whenever it'd play and she'd react to it, but now that's no more. She pays a visit to Cheryl, who is about as 'nice' to her as usual. Cheryl's mum receives hush money in the form of a cheque which Cheryl keeps from her. Madelaine Pitsch continues to bring it with all of Cheryl's emotional scenes. I'm so glad we got more Cheryl this episode, with her actually having lines (unlike the previous episode), as she adds so much to the show and episodes without her just aren't the same/as good. Veronica still hasn't forgiven Betty for the way she talked to her last episode (when the Black Hood forced her to cut Veronica out of her life) and although Kevin is being a friend to Veronica when they run into Betty in the hallway at school, he still annoys me on account of the fact that he seemed to hold a grudge against Betty even before what she said to Veronica occurred. Thankfully, Betty finally comes clean to Veronica about why she'd been so mean to her last episode (I'm glad that Veronica let go of her grudge once she learned the truth and they were friends again, as I hated them being on the outs) and Veronica mentions how she doesn't want to tell her dad what Nick tried to do to her, as she knows he'd probably have him killed (though, again, I don't see what the problem is with that). I was so happy when Veronica stood up to the Ghoulie a-hole who was calling her and Betty 'bitches'/'skanks'. Go Veronica! I also liked the shot of the gang hanging out at the drag-race, as it looked very comic book-y. Although Betty wasn't yet able to fill Jughead in on why she'd had Archie break up with him for her (which apparently offended/hurt Jughead more than anything), she did make it clear that she still loved Jughead - which kind of confused him, but at least it made him willing to hear her out whenever she did eventually decide to explain things to him. The best part of the scene, however, was Cheryl snatching flag girl duties for the race from Toni - including calling her 'Cha-Cha' (I was so happy to get that reference, as some of them I don't) - and then proving she was indeed 'born for this moment' before the drag-race commenced. As always seems to be the case in drag-races, the cars hit each other, Jughead is willing to die, but Archie isn’t and makes makes them stop before the cars reach the bridge that they both weren't going to fit on together (not that Jughead seemed to care about that little detail). Jughead gets mad, but it's revealed that the sheriff is waiting up ahead for the Ghoulies and they get arrested. It was all part of Archie's plan (hey, good for him! He managed to come up with a plan that didn't involve shirtlessness for a change). Jughead's still not happy, though, due to the fact that the Ghoulies will likely retaliate. The member of the Serpents called 'Tall Boy' annoys me, as he always seems to yell...just as he does to Jughead after the race. When she's not being the flag girl for drag-races, Cheryl's at home finding a childhood drawing of her with Jason and apparently the Sugar Man who used to come over and have dealings with her dad. She brings it to her mum, who isn't very helpful, learns Nick's going to get away with what he did and that her mum made a deal with his parents (I think that's what happened, anyway). This is why she ends up holding ransom the cheque her mum received. Later, she finds her mum near the fireplace and warns her that's probably not the best spot for someone who just got burned in a house fire (speaking of, how is it that her mum barely has any scars now? She only really seems to have them on an arm). Her mum tells her that there have been numerous Sugar Men over the years and that Jason was being groomed by his and Cheryl's dad to take over the family business which would also involve meeting the Sugar Man (his mum was against this). She says it all led to his death, Cheryl hands her the cheque but she ends up burning it, though Cheryl does find out the name of the current Sugar Man which she tells Betty via phone call. Betty tells the Black Hood she got the name, but won't tell him it, instead assuring him that the name of the Sugar Man will be in the newspaper and he'll get arrested. This is apparently her way of keeping the Black Hood from killing the guy - though, again, he isn't someone who's really worth keeping safe...just like Nick isn't. Regarding Nick, Veronica lets her parents know what he did to her and her dad reacts pretty much how she expected. The following day, Jughead's teacher who helped him get the Southside school newspaper running again is arrested, as he's apparently the Sugar Man. He winds up in jail, and the next time Betty speaks to Black Hood she's feeling pretty good about what she's done/certainly seems sure of herself - so much so that she informs him that she's coming after him next. Things get a tad creepy when she says she's breathing down his neck and asks whether he can feel it/feel her (and little does she know that the Black Hood manages to somehow gain access to the Sugar Man's cell and proceeds to shoot him dead). Meanwhile, Veronica's parents inform her that Nick was in an accident...and her reaction pretty much mirrors my own upon hearing the news. While the following episode was blissfully free of Jughead's voiceover, instead we got an unusual bunch of white text crawling up the screen as well as audio, complete with scratchy quality (like a movie reel) that says "What you are about to witness are three twisted tales connected to the tragic and macabre events that befell the town of Riverdale. Known as the "Black Hood murders", they were all the more tragic because those who bore witness to these terrible things were so young. A seemingly random shooting quickly revealed itself to be the first in a series of gruesome attacks perpetrated by a hooded assailant. These latest chapters began with the discovery of a letter from the Black Hood affixed to the door of Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe." This^ sounds a whole lot more interesting than what we actually get in the episode. It's broken into three tales - the first being 'Archie & Jughead'. The Black Hood has left a letter at Pop's diner admitting he was responsible for offing Jughead's teacher/the Sugar Man. He then says he's giving the town of Riverdale a reprieve from his killing if they can manage to prove they're 'pure-of-heart'/pass his test that involves them going without 'sinning' for the next 48 hours. It's good that Jughead and Betty are back together, but their happiness is short-lived when he receives a call from Penny Peabody, the Serpents' lawyer/'Snake Charmer', who's calling in that favour he owed her for her lame advice that, really, anyone could've given him and wasn't worth getting, considering she wants him to do a delivery of something that all signs point to being drugs even if she won't come right out and say it. Archie wants to help, they drive, but break down, Archie sees a disturbing deer covered in blood crossing the road, then as if things weren't disturbing enough, Tony Todd shows up to give them a ride, but Jughead only has $18 bucks, which means Tony Todd will only take him and not Archie, who stays behind to wait for roadside assistance. Tony Todd is adamant no one looks under the tarp on the back of his truck, but when Jughead does so after they make a pitstop, he sees there is a dead deer under there. Tony Todd tells Jughead a tale about the Riverdale Reaper serial killer as they eat food, but after they finish eating, he wants Jughead to pay, except he already gave him everything he had (as he reminds him - he only had $18 bucks). They're looking to leave without paying, but turns out Archie caught up with them and he pays instead. This whole bit with Tony Todd felt like it was just there to add a bit of 'creep factor' to proceedings and didn't really serve much purpose other than that. Archie and Jughead make the delivery and meet an old Russian woman who wears a beret. Later, Jughead finds out that he and Archie were caught on surveillance footage which Penny uses as blackmail to ensure Jughead keeps doing deliveries for her (though how was it incriminating? They're carrying a crate...and that's it). It's also revealed that Jugdad, who she'd told Jughead had been badly injured in jail, is actually okay and that it was all a lie that she used to get Jughead to do what she wanted. Jughead is far too easily manipulated by her, it would seem. The second 'tale' is Josie's...and it really shows why it's not the best idea to give her too much focus, as her story - like her character - isn't that interesting. She's nice with Cheryl, at least, but has gone behind the other two Pussycats' backs to do her own solo music thing - which they later find out and aren't happy about (it was good to hear from Valerie again. She's more interesting than Josie, and even Melody got some dialogue - a rarity). Josie's also dealing with Chuck (the jerk who made both Betty and Veronica's lives hard, not to mention a bunch of other girls who he treated terribly) and a stalker who's been leaving her gifts. Wisely, she's pretty wary of Chuck, but when he claims to be trying to do better/be a better person, she gives him a chance. There's a random creepy janitor who looks like the prime suspect as Josie's stalker, but Chuck ends up being the 'guilty party' (though he maintains his innocence). Consequently, he and Josie are 'over' as quickly as they began. However, it's revealed at the end that Cheryl was behind things, as we see her doing a sketch of herself with Josie that's just like the sketch Josie received earlier from her stalker. So, apparently Cheryl is kind of obsessed (and maybe in love?) with Josie after she saved her from Nick St. Clair (hey, Cheryl? Veronica, Valerie and Melody helped save you/kick the crap out of Nick too. At least distribute your stalking equally/fairly between all four of your rescuers, mkay?). The final tale is 'Betty & Veronica'. Betty has it in her head that Sheriff Clueless is the Black Hood on account of how else could he have gotten into the jail to off the Sugar Man? Veronica is skeptical, and warns her not to pursue it...but, of course, Betty ignores her. Veronica agrees to help just to keep her out of trouble, then gets roped into breaking and entering the house of Sheriff Clueless, goes down into the creepy basement (despite making it abundantly clear to Betty she didn't want to. I was amused by the use of split-screen during their phone conversation), then finds Sheriff Clueless working out without a shirt on (because of course there has to be shirtlessnes - even if it isn't Archie or Jughead). Veronica makes a crack about Archie having to watch his back now that she's seen the sheriff without his shirt on. It was creepy enough, but I'm glad it didn't get creepier with the sheriff thinking she was coming onto him or something. Anyway, they eventually follow Sheriff Shirtless to a hotel and then are surprised to find he's meeting the mayor there for sexytimes. Eventually, the three tales vaguely intersect when the three pairs of characters (Archie & Jughead, Josie & Cheryl, Betty & Veronica) all end up at the retro diner (though they don't interact) and Pop receives a call from the Black Hood saying there'll be a reckoning on account of everyone 'failing' his test. I have to say, although I admire the show trying to 'change up' their episode format this early into the series (usually it's not until a show has at least had a few seasons that they switch things up a bit from the 'formula'), I didn't find it that great. There were mildly interesting parts here and there, and I appreciate that they put some effort into creating a creepy atmosphere throughout the episode, but given what was said in the text at the beginning, I was expecting more 'horror movie' stuff, but all we got was mildly unsettling stuff instead. It felt like a 'filler' episode, as all that we really learned was that Jughead is running errands for the Serpent lawyer (quite possibly delivering drugs), Josie has a stalker who it turns out is Cheryl, and B & V discovered that Sheriff Shirtless and the mayor are gettin' it on. None of that is particularly earth-shattering. Maybe the show will have better luck next time it tries something 'gimmicky' like this for an episode. Here's hoping, anyway.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 28, 2021 9:39:24 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 8: 'Chapter Twenty-One: House of the Devil' and Episode 9: 'Chapter Twenty-Two: Silent Night, Deadly Night'. {Spoiler}I was somewhat amused by Jughead voiceovering about Archie and Veronica having sexytimes all over the place. Too bad Archie had to say those three little words ("I love you.") and ruin the moment, especially since Veronica wasn't ready to say them back (tough luck, Archiekins). They each talk to their parents about it, and I was also amused when Veronica's mum was saying they liked having Archie around/close to Veronica because "He's brawny and devoted to you." (implying that he could act as a human shield if she becomes a target, since her parents have been receiving threatening letters). She also suggests to her daughter that maybe she just wasn't ready yet to hear what Archie told her. Meanwhile, Jugdad is getting realeased from jail and Betty's mum is there along with Bughead, making snarky comments (as she does). I thought it was pretty funny when all four were at Pop's and Jugdad did that pinky raise as he drank his coffee. While Cheryl has been mean/nasty in the past, this was the first episode where I really didn't like her very much. Firstly, she's in the girls' locker room with Josie (amusingly, it appears Cheryl must have red everything - as even her towel is red, while Josie's is the normal colour of towels) and informs Josie that her back looks like a "sailor's rope" because of the the tension knots, but it's just basically an excuse for her to give Josie a back massage, rubbing oil into her skin. Considering we found out last episode that Cheryl's developed weird/creepy/stalkerish feelings towards Josie, it sort of explains why Cheryl loses it and starts ranting at the creepy janitor (also from the previous episode) who interrupts their 'moment'. I felt a bit bad for the janitor (and judging by her expression, so did Josie). The second time Cheryl was really unlikeable in this episode was later on, after Jugdad had gotten a job at Pop's (because he claimed to be quitting the Serpents for good and wanting to go on the straight and narrow or whatever. I was amused by the sight of scruffy biker Jugdad in the Pop's uniform. It looked so wrong), and she found out Josie was going to be spending time with Chuck for a music thing (which Cheryl advised her against), then she purposely knocked a milkshake on the floor and very snidely told Jugdad to clean it up. Usually Cheryl amuses me - even when she's being bitchy - but not in this case, which was disappointing. Jughead isn't happy about this either, since his dad used to be a King of the Serpents/respected, and he obviously wants to say something to Cheryl, but instead Betty convinces him they should throw Jugdad a 'retirement party' (any excuse to throw a party - hey, Betty? She seems to like doing those) since he's apparently quitting the Serpents. While doing her party planning, Betty asks Toni Topaz how she might become 'Serpent adjacent' (if not an actual Serpent). Apparently the trials for women are quite different to the ones guys have to go through. While Jughead had to stick his hand near rattlesnakes and get the crap beaten out of him, the girls have to...do a sexy pole dance? At some point Bughead ask Varchie to take over sleuthing duties, since Betty can't (not only because of the party planning but also since she accused Sheriff Shirtless last episode of being the Black Hood, she can't really go question him about anything). So, Varchie question Sheriff Clueless (thankfully, he has his shirt back on now), they find out about a murder house/devil’s house (which is where Tony Todd in the previous episode told Jughead the Riverdale Reaper murdered a family) and Betty later recognises it as the abandoned house Black Hood told her to go to in a previous episode as part of his game when he was illustrating that they are 'the same'. Varchie learn the story of the guy who killed the family (I was amused by Veronica saying now she regretted throwing Archie's gun in the river as they snuck around the creepy house), but then discover there was one family member who wasn't killed - a third kid. They think the Black Hood is the creepy janitor and he bolts, Archie grabs him, but Archie's soon convinced he isn't the Black Hood because of his eyes or whatever. Then comes the Jugdad retirement party scene. Archie informs Veronica that he signed them up for a duet to sing 'that Donnie Darko song she loves', then corrects that, saying "or strongly like, at least", asking if she can even do that anymore - obviously still bitter about her not returning his "I love you". So they sing a duet while not in the best of moods. I'm annoyed that they think of it as 'that Donnie Darko song' when that's just a cover of the original one (damn it, kids these days), but their cover isn't too bad - it's probably the best thing Archie's sung. Veronica's good too...but then she can't handle it anymore and runs offstage, Archie follows and the crowd starts booing (who are you booing to? No one's there!). Then there's the really strange part where Betty decides she's going to take over singing the duet (which I guess is no longer a duet), she starts stripping and it turns into that dance the girls who want to be Serpents apparently have to do. The most bizarre thing about it, though (I mean, apart from the fact that this student is stripping in front of a bar full of adults leering at her), is that her singing continues when she hasn't even got her mouth open! So, apparently Betty has ventriloquist skills we weren't aware of until now. Given how much her mum was against Betty having anything to do with the Serpents, it's strange that Alice doesn't lose it and haul her daughter offstage (she just looks unhappy about it). Instead, Jugdad compliments Betty, applauding her, and then covers her up with his Serpent jacket before announcing that he isn't actually retiring from the Serpents after all. He gives a big speech and then reenacts the "You broke my heart" scene from The Godfather II (not that I've ever really watched that movie, but the scene is so often referenced in movies/shows that even I was able to get it) with Jughead, as he's found out his son did the one thing he was adamant he not do - which was make a deal with the 'Snake Charmer', Penny Peabody (who earlier in the episode kept insisting Jughead wasn't done making deliveries for her, going so far as to threaten Betty). Jughead realises he's ruined his dad's chances of 'getting out' from the Serpent life and this makes him want to push Betty away too - the classic "I don't want to hurt you/see you get hurt" move. Of course, he winds up hurting Betty anyway by basically breaking up with her. And as Bughead are breaking up, so are Varchie. It's not long, though, before Archie and Betty are looking at each other through their windows (Archie is, as always, shirtless. I think he was a number of times this episode). So, already they're moving on? So it would seem. That was fast. The next episode is a Christmas episode (shutup, Jughead Voiceover) and Betty is seeing the Black Hood everywhere, including having one vision of him creepily crawling over a couch towards her in Santa getup (it was one of the creepier moments this show has done and the creepiest Black Hood has been, I think). Cheryl, who was thankfully back to being likeable again this episode (after being so unlikeable last episode), learns from her mum that they're not going to be able to afford much this Christmas. Also, apparently they did rescue creepy grandma Blossom from the fire after all, since she's alive and well (well...maybe not 'well', but she's alive and creepy as ever). Cheryl decides to stick it to her mum by going out and spending money on things they can't afford, including a Christmas tree. She first asks Archie, but he's too busy and sticks her with some other guy I'm sure she was much less interested in buying a tree from...and yet, she does buy one - which, naturally, ticks off her mum. I got a good laugh out of what she had to say to her terrible mum (calling her as much) and the fact that we got to hear Cheryl's middle name was just a bonus. It was so good to have Cheryl back to doing what she does best - spouting great oneliners and being wickedly amusing. Less amusing, though, was creepy grandma saying to Cheryl's mum that she should've drowned 'them' (I guess meaning both Cheryl and Jason - hey, at least she got half her wish) 'like a basket of kittens'. And with that line, she made me want her dead. Cheryl's not the only one with financial woes, as Archie's dad informs him of the medical bill he just received that is $86, 000 (I remember the exact number because it gets mentioned several times throughout the episode. I also remember finding it funny when Archie's reaction to hearing the number was like "Dollars?". No, Archie, 86, 000 bottles of maple syrup. First rum, now dollars...what reality does Archie live in where he has to clarify what people mean when they say these words?). Things are awkward between Archie and Veronica since they sort-of broke up, but after learning about his money problems, she asks her parents if they can help - or rather she starts to and they cut her off mid-sentence, telling her in no uncertain terms the answer is 'no'. So she goes behind their backs, uses her mum's credit card (allowing us to hear what her mum's full name is - Hermione Apollonia Lodge - which makes two characters whose full names we hear uttered this episode) to pay the medical bill and once they find out, she gets them to agree to let her be part of the family business if she promises to stop acting like 'daddy's little girl' and be a proper partner in the business...or something. She also makes them promise 'nothing illegal' (which they maintain they never have done) and that their paying the medical bill for Archie's dad stands. Things are also awkward between Bughead (I guess they're ex-Bughead now), Jugdad’s taking over the Serpents, and Jughead wants to take care of Penny Peabody, so he has his fellow Serpents kidnap her (again wearing those stupid snake masks that don't scare anybody), dumping her in Greendale and telling her never to come back. Then Jughead shows how hardcore he's gotten by having her held down as he presumably cuts off her Serpent tattoo (we don't really see much, but that's what is implied). Meanwhile, Betty and Archie (Barchie?) have found out that the creepy janitor is the third kid of the murdered family, he says he ID'd the guy responsible for his family's murder and a bunch of guys offed the dude. They learn Cheryl's creepy grandma was one of the ones responsible for that. They pay her a visit, Cheryl's acting all happy about her creepy grandma getting visitors (since she apparently doesn't get them very often - gee, I wonder why), creepy grandma still thinks Betty is Polly, she says the killer guy was buried alive and somewhere along the line it's revealed that the wrong person was killed/mistakenly ID'd as the killer. Cheryl's creepy grandma sounds like she's gotten overwhelmed or whatever and Cheryl's like "Get out, vultures" after Barchie's line of questioning. Before they go to dig up the spot where the guy was buried alive, Barchie snog (though it's more of an impulsive, 'we're about to do something dangerous' sort of thing), they go to the spot, dig it up, find an empty coffin, Black Hood appears, aims a gun at Betty's head, says he’ll kill her if Archie doesn’t get in the coffin and once he does get in, Black Hood makes Betty start burying him as she asks questions, they hear sirens, she whacks Black Hood with the shovel, he runs, dropping his gun, they catch up with him as he's about jump over a bridge, Archie aims the gun and tells him to stop, then it looks like he shoots him...but it's actually Sheriff Clueless who apparently wasn't so clueless this time around, as he got there just in the nick of time. They unmask Black Hood to reveal...it’s the creepy janitor (he'd cut off his own finger and sent it to Betty in a box earlier, claiming to be Black Hood holding the janitor guy hostage, when in fact it was him all along...or was it? Their theory is he cut off his own finger he used to accuse the wrong guy of killing his family, but I highly doubt the creepy janitor - who was only recently introduced in the show - was the real Black Hood). Anyway, to everyone else it looks like the ordeal is over with. Varchie at some point rekindle their relationship and snog under the mistletoe, but there's the earlier Barchie snogging still looming over everything which I'm sure Cheryl will use to her advantage at some point in the future (since she witnessed it from her window when it happened). Speaking of Cheryl, I was amused when she came downstairs, found a Santa hat on the floor, called out "Santa?" (sounding like what I imagine a kid would if they came downstairs on Christmas morning) and then it was revealed her mum was bonking who I think was the guy looking for a Christmas tree earlier. Cheryl's face really said it all.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 29, 2021 12:20:09 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 10: 'Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blackboard Jungle' {Spoiler}Betty almost pepper sprays Polly, who’s in her bedroom and has apparently already had her cousin's twins (that was fast), which she's decided to name...Juniper and Dagwood? I guess she wanted to keep up Riverdale's tradition of unusual names. Betty's reaction pretty much sums it up. Polly's living with a cult on a 'farm' and is totally over having to deal with her parents. Betty lets her mum know that her sister and her offspring are fine, but Alice isn't very happy she was left out, so then Betty (who's always on the lookout for something to make her new personal mission) decides to find her long lost bro she found out about at the end of last season...and I guess she thinks he'll be a substitute for Polly in her mum's life or something? Anyway, the two of them manage to track him down and he's apparently into some seedy webcamming stuff, but also pissed that Alice gave him up, so then he yells and kicks them out, Betty’s mum cries in the car and she comforts her, then when Betty goes to visit her bro towards the end of the episode, there's some dude attacking him, cutting his arm (it was pretty nasty-looking), and Betty (being the do-gooder she is) brings him back home. After some arguing with her father, they patch him up and...let him sleep in Polly's room. WTF? There's just been a serial killer out there and they let someone they don't even know stay with them? As if proving my point, the episode ends with Creepy McCreeperson walking into Betty's room as she sleeps and leaning in close over her, staring creepily. Meanwhile, the Southside school Jughead's at has been shut down, naturally the troublesome Serpent students are going to Riverdale and it cracked me up how Cheryl gets her dramatic slow-mo entrance as she comes down the stairs (Veronica's reaction in particular was priceless), saying her lot doesn’t want Southsiders there. She and Toni exchange words, New Reggie's back to being a jerk (actually, I don't think he ever stopped. It's just sometimes he's less of a jerk), siding with Cheryl who wants Veronica and her lot to do the same, then she blackmails Archie to get Veronica on her side, otherwise she'll tell her about the Barchie snog she witnessed in the previous episode. Southsiders 'ruining' her school isn't the only thing Cheryl's dealing with. She's also having to cope with the fact that her mum's basically become a prostitute at this point. Her reaction to her mum telling her she actually enjoys it is pretty funny. Cheryl figures the way to put an end to this grossness is to get more money, so she wants another cheque from Nick St. Clair (since her mum burned the last one). Archie is her best shot at getting it. This is good news for him, because he needs a cover story to go see Nick (and find out whether Veronica's parents had anything to do with his 'accident') on account of some FBI agent guy approaching him, saying he needs Archie's help in bringing down Veronica's dad (agreeing to keep Archie's dad, and later Veronica, out of it). So Archie's going to go pay Nick (who has two broken legs in casts) a visit, under the guise that he's just there to get another cheque for Cheryl. However, prior to his visit, Cheryl informs him that Nick almost forced himself on Veronica (this was something she genuinely thought he already knew, but he didn't, as Veronica never told him). Naturally, Archie wants to make Nick pay, and while he starts off just applying pressure to Nick's legs, he winds up eventually pummeling his face after Nick mouths off about Veronica (the most interesting Archie ever gets is when he's punching thing - ice, Nick St. Clair's face, etc). Once Cheryl gets the cheque, she gives it to her mum in the hope that she won't have to 'provide comfort and companionship to the lonely men of Riverdale' (her mum's words), but he mum doesn't want to give up her new 'job'. Poor Cheryl. The most annoying storyline this episode? Jughead's. He's all 'anti-conformist' to the principal's rules, a Serpent insignia winds up painted over the school's emblem on the floor (to me it seemed like New Reggie was behind it just to get the Southside students into trouble), the principal bans the Serpent's from wearing their jackets, Jughead gets riled up, proceeds to rant (for basically the entire episode), there's a fight at one point, Toni and Sweet Pea are forced to where a uniform of sorts (or at least the top half, anyway) and then Jughead finally conforms...but it's all an elaborate ruse! He's just using a cover story with the principal about starting a D&D club or whatever when in fact it's a club for the Serpents so they can still be Serpents at school...or something. Honestly, it was just a big dumb storyline and Jughead was at his most insufferable. I can't even recall really what Veronica gets up to this episode, but it would appear the Southside school being shut down is so her family can buy the land (and the mayor's involved too). Episode 11: 'Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler' {Spoiler}The next episode is all about 'Pickens Day', which is a day that Riverdale celebrates some historical figure, but Toni helps Jughead come to the realisation that the guy isn't what everyone's made him out to be. It's basically the Jebediah Springfield episode of The Simpsons...but done in a more serious way. It's overly preachy, about as subtle as a sledgehammer and pretty much everyone involved in that storyline comes across as annoying. Josie and Josie's mum are basically as bad as each other, as Josie's mum tells her enough that she turns on Veronica (who wants them to sing together at the celebration, but Josie refuses, acting all bitchy), but neglects to mention to her daughter all the shady dealings and affairs she herself is involved in. I was so happy when Veronica ended up taking Josie's place as lead singer with the other two Pussycats (Valerie and Melody had every reason to join Veronica, since Josie dumped them the second she thought she had solo career prospects...which didn't actually end up going so well for her, then she wanted them back, but thankfully they weren't having any of that). The other character, besides Veronica, who managed to remain non-annoying this episode was Cheryl, who feels bad once she learns her distant relation funded the dude everyone's celebrating who was actually a bad guy. She even sides with Jughead and his fellow protestors when they interrupt the celebration while her mum clearly couldn't care less and is too busy pursuing Betty's dad...which, ew. Also, every time Betty's dad rants about Polly to his family - on account of him not liking Betty's long-lost newly-found brother - it sounds like he's saying "Paulie" instead of "Polly", I noticed. And speaking of names, Betty's bro is apparently named Chic...and that's one of the more bizarre names this show has had. The actor who plays him reminds me of Dave Franco. Chic's also a bad influence on Betty, as he's now got her donning her 'Dark Betty' wig and doing his creepy webcam stuff - I'm not even sure I fully understand what it involves...nor do I think I want to. Betty's too nice to her jerk of a bro, giving him a computer and webcam to replace the ones he lost due to being kicked out of whatever seedy place he was staying out. This is after she'd already helped him stay alive when he'd been cut pretty bad and was bleeding everywhere last episode. The dude's an ungrateful ass (plus creepy-looking). While he admits to watching her sleep, she doesn't ask him any follow-up questions. I guess she was too busy being seduced by the world of webcamming to really care. They bond over both having 'darkness' inside them or whatever. Jughead's annoying as usual (too bad he couldn't leave that tape across his mouth so he'd SHUT UP for a while), and Archie's stuck in a stupid storyline where the FBI agent guy wants him to get Veronica's dad to trust him, he asks her what her dad's interests are and she says wrestling, then in no time flat Archie's joined the wrestling team. He sucks at it at first and Veronica's dad isn't impressed (I was amused by his thinly-veiled insults towards Archie and saying how he used to worry about Archie and Veronica being in her room together, but after seeing his attempts at wrestling, he wasn't so worried anymore. Though Archie gets him back - not only because Veronica goes on about how 'sexy' Archie is when singing or whatever, but also with the snog he gives her right in front of her dad's face). Later, though, I guess Archie's determination to win over Veronica's dad gives him the necessary strength to beat wrestling champ, Chuck (though I don't mind Archie beating him, no matter how implausible it might be, since Chuck remains a jerk). In the end, Archie manages to impress Veronica's dad and he asks Archie how he'd like to start his business tutelage. What a mix of boring and annoying this episode was. Episode 12: 'Chapter Twenty-Five: The Wicked and the Divine' and Episode 13: 'Chapter Twenty-Six: The Tell-Tale Heart' {Spoiler}These two episodes just kind of blended together for me (since I watched them in a row). I know that with the first one it's Veronica's 'Confirmation Ceremony', which is apparently a religious rite of sorts meant to represent 'coming of age' or whatever. She goes to confession (which is of little help to her, since she wants advice about what she should do, as she's been lying to Archie and getting him involved in her family's shady business), works at a soup kitchen (though it was funny when she took time off mid-serving to chat to Archie...who also stepped away. Great service, guys!) and gets decked out in a white dress that could've easily been mistaken for a wedding dress (I wondered if this was the intention and whether it was shown in promos for the episode when it originally aired, designed to make viewers thing Ronnie was getting married. Mostly, though, it just had me worried she might get shot or something since shows like this seem to never want to pass up the opportunity to stain lovely white clothes with lots of blood). I was amused when she asked Josie whether she knew 'Bittersweet Symphony' from the Cruel Intentions soundtrack instead of just saying "by The Verve". Speaking of Josie, her and her mum apologise to Veronica and Hermione for how they've been towards them. Clearly Josie doesn’t want to sing at Veronica's Confirmation, but says she will, then Veronica says she was going to, so it ends up becoming a duet. The FBI agent guy wants Archie to get info to incriminate Veronica's dad, so Archie gets himself invited to a poker game. One of the guys (who I recognised from Lost as one of 'The Others') is a real nasty jerk to Pop about his food, Veronica's father at least tells him to apologise, then the jerk meets with another guy and they discuss taking down Veronica's dad - which Archie overhears while he's cleaning the toilets. Archie tells Veronica's dad about this and, naturally, the jerk winds up dead (though Veronica's dad claims innocence when Archie asks whether he had anything to do with it). While all this was going on, Veronica tells the mayor her parents were going to get her kicked out of office (I think her doing the sheriff was going to play a part in that), but due to Veronica giving her a heads-up, she steps down instead before they have a chance to. At one point the FBI agent guy wants Archie to wear a wire around Veronica's dad, but he refuses and instead tells Veronica's dad about the FBI agent guy, saying he gave the guy no incriminating evidence. He asks him to help out his dad, who the FBI agent guy was threatening, and Veronica's dad tells him it'll all be fine. Later, Archie's picked up by Replacement Smithers and driven out to the middle of nowhere. I was surprised Archie didn't try to knock Replacement Smithers out or something, since it was looking more and more likely that he was about to be 'taken care of' in the Mafia sense. Just as well he didn't, though, since it turns out Veronica's mum is there to meet him. She tells Archie that the FBI agent guy was all just an elaborate ruse to see whether he'd buckle under pressure and betray Veronica's dad or not. He didn't, so he passed the test and is now part of the family apparently. Elsewhere, Penny the Serpent lawyer/'Snake Charmer' returns, is pissed at what Jughead did to her and wants the same done to him since the Serpents are going to get kicked out of their trailer park due to them looking like the ones responsible for the head of the statue being cut off at the end of the previous episode. She basically says Jughead's crap leader and Jugdad is not happy to learn Jughead cut off her tattoo. Eventually, though, Jughead works out Tall Boy was the one responsible for the decapitated statue and consequently he gets what I assume was basically the same treatment as Penny did. Betty comes home to find a dead shady guy who stopped by looking for her bro, and then she's helping her mum clean up the mess (Chic is pretty much useless the entire time), they roll the body in a rug and dump it in a sewer pipe, Betty eventually tells Jughead, he helps sink the car that belonged to the dead shady guy, as it had been parked outside for days and was attracting attention (though it takes a while before it starts sinking and Bughead look worried), he then tells his dad who helps bury the body (since he has experience, what with Jason Blossom and all). He even uses stuff that he tells them will get rid of all the evidence...even the shady guy's teeth. At one point Jughead asks Betty if she’d been with anyone while they were broken up, after saying he did stuff with Toni ("but not everything"), but she lies. Contrast this with Archie, who 'fesses up to Veronica that he snogged Betty, but Veronica seems to understand it was just a thing that happened in the moment when they thought they might die or whatever. I was mostly interested in Cheryl this episode, as she finds out about her mum and Betty's dad, she's nice to Betty (who snaps at her) and we even get to see Cheryl practicing archery! She's just the best.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 31, 2021 8:20:55 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 14: 'Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes' and Episode 15: 'Chapter Twenty-Eight: There Will Be Blood'. {Spoiler}Jughead's voiceovering about Betty being stuck in the house with her creepy bro. But living with Chic is nothing compared to living with Cheryl's mum, who Cheryl is suitably disgusted to hear apparently has 'real feelings' for Betty's dad, she voices her disgust, but then is the victim of her mum's verbal abuse. She really is a nasty piece of work, so it's no wonder Cheryl is the way she is. Meanwhile, Veronica and her dad are talking about her and Archie going to the family lake house, he wants Replacement Smithers to be there keeping an eye on her, but she's not having it. So then her dad takes Archie off to go talk to in private, saying Replacement Smithers will be there (but Veronica will not know about it) and that it remains a secret between him and Archie. Veronica is soon inviting Bughead to go with her and Archie to the lake house, Cheryl overhears and invites herself, but Veronica informs her it's just for romantic couples. As bitchy as Cheryl can be, I did feel sorry for her here, as she sounded so eager to join them, obviously feeling pretty lonely and in need of some companionship after her mum's verbal smackdown. She tries to not show that being left out bothers her, but clearly it does. I think it's the mark of a really good actress when they can manage to make you feel sympathy for their character who's been pretty mean to the 'good guys', having given each of them a hard time at different points. Madelaine Petsch pulls it off. Before Bughead leaves, Jughead meets Chic and he can tell right away the dude is a creeper. Even if he was incredibly thick and wasn't getting a bad vibe off him before, he surely would've been getting a bad vibe after Chic makes a veiled threat against Betty and her mum (after checking Jughead won't spill the beans on the dead body/coverup, Chic makes a point of saying it'd be bad for the two Cooper women if he did). Betty's naturally in a hurry to get away from her creepy bro who just does his best psycho stare as Bughead leave. They eventually reach the 'Lodge Lodge' as Veronica calls it, and after she shoos away Replacement Smithers (who tells Archie privately that he's just a phone call away), I was amused that not only did she leave Archie carrying all the bags, but not even Jughead or Betty bothered to help him carry any of them even though he's loaded up like a packhorse. Also amusing? That Bughead can hear Varchie making squeaky bed noises in the room next door to them. Bughead get them back later on, though, by subjecting them to the same (Betty even pulls out her 'Dark Betty' wig to help get Jughead in the making-squeaky-bed-noises mood. She also points out that out of the four of them, only Archie and Jughead haven't snogged, which is her way of letting Jughead know that she and Veronica snogged back in the first episode of the show during their cheerleading tryouts). Before that^ happens, though, Cheryl lives up to her 'Bombshell' moniker, dropping the Barchie snog on Jughead via phone call. We get it from two perspectives. The first is from Jughead's and his reaction after. He's not happy at first, but eventually calms down (after all the crazy stuff he's gotten up to, he can't really hold it against Betty). Then we see what happens on Cheryl's end after she hangs up. Toni enters the ladies toilets and basically asks if Cheryl had a good reason for doing that or whether she just likes to stir up trouble. Obviously it's the second one. After Jughead is seemingly 'okay' with the Barchie snog, the 'core four' are in a hot tub together and Veronica reassures Bughead that once she learned of the Barchie snog, she eventually got over it. Though it appears that's not quite the case, since she then suggests that to even things out, she and Jughead should snog. Clearly Archie and Betty are opposed to this idea, but then Jughead actually starts using ship names and saying how he could one day in the future use the Barchie snog against Betty if they're having a fight or whatever, and this is his logic for why a 'Vughead' (which, to me, sounds too close to 'fuckhead'. 'Jeronica' sounds slightly less...insulting?) snog should happen - which it does...for an uncomfortably long time. Certainly longer than the Barchie snog was. Later, Archie's not in the mood for making more squeaky bed noises with Veronica. After all that^ has transpired, Veronica learns of Replacement Smithers having not actually gone away like she'd wanted him to and she's pissed Archie knew about it, so she gives Replacement Smithers a message to deliver back to her dad, says she needs space/time away from Archie and goes into town with Betty to buy stuff. While they're at a convenience store, she talks with Betty about her and Jughead making squeaky bed noises the previous night. Betty informs her she wore the same outfit that night she got revenge on Chuck in the hot tub, then mentions that it wasn't her and Jughead's 'first time', as that was back on the night of Veronica's Confirmation ceremony. Veronica flirts with the store clerk but Betty reminds her she's still in a relationship with Archie despite their fight. While this is going on, Archie and Jughead are in the woods together and maybe some slash fic writers were hoping the two of them would make what Betty tells Jughead to say to Cheryl (when she thinks it's her calling again to stir up more trouble) a reality. Instead, though, Archie and Jughead just have a conversation about the snogging (including whether Archie knew about the Beronica snog from the first episode of the show). Jughead then proceeds to confuse Archie when he talks about how Betty is Archie’s best friend, his best friend’s girlfriend, and his girlfriend’s best friend. As for the phone call, it's not from Cheryl, but rather Jugdad who informs his son that the Serpent trailer park (that they were getting evicted from) has been bought by Veronica's dad and they can now stay. Naturally, they're celebrating...but Jughead's all about his conspiracy theories and gets mad at Veronica because of her dad, saying he's only bought the trailer park as part of his 'tactic' or whatever. The other three don't buy into his conspiracy theories. While Monopoly has be known to lead to fighting at times, it takes things to a whole new level when the foursome are playing the game, Betty gets a call from her mum, steps away, Jughead tells Varchie about creepy Chic, Betty returns and says her mum called to say Veronica's dad has bought the Riverdale newspaper, then things all go to hell due to this news adding fuel to the fire that is Jughead's conspiracy theories. He launches into yet another rant, everyone starts arguing (most of it was a jumble, but I do recall Jughead being condescending towards Archie/basically calling him dumb and Veronica insulting Betty's 'roleplaying' getup and her need for it with Jughead, while Betty questions why Veronica really brought them up to the lake house), but then the fight is interrupted by four masked intruders who resent these 'rich' folks and are robbing the place. They want Veronica's wallet (don't they mean purse?), she leads one upstairs, surreptitiously presses the silent alarm, she says she recognises the clerk from the convenience store, then once back downstairs the gang are ordered onto their knees and one of the intruders grabs a baseball bat, but before he can do anything they hear the phone ring, it's the security company, the store clerk grabs Veronica's necklace, all four intruders bolt, Archie gives chase after the one who stole Veronica's necklace (baseball bat in hand), catches up with him and is about to do what he does best - deliver a pummeling - but then Replacement Smithers shows up and says he'll take care of it, Archie wonders what he's going to do, but doesn't really get much of an answer until he leaves and hears a gunshot. After the night they've just had, Jughead's not so concerned with the Barchie snog anymore, he's forgiven Betty but warns her at the end of the episode to be careful about her creepy bro. Elsewhere, Archie is talking with Veronica's dad who asks him how he felt about what Replacement Smithers did to the store clerk, and Archie's roundabout way of answering is to tell him that he regretted hesitating when he was aiming the gun at the Black Hood (though now he's not entirely convinced it was the real Black Hood) on the bridge and if the sheriff hadn't shot the guy, he would've gotten away. Veronica's dad tells him to never hesitate and Archie's gives him Veronica's necklace he got back from the store clerk. This^ was a pretty interesting storyline for the 'core four' this episode. It had some humour, some drama, progressed relationships, had secrets brought out into the open and was generally quite entertaining. I was less interested in Josie telling Kevin (against her mum's wishes) about the secret affair her mum and Kevin's dad are having. As usual, Josie just does what makes her feel better, not really caring about how it affects Kevin (though she does apologise later). A bit more interesting was Cheryl agreeing to go see a movie with Toni who invites her after running into her alone at the theatre. Cheryl appears to get emotional when watching the movie and later tells Toni about how she once had a friend named Heather who she let sleep in bed with her, but her mum found out and called her a 'deviant', destroying her daughter's chance of being with the one she loved who also loved her back. I thought it was slightly amusing when, before Cheryl mentioned who it was she was referring to, Toni automatically assumed she was talking about Jason. I mean, I myself automatically assumed from the first scene in the very first episode of the show that Cheryl and Jason had a 'twincest' thing going on, but so far the only 'incest' there's been was Polly and Jason. I thought it would've been funny if after Toni said "You mean your brother Jason? I heard how close you guys were.", Cheryl had been like, "What? Ew, no! WHY does everyone think we had twincesty feelings for each other when we didn't?! God!". This was the most I've liked Toni - being a friend to Cheryl (which means she's now back to being above Josie - who's still boring - on the likability scale). I wasn't as fussed on the following episode. It seemed to have too much going on and I found it a tad confusing. What I was able to follow was that after a private chat with Veronica's parents, Archie's dad decides he's going to run for mayor (which seemed to come out of nowhere, but he claims he always wanted to). Archie doesn't want his dad getting in deeper with the Lodges, so he asks Josie to get her mum (the former mayor) to convince his dad not to run. Meanwhile, Jughead learns from Archie that Veronica's dad bought Pop's retro diner back in the second episode of this season and, naturally, this sets Jughead off on one of his tangents, saying how Veronica's dad is buying up all the land, he asks Pop about the diner being bought but he claims that if his mum caught wind of this, it'd break her heart (and she hasn't got that much longer anyhow. Considering Pop's age...just how old is she? 100?), so because he's occasionally a considerate person, Jughead doesn't print the story he was going to. However, we then see Pop reporting back to Veronica's dad about Jughead asking questions, he appears to be royally pissed, but Veronica covers by saying that she told Jughead about him buying the diner (her excuse is that she was giving him the 'smallest truth' she could to distract him from discovering bigger ones), when in fact it was Archie who'd done so...which she yells at him for (it was funny as she was doing so, because of course Archie was shirtless, as he always seems to be, and I'm sure her eyes drifted down his torso at least once as she was giving him an earful. Such is the power of Archie shirtlessness, apparently). While all this^ is going on, Polly returns home with her twins (whose names she hasn't decided to change from Juniper and Dagwood for some strange reason), when Betty walks in and sees her mum and Chic holding one twin each, despite Alice being closer, Betty heads straight to Chic and takes the one he's holding because she's realising more and more just how damn creepy he is and doesn't want him touching her niece or nephew. Although she discusses his creepiness with Polly, she doesn't bother giving her mum the memo which later leads to Alice letting Chic take the twins out for a nightly stroll. Polly starts freaking out and when Chic returns with the twins, she asks what he did to them, but he claims he's done nothing and they're fine. Before that, though, Betty's dad sits the family down and says he wants to divorce Alice, but they later find out the reason he wants to do so is because he's thinking he's going to inherit money from Cheryl's dead dad (since Betty's dad's side of the family are Blossoms) and doesn't want Alice to get any of it. Speaking of Cheryl's dead dad, I was amused by her reaction to hearing about the reading of his will. I also continued to enjoy her interaction with Toni (who's much more likeable when interacting with Cheryl than she was when interacting with Jughead, picking fights with Betty or driving a wedge between Bughead). At the will reading, it says anyone who proves with medical authentication that they have Blossom blood in their veins will get a cut of the inheritance, Alice interrupts once she figures out what Betty's dad is up to with wanting to get a divorce, much arguing ensues, Toni seems to be enjoying the drama, Alice wins Line of the Episode when she calls Cheryl's mum a "half-melted ten cent trollop", Cheryl attempts to calm everybody down, and then it appears her dad has returned from the grave (looking better than Cheryl's dead brother did, at least) and consequently she faints. I was amused when she awoke and said, "Oh, mumsy. I had the most frightful daymare." (it cracks me up that she says 'mumsy'), but it turns out her dad isn't a zombie (much to my disappointment), nor did he somehow fake his death. He's dead for really reals, and this guy who looks almost exactly like him (except for the bad wig) is in fact his twin brother, Claudius, who Cheryl knew nothing about. Apparently the Blossoms have twins running all through their family from generation to generation and he gives some explanation to how this hasn't been brought up before (probably because the writers pulled it out of their arses. The secret twin brother was too good of a trope to pass up, it would seem). Later when he's having dinner with the Blossoms, Toni's also there and Cheryl's mum is rude to her once more (she was rude to her earlier when Cheryl informed her she was inviting Toni to the will reading for 'emotional support'), telling Cheryl's uncle to 'ignore that person'. He tells a tale that ends with the word 'Lesbos', which causes Toni to laugh while she's in the middle of eating her soup and also amuses Cheryl. It's soon revealed which twin was the 'evil' one (or, rather 'more evil' one, since Cheryl's dad wasn't exactly the 'good' one either) when later on he's discussing with Cheryl's mum how he wants revenge on the Lodges, but she mentions something about first creepy grandma and then Cheryl - implying they're going to 'take care' of both Mob/Lodge-style, which Cheryl overhears. Betty, being proactive in her determination to find out what her creepy bro's deal is, finds some dental floss he used (although kind of gross, I'm glad that's what it turned out to be, as for a minute there I thought they were going to say it was one of his hairs and my response to that would've been, "Boy, that's certainly one thick hair strand.", but that wasn't the case). Chic's a dick to Betty about being in 'his' bathroom (firstly...they have multiple bathrooms? And secondly, since when does the new person in the house get to claim a bathroom? He uses the other one all the time, so Betty should've had words to him about claiming a bathroom as his own, but I guess she was too focused on getting the DNA test). Once she finds out he's been lying about who he is, she asks him point-blank. While that's happening, Archie’s dad - who's decided he’s running for mayor despite Archie's various attempts to convince him not to - eventually finds out the reason the Lodges want to buy up all the Southside properties is to make the school into a prison and that will create jobs...or something. Archie's dad wants no part of it, but Archie's suddenly changed his tune and stays behind to listen to what Veronica's dad has to say. After going to so much trouble to get his dad out of being involved with the Lodges, Archie makes a blood pact with Veronica's dad (they do the typical opening-up-palms-with-a-knife thing, which always seems to be played like it's no big deal, when really they should be having some sort of reaction to such a big gash in their hands. Papercuts sting like a bitch, just imagine something much bigger and how much that'd hurt) and he's welcomed into the Lodge family (Archie even tosses into the fireplace the book he was keeping notes in about Veronica's dad when he was supposed to find something incriminating for the fake FBI agent guy).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 1, 2021 11:27:16 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 16: 'Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primary Colors' and Episode 17: 'Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens'. {Spoiler}Cheryl invites Toni, Betty, Veronica and Josie to her house for a sleepover because she doesn't feel safe there - and who can blame her, considering her mum and uncle are plotting behind her back to get rid of both her and her creepy grandma. While the others sleep on the floor, Toni gets to sleep in bed with Cheryl who admits she didn't really want to invite the others, she only wanted to invite Toni, but had to provide a cover because her mum wouldn't have allowed her to only invite Toni. They share a 'moment'. Cheryl had earlier feared her mum and uncle were poisoning her creepy grandma's tea, but she hears a crash and discovers her creepy grandma has had an 'accident'/'fallen' down the stairs. So it appears her fears have been proven right (take THAT, those who doubted her sanity! *coughJosiecough*). When her creepy grandma's able to be released from hospital, Cheryl pleads with the doctor not to send her home, but her mum catches her and drives her away. Later, Toni pays a visit to the Blossom house, but Cheryl's mum is her typical rude self to Toni and informs her Cheryl's gone off to a boarding school in Switzerland, before basically telling her to eff off. Cheryl is in fact locked up at the loony bin Polly was at, where she's got pigtails for some reason and is apparently going to be subjected to conversion therapy (since her mum believes she's a 'deviant'). Someone else who was having a pretty rough time this episode was Veronica. After previously standing up for Ethel (and other girls who Chuck mistreated), how does she repay Veronica? By throwing a milkshake in her face at school. I thought she'd forgiven Veronica for what her dad had done...but apparently not. Now she's holding Veronica responsible for her dad buying up land and wanting to build a prison where Southside school was at. I knew what was going to happen as soon as Ethel stormed up to Veronica with a drink in her hand. I was surprised Veronica didn't realise, even when Ethel started speaking and it became obvious she was not happy. It would've been good if Veronica had dodged, but I guess this was her 'paying the price' for being involved with her family's business. As if I didn't dislike Josie enough already, seeing her snickering away at Veronica's embarrassment just made me dislike her even more. I'm still waiting for Josie to suffer some embarrassment for the stuff she's done. I did cheer, however, when Veronica decked New Reggie for his lude comments. That was a heck of a punch. Although Veronica promises Ethel's father a job at the new prison and promises Josie to help her meet Andy Cohen, both betray and lash out at her. Although I'll admit Veronica was deluding herself if she thought she was going to win over the students to vote for her as Student Body President, Ethel handing out flyers about Veronica with information intended to destroy her printed on them certainly didn't help (it also reminded me of the end of Cruel Intentions, which is funny since Veronica referenced that movie in a prior episode). I guess Ethel didn't get the memo about Veronica and Nick St. Clair's 'friendship' being donezo after he tried to force himself on her. What really annoyed me was Josie being revealed as the backstabber who supplied Ethel with her ammo. Clearly she can turn on anyone at any time, and just sides with whoever she feels can be of benefit to her (she already betrayed the other two Pussycats to further her personal gain, after all). So, Veronica's basically got the whole school against her, including Betty who learns from the flyers that Veronica knew about the school becoming a literal prison. Betty was already pretty ticked off on account of finding out Chic wasn't who he claimed, she then made it clear to him that she wasn't going to put up with his creepy act (by hovering over him in bed - like he'd done with her - only she had the added bonus of flicking a Zippo lighter on and off for extra intimidation), Kevin ratted her out to Chic (because she'd enlisted Kevin's help in finding out info about Chic last episode with her 'catfishing' scheme...and because Kevin's obviously not thinking with his upstairs brain, since he believes Chic isn't so bad), Chic went through her stuff, found the 'Dark Betty' wig (he claimed he was looking for the Zippo to back up his story to Alice) and gave the wig to Betty's mum, who's now siding with Chic against her own daughter and is pissed to learn that Bughead are bumping uglies. When Betty and her mum are having a talk in private (after Alice has checked that Betty's being 'safe' with Jughead), Betty asks her if Chic could be Jugdad's kid because apparently Alice couldn't resist the allure of the Jones men either (ew, that makes it sound like she was interested in Jughead too). Speaking of Jughead...he should've been pretty weak due to hunger, as he's been on a hunger strike protesting the Southside school becoming a prison. His dad does eventually bring him food when his friends have taken a break (cheaters!). Jughead's protest comes to an end when Archie cuts his chains and he's led away. As for Archie, he'd been mad at his dad who's got a contract of some description with the Lodges. Archie's mum (who was back in town) yelled at her son for disrespecting his dad, gave a big speech, then stormed off. Archie made a deal with Veronica’s dad that he'd stop Jughead's protest if he let his dad out of the contract he had with the Lodges. In the end, Archie’s dad decided to run for mayor against Veronica’s mum (who's also running for mayor. I think that development happened in one of the previous episodes). On the whole, I didn't really like this episode much. The next episode was a bit better. Cheryl watches a movie on a projector while she's in the loony bin, there's black & white footage of Kevin and Moose who are about to go skinny-dipping. Jughead voiceovers that she's imagining her friends or something. Conversion therapy's imminent, but before that, one of the nasty nuns makes Cheryl move heavy sacks of whatever from one place to another, then when Cheryl's basically done, the nasty nun says she didn't listen and she tells her to move all of them to a different place. Meanwhile, Toni's worked out something's not right, discusses going to rescue Cheryl with Veronica and Josie, but then Josie bails on them once she learns from Cheryl's mum that Cheryl was the one who drew the portrait of her (she shows Josie the one Cheryl drew of herself and Josie together), freaks out over the pig's heart that she had received (which was part of Cheryl's plan to make it seem like she had a creepy stalker and to get closer with Josie) and says she's 'out', thus abandoning her so-called 'friend' who's about to be subjected to conversion therapy. I understand being shocked about the whole stalker bit, but it's still messed up to leave someone she was supposedly best friends with to a fate worse than death. She could've put her own personal issues aside, helped get Cheryl out, then been mad and abandoned her or whatever. Also, I don't know why the writers even bothered with the Cheryl-as-Josie's-stalker thing since it only seemed to be for one episode (maybe two, if you count the interrupted locker room massage) and then was seemingly abandoned in favour of Cheryl taking an interest in Toni. They should've just left out the whole stalker plot point entirely. Anyway, Veronica and Toni prove to be Cheryl's TRUE friends, as they go to save her (with help from Kevin) in the most impractical outfits for rescuing - as they are very booby...but, hey, they look great, so that's all that really matters. When Toni enters the room where Cheryl's watching a movie, they share a dramatic snog in front of the projector (I now officially prefer Toni to Josie, who's back to being my least favourite character in the show right alongside Chic), then Veronica reminds them they need to actually escape, which they do. I thought it was a bit odd how, at the end of the episode, after talking with Toni, Cheryl randomly jumped up, asked Kevin if he was making Carrie: The Musical, stated matter-of-factly that she would be Carrie White in a "Like, duh, of course I would be." sort of way, then said in an overdramatic way that the school was going to burn. I'm aware the next episode's a musical, but that was a very odd/abrupt (one might say 'forced') way of having a lead-in to it. We also learned this episode that Toni is short for Antoinette (when she was called out of class by Cheryl’s creepy grandma, who Cheryl’s mum left home alone with nothing to do but watch TV after basically threatening her, and she fell on the floor to get to the phone to call Toni, gave her enough information so that she and Veronica could figure out where Cheryl was, then the line was cut off by Cheryl’s uncle who it appeared was about to make creepy grandma pay. Chic claims he was 'just trying to help' and he's brought the g/f or whatever she is of the guy who Chic ended up offing (I recognised Azura Skye from numerous different things I've seen her in, but as usual, she's playing a character I couldn't like - though I don't think we were supposed to like her here. Still doesn't change the fact I don't think I've liked her in anything I've seen her in). Her name is Darla and she wants money in exchange for keeping her mouth shut about her dead b/f who she knows Chic killed while Betty and Alice covered it up. Betty goes to the bank, Alice manages to somehow make a call without Darla (or the guy who's turned up, who was also the one that cut Chic's arm and Betty saved him from using pepper spray...which the guy is apparently still smarting from) noticing and tells her not to come back to the house. We cut to Betty being at the house and the guy she pepper sprayed pulls a knife, but then Jughead and some of his fellow Serpents kick in the door, brandishing knives and I guess they manage to intimidate Darla and her offsider by outnumbering them...because none of them look like they could've taken on that big dude. They leave, but still get the money, so not a bad day's work for a couple of extortionists. Realising the sort of trouble Chic brings, Alice finally does what Betty's been suggesting for some time now and kicks him out of the house. I was amused when Veronica's dad introduced Archie to Lenny & Carl (we've already got a Smithers...at this point, the show really needs to have Moose say to someone "Duh, stay out of Riverdale!" as another reference to The Simpsons. Hey, he could've said it to Chic after Alice kicked him out - that would've been perfect!), they want to make a deal with Veronica's dad, he refuses, they threaten, Archie threatens back (and they, understandably, laugh in his face. Though I did like Archie mentioning how he rearranged Nick St. Clair's face), but then later Replacement Smithers is attacked, Archie has reassembled his 'Red Circle'...except now they're wearing masks that make them look like Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat and going by the name 'Dark Circle' (way to show creativity there, Archie. The name also conjures up images of those unwanted things people get under their eyes from lack of sleep), he chases after the attacker and finds it's fake FBI agent guy, Lenny & Carl are delivered a message from Veronica's dad to check on their car - which they find is on fire. A car that isn't on fire, however, is the brand new one the Lodges have bought for Archie (has he even gotten his license yet?), and Veronica's dad informs him he'll now be driving Miss Ronnie everywhere, replacing Replacement Smithers.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 2, 2021 10:24:03 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 2, Episode 18: 'Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember' {Spoiler}{Spoiler}I hadn't even been aware that Carrie: The Musical was a thing until I caught wind of it when I accidentally spoiled myself for this episode of the show before reaching this episode on my Blu-rays. I've never heard any songs from the musical before, so they were all new to me. Some were pleasant enough to listen to, but none were particularly memorable. I'm certainly not humming any of the songs or anything after having watched the episode, as I've pretty much forgotten them. With the opening number, I thought Betty, Veronica and Cheryl were all quite good, but then it felt jarring when Archie started singing as his voice just didn't seem in the same league as theirs (at least not in that first song, anyway. It was less jarring in the later songs). Naturally, Cheryl is totally into playing Carrie White (especially since she appointed herself the perfect person to play the role), but others such as Josie and Ethel obviously aren't so happy about it. While I was surprised that Josie seemingly forgave Cheryl for her stalkerish behaviour because the two of them sung a song together (Cheryl was determined to get her forgiveness since the song they were singing together was meant to be about friendship and Josie couldn't hide her anger), I'm not sure it'll stick. I'm fully expecting Josie to let Cheryl know her true feelings at some point in the future (as much as Cheryl owed an apology to Josie for stalking her...funny that Josie never bothered saying "Sorry I left you to get conversion therapy.").
Of course, it wasn't just the Cheryl and Josie relationship that was mended via song. Betty had still been holding a grudge against Veronica because she knew what her parents were up to and hadn't said anything. She even goes so far as to say Veronica is 'perfect' for the role of Chris (and if you've seen the movie, you know that isn't a compliment). However, after a chat with Archie (who asks why Betty's being so mean to his g/f) and B & V sharing a song, the two make amends and hug, back to being friends again - such is the power of musicals. Speaking of Archie, he's also being a bit of a jerk to his dad because Veronica's dad gave him a fancy car, but he knows his dad won't like it one bit and so he hasn't told him about it. Then later Veronica's dad purposely mentions it to Archie's dad with the intent of driving a wedge between them. However, after his dad tells him how he was looking forward to them getting some old car in need of fixing and that they could've fixed it up together, Archie gives Veronica's dad back the keys to the car he bought him and makes it clear not to come between him and his dad again because he will lose. He then goes and buys some shitbox and his dad looks like he's on the verge of tears because now they can fix up a car together (it was a nice gesture, but if Archie had kept the car he'd been given for free, he then could've used the money he spent on the shitbox to help out his dad with their financial problems. Or don't they have those anymore?). Meanwhile, a sandbag nearly kills Cheryl when she's onstage, Jughead's been relegated to filming behind the scenes of the musical (maybe Cole Sprouse can't sing and this was the writers' way of explaining why Jughead wasn't joining everyone else in song? I'm not sure), so he and Betty make it their mission to discover who is behind wanting Cheryl to be replaced. One threatening serial killer-esque note later and they're interrogating the other performers. Ethel claims that although she's not happy about being passed over in favour of Cheryl, she'd never hurt anyone (though later Jughead finds what was used to make the threatening note in a bin in her dressing room before she kicks him out). While this is happening, Cheryl's getting a confidence boost from Toni after her mum said she wouldn't give her permission to be in the musical (students need permission from their parents to perform a musical??) and I was amused that Toni didn't seem fazed by Cheryl admitting to having burned down her old creepy gothic house and cutting off her mum's oxygen after she'd gone to hospital following the fire. I guess Toni knows just how crazypants Cheryl is...and she accepts her that way. This is why she's a much better friend than Josie ever was. The best part of the entire episode, though, was Cheryl not letting having been replaced as Carrie in the play stop her from wearing Carrie's pink prom dress, covering herself in blood (probably pig's...though I wouldn't have minded if it was Chic's), and saying she wanted emancipation/to live with just her creepy grandma while telling her mum in no uncertain terms that both she and her dead husband's twin should eff off (in her classic Cheryl way). I love the fact that a candelabra is Cheryl's 'thing' (like, if she had an action figure, it'd come with a candelabra as an accessory), since she already used one to burn down her gothic house at the end of last season. Compared to that^ scene, nothing after it was quite as interesting. Jugdad brushes off going to see the play, but then ends up going to show his support for Alice...only to see she's accepted her jerky husband back into her life. Chuck, formerly a jerk, had been trying to reform his ways, and while he saw the irony of trying to do that while playing the part of one of the badguys in the musical, he said someone had to be the villain. Eventually, Veronica (speaking not only for herself, but apparently Archie and Betty too) says that he's no longer a pariah, so I guess they've forgiven him for the crappy way he treated girls (including Veronica). While the actor who plays Chuck didn't get to sing much, from what I heard of his singing, he was fairly good. Someone else who didn't get to sing much was Midge, who takes over the role of Carrie when Kevin decides it's not worth the risk to keep Cheryl in the role when there's been numerous threats made. There's one moment when she's with a Serpent named Fangs (because of course that's his name), which'll prove important in the next couple episodes, but then when the play is being performed, it comes to an abrupt end as Midge is revealed to be dead, with a knife in her, hung up with a message from the Black Hood. Alice screams, everyone flees, Jughead is solely focused on getting to Betty (aw) and Chic...just remains seated, being his usual creepy self and looking even more guilty than he already did when he showed up earlier backstage (I also thought it odd that we saw the sheriff wandering through where the cast were getting changed, since they're students). I find it funny how some people seem to have this aversion to musicals and go overboard with their hatred towards them, downvoting the episode on IMDB, etc. They're not the plague, people! I thought this one was decent. Not up there with the best musical episodes from shows that I've seen, but not among the worst either. Episode 19: 'Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners' {Spoiler}{Spoiler}Amusingly, Cheryl and her fellow cheerleaders are wearing special cheerleader mourning uniforms (complete with black pompoms) while standing in formation at Midge’s funeral, with Cheryl singing (she may not have gotten to do so in Carrie: The Musical, after being replaced, but she was most certainly going to sing at this funeral, damn it!) and vowing that she and her cheerleaders will get whoever's responsible - it was one of the BEST openings to an episode yet. When something matters to Cheryl, she certainly doesn't go about things half-arsed. She's all-in. She also basically tells everyone that Sheriff Clueless sucks at his job (which, to be fair...he kind of does). I did feel slight sympathy for him when Midge's mum slapped him, though. Cheryl then proceeds to tell him off (more than she already had), but Archie isn't getting in on the blame game, he just wants to help the sheriff, since he's convinced that they didn't stop the real Black Hood. I was amused by a line from Cheryl later on when Veronica's mum complimented her speech at the funeral. Meanwhile, Nick St. Clair has apparently recovered from his two broken legs (though he reckons he'll forever have a limp) and kidnaps Archie (or he has his goons do it. They're wearing black hoods with no cut out holes for eyes...so I'm not sure how they see anything. Plus, they're wearing hoodies - I guess so they're not to be confused with THE Black Hood). Veronica's eating with her parents, amusingly calls them "Boris and Natasha" as she goes to answer a call, and it ends up being Nick who's threatening to kill Archie if he doesn't get a "cool mill" from Veronica's family. When she tells them, her parents act like they're going to take care of it, but when it's just the two of them, Veronica's dad says to her mum that he won't pay because A) Archie's 'not blood' ( real nice! If you two had actually shaken hands after cutting your palms, then maybe this wouldn't have been an issue) and B) It'd send a message to Nick and his parents that they're 'weak' by giving into demands and then they'd come after Veronica. Realising it's up to her to save her b/f, Veronica cracks the uncrackable code of her parents' safe (it's 'always' her birthday, according to her. Really, Lodges? You don't choose something your daughter wouldn't know, yet you expect her not to break into it?), brings it to Nick St. Sicko (as Veronica calls him), he knows it's not enough and says the only other payment he'll accept to make up the difference is Veronica screwing him. Eventually she agrees, Nick sets up a screen on which Archie can watch their sexploits (poor Archie...even his hair looks sad), Veronica manages to convince Nick he's going to get what he wants, while Archie manages to free himself, then run like Forrest Gump, before kicking in the door to the hotel room and finding that Veronica has saved herself, having given Nick a taste of his own medicine, drugging him into unconsciousness, then holding him for ransom that she gets from his parents (she also demands a "cool mill") and showing it off to her parents. She was pretty awesome this episode (which was good to see, after she'd been previously humiliated and hated on by basically everyone in prior episodes). Less awesome? Archie not getting a clue after Veronica's dad even admits to not paying the ransom to get him back. All he apparently wants is to prove himself (what a dolt) to Veronica's dad and get the Black Hood (for reals this time). Bughead go to the loony bin, Betty threatens to out their gay conversion tactics and bring the cops if the nasty nun there who tortured Cheryl doesn't give them the info they want. She gives them a photo of the guy she says was the real Charles (ie. Betty's bro), they go to the place where Betty first found Chic and ask a neighbour questions (she says there was a 'nice one' who carried her groceries and a bad one, who she saw taking out bloody sheets), then when Betty tells her mum about all this, Chic grabs a knife (I was confused by whose blood we saw go flying, as at first I thought he'd slashed Alice, but then later she doesn't act like she's injured. One thing I was clear on, though, was that Betty kicks Chic's arse and knocks him out, which was a cheer-worthy moment. When he awakes, he's tied to a chair in the basement, the truth comes out (his excuse is he never said he was Charles, he said he was Chic - like he thinks he's going to get off on a technicality), Alice drops bombshell after bombshell on Jugdad (she had his kid, gave it up for adoption, when that kid resurfaced and came to her door, she turned him away and now he's dead/Chic took his place), Jugdad catches Jughead beating the crap out of Chic, hauls him away, says it's none of their business, Betty frees Chic while her mum's talking to her dad, has been getting calls again from the Black Hood, leads Chic out into the woods, Black Hood appears, Betty says she's giving Chic a head start (updating him on the dwindling percentage of likelihood him getting away is), Chic runs, Black Hood gives chase, Betty returns home and asks her mum where her dad is - which strongly suggests to Betty that he's the Black Hood. The best part, though? Her 'Lollipop' ringtone (which Chic describes as a 'weird ringtone') is back! While it should annoy me, I just find it hilarious that such a comically cheery/upbeat tune plays and it's always during a serious scene/moment. Episode 20: 'Chapter Thirty-Three: Shadow of a Doubt' {Spoiler}{Spoiler}I enjoyed the fact that this episode explored a dynamic we don't see much of - Betty and Cheryl (honestly, all I remember of their interaction from Season 1 was that Cheryl was always horrible to Betty about her weight). Anyway, Betty's freaking out and thinking that maybe she got Chic killed since she delivered him to the Black Hood...who she now believes is her dad. I kind of love the fact that Cheryl keeps calling Betty 'cousin' and drops words such as 'hence fore' into casual conversation. She has a Shakespeare-esque way of speaking at times, and I really like that about her. She spoke so quietly and seemed genuine in what she was telling Betty about dealing with all this (she was probably just grateful to be getting a break from her own family drama). I want to see more of these two interacting, as they make a good team. Meanwhile, that Serpent that was the last one to talk to Midge before she died (Fangs) is in trouble, as he's a suspect. Veronica's dad wants Archie to reassemble his 'Dark Circle' (I was surprised people didn't think the creepy girl out of The Ring was coming after them, since the symbol Archie keeps putting everywhere looks basically like the ring symbol from that movie), New Reggie wants to be in charge of the 'Dark Circle' (it's funny how, as soon as he's put in charge of them, he uses the name he's wanted them to have from all the way back when Archie first started his Shirtless Army 'Red Circle' and rejected New Reggie's suggestion. He calls them the 'War Dogs'...because that sounds so much better than the 'Dark Circle'?), Veronica's dad has given New Reggie encouragement, while Archie doesn't want to have anything to do with them anymore and says as much when Jughead calls him to say that Archie's crew are attacking his guys. The former mayor acts as lawyer to Fangs, they escort him away trying to protect him, but Archie notices New Reggie's got a gun and is going after Fangs in the crowd, he tries to stop him...but Fangs winds up shot anyway. Whether Archie and New Reggie shot him by accident or there was another shooter somewhere nearby, I'm not sure. Veronica's storyline is pretty boring this episode, though probably fun for her since she gets to live in her very own version of The Matchelorette, with five suitors lined up to court her. After some interviews, she picks one but wants to do his business plan to start a casino her way (ie. legally). I wasn't really paying attention to this storyline, as it was kind of Dullsville. More interesting was Betty finding her Nancy Drew Secret-Code Activity Book at the place her dad was staying when he got kicked out of the house, she presents it to him, basically accuses him of being the Black Hood, but he claims he got it for her as a birthday present since she was always borrowing it out from the library. Later, Betty makes an arrangement with her dad over the phone to meet him, but the way she's talking to him and the way he's responding somewhat creepily, it's like they're both acknowledging he is in fact the Black Hood. She waits for him where she says it all started - at the town hall (where she delivered that speech which the Black Hood cited as the reason he started doing all this killing of 'sinners' in the first place). However, that's not where the Black Hood turns up. Instead, when Cheryl goes to answer her door in an annoyed fashion (because she thinks it's one of her mum's 'gentlemen callers'), she's confronted by the Black Hood and proceeds to give a classic horror movie scream that would make any Scream Queen proud (if I didn't already know that Cheryl doesn't die, I'd be a bit worried here, as she's become my favourite in the show - and favourite characters of mine tend to not fare so well a lot of the time).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 3, 2021 12:22:43 GMT 1
Riverdale - Episode 21: 'Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night' {Spoiler}{Spoiler}We pick up right where the previous episode ended, with Cheryl screaming her head off as the Black Hood goes full-on axe murderer. After she's fled upstairs, she's screaming and hiding, but I should've known better than to think that would be all she did. Cheryl Blossom saves her own damn self, getting out the window and downstairs, surprising the Black Hood with an arrow to the shoulder (archery practice paid off!) while looking like the Red Arrow from the TV series Arrow (actually, I think I'd prefer Cheryl as the Red Arrow than any other. She's quippy and uses 'whilst' - a word I too am fond of and have been known to use on more than one occasion - in a sentence...plus, she looks great). I enjoyed that they went full-on comic book-y here. I saw complaints about her not having enough time to get changed, but if she grabbed her gear from her room, dived out the window and immediately started changing while the Black Hood ran downstairs and outside...I think she had enough time. I loved the fact she said she was going to track the Black Hood and advised Betty that since he was wounded, he would now be 'acting on instinct, ready to lash out and kill anyone in his path, including his loved ones' - she sounded like a proper hunter/vigilante and I'm ALL FOR IT. This was easily my favourite moment from the episode...and this episode packed in a LOT of stuff. There was SO MUCH going on, I wasn't even able to register it all as it happened. For example, there were many phone calls made between various characters throughout the episode. One such instance was Cheryl calling Betty to let her know she'd injured the Black Hood. I was hoping Betty would immediately punch her dad in the shoulder as soon as she saw him to see if he bled and that would've quickly answered the question about whether or not he was the Black Hood. The list of other phone calls made included Betty calling her mum (who says Betty's dad is out 'calming the riots' - HA! Yeah right), Veronica's dad getting a call from Replacement Smithers that he picked up Veronica, New Reggie calling Veronica's dad to ask for help since it was he who put him up to shooting Fangs (even though he didn't actually do it, it later turns out), but he abandons New Reggie, offering him no help (which kind of serves him right for trusting such a shady guy, but I still felt a bit sorry for New Reggie - a first, for me), Archie calls Jughead to inform him the Serpents are trashing the town - which Jughead is already well aware of, and he says it's because New Reggie shot Fangs, but Archie explains that New Reggie didn't shoot Fangs (nor did the two of them struggling over the gun accidentally cause Fangs to get shot, like what I thought had happened) and Archie wants Jughead to call off the Serpents as he, Kevin and Moose head to the school. Meanwhile, Veronica spots Midge's mother wandering the streets in the middle of the riots, goes to her and she admits to being the one who shot Fangs, while Veronica's mother puts out a $1,000,000 bounty on the Black Hood and Betty's worried about her dad winding up dead as a result, since she's still positive he's the Black Hood. Cheryl calls her again, says she's tracked him and he is on his way...possibly to Betty's house. Naturally, Betty wants to find him before anyone else does (but doesn't bother filling her mum in on her suspicions about him). At the school, Serpents are destroying the place and it's up to Archie, Kevin and Moose to stop them. They arm up, but then Veronica calls Archie to let him know Midge's mum is the one who shot Fangs and has taken her to the new replacement sheriff (who's even more useless than Sheriff Clueless/Kevin's dad). After hanging up, Veronica discovers the reward her mum's offering for the Black Hood's head and this disgusts her (though I'm not sure why, considering all the people he's murdered. Veronica's parents have done lots of bad stuff...but wanting to put an end to the Black Hood menace? Not the worst thing...even if their reasons are self-serving). Serpents, led by Sweet Pea (I continue to wonder HOW he could possibly expect to be taken seriously and intimidate people with a name like that), are ready to attack Archie, Kevin and Moose, but Archie swears to him New Reggie didn't shoot Fangs, informing him what Veronica said - that it was Midge's mum. Sweet Pea doesn't care, though, he's just looking for any excuse to make Northsiders pay - as he thinks they're to blame for everything (of course). Archie, armed with his trusty baseball bat, along with Kevin and Moose, are all who stand in the way of Sweet Pea and his Serpent minions...that is until the principal arrives with a baseball bat of his own (plus backup) to put an end to this school destruction. He should've been like Principal Snyder in the Season 3 final of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shouting about how he would have order/quiet and how all this going on was "simply unacceptable!". Alas, we don't get that from him. Still, his entrance was the most I've ever liked his character in this show. When Jughead finally meets up with Archie at the school, he informs him that the principal chased off the Serpents, Jughead's going to go attempt to calm them down, Archie gets a call from Pop, who lets him know New Reggie is hiding out at his retro diner, then Betty gets a call from Jugdad who's looking for his son and tells Betty her dad's at the hospital, wounded (I really wanted her to ask him "Is it a shoulder wound?", as that would've confirmed everything). Veronica's arguing with her mum at home about the bounty she put out for the Black Hood and thinks it's the money she got as ransom for holding Nick St. Clair hostage that's being used (which is Veronica's money, damn it! She extorted it fair and square!). She goes into her dad's study, locking out her mum, then discovers a file that says 'October Surprise' with photos of her mum and Archie's dad canoodling and a typed up letter exposing their affair. She confronts her mum about it, asking why she'd want something that could damage her chances at being mayor, but she reckons Veronica's dad said she'd be able to survive that scandal whereas Archie's dad (whose campaign is all about 'family values') would not. Veronica tells her mum that her dad keeps putting others - including her - in harm's way for his own gain, letting everyone else take the risk (and she'll soon be proven very right). But before that, Archie, Kevin and Moose go to Pop's diner to help New Reggie, but then that rival biker gang to the Serpents called the Ghoulies (that name never gets any less stupid no matter how many times you hear it) show up and start attacking the place. With Pop's help, Archie makes some Molotov cocktails which he hurls a safe distance away from the Ghoulies as just 'warning shots', I guess. They're obviously not intimidated by one high schooler with a couple of flaming bottles, but when the ex-sheriff, Jugdad and Archie's dad all show up... then they run? Really? It's three dudes. You still outnumber them...but whatever, Ghoulies (more like Pussies - not to be confused with the Pussycats. Speaking of, Josie is absent from this episode and it's all the better for it). As for how the parent trio knew the right place to be at the right time, apparently Jughead called his dad who then called Archie's dad. While I'm sure those who are into students lusting after adults were really into Kevin remarking "Hot Riverdale dads to the rescue." before pulling out his phone and taking a snap, I myself thought it pretty weird considering one of those was his own dad, while the other two were the dads of his friends. Sweet Pea is pissed at Jughead because of that drag-race he took part in which was what got the Ghoulies supremely pissed off in the first place (though wasn't it more because Archie got them arrested by the police who were waiting for them? I remember Jughead getting angry at Archie about it, saying they'd retaliate...and he was right). Veronica's dad gets a call from Pop who says that Kevin's dad, Jughead's dad and Archie's dad are being hailed as heroes - which most displeases Veronica's dad. Pop then gets a visit from a big burly guy who is looking for Veronica's dad and asks for his address. Considering the way he was towering over Pop, menacing him, I thought Pop was a goner for sure. Betty gets to the hospital, discovers the doctor who was seeing to her dad's wound is dead (apparently because he was asking too many questions), she then gets a call from the Black Hood who says to come home - which kind of removes all doubt (not there was any really left at this point) that the Black Hood is her dad. Anyway, the phone calls aren't over yet! Jughead gets one from Penny Peabody who is after a little revenge for what he did to her, so she's kidnapped his g/f...no, not Betty, Toni (which is really odd, since although they had a snog, they haven't really done anything since to make Penny think he thought of Toni in any sort of romantic way. I guess Betty just wasn't available for kidnapping since she's too busy running all over town looking for her dad/Black Hood). She says she's going to cut out Toni's tongue unless Jughead meets with her. While all that's^ going on, Betty gets home, her dad's putting on an oddly-timed home movie night complete with projector (Alice still isn't getting what's going on, but I was amused when she thought they were watching a snuff film). It's of Betty's dad as a kid, with his creepy mum offscreen calling him 'Harold' and saying his dad did an honourable thing by massacring that family - the Conways (so, it's revealed that Betty's dad's dad was the Riverdale Reaper) - but she needs him to convince another kid (who'd grow up to become the creepy janitor) that he should accuse someone else of the murders. Betty's dad informs her that despite previously telling her 'Great-Grandpappy Cooper' was killed by 'Great-Grandpappy Blossom'...it was in fact the other way around, he then took the Cooper name and a new identity, but the Conways found out, blackmailed him and that's why he offed them. Betty's dad then goes on about having a 'darkness' inside him that runs through their family, saying Betty's got it too, blah blah blah - it's all very typical monologuing villain stuff. Things finally get interesting when Alice distracts him by first pointing out that if he's going to go after 'sinners' such as Archie's dad (for being an 'adulterer'), then he should really off himself too since he's also one. She then points out that she herself is one, he starts strangling her and eventually Betty hits him over the back of the head with the shovel from the fireplace. It's Alice, however, who gives him a good beating and it was certainly a long time coming. I'd been spoiled for Betty's dad turning out to be the Black Hood, but hadn't known the 'why'. Must say...it seemed very convoluted and wasn't satisfying at all - though him getting repeatedly beaten on the head by Alice was. Even more satisfying, though, was the scene where Jughead turns up to free Toni, Penny reveals she's not alone and has the leader of the Ghoulies as backup, but Jughead's not as dumb as he looks/as his name suggests, since he's brought backup too...in the form of Cheryl! It was an awesome moment (just like her taking on the Black Hood earlier was). She frees Toni and they leave after Penny makes one final offer to Jughead - she wants the Southside (so she can sell drugs, which is why she teamed up with the Ghoulies) and the Serpents to leave Riverdale or it's going to be a showdown between them and the Ghoulies. Jughead brings Penny's deal to the Serpents, they're not down with leaving, Sweet Pea wants to fight, Jughead points out it'd be a suicide mission, Jugdad turns up and says he got a call saying Fangs is dead, this is all the Serpents need to outvote Jughead on going to war with the Ghoulies (the way they vote, with their arms raised and bending two fingers to look like snake fangs is kind of ridiculous...but it's funny seeing Cheryl also cast her vote, though thankfully she doesn't do the stupid snake fang hand gesture). Jughead argues with his dad in their trailer about the whole going to war thing, but when he's left alone he regards his wall on which he's been piecing together everything that's happened, then comes to a realisation, calls Veronica's dad, states that he's been buying up everywhere in town but couldn't buy the Serpents' bar, so he paid Penny and the Ghoulies to go to war with them to get rid of them, then he wonders how much this is costing him and says he has a counter offer. What's Archie been doing? Asked no one ever. He's at home with his dad, doing his keeping vigil thing with his trusty baseball bat like he's been doing every night since his dad first got shot apparently...not that it does much good, since the Black Hood - or rather a second Black Hood, since Betty's dad is currently unconscious on account of Betty's mum walloping him good - has come to finish off Archie's dad, but Archie puts up a fight, only to be saved by the person he was supposedly sitting up all night to protect - his dad. Stupidly, after whacking Black Hood #2, he turns his back on the guy with a gun and consequently gets shot again for his foolish mistake. Luckily, this time around he was wearing a bulletproof vest thanks to Kevin's dad making him wear one earlier on (so ex-Sheriff Clueless isn't entirely clueless after all). After Archie's checked his dad's okay, he runs off after Black Hood #2 against his dad's protestations. Elsewhere, the big burly guy who was after Veronica's dad has arrived at the Lodge residence (thanks, Pop!), he's confronted by Replacement Smithers (who he makes short work of), then comes after Veronica and her mum. They retreat to the study, Hermione grabs a gun and wastes no time in shooting the bastard (who'd come looking for revenge against the Lodges because Veronica's dad had his dad offed because he was one of the ones Archie had overheard plotting against Veronica's dad at the poker game that one time...I think). Later, when Veronica's dad shows up (and sees dead Replacement Smithers who'll now need replacing himself), both Veronica and her mum are completely over/done with him. They tell him to clean up his own mess. Someone else cleaning up messes is Jughead, who has gone to meet Penny and the Ghoulies by himself. Because there hadn't been enough phone calls being made in this episode already, while Betty and Archie watch her dad being taken away in cuffs (I think at this point they've both figured out that Betty's dad couldn't have been the Black Hood who just tried to kill Archie's dad), Jughead calls and tells Betty he loves her before hanging up, she frets, then Jugdad calls her and asks where Jughead's at. The answer is...he's currently making a deal with Penny that if he hands himself over, there will be no war between the Serpents and Ghoulies. She agrees, but of course you can't trust a former Serpent whose arm tattoo you cut off (so apparently Jughead is as dumb as he looks/as his name suggests after all, for trusting her), as she's not honouring that deal, the Ghoulie leader says they're going to do scary things to Betty, then all of them proceed to beat the crap out of Jughead before Penny gets her pound of flesh in revenge for him cutting off her Serpent tattoo. The episode ends with most of the characters arriving after Penny and the Ghoulies have hightailed it out of there, then Jugdad emerges carrying his son in his arms who is looking mostly dead (but not ' dead dead', because this show would never actually kill off Jughead). This was certainly an action-packed episode, it flew by and there was nary a 'slow' moment. It's like the show decided to throw in everything plus the kitchen sink. I also think I haven't seen as many phone calls made in a single episode of show ever before this one (and that includes the series 24). It's amazing not one person got an engaged signal or "Leave a a message after the beep" when trying to get through. This was probably one of the best, if not THE best episode of the season....but it wasn't quite over yet. Episode 22: 'Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World' (the Season 2 final) {Spoiler}{Spoiler}It seems this show's following the pattern of Game of Thrones in that its second-last episode of each season is where the BIG stuff happens, then the actual season final is about dealing with all of the fallout from the previous episode and sort of winding down a bit before something happens to 'hook' viewers into watching the next season. Consequently, I wasn't as fussed on this episode as I was with the last one, since that one was balls-to-the-wall crazy...but this one? Not so much. Although the episode starts with Betty, Archie and Veronica at Jughead's gravestone, clutching his beanie, I think only the most fangirly fangirls of Jughead would've actually believed he was dead (and were most likely losing their shit over it). Sure enough, he awakes in hospital - seemingly not on death's door like he appeared at the end of the previous episode. Evidently, some time has passed, Jugdad informs his son that he and the Serpents went to war with the Ghoulies after all and lost, then Jughead learns that Fangs is still alive and his dad lied about him being dead to get the Serpents riled up/ready for war. Although the trailer park burned, miraculously their own trailer still stands. Jugdad basically informs him that the Serpents are no more. Betty visits, Jughead's now aware her dad's the Black Hood, she says she never wants to see him again, she contacts Varchie to let them know Jughead's awake and he wastes no time with his theorising once he learns there's a second Black Hood (since Betty and Archie came to the realisation that her dad couldn't have been the one who attacked Archie and his dad). He reckons the second Black Hood is the politically motivated one who attacked town hall and went after Archie's dad who was running for mayor. There's other stuff going on as well, such as Southside students getting booted out of Riverdale High, but all the other students rally behind them, wearing Serpent jackets and Archie makes a big speech to the principal about not being down with discrimination - and this, amazingly, leads to the principal being convinced into letting them stay (I did like Toni telling Cheryl she looked good in that jacket, since she did indeed. Cheryl knows she did, too). While Jugdad's falling back into bad habits (getting drunk again, giving up, etc) after having been fired from Pop's (thanks to Veronica's dad), Betty winds up going to see her father (after saying she wouldn't) in his Hannibal Lecter-esque prison cell, where he blah blahs about their 'darkness' but she tells him he holds no power over her, then walks away as he yells after her. Her mum's not doing so great, as there's people outside their home harassing her since her husband was the Black Hood. Polly's come home and towards the end of the episode says she knows someone who can help her mum...but she's got that creepy vibe going that lets you know she's been brainwashed/converted by that cult she's with. No good can come of this. Still, there is some fun to be had - mostly involving Cheryl, of course. Her first appearance in the episode involves her finalising her emancipation from her horrid mum, she wants to personally deliver the letter of separation to her, taking it out to the barn (apparently when she told her mum on the night of Carrie: The Musical being performed that she and Uncle Claudius were 'pig-people and should live amongst the pigs'...she wasn't being metaphorical/using a figure of speech, she meant it literally), but sees/overhears her mum and uncle conspiring with Veronica's dad, causing her to gasp, which alerts her mum to someone being outside, but when she checks, there's no one there (because Cheryl's hiding in a barrel). She lets Veronica know about this, and I'm hoping for more scenes between these two next season (just like I want more scenes with Cheryl and Betty...or basically Cheryl and any character. She makes them all more interesting). She's kind of the 'hero' of this episode in a lot ways, as she not only informs Veronica of what her dad is up to, but also informs the Serpents (who do in fact still exist - Jughead's dad was lying about them being no more) that there's going to be a raid of the Serpents' bar and there'll likely be casualties. I was amused that when Cheryl learned of this, she was in the process of packing food into a wicker basket looking totally like Red Riding Hood off to visit her grandma. After Cheryl's warning, they manage to sneak away and seek shelter at Archie's place, since his dad offered. Towards the end of the episode, Jugdad retires from being King of the Serpents (for really reals this time) and Jughead takes his place. His first act as the new King of the Serpents is to welcome Cheryl into the gang since she was instrumental in them making it to safety. Clearly they're aware that red is Cheryl's colour, as they've had a jacket specially made for her. It was so good to see Cheryl happy and accepted into a family who'll treat her as she should be (unlike her own mum). It's a far cry from where she was at emotionally in last season's final. Back then, she was ready to kill herself. Whereas now she appears like she couldn't be happier. Good for Cheryl! She deserved it (yet there were people complaining about her getting the jacket, thinking it was for Jughead now that he's leader. Seriously? Can you really see Jughead wearing a bright red jacket in a sea of black jackets? I don't think so. Others complained about Cheryl being let into the gang when Jughead had to go through various trials and Betty had to do an inappropriate pole dance...but I think Cheryl proved herself by helping them all out numerous times. Screw anyone who says any different!). Other not-so-interesting stuff going on - Archie has managed to figure out that the one behind the second Black Hood's attack on his dad, town hall, etc was Veronica's dad. Earlier it had been revealed Black Hood #2 had died in a firefight with the cops and it turned out to be Tall Boy (who was kicked out of the Serpents earlier in the season). I was surprised by how anticlimactic the reveal of Black Hood #2 was. I was expecting more. Quite disappointing, really. Anyway, Archie knows Veronica's dad was responsible for all of that, he swears he's going to prove everything and then uses the same speech from his Shirtless Army 'Red Circle' video in an attempt to intimidate Veronica's dad. Meanwhile, Veronica's given up everything to buy back Pop's from her dad, he's cutting her off, but she accepts that without hesitation (I think Veronica deserves props for that). I was mildly amused by her dad's Legion of Doom he had apparently formed (including Cheryl's mum and uncle, Penny Peabody, the Ghoulies' leader and the replacement sheriff). They're hanging out at what was formerly the Serpents' bar, while the 'core four' are at Pop's and Veronica has plans for the basement of the retro diner which, according to Pop, used to be a secret speakeasy back in the days of 'flapper dresses and cigarette girls'. Veronica wants to reopen it and make it a 'cabaret space for world-class entertainment and the most decadent cocktails. A place for North and Southsiders alike', hoping to enlist Jugdad to manage it so Serpents feel welcome. Archie's dad sadly loses to Hermione in regards to becoming mayor (it's probably just as well he didn't win, otherwise he could've likely looked forward to getting shot at some more), but she comes over to tell him he ran a good campaign and the race was very close. They shake hands. The episode's final scene involves everyone at the school gymnasium, Josie's singing the national anthem and you're totally expecting something bad is going to happen. While no one gets shot, Archie gets arrested and is accused of killing that store clerk who, along with his masked buddies, was robbing the Lodge Lodge and then got offed by Replacement Smithers in an earlier episode this season. I guess Archie shouldn't have brought up that guy during his big speech to Veronica's dad earlier. It probably gave him the idea for this. Anyway, the episode ends with this as its 'cliffhanger'. It's not really that exciting. Final thoughts on this second season as a whole:While it was definitely a step down in quality from Season 1, there was also good stuff sprinkled throughout that kept it from being 'terrible' - at least for me, anyway. I liked seeing some characters interact more than what we'd seen previously and the different dynamics, the show delved into its characters, taking them in new directions and giving them further development. While Archie's still not a favourite character of mine, K.J. Apa definitely improved this season. Lili Reinhart also had a lot of emotions to convey this season and I liked that the show explored Betty's 'darkness' more (the only downside was the whole Chic storyline which really dragged and didn't seem to go anywhere). Veronica seems to be the character who's most torn between two worlds. While the first season showed her trying to shed her 'bad girl' image, we saw this season that she is willing to get involved in some pretty shady stuff. However, when it mattered, she was usually there for her friends. Hopefully with what she said she had planned in this last episode of the season, it means she'll have been forgiven for the part she played in her family's shady business. As for Jughead...well...I can't say I'm overly fond of him, and I'm still sick of him always voiceovering every episode, but he's alright. I got kind of bored with his Serpent storyline this season, though. At least he proved himself worthy of being their leader in the end. Cheryl - what can I say? A character who when I started watching the show, I wasn't too sure about, has now become my favourite. She continues to get the best lines, she's the most entertaining character in the show, she's been through so much, I enjoy her dynamics with each and every other character and she just brings so much to the series. Madelaine Petsch is a gem and, for me, she was the stand-out this season. Josie...I'm still not fussed on. She's not particularly interesting (even when she's given more focus), she seems to turn on people easily, her bitchiness isn't entertaining like Cheryl's is, and I would still trade her screentime for getting more screentime with the other two Pussycats. Toni was a character who I didn't like at first, but gradually she became more tolerable, and now that she's involved with Cheryl, I'm liking her character more. Kevin annoyed me this season, as did New Reggie, but they were both 'okay', I guess. The other recurring school characters, though, I wasn't really interested in (except Moose, who I want to see telling someone to "stay out of Riverdale", damn it!). Regarding the parents - I don't mind Archie's dad, I like Alice more now than I did in the first season (though at times she can still annoy me), Jugdad is pretty good, Veronica's mum....I'm still not sure I have a handle on. She seemed a lot 'colder' towards her daughter at the start of this season, but that may have been because of Veronica's dad turning up. I'm hoping she won't get dragged back into working alongside him. He's got his Legion of Doom now, so he probably doesn't need her. Veronica's dad is a real piece of work, but he's interesting at least some of the time. I devoured this second season of the show so quickly, I'm worried I'm going to finish the third (and eventually the fourth) before Season 5 is even released here. I've heard the show keeps going downhill, but while I knew the second season wasn't going to be as good as the first, I didn't hate it either. There were some good parts mixed in with the not-so-good. I'm hoping Season 3 won't be worse...but I guess I'll soon find out.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2021 7:01:16 GMT 1
As I couldnt be bothered looking for a needle in a haystack for obvious reasons lol, Ill just ask anyway. Have you read any of the Archie comics? I havent. Just curious of how the two compare
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 5, 2021 8:33:36 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 1: 'Chapter Thirty-Six: Labor Day'. {Spoiler}Welcome back, crazy show that looks to be even crazier this season. One thing that'll never change - the Jughead voiceover. He recaps what happened last season, it’s currently summer in the show, which means sweatiness and more excuses for Archie shirtlessness than ever before! I think this had to be a record for the most Archie shirtlessness ever (and not just him, but most of the other male characters in the show too). Though he doesn't start off that way - first time we see him this episode is during his trial. He's being charged with killing that store clerk, Cassidy (who I imagine most people were struggling to even remember, since he was such a minor character who was only in one episode), that was robbing the Lodge Lodge last season - why does no one point out that Cassidy and his friends were robbing the place, looking like they were going to pull a Negan from TWD when the core four were told to get down on their knees as a baseball bat was being wielded about? Funny how that little detail gets ignored. Anyway, Archie's dressed like he's auditioning for Bond or going to the prom or something in a suit and bowtie (who the hell wears a bowtie to court? Furthermore, would they really let Jughead wear his stupid beanie in court?). Also, his mum is defending him - can lawyers even act as council to someone they're related to? That sounds iffy. Even more iffy is the prosecuting attorney, Ms. Wright (played by Penelope Ann Miller), and her case against Archie. She lists the things he's done, but doesn't really have any evidence that he offed Cassidy. It's more like "Archie Andrews has done some questionable stuff...and that means he MUST be the murderer!". Though Archie's mum, Mary, and her defense isn't much better, basically just saying Archie's a good kid and would never kill anyone. It was funny that when they took a break, everyone lost sight of Archie - is someone who's on trial for murder really just allowed to wander off like that? Anyway, the other three members of the core four find him and he's reminiscing about a swimming hole that he, Betty and Jughead used to go to every summer, but Bughead stopped going after they got covered in leeches one time. I was morbidly amused that upon hearing this, Veronica said that she'd like to go swimming there (apparently she really wants that full-on leech experience). They go back into court, the jury hasn't reached a verdict, Archie's got the weekend and Labor Day (hence the episode title) to spend time with his friends and family, then once they leave the courtroom again, Veronica's dad is there to make a snide remark and consequently gets a well-deserved (and long-time-coming) punch to the face from Archie's dad. I think I'm going to have to start using the adult characters' actual names this season, as it was getting pretty tricky with previously typing 'so-and-so's dad/mum' all the time and it being clear who I meant. Fred punches Hiram - huzzah! At Pop's, the gang discuss going in search of the gun that Replacement Smithers (aka Andre - who is now dead Andre, after he got offed at the end of last season) used to kill Cassidy, and why are they only now deciding to go in search of it with metal detectors? Too late for that, apparently, as Archie seems to have already given up and is pretty convinced he's going to jail, so he doesn't want to spend his remaining free time....trying to prove his innocence? Thankfully, Cheryl enters the scene (I appreciate that her entrances always involve her signature slow-mo), and since it's stinking hot, she's wearing...not much, but does wear her specially-made red leather Serpent jacket in summer. She must really love that thing. Apparently she's been cross-country motorcycle riding with Toni and is having an end-of-summer pool party. I liked that she exited the scene with a cheery "Toodles!" just like she did when leaving the hospital in the first episode of last season. Later at the pool party, I also appreciated the fact that although there was a lot of male shirtlessness this episode, at least there was some females-in-swimwear on display to balance things out a bit. New Reggie (who I guess I can now simply call 'Reggie', since he's outlasted Original Reggie on the show) has become such tight buds with Archie that he says he's leaving the football team's (and part-time Shirtless Army Red Circle Dark Circle vigilante group) leadership in Reggie's capable hands...but no funny (Circle) business! That Circle crap is donezo! After her impressive pool party entrance, Cheryl tells Toni she's sad about the fact that she can't help out Archie after he saved her life (glad to hear she still hasn't forgotten about his ice-punching rescue of her). Archie gets a new Serpent tattoo (so that means he's a member now? But he didn't even have to get the crap beaten out of him or do an inappropriate pole dance!). I guess the Serpents are now living in some sort of shanty town. Despite Jugdad (yes, I'm going to keep calling him that, as I prefer it to 'FP') saying he was done with the Serpents, he's still living with them and doing Serpent tattoos/offering Archie advice about finding Serpents to hang with if he winds up going to jail. Archie also spends what free time he has finishing rebuilding that shitbox he bought last season to fix up with his dad. It's no longer a shitbox...but it also looks like it would come off second best should it get into a crash with pretty much anything else (such as another car, a tree, a deer, etc). But it's father/son bonding time, so whatever. Archie says to Betty that if he does indeed end up going to jail, he wants her to keep an eye on his dad and invite him over for dinner occasionally because he'll be all alone (hey, that's not true! Have you forgotten Vegas the dog already, Archie? You a-hole). When the car's finally finished, the core four go for a ride in the Archiemobile to the leech-infested swimming hole for a swim and hang out together by the fire (in summer), which is probably the last time they're all going to hang out together for quite a while because Archie's convinced he's going to jail. Has there ever been another 'teen' seemingly so against proving their own innocence and preventing themselves from going to jail as Archie Andrews? The gang's last-ditch effort at helping out their friend who doesn't want any help is for Veronica to go have a word with at least one member of the jury. However, she gets caught by her mum who gives her an earful about it. Hermione's dialogue was really weird here and I wasn't sure if I was even hearing it correctly, as Veronica calls her dad a monster (she begged him to fix all this earlier on, but he just kept refusing to, and by episode's end he revealed the reason behind him doing all this was because she 'chose' Archie over him. How insecure/petty must he be? Answer: very) and says her mum's just a trophy wife, then Hermione says Hiram would never harm his daughter...but she can't say the same for herself - so she's threatening her daughter with harm? She then reckons she's he's prisoner, but not his puppet. I don't think that really matters to Veronica, since her mum just basically threatened her with physical violence and the only thing preventing her from following through on that threat is Veronica's dad. I'm not sure if I somehow misinterpreted what she was saying, but assuming I understood correctly, this certainly didn't paint Hermione in a good light. And here I thought she'd made progress after the end of last season. Betty's not having any fun with her mum either, as Alice has been sucked in by Polly's cult and keeps yammering on about the leader of that group named Edgar, who thinks it would be a wise idea to burn all of Betty's journals. Naturally, Betty is against that idea and defends her journal-keeping (I was amused when she said it was perfectly normal, as it immediately made me think of Elena from The Vampire Diaries and her diary/journal-keeping). Polly's now cuckoo for cocoa puffs and ratting out Betty for making up a psychiatrist/forging Adderall prescriptions for herself. They want her to be all "I LOVE the Leader Edgar!" along with them, but she's not down for that. Something *I* wasn't down for was hearing that the Ghoulies had snatched Hot Dog, the Serpents' pooch who Jughead complained about having to take care of after just one day, so in theory the Ghoulies should've had enough of him after a short space of time too and given him back, but as if to prove just how ghoulish they actually are, we hear that they haven't been feeding the poor doggie and he's gotten skinny. Jughead, in one of those rare instances where I actually like him, mounts a rescue mission. Betty reminds him that last time he went into Ghoulie territory, he wound up mostly dead, but he doesn't care. And just like Jughead won't listen to her, she doesn't have to listen to him when he says he doesn't want her to come along, she insists that she is coming along, and since he asked her to become his 'Queen' in last season's final, she gets to do what she wants. When they see poor Hot Dog tied to a post, Jughead goes to free him and then Penny Peabody appears (she just won't be gotten rid of, it seems), saying that taking the pooch was just an elaborate ruse to get Jughead to come to them. She's backed up by the Ghoulies, but Jughead has backup of his own - in the form of Cheryl, who shoots one of the Ghoulies in the shoulder with an arrow (this is the second time she's provided backup for Jughead against them. They really should've learned their lesson by now). I liked Jughead's threat about how Cheryl never misses and telling her to aim her next arrow at Penny. Before that, though, I also liked Cheryl preventing Betty from running headlong into trouble when she thought Jughead was in danger. I love it every time she calls Betty 'cousin'. Even Penny knows not to chance it with Riverdale's Red Arrow, so she lets Jughead and Hot Dog go along with the rest of his crew, but not before saying he's now made the Northside up for grabs. Dilton Doiley (who annoys me not only because of his name, but also the fact that he gives off a creeper vibe) continues to annoy me when he goes to blabber something to Jughead about a 'Gargoyle King' (at least I think that's what he said, he was hard to understand). By episode's end, it appears he wasn't so crazy after all and there is some weird ritual crap going on. It's even possible that Dilton was sacrificed (along with some other student who I didn't know/recognise) in the name of this Gargoyle King. And that's not even the craziest part. More crazy is Archie accepting a deal offered by Ms. Wright where he's going to spend two years in juvenile detention (instead of prison) if he pleads guilty to manslaughter. He ignores his mum the lawyer (which even the judge points out to him), who had told him she was going to work something out/there were other options, but his reasoning is he doesn't want to put his friends/family 'through this again' (but you're cool with putting them through you going to juvie for two years and all that entails, Archie?). Forget all his friends and family shedding tears over his stupid arse being taken away, the absolute SADDEST part of the episode was that just before all this happened, he said goodbye to Vegas the dog (who was left home by his lonesome, sitting in front of the door and waiting patiently for Archie to return) and then after all this^ happens, we see him still waiting at home for Archie to return and he's making sad noises. You broke Vegas's heart, Archibald! This is worse than any crime you've been convicted of, you thoughtless bastard! The craziest part of this already crazy episode, however, is Betty walking out her backdoor to witness her mum and sister (along with other members of the Polly's cult) performing some kind of weird ritual dance or whatever whilst holding Polly's twins over a fire. I was positive they weren't going to show the twins actually being dropped into the fire (even though it would obviously have been a hallucination) and, sure enough, they don't. You see them start to fall, Betty cries out, but then the twins start floating upwards. Apparently they possess the power of levitation - either that or Betty's tripping. It's mostly likely the second option, since she then collapses and starts having what looks like a seizure as her creepy cultish mum runs over to her. I'd heard the show got pretty 'out there' in its later seasons, but I wasn't quite expecting this. While it seems some viewers were put off by the show seemingly delving into the supernatural, I for one actually don't mind it. This series was already pretty bonkers, so I say let's see just how much more bonkers it can get! As I couldnt be bothered looking for a needle in a haystack for obvious reasons lol, Ill just ask anyway. Have you read any of the Archie comics? I havent. Just curious of how the two compare No need to go searching through any haystacks, as my answer to your question lies in the first paragraph of my very first episode review at the top of this^ thread: "All I knew about the show was that it was NOT going to resemble the Archie comics very much (not that I ever read the comics, but I was familiar with how the characters looked at least) other than using the characters' names (and hair colours). I knew it was meant to be going for that whole 'darker' sort of thing and that was about the extent of my knowledge in regards to this series. The only other exposure I'd had to some of the Archie characters was this brief appearance by them in The Simpsons."
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 6, 2021 9:55:01 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 2: 'Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fortune and Men's Eyes' and Episode 3: 'Chapter Thirty-Eight: As Above, So Below'. {Spoiler}Archie goes to juvie, is hosed and has talcum powder thrown on him (which reminded me of Tyler Hoechlin's shot in the opening credits of the TV series Teen Wolf). Then he's stuck in a cell with a guy named 'Mad Dog' (when Archie said it, I was totally expecting the dude to respond, "Mad Dog? I hate that name. I hate it! You hear? Nobody calls me 'Mad Dog', especially not some duded-up, egg-suckin' gutter trash!", but instead he's just not one for conversation) who probably made Archie feel very inferior (despite all the push-ups and other shirtless working out he does). When Archie goes out to the prison yard and shows his fresh Serpent tattoo to other Serpents (just like Jugdad advised him to), Kevin’s old b/f (Joaquin) appears and says that he has to earn their protection. To do that, he has to go shiv a Ghoulie. Of course, Archie being Archie, he refuses. Sometime later, Archie gets grabbed by some Ghoulies who're holding a grudge against him since he set them up to get caught by the police during the drag-race last season, so they beat him up and steal his sneakers (bet he wished he had that shiv now. And what are they going to do with his sneakers? Are we to believe that even though those guys are bigger than Archie, they just happen to wear the same size shoes as him?). Veronica (who seems to be the only one who bothers coming to visit poor Archie. Thanks, dad. Thanks, Bughead) notices Archie's sitting weirdly (is that supposed to suggest he became someone's bitch?) and that he's missing his sneakers. He asks how her progress with the new speakeasy at Pop's and her taking over his spot as Student Body President at school are coming along (oh yeah, I'd forgotten Archie won that school election and was interrupted/arrested before he could actually enjoy it in last season's final). Veronica's been working at Pop's and having to deal with Cheryl, who wants Archie's position as School President. When Veronica confronts her about it, it just so happens to be when she's in her sexy red lingerie in the locker room. This seems to happen on more than one occasion, as previously Betty threatened Cheryl in the same place and also while she was in her lingerie. Although Cheryl claims to sympathise (up to a point) with Veronica and the fact that her b/f is locked up, she also says she needs the presidency for her college applications. I was morbidly amused when Betty asked her mum and Polly whether Polly's twins were okay in a moderately concerned tone at breakfast. Firstly, if they really did get thrown in the fire, Betty...I don't think they'd be 'fine' in any sense of the word. And secondly, I would think that if you really truly believed you'd just witnessed your mum and sister throwing your niece and nephew into a fire...you'd be a little more freaked out. Of course, since Polly has managed to suck Alice into her cult, she's now spouting hippy-dippy BS at Betty while Polly is making out that what Betty saw was just a hallucination and that's why she collapsed/had a seizure. You know what would be the biggest twist EVER? If those twins really are dead and every time Betty asks about them (like she did in this scene), her mum or Polly just come up with some excuse why she hasn't seen nor heard them at all. As weird as this show is, I highly doubt they'd ever actually BBQ infants. But hey...surprise me, show. Surprise me! I was also amused by Veronica later bringing Archie brand new shiny blue & yellow sneakers, which he responded to by trying to hide them (like he's thinking, "Thanks for the gift, Ronnie, but this'll just be interpreted as me saying to the guys who kicked my ass last time, "Please, sir, I want some more ass-whoopin!" and these brand new shoes will be gone in seconds."). Reggie is there also. Veronica's confident Archie is going to be strutting out of juvie in no time. Alas, that isn't actually the case. She gets mad at Cheryl when she stops by the retro diner (which Veronica bought from her dad last season) on account of her continued pursuit of the class presidency, and then says she's banning her from coming there anymore (on what grounds? General bitchiness?). Cheryl tells Veronica to channel her rage not into attacking her, but instead something more productive. She's found an organisation called the 'Innocence Project' which helped her out when she was accused of murdering her brother, so maybe it could help Veronica with freeing Archie. Meanwhile, Dilton Doiley is in fact dead after that weird ritual display Jughead found him involved with last episode, but the other guy (Ben - who was the dude Miss Grundy was last giving 'music lessons' to before she was offed at the start of last season) survived. Apparently they'd done some weird ritualistic game thing involving drinking from chalices that were poisoned or something. I was struggling to follow this whole storyline, especially when it got even more complicated due to Ethel being involved with it (she claims Ben is her b/f, but Bughead eventually discover that was just part of some sort of game they were involved in. I guess it was something like D&D?). Then there's a new character introduced named Evelyn who seems to lurk around the place, giving off creeper vibes. Really, I found this whole plotline in the episode to be pretty blah. The only mildly interesting part was when Bughead went out to the woods and encountered what I guess is meant to be the 'Gargoyle King' - which looked like some big tree demon with a skull on top and covered in blood. If we start seeing Bughead slaying demons... then things might get a bit more interesting, but so far I'm just not that into it (just like Kevin discovers Moose is just not that into him and even resorts to stalkerish behaviour by joining the same club as Moose, despite having been told numerous times to back off). I had to roll my eyes at Archie delivering a big speech to all the guys in the prison yard (I honestly expected most of them to just either ignore him or get bored and return to whatever it was they were doing. Archie doesn't exactly have a 'commanding presence', after all). Miraculously, they all actually listen to what he has to say, as he wants them all to have a football game with everyone intermingled (no Serpents vs Ghoulies - though, really, how could he possibly have ensured that they wouldn't just start fighting with each other anyway, even if he mixed up the teams?) and the 'MVP' gets his brand new sneakers. Again I ask...are we supposed to buy that Archie's nifty new footwear is 'one size fits all'? Anyway, they have a game, then Veronica, Cheryl, Josie and the rest of the cheerleaders show up to cheer them on and sing 'Jailhouse Rock' as they do so. It was a fun scene. However, things take a turn for the worse when Hiram shows up, Veronica tells him off for what he's putting Archie through, and his response - naturally - is to make Archie's life even harder by nodding to the warden who releases guards to come beat everyone up, including Archie. He's just not having a real good time in juvie. Too bad he took that deal in court instead of listening to his mum the lawyer. To top things off, Mad Dog (who Archie was starting to become friends with) is reported to have died during the prison ambush - even though he wasn't there. It's later revealed he was someone the warden was using, and now apparently Archie's going to fill that position after he's informed that he has been 'tapped'. The one question I have about the ambush - how is it that Veronica, Cheryl, Josie or any of the other cheerleaders didn't have a single phone between them that they could've used to film what really happened? You call yourself 'teens'! Phfft. No self-respecting teens go anywhere without their phones! None of the storylines this episode particularly interested me, and I especially think it's ridiculous that now we're supposed to buy that all the parents of the main 'teen' characters in the show have some big secret they share between them that's seemingly going to play a part in this whole 'Gargoyle King' storyline. There's been no suggestion of anything like this previously, so yet again it appears the writers are pulling things out of their arses. It also feels way too convenient that only the parents of the main 'teens' in the show seem to be involved with this. No other lesser-known adults could've played a part as well? The episode ends with Ben speaking crazy-talk as he sits on a windowsill and Bughead aren't able to do anything to prevent him from splattering himself below (sounded like he landed on a car, I think). Oh, and earlier on Ethel experienced a seizure (like Betty did). I'm not fussed on her character, so I'm hoping she soon joins Dilton and Ben. The following episode begins with Archie stuck in a box/solitary confinement, refusing to do what the warden wants him to until the warden gets sick of playing The Waiting Game and just simply kidnaps Archie. After he removes the burlap sack from Archie's head, his hair looks like he's received a shock - which he has, in a manner of speaking, as he looks upon 'the pit' - ie. a fight club where prisoners fight other prisoners (it reminded me of 'The Ring' episode from Season 1 of Angel, where Angel was forced to be part of a fight club too...except that one involved demons. Considering the crazy stuff that's occurred so far this season, I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility for Archie to be fighting demons. There's already a tree demon, after all). He refuses to take part until the warden threatens Kevin's old Serpent b/f, Joaquin. Archie then befriends some other members of the fight club, who're keeping up the tradition of weird-named individuals in Riverdale. There's 'Baby Teeth', 'Thumper' and 'Peter' ( ). Every time Archie's taken to the pit, he gets the burlap sack treatment, then when he fights his first opponent, he easily knocks the guy out with a single punch. Apparently this earns Archie some 'perks' - such as being asked what he wants for lunch. He gets the warden to order food from Pop's (I thought maybe he'd order something odd to get a coded message to Betty or Veronica...but nope. This is Archie, after all) and not only for himself, but for his new fight club buddies too. Apparently only Veronica, Reggie and a hallucination of his dad can be bothered visiting Archie in juvie. When he snaps back to reality after having an entire conversation with Hallucination Dad (during which Archie never even bothered asking about Vegas the dog. That jerk!), the warden basically tells him the people want a show and not to end the fights so damn quickly. Clearly, Archie never watched Gladiator. He does get his "Are you not entertained?!" moment later on, though, when he lets his opponent get in a few licks until deciding he's had enough of that and knocking the guy out. More 'perks' include receiving a bottle of rum (I totally wanted Archie to clarify "Like the alcohol?" again, as that cracked me up when he said it last season). However, it's Hiram Lodge's rum and Archie gets very mad at the fact that he didn't know what Hiram meant when he asked him if he wanted rum that time. Or maybe he's just pissed at Hiram. That's probably more likely. Anyway, he throws the bottle at the cell bars and trashes the room (good job, Archie. Guess who's going to have to clean that up). Though his tantrum does unearth one useful thing - a book with a secret little rock hammer inside. He tells his buds that he's planning to escape (considering the size of that rock hammer, he shouldn't really be getting their hopes up). Joaquin wants in (this is the same guy who ratted Archie out to the other Serpent inmates and told him that if he wanted protection, he had to shiv a Ghoulie). That's^ Archie's storyline for this episode out the way, while Veronica's consists of her opening the speakeasy after Betty asks about it and Veronica admits to her that it has been ready to open for some time, but she held off doing so because she was hoping Archie would be there for it. Since she's got bills up the wazoo and needs to make money fast, Betty tells her to get on with it. I was amused that when Veronica does eventually open the speakeasy, Kevin and Josie try to enter, Reggie asks them for the password which they don't know, so they just say whatever and Reggie lets them in. Veronica wants Josie to be her chanteuse (and she's all too happy to try out her new solo music), while Kevin is appointed emcee. Veronica gets called upstairs when Penny Peabody pays her a visit, wanting money for 'protection', but Veronica knows the only thing she'd need protection from is Penny and her Ghoulies. She threatens the diner, then later Veronica and Reggie are delivered boxes that they discover contain the jingle-jangle drug and of course that's when Replacement Sheriff pays them a visit. Veronica tries to stall while Reggie gets rid of the drugs, Replacement Sheriff finds nothing (despite his best efforts) and it's clear this was a set-up with Penny and Veronica's dad. Veronica goes looking for Jughead at the Southside trailer park, but finds Toni photographing Cheryl, who's looking like a damn QUEEN whilst perched on that couch (and not just because of the Jughead crown behind her). Veronica wants to find something to use against her dad, and Toni informs her that Jughead discovered over the summer the Ghoulies run a drug lab in the basement of the old Serpent bar that Hiram bought from Veronica in exchange for Pop's last season. Toni also knows the secret way of getting into there. It amuses me that whenever Veronica's either going a rescue mission (like last season, when she and Toni went to save Cheryl from the loony bin) or is breaking and entering (like in this case), her choice of attire remains the same and as booby/impractical as ever. The trio takes photos of the drug lab, which Veronica presents to her dad, saying she's not paying Penny 'protection money' and wants him to back off or she's going to have the photos (of which she's made copies) sent not to his lapdog, Replacement Sheriff, but rather to the FBI. She also asks for $10,000 a week in perpetuity. Later, after the club has officially opened, Hiram stops by with that creepy portrait of his daughter that he liked to look at creepily, Veronica's worked out that he's already moved his drug lab elsewhere and her dad's all, "What drug lab?" (I'm pretty sure that sort of response is reserved for kids who've been caught stealing something and not Mafia bosses, Hiram). The most annoying storyline this episode, though, was poor Bughead being stuck investigating this whole 'Gargoyle King' business. While their parents have been gettin' it on (ew), Bughead have been hanging out in dead Dilton's bunker. They mention the weird game he and dead Ben were involved in called Gryphons and Gargoyles - or G&G (they're not even trying to hide that it's just D&D with a different name). Basically, they do some sleuthing, discover that creepy Evelyn from Polly's cult farm is somehow involved, Ethel (who didn't join Dilton and Ben in death, sadly) is chained to a bed and on suicide watch, spouting crap about the Gargoyle King's scripture and spreading his gospel, she's clearly got a crush on Jughead (though that doesn't stop her from blackmailing him if he blabs about the game to anyone), he wants to find out what's involved with the game, learns there's a manual, Jughead is then invited by Ethel to test his 'worthiness', but she's a total bitch to Betty, saying that she'll 'never be worthy' - which takes on a double-meaning, as clearly what she's really saying is "I'm totally gonna make the moves on your boyfriend who you don't deserve, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!"...and indeed she does, after poor Jughead's forced to play the game (which is as boring as hell to watch, so I can only imagine how mind-numbing it must've been for him to participate in), has to risk drinking a chalice with poison in it, but (of course) survives, only to probably wish he had drunk from the poisoned chalice, as Ethel then blackmails him into snogging her, saying she won't give him the manual until he does so. So, after that^ unpleasantness (seriously, Ethel's so desperate. I get the feeling that although she maintained last episode Ben was her b/f not in the game, but in real life...that actually wasn't the case. She seems like the type who tells themselves whatever they want to believe. Hell, I wouldn't put it past her to brag to Betty about the snogging, like she thinks it means she's now got a shot with Jughead or something. Clearly he was on a mission and I'm sure he just thought to himself "Let's get this shit over with."), Bughead bring the manual to their parents, who they have been able to work out know more about the game than they're letting on, but they just burn it (I imagine Jughead was thinking something along the lines of, "Damn it, dad, I had to kiss Ethel frickin' Muggs' to get that! Totally not worth it!"). Betty was already pissed at her mum because she'd shared all of their deepest darkest secrets with Polly's cult farm (including the murder of the shady guy by Chic and the coverup - which not only were Betty and Alice a part of, but also Jughead and his dad). This doesn't really improve their mother/daughter relationship. Not to worry, though, the following day, it appears EVERYONE at school has a G&G manual! Except it's probably not such a good thing if it means getting involved with a crazy cult that worships a tree demon and causes people to off themselves. Oops.
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Post by AQUA JAR!™ on Apr 7, 2021 17:31:56 GMT 1
Nice write ups!
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 8, 2021 11:52:28 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 4: 'Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club'. {Spoiler}When Jughead's voiceover was talking about the Gryphons & Gargoyles manuals/rulebooks that everyone had received in their lockers at the end of the previous episode, saying "For every manual confiscated, two popped up in its place.", it immediately made me think of Hydra. It was odd seeing Hermione in a classroom, as I'd momentarily forgotten that she was the mayor now. Anyway, she bans the G&G game, but as Veronica points out to her mum later on, banning something just makes it more interesting to people... and they wants it! While Hermione had warned the students about what the game could do, even if she'd come right out and said "THIS GAME MAKES YOU KILL YOURSELF!", I don't think it would've done any good. It's funny when Cheryl mentions how 'some' (meaning her) people are shepherds and not sheep, considering what happens at the very end of the episode, but before that, Betty makes a trip to the morgue where she scores a file that is evidence of another mysterious death (like dead Dilton's and dead Ben's) and outright asks her mum WTF is the deal with this D&D knock-off game. I was amused that they changed up the title card for the show, replacing it with a Saved by the Bell-style version (I mean, I never even watched that show, but I still got what it was referencing). So, the deal with the flashback that the majority of this episode takes place in is that the actors and actresses who play the main 'teens' in the show get to play the 'teen' versions of their characters' parents - ie. Lili Reinhart is playing 'teen' Alice Cooper (while adult Alice is narrating this whole flashback - HA! Take that, Jughead voiceover!), K.J. Apa is playing 'teen' Fred Andrews, Camila Mendes is playing 'teen' Hermione Lodge, etc. While all the actors/actresses look varying degrees of different to their own characters that they play (Veronica's mum certainly doesn't have her daughter's fashion sense, the only thing different about Jughead and his dad as a 'teen' is that his dad has slicked back hair in place of a stupid beanie, while Archie's dad does bear an uncanny resemblance to Luke Perry during his Beverly Hills, 90210 days), the two who look the most different are Lili Reinhart as 'teen' Alice and Madelaine Petsch as 'teen' Penelope Blossom - I was amused when she asked for the girls' hall passes in the ladies toilets and Teen Alice's response to that which led to them getting into a physical altercation (it also showed that adult Alice had that slap coming back in Season 1 of the show). While that's^ going on, Teen Jugdad (I'm not calling him 'Teen FP' ) is being pressured by Reggie's 'teen' dad to streak through the school halls as is apparently the tradition for the football team. He refuses until Archie's 'teen' dad offers to do it with him. They go through with it, but consequently wind up in detention...which just so happens to be where the four girls from the scuffle in the toilets wind up too. And so, this flashback becomes a rather blatant rip-off of 'homage' to The Breakfast Club. And if it wasn't already obvious, they even get Anthony Michael Hall (who was in that movie) to guest star as the principal. He lays down the detention rules, and then promptly leaves. I'll never understand this way of doing detention. How can any adult ever expect 'teens' to honour the rules of detention when they're left alone? Has ANYONE in the history of EVER actually done that? Well, this crew don't say much to each other for a couple of hours...so I guess they've come the closest to obeying the rules of detention. However, that changes when Teen Alice breaks the rules by carving her initials into the windowsill with a knife, Teen Fred tells her to stop, then Kevin's 'teen' dad, Tom, sneaks into detention to snog Josie's 'teen' mum, Sierra. Teen Fred wonders how he didn't know these two were a thing, and Teen Penelope says because their cliques 'don't cross-pollinate'. After Teen Tom is gone, Teen Sierra suggests a game of 'Secrets and Sins' to pass the time. She reveals her being with Teen Tom is a secret because their parents don't like them dating 'different' people (this whole episode proved that the actress who plays Josie isn't the problem, as the character of Teen Sierra was interesting. It's the character of Josie who's the problem, as she is equal parts boring/annoying. So, it was good to see the actress playing a character who didn't annoy me too much). Teen Hermione has been seeing Teen Hiram who Teen Penelope accuses of being a criminal, but Teen Hermione believes he's her ticket out of Riverdale. One person who doesn't want to get out of Riverdale, however, is Teen Fred who is juggling being a football player and a musician, but can see himself one day becoming mayor - which Teen Hermione scoffs at (HA-HA, future references!). Teen Alice's secret (not including the fact that she found out earlier she was pregnant in the ladies toilets) is that she lit a dumpster on fire in the Southside - which Teen Jugdad calls her out on, but then she turns the tables on him and brings up the fact that he actually lives in the Southside. That's not his big secret, though. Rather it's that he doesn't want to become a Serpent, instead wanting to be the first member in his family to go to college, and so his dad beats him (which is how he wound up with his arm currently in a cast). You think that's^ bad? Wait until you hear Teen Penelope's story - which she starts off with a declaration of "The Blossoms, they are terrible people." (yeah, and you're going to join them/tell us something we don't know!). She wasn't born a Blossom, but instead was brought up in the orphanage/loony bin we know so well. The Blossoms wanted to see all the redheaded kids, picked her out, then raised her as Clifford Blossom's sister until that changed into them grooming her to be his 'life companion' (ew). She's happy to spend any time away from them she can get, but when asked why she doesn't leave, she answers because they're her 'family'. Teen Hermione calls out the incest of it all, which leads to Teen Penelope insulting her mum who cleans hotel toilets, then they're at it again, fighting, which lands everyone in more detention (four Saturdays' worth of it). And so it is, through the magic of make-believe detention, that they all slowly become friends instead of just resenting each other even more than they already did (which would've been the more likely scenario, I would've thought. Especially those who weren't part of the fighting). Teen Alice adds all her new buddies' initials to the windowsill she'd already vandalised, while Teen Hermione breaks into the teacher's desk to take back stuff of hers that had been confiscated, while also finding other students' stuff...plus the manual for Gryphons & Gargoyles. DUN! Naturally, they start playing the game. Teen Penelope's the dungeon master 'game master', Teen Alice is 'the Sorceress', Teen Hermione's 'the Thief', Teen Sierra's 'the Siren', Teen Jugdad's 'the Deadeye' and Teen Fred's 'the 'Radiant Knight' ( ). They really get into it, Teen Penelope sends them on quests, coupling Teen Alice and Teen Fred together and Teen Hermione and Teen Jugdad together. Poor Teen Sierra's left behind with Teen Penelope and I was sure there was going to be some action between them...but, sadly, there apparently wasn't (if there had been, it would've meant that on top of everything else she is...adult Penelope would be a hypocrite, considering how against Cheryl being with girls she is). When Teen Sierra asks why she coupled them that way, we see it's very much a case of like mother like daughter with the Blossoms. The 'chaos' that ensues is Teen Jugdad trying to snog Teen Hermione and her not being interested while Teen Alice breaks down and almost confesses her pregnancy to Teen Fred, but then decides against it. They end up snogging, though, while at the same time Teen Jugdad's confessing to Teen Hermione he's got feelings for Teen Alice after having been playing G&G with her so much. "Then what the hell was that almost kissing me about?!" is what Teen Hermione should've asked, but instead she just advises Teen Jugdad to go for it with Teen Alice. Uh-oh. Teen Penelope, you diabolical -- Cut back to the 'present' and Betty's shocked her mum snogged Archie's dad. I love Alice's reason/excuse for why it happened - "We were young, attractive, in the same room" (yep, that's all that's required for two people to get it on). We flashback again, and as if to illustrate just how addictive the game really is, they don't only play it when they're in detention...they actually sneak into the classroom (after Teen Sierra left a window open earlier in the day) to play the game late at night (hence why they call themselves the 'Midnight Club'), eventually abandoning the game board altogether and venturing out into the empty halls of the school whilst dressed in costumes (Teen Jugdad even gets to wear a crown which resembles the one Jughead's comic book counterpart wears), which is when they run into Kevin's dad, Reggie's dad, dead Dilton's dad and Teen Hiram Lodge, who've evidently been playing the game too. After some bickering, they join forces to play an even BIGGER game, then one day at school they all find invitations in their lockers to an 'ascension party' in the detention room to see if they can 'rise to the challenge and ascend to the next level of the game'. Apparently it involves them finding a couple of chalices (chalices are just the BEST, aren't they?) and flipping a coin to see which one they drink from (unless, of course, chalices are poisoned...and then they're not so fun). They party on and Teen Hiram's brought along with him a new drug called 'fizzle rocks', which everyone partakes in except Teen Alice (because of her pregnancy). Dead Dilton's dad compliments Teen Penelope on the ascension party, assuming she was behind it because she's the dungeon master game master, but she denies that she's responsible. Teen Alice isn't in the partying mood...mostly because she feels sick. Once she's barfed in the ladies toilets, she finds two chalices, a coin and the words 'flip for your fate' scribbled on the walls. Thankfully, she's smart enough not to do as the creepy toilet message instructs and runs out of there, almost running into the principal, but manages to avoid him. She does, however, run into the Gargoyle King, runs and hides, calling for her new buddies...but they're completely useless and don't come to help her. DUN DUN!! The following day, she looks for her useless new buddies and still can't find them anywhere until she bumps into Teen Hermione who says Teen Fred's dad died last night and he wasn't there with him when it happened on account of being high on fizzle rocks. They all gather together in a booth at the retro diner (that's probably not 'retro' at this point in time) and discuss the fact that the principal's been missing. Teen Alice reveals that she saw him at the school at night, while Teen Penelope tells her that she didn't see nothin' and makes everyone promise to keep their mouths shut lest they get into strife for being in the school after dark...and, oh yeah, HIGH. A week passes and they eventually stumble across the principal, dead as a doornail, locked in a supply closet. They meet to discuss who was responsible, considering the principal's lips were blue and Teen Alice notes that the chalices she saw in the ladies toilets had blue liquid in them. Various accusations are thrown at different members of the club, but after each one of them maintains their innocence, eventually they settle on destroying all evidence of the game so nothing can be traced back to them, then make a pact (complete with spit in palms - how hygienic! While it wouldn't surprise me most would do that, it's funny to think of Cheryl's mum doing it) to never speak of the game again. And so the Midnight Club disbands and goes back to ignoring each other (except for the couples who're involved, of course). End of flashback! Betty's thinking, "Shit, that was a long-ass story. Speaking of asses, mine's gone to sleep. Thanks, mom."...or maybe she's thinking about what the poison was that killed the principal. Alice has no answer for that. Betty's now thinking, "So, this was all just an excuse to reminisce about your youth when you were a hotter grungy version of me with great hair and the parents of my friends were different to how they seem now...yet they looked exactly like us, which is weird, and how you were really into Jughead's dad, which you would've gone into even more detail about if I hadn't stopped you and you can't even give me any USEFUL INFORMATION?!"...or maybe she's thinking that someone from the Midnight Club used the game when her mum played it to kill the principal and now that same someone's using the game to off people in the present day. Alice makes her daughter promise not to play the game and Betty's all, "Phfft, only an idiot would play that game...sorry, mom." before searching for Jughead at school the next day, only to find him - along with Cheryl, Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs - playing G&G (I said Cheryl mentioning how she wasn't a sheep would become ironic at the end of the episode!) in dead Dilton's bunker. When Betty questions Jughead, he's all crazy-eyed and rambling about having figured out a way to beat the Gargoyle King. DUN DUN DUNNNN!!! This was an entertaining episode. Easily the most enjoyable so far this season. It was interesting to get backstories on the parent characters and seeing the 'teen' actors playing the younger versions of their characters' parents was a fun way of doing the flashbacks (though, really, what other option was there? To have an episode that mainly consisted of actors/actresses we'd never seen before playing the younger versions of these parent characters we know little about? That would've sucked, as we'd have no attachment to whatever young actors/actresses they got to play the roles. At least this way, we got to see the contrast between the 'teens' of the present and how their parents were at their age whilst also bearing uncanny resemblances to them. I'm sure it was fun for the show's younger regular castmembers to have a change as well, getting to play different characters. This episode was much better than that one last season involving the three tales being told, and I'd say it was even more successful than the musical episode too. Also, the soundtrack was AWESOME. Better than any of the songs these characters have sung in the show so far. It's kind of disappointing that next episode we'll be going back to the characters/storylines set in the 'present', as I wanted more flashback stories - I was amused to see suggestions of a spin-off show about exactly that...neglecting the fact that would require all these 'teen' actors/actresses to do the work of TWO SHOWS. Ha! Yeah right. It's a nice thought, though. Kudos, show, for pulling off this episode. See? When you put your mind to it, you can actually make an enthralling episode this season. Thanks.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 10, 2021 9:42:08 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 5: 'Chapter Forty: The Great Escape'. {Spoiler}Archie's great escape plan consists of Kevin's old b/f, Joaquin, informing him that the electrified fence is down, nodding to his guys to stage a fight as a distraction for the guards, then everyone who's in on the plan bolting for the fence (so not the most creative/original plan ever). Joaquin trips and falls like he's in a horror movie, Archie (being the do-gooder that he is) comes back for him and, naturally, exposed backs are no match for rubber bullets, so most of the guys get taken down. Joaquin would've been also, if not for Archie hauling him down from the fence to shield him. Seriously, Joaquin's pretty useless. Hiram, who's now just like a petty teenager, takes great delight in trying to antagonise his daughter about Archie's failed escape, saying he and the rest will be punished. She refuses to let her jerk of a dad get to her, simply replying that she will see to it that Archie's freed. He then calls the warden who has Archie tied to a bed and proceeds to brand him with a branding iron. As if it wasn't enough that Archie went back for Joaquin, giving up his own chance at escape, he's now taking full responsibility for the escape plan and trying to save everyone else from suffering punishment...not that it does much good. Meanwhile, we see what happened leading up to the ending of the previous episode, but this time from Jughead's perspective. He's playing G&G with Cheryl, Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs in dead Dilton's bunker...and everyone promptly dies (in the game). That's when Betty enters, wonders WTF they're all doing and fills Jughead in on the story her mum told her last episode including the part about the dead principal with blue lips matching the cases of dead students in the 'present'. Jughead's in full-on crazy mode, rambling about how this means they've been playing 'off board' for longer than they thought and how rescuing Hot Dog was obviously a quest, while the Serpents and Ghoulies are like orcs and goblins in the game, etc. Betty basically says she's not in the mood for his particular brand of crazy, trying to get him to focus on the fact that one of their parents had to have been responsible for the dead principal in the past and is most likely behind the current deaths, but Jughead's too focused on the word 'Eldervair' (which is the realm of G&G) being an anagram of 'Riverdale', thus why it's a game that only exists in their town. He continues rambling about becoming a dungeon master game master so he can get to the Gargoyle King's 'level' and confront him. Betty's all "FTS" and gets away from her crazypants b/f as fast as possible. She decides to basically repeat what she just said, but this time to people who aren't nutbars like her b/f currently is - namely, Kevin, Josie and Reggie. They don't believe their parents could be murderers (in Riverdale, ANYONE could be a murderer. Haven't they learned that by now?), but nevertheless they agree. Kevin and Josie ask their parents, who lie about never having played the game and are much more eager to talk about the fact they've just gotten engaged. Kevin and Josie don't have it the worst, though, as when they all reconvene to tell Betty they wound up with bupkis, Reggie reveals his black eye he received courtesy of asking his old man about the game. All three think Betty's keeping something from them, but then Veronica interrupts to inform them all that Archie's involved in a fight club and they need to bust him out. Rewind a bit, as while all that^ stuff was going on with Betty & co, Veronica was using one of her suitors from the end of last season to help her get into the detention centre. Also helpful (apparently) is her disguise that consists of a blonde wig and sunglasses, which somehow manages to make her not be recognisable to the guards at the prison (even though they're under Hiram's control, I guess they don't know what his daughter looks like?). Once her and Reggie are in, they witness the fight club Archie's involved with (I was amused by Veronica's remark "I'd recognise those abs anywhere."), then later when he's healing his hands with ice in the locker room, Veronica rips off her wig, hugs and snogs him (I was kind of hoping he'd be all like, "Who are you?" before she removed the wig. After all, this is Archie - who required clarification about such things as rum and dollars). After Veronica tells him she's breaking him out, he mentions a drain in the bottom of the empty pool where the fight club is held. Another amusing comment from Veronica was her saying "Curse your broad shoulders." in response to the fact that the drain isn't very big and Archie's not sure he'll be able to fit through it. Then, because Varchie like having sex at inappropriate times in inappropriate places (such as shower sex in the first episode of last season when Archie's dad had just been shot), they have it right there in the locker room. Well...at least they're consistent. So, once Betty and the others learn of Veronica's plan to help Archie escape, she fills in Jughead...but he's still living in the fantasy world, setting off on another 'quest', though he's saying it was lacking 'heart and humanity' which helping Archie has now given it. Betty's all "I can't deal with your crazy shit right now, you loon." and takes his motorcycle, saying she'll rescue Archie without him. Go Betty! Jughead's clearly gone off the deep end, as have Sweet Pea and Fangs, who earlier broke into the arsenal and stole Cheryl's bow & arrows (those thieving bastards!), accidentally shooting an arrow into the tent Cheryl and Toni were having a 'rendezvous' in, but then moved onto shooting stuff in the air as target practice in preparation for wanting to take G&G into 'the real world'. Jughead wasn't having any of that, then instructed Cheryl to shoot an arrow at a can he was balancing on his head as he stood against a tree (she was hesitant, but then did it after he yelled at her to do so). He said that if Sweet Pea had something to prove, he should do the same...but he didn't, then Jughead ended the conversation by stating emphatically it's his game, his rules and he's the dungeon master game master. So, NYAH! For winning his latest fight, Archie's being rewarded with a big meal courtesy of the warden...until he realises this is his final meal and that means something not-good (even Archie can work that out). He's seemingly 'outlived his usefulness'. Since he's going to be dead soon anyway, he says that the warden might as well tell him everything he wants to know about who framed him and how...which he does. Apparently Veronica's dad paid the three friends of Cassidy (the guy Archie's accused of murdering) a large sum of money to lie under oath that they saw Archie shoot Cassidy, and now they're hiding in the woods (though the warden reckons a better hiding spot is the mines). Archie's last question is whether or not Hiram 'owns' the warden too, which he answers by rambling Jughead-style. And so begins the 'great' escape' which takes place at the same time crazy Jughead and his gang are on their G&G 'quest'. Joaquin unexpectedly snogs Archie in the locker room, and as if that wasn't bad enough, he then shivs him (I imagine him being like, "Remember when I told you to shiv a Ghoulie? This is what you should've done."). It's like in Gladiator after Joaquin Phoenix (hey, what is it with guys named Joaquin pulling this stunt?) stabs Russel Crowe and has his men hide the wound while still expecting him to fight...except here they don't bother hiding Archie's wound. No need, since he's holding his hand against it to stop from bleeding out. While that's happening, Kevin, Josie and Reggie have been cooking up smoke grenades in chemistry class at school and Kevin's delivering them, while Veronica uses her INGENIUS DISGUISE, accompanied by Reggie, to bluff her way through security. Wounded Archie is shocked to find he'll be fighting Mad Dog, who he'd thought was dead, and he asks him where he's been...which Mad Dog answers with a fist to Archie's face. Josie, acting as a waitress, brings the smoke grenade beverages to Veronica and Reggie once they're inside while Archie continues getting his arse handed to him by Mad Dog. They eventually hug (or at least that's what it sort of looks like they're doing), as Archie fills his opponent in on the escape plan. Veronica runs into her dad, who grabs her and demands answers about this escape plan she's hatched...and he receives his answer in the form of her stomping his foot. She then signals to the others and they throw the smoke grenade beverages into the pit. Archie tells Mad Dog to escape with him, but he reckons he hasn't got a chance (curse your broad shoulders!), though he will provide distraction so Archie can escape. While all this has been happening, Betty and Kevin have been sabotaging cars (it must be noted that Betty wears the Serpent gear extremely well) and opening the grate at the end of the sewer tunnel (after Betty uses a bobby pin - those trusty things she's so fond of using to pick locks - and opens the lock on it they hadn't been aware of beforehand. Useless Joaquin, who happened by earlier, said to Kevin he was hanging with a new crowd now instead of the Serpents and that Archie was done for, then ran off instead of helping - thus his absolute uselessness during this whole escape was now COMPLETE) for Archie to escape from. And it's just in time too, as Archie emerges all bloody and covered in goodness knows what...then Betty puts her head on him and I was like, "GROSS!". Since the warden's car won't start thanks to Betty's earlier sabotage, he sends his men after Betty and who he thinks is Archie, I guess (though I'm not sure how he thought Archie could've been riding on a motorcycle in his condition). There's a chase, Betty proves she can ride a motorcycle just as well as her now crazypants b/f (managing to look great, even with a bulky helmet and goggles on) and then when they're stopped, Kevin's removes his helmet, as Archie is in fact elsewhere with Veronica, being picked up by Josie and Reggie. It was a good sequence. I especially loved the part where Betty threatened to mace the warden (good ol' trusty mace - just like good ol' trusty bobby pins). The warden then basically throws his hat down on the ground, stomping it and shouting into the sky in anger at being tricked (minus the hat). While all of this^ action has been happening, Jughead has been narrating as dungeon master game master and the quest that Cheryl, Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs are playing mirrors what's going on with Archie in that there are 'parallels' with everything. To list them all would take too long and this review's already long enough. Suffice to say it was an interesting way of having the two storylines happening at the same time...but then got tiresome (and even a bit annoying) after a while. I was amused when they heard a noise from above the bunker and then next thing they knew Archie was being deposited down the hole with a *thud* (it's kind of hilarious to think of him just being dropped in, considering he's severely injured. Another theory I saw was that he'd insisted he could climb down the ladder by himself/without any help...but then proved otherwise. We know how stubborn he can be, so I don't think this scenario would be totally unlikely). Anyway, everyone involved in the prison break gathers in the bunker, Veronica notices Archie's been branded (she didn't notice when they were screwing earlier?), then says they'll take shifts watching him (because they're not taking him to a doctor), the only people who know about the bunker are currently in the room and she wants it to stay that way. When Veronica gets home, her mum is super-pissed. She'd already been yelling at Hiram, then Veronica gets an earful too. Hermione is SO OVER everyone being obsessed with Archie Andrews, damn it! She's got her work cut out for her as mayor, cleaning up this mess. Another mess that's going to need cleaning up is the warden, who offs himself by drinking cyanide from a chalice. The episode ends with Jughead running into the Gargoyle King in the woods, who he bows before like they're about to have a dance. Episode 6: 'Chapter Forty-One: Manhunter'. {Spoiler}How else do you start an episode but with Archie shirtlessness? It's Betty's turn to watch over him and Jughead returns from his run-in with the Gargoyle King at the end of last episode to tell Betty about it as well as inform her that Mr. Tree Demon wasn't alone - he now has disciples (I'm calling them the Gargoylettes). They wonder who those could be, then Archie mumbles Kevin's name, saying that he told him he'd run into Joaquin during the great escape and he mentioned something about joining a new gang. Bughead think that the warden is the Gargoyle King and Joaquin's one of his Gargoylettes. That theory doesn't last long, though, as Betty returns home (still lookin' gooood in her Serpent getup), her mum questions where she's been and whether she was involved with Archie's escape - which Betty denies - then tells her that the warden was found dead, having offed himself like dead Dilton. The now-dead warden had told Archie (when he was having his 'final meal') that a good place to hide would be the mines, and that's where Archie reckons he'll find the friends of Cassidy who Hiram paid to lie in court about Archie shooting Cassidy. I continue to be amused how Veronica keeps managing to find ways to remark on Archie's body, when the two of them are laying in bed together in dead Dilton's bunker and she says there are wanted posters with his 'strong jawline' everywhere (along with roadblocks, checkpoints, etc). Veronica wants to help him clear his name, but doesn't want him venturing out. He wants his dad to be kept out of the loop of where he is to protect him or whatever. Later at school, Replacement Sheriff is interrogating everyone he thinks was involved in helping Archie escape. I was annoyed that there was barely any Cheryl in this episode, but she still got two good moments in this scene. The first was when Reggie's acting as cool as a cucumber while Replacement Sheriff questions him, saying he's welcome to check his 'browser history' in a suggestive way and Cheryl simply rolls her eyes. The second moment was after Josie proves to be a crap liar, unable to even kind of pretend not to be guilty, she suddenly has a seizure and no one (including Replacement Sheriff, who's standing right in front of her, or Reggie, who is seated right next to her) bothers to go over to help her... except Cheryl, who tells Replacement Sheriff to back off. Bughead try figuring out the connection between those who've recently had seizures (ie. Betty herself, Ethel and now Josie) and end up making a connection between their parents and the warden. While Betty's working out how to make their parents confess, Jughead's informed that Replacement Sheriff is trashing the Serpents' new shanty town in search of Archie. He tells Sweet Pea and Fangs to be on the lookout for shiv-happy Joaquin. Meanwhile, Betty's being PROACTIVE (yay!) and has sent out invites (posing as the Gargoyle King) to all the parents involved with the G&G game from the past that ended up with the principal being dead, and after she has gotten all of them in a room together, she starts hitting them with questions. None of the 'rents are very helpful, though Hermione accuses Cheryl's mum of being the one who poisoned the chalices in the past since she was the game master and her reasoning for thinking Penelope's behind the poisoning is because she has a greenhouse, but Penelope points out one can't grow cyanide. Penelope then mentions that dead Dilton's dad poisoned the chalices because he had a thing for her and wanted them to 'ascend' (meaning drink from the chalices and commit suicide) together, but she refused. She assumed they'd been cleaned later on, but apparently not since the principal wound up dead after drinking from them. Dead Dilton's dad came to her years later, feeling guilty, but she didn't want to revisit that night since they both had families, so then he wound up offing himself. I was amused when Betty's reaction was "So, Dilton Doiley's dead dad did it?" (alliteration!). This still doesn't answer the question of who the current Gargoyle King is. Jugdad gets annoyed by Betty's line of questioning and hearing how deep into G&G his son is, then leaves, soon followed by everyone else. Alice is like, "You satisfied, Nosy?" to her daughter who responds with basically, "HOW could I possibly be satisfied, mom, when no one gave me any actual useful information!". At home, Jugdad handcuffs his son to the refrigerator when Jughead's determined to keep digging into all this, as he doesn't want him involved in anything G&G-related because it's like an 'addiction' (oh, joy, an addiction analogy. Because now instead of magic being a stand-in for addiction like on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we have roleplaying games - what fun!). To be fair, Jughead had been acting pretty nutso, so I can understand wanting to put a stop to that. Meanwhile, Archie and Kevin have gone to the coroner (who Betty told them they could trust), so Archie can have his wound properly fixed up. Once they leave, they get a call from a pissed Veronica who's wondering where Archie's at, he's determined to go find those friends of Cassidy that Hiram paid off who he thinks are at the mines and I noticed when Archie tosses Kevin's phone back to him over the back of his truck (after hanging up) that it was quite a throw. It looked almost unnatural (has Archie got telekinesis now? In this show never say 'never') in how far it flew. Even more impressive was how Kevin caught it. Such a random/odd thing to notice, but it stood out to me. Annoyingly, I can't find a GIF of the actual phone toss...but just look at the distance it has to travel to reach Kevin! I was amused when Veronica was searching on her mum's computer and it was revealed that Hermione still hasn't changed her password from Veronica's birthday (didn't she learn anything from the last time her daughter got into her computer?). She'd been trying to find missing footage from the interrogation of Cassidy's friends and discovers it's on there, with them being bribed by Replacement Sheriff. She then gets arrested and thrown in jail. When Hiram visits Veronica in jail, he says Hermione no longer has a computer (wouldn't it just be easier to PICK A DIFFERENT PASSWORD?). Veronica uses her one phone call to inform Archie's dad that Archie's headed to the mines in search of Cassidy's friends, she informs him she has the evidence to clear Archie's name and then asks him to call Josie's mum for her so she can bail her out. I was also amused by Fred's heavy sigh, like he can't believe he's dealing with all this shit - and it's not even his own kid who is telling him all this, but his kid's g/f. Betty finds out from the coroner that dead Dilton's dead dad didn't die from cyanide, but rather oleander. She then learns from Kevin's dad that Cheryl's mum is the only one who grows oleander in her greenhouse, Fred calls, Archie and Kevin find Cassidy's friends have been offed by Replacement Sheriff in the mines, but one's still alive who they take to hospital (amazingly, Archie manages to not be seen by anyone there). While that's happening, Jughead finds out Joaquin's dead with a symbol on his forehead matching the one Archie was branded with by the warden. Kevin informs Archie that the still-alive friend of Cassidy who can clear his name is in fact no longer alive, Archie feels guilty and says everyone he knows dies or suffers or whatever. It's the same "I'm to blame for EVERYTHNIG!" (oh yes, it's all about YOU, Archie) shtick we've heard many times before from lead characters in shows. Even if he manages to be proven innocent, he doesn't wish to return to Riverdale - because that will stop all the craziness from happening? I don't think so. Betty meets with Cheryl's mum (who says she should call her 'Auntie Blossom'. I imagine Betty's thought was, "Shit no! Your family's creepy and I ain't getting sucked into that!"), telling her what Kevin's dad said about her growing oleander, Cheryl's mum is offended, claiming she met with Betty out of the "kindness of her heart" ("HA! Yeah right. What heart?" is what I reckon Betty would be thinking in response) and says that if Betty wants someone to blame, she should go question her own mum who wrote an article about dead Dilton's dead dad's 'suicide'. Betty does just that, but before she can get any answers, the lights in the house go off, things get rather creepy and there is the silhouette of someone sneaking around outside the window. They then come face to face with the FRICKIN' GARGOYLE KING in their lounge and run upstairs, locking the door behind them. Because apparently Gargoyle Kings aren't really fast-moving, it doesn't appear they have been pursued. However, there's a Scream shout-out with Jugdad (played by Skeet Ulrich from that movie) climbing in through the window and acting all shifty (just like he did in the movie). It was a really weird moment, and seemed like it only existed to throw suspicion onto him. Later, after Jugdad has left, Alice informs Betty she's moving to Polly's cult farm with Polly and her twins (who we still haven't seen since Betty 'hallucinated' them being tossed into a fire. Hmmm...), Betty refuses to join her, but that's okay, as Alice never expected her to go. Instead, Betty will be escorted dragged to the loony bin (seems Alice has a go-to move with her daughters...and that's to lock them up in a loony bin! Polly knows all about that). I felt sorry for Betty here. Just like I felt sorry for Veronica, who'd arranged a 'welcome home' party for Archie, since she'd given the evidence of bribery to Josie's mum and informed Archie he could come home...except he had no plans to, basically repeating what he'd told Kevin earlier. Poor Veronica. She worked her butt off breaking Archie out of juvie, getting his named cleared so he could come home and even prepared an impressive 'welcome home' party for him...then he essentially dumps her over the phone. As much of a dick move as that was, though, at least he let her know that he was buggering off, which is more than Jughead did for Betty (oh, sure, I've read comments that he was trying to call her earlier when Alice had Betty's phone as she was being dragged away and she hit 'ignore' or whatever, but Jughead doesn't even bother to try again or leave a note with someone or, hell, even tell Archie to pass along a message to Veronica for Betty, saying "Hey, babe, I'm ditching you to hit the road with Archie. Seeya!"). Screw you, Jughead! More like Dickhead! And screw you too, Archiekins! Both B & V deserve better than either of you! Veronica busted her arse to clear her b/f's name and Betty was being proactive in finding out about the murders, the Gargoyle King, etc, while you two didn't do jack-shit! I'd say both of these ladies would be better off without you two dunderheads, Betty especially would benefit from not having a crazy b/f...except she's now stuck in the loony bin (you've got the wrong half of Bughead locked up!) and finds that everyone at art class is painting the Gargoyle King. GREAT time to ditch your g/f, Shithead!
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 12, 2021 10:45:11 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 7: 'Chapter Forty-Two: The Man in Black'. {Spoiler}So, it seemed they were going for another of those 'three tales' types of episodes with this one, judging by the fact that it began with Archie and Jughead's names appearing on the screen like they did with that episode last season which focused on three tales about three separate sets of characters. It's nice to know Jughead has been trying to reach Betty, since he calls her for what sounds like the umpteenth time from a payphone. Sorry I called you names in my previous episode review, Jughead...but you still should've left a note or message with someone for Betty. Hell, try calling someone else to find out where the hell Betty is, maybe? Not that it would've done much good, probably, since no one else seems to even notice that she's missing. I was amused when Archie suggested Jughead return to Riverdale due to the oddness of Betty not answering and Jughead was quick to point out that Betty took down a serial killer last season whereas Archie, the dope, can't go five minutes without being kidnapped or having the crap beaten out of him (it's funny 'cause it's true!). Though it's a bit sad that Archie sounded more concerned about Betty than Jughead did. Sure, she can take care of herself up to a point, but given all the crazy stuff that's been going on, it wouldn't have hurt for Jughead to seem at least slightly concerned. It was weird seeing Archie and Jughead wandering onto the Kent Farm from Smallville (I'd recognise that yellow house and red barn anywhere!). They didn't even try to make it look any different. It was exactly how I remembered it from SV. I was half-expecting Clark to be pointing the gun at them, but instead it's some brat who immediately annoyed me. Though it was a nice surprise to see Riley Keough guest-starring. Laurie Lake is her character's name and she can tell when someone's BS-ing her, like Jughead so obviously is with his cover names for him and Archie ( really, Jughead? 'Cal' and 'Biff'? While you might be able to pull off a 'Cal', Archie certainly is no 'Biff'). So then Archie jumps in, also telling lies, but different kinds of lies (and slightly more believable, I guess?) about them having gotten robbed for their train money. I guess Laurie buys into it and invites them for dinner, then says they can stay in the barn if they help her move hay. So we lasted about five minutes into the episode before Archie shirtlessness is onscreen. It sort of amused me when they were told to stay out of the main house, and that was for two reasons - 1) Like Veronica told her mum about banning G&G, telling someone they can't do something just makes it more interesting (though, surprisingly, Archie and Jughead don't do the opposite of what they're told. Huh) and 2) I figured not-showing the interior of the house was because there'd be even more evidence it was just a Smallville set. Hell, maybe there'd still be some photos of the Kents on the wall. Either that or the entire interior of the house had been stripped and all that was still left was the exterior. Anyway, while Archie's actually pulling his weight and moving hay, Jughead says he's going into town to...take photos? Like, thanks for your help, Jug! He does manage to come across a creepy old woman who fills him in on jingle-jangle and then fizzle rocks being behind why the place is now a ghost town. He also recognises G&G-related symbols around the place, then later he sees a painting of the Gargoyle King on a wall and encounters three girls playing G&G on the back of a truck. Like the old woman, they give off a slightly creepy vibe, not to mention they're eating fizzle rocks (so, kids in this town take drugs like it's no big thing), and tell Jughead all the men are elsewhere, building a prison, they all work for someone called 'the Man in Black' - who isn't Ed Harris from Westworld, but in fact winds up being Hiram Lodge (of course). Meanwhile, Laurie is giving Archie a shave which then turns into her making the moves on him, and before you can say "You cheating bastard, Archibald!", she's snogging him and he's snogging her back. It's quite a long while before he ends up putting a stop to it, then he maintains he can't do it even though he's 'no longer with' a girl back home. Yeah, because you broke up with her via phone, you jerk! And as if proving Jughead's point at the start of the episode (ie. Archie's completely useless without anyone helping him), Archie proceeds to give Laurie his name, the name of where he's from, etc - which isn't so bright for someone who's trying to not be found. Oh well, the dumbarse pays the price for his stupidity later on when he's enjoying the eggs Laurie's cooked for him and she whacks him in the back of his fool head, rendering him unconscious. Luckily for Archie, Jughead returns to the farm just as Hiram is arriving and Laurie's taking him to where she has Archie tied up in the barn...except he's not there anymore thanks to Jughead, and now the two of them are hightailing it out of there. Archie, being his stubborn self, wanted to hang around and kill Hiram, but Jughead managed to talk him out of it by asking whether Veronica would ever forgive him for offing her dad (I'd be more concerned with whether she'll ever forgive Archie for dumping her over the phone after she MOVED MOUNTAINS FOR HIM). They next head off to go see Jughead's mum, since at least she won't hit them with frying pans and giftwrap them for Hiram Lodge (presumably). The next tale is Veronica's, and I didn't find it particularly interesting (although I do like Veronica as a character). All I remember from it was that she needed to make money, so she decided to use that one suitor of hers to help get a casino running in her speakeasy for one night only. However, he then decided to take money from her via winning at poker, but for once her dad was actually useful and told her about the guy/how to beat him - which she did (via CHEATING). She now retains ownership of Pop's (which she'd put on the line as part of the bet) and also has a healthy sum of money to help her speakeasy from going under. The most interesting of the three tales was Betty's...though it was also very frustrating, as it involved Ethel Muggs (ugh!). Betty's being shown ink blots by the nasty nun, and although she thinks they look like one thing, she says something very different for each one so that she can seem more 'sane' or whatever. I was amused by one thought she had, which was "a dead body, you idiot" in reference to one of the ink blots. Her thinking "what a nightmare" mirrored my own thoughts when Ethel barged into her room, saying they were going to be roommates. And, as I predicted, the bitch tries to piss Betty off by acting like her barely-a-snog with Jughead actually meant something. Thankfully, Jughead had apparently been upfront with Betty (albeit offscreen), as she already knows about it and also that Ethel blackmailed him into doing it. One of the best lines of the episode was what she was thinking as Ethel tried to make out that her and Jughead had something special and kept going on about Betty being 'unworthy'. She was thinking what *I* was thinking! I also loved how she mocked Ethel's delusion that she'd have any sort of chance with Jughead, saying "' Ethelhead'? In your dreams." (Ha! Even their non-existent 'ship' name would be lame!) and then later on when Betty was out gardening (and saw Cheryl's uncle was involved, as well as Hiram, in the whole fizzle rocks/drugs thing that the patients are forced to take, but Betty's been dumping - she should've found a better spot than the bin, though, as Ethel spots them in there) and one of the nuns told her to get back to work, her thought reply was "Bite me." - can we have Betty voiceover every episode instead of Jughead, please? She's FAR more amusing/entertaining with her thoughts than he's ever been with his voiceovers. Anyway, at one point Ethel's still going on about how Betty will never be 'worthy' to meet the Gargoyle King, but Betty's already managed to find a paperclip (in place of those usually reliable bobby pins, which she can't find any of), outs Ethel to everyone else as the sort of person who snogs other people's b/f's, and then fakes a seizure so she'll be taken to exactly where she wants to go. Betty's pretty cunning, and she even finds proof that Hiram is using the nuns' patients as lab rats to test out fizzle rocks and their effects. She's ready to make her escape through a secret passage (the same one which Veronica and Toni used to get in and out of the loony bin when they rescued Cheryl), but unfortunately she finds it's been walled up. Then that bitch, Ethel, turns up with naughty nun and some orderlies, after having ratted out Betty. They force her to take fizzle rocks and then drag her off to a chamber where she's shoved inside and supposedly comes face to face with the Gargoyle King. She's left in the dark and we hear her scream, then later she retakes the ink blot test and this time she says what she really thinks each one looks like. She's pretty out of it and recites Ethel's cultish phrase "My King. My savior. Guide me through the night. Bless me with your darkness, gift me with your flight." whilst seeing the Gargoyle King standing behind naughty nun. Poor Betty! She had it the roughest out of everyone this episode. I also hope Ethel winds up joining dead Dilton and dead Ben ASAP, as I can't stand her. She's the worst, and has now surpassed Josie as the character in the show who I like the least. Episode 8: 'Chapter Forty-Three: Outbreak'. {Spoiler}Boo! I wanted more Betty voiceover/thoughts! But, no, same old boring Jughead voiceover. Though I was glad to see Cheryl again after her absence last episode and barely being in the one prior to it. No one does a slow-mo entrance quite like Cheryl Blossom. While that's happening, Kevin and Moose are making out and taking fizzle rocks, then they hear a scream and Cheryl's the only cheerleader left standing, as all the rest (including Veronica and Toni) are on the floor, having seizures. Cheryl, of course, is most concerned about her g/f (sorry, Ronnie - though at least Betty cares about you, as evidenced by the concern in her voice when her mum later informs her of the mass seizure). Yay! Betty's not hopped up on fizzle rocks anymore, as she's barfing them back up. Clever girl (unlike Kevin and Moose). Meanwhile, Archie and Jughead are stopped at the fence of a junkyard when they wish to gain entry to see Jughead's mum and sister, but his sis (Jellybean - because no one can have normal names in Jughead's family) tells the guy who stopped them to let her bro in and clearly she isn't some weakling, as he does as she says. We then meet Jughead's mum, who does have a normal (albeit 'old timey'-sounding) name - Gladys - played by Gina Gershon. I'd accidentally found out she'd be playing the role before ever seeing this episode, so that lessened the surprise somewhat, but I think it was good casting. She looks like she could be Jughead's parent, just as Skeet Ulrich does. I did roll my eyes at her 'shipping' Jughead with Archie (Jarchie?), though. Please don't feed the slash-fic writers, Jugmum. I loved seeing Betty getting Ethel all riled up, bragging about how she's friends with the Gargoyle King, commenting on how funny he is and the fact that now she's his 'favourite'. It was awesome to see Ethel so pissed off (it's the least she deserves after what she did to Betty). She then baits Ethel into going with her to the chamber which she was shoved into near the end of last episode and does the same thing to Ethel, leaving her screaming in the darkness just like Betty herself did (comeuppance, bitch!). Unfortunately, Betty's a kinder person than Ethel is and returns hours later to explain to her that the Gargoyle King inside the chamber is just a statue (which we see). The mix of drugs and the nuns feeding the delusions (as part of the tests Hiram's having them do) have all the patients believing they're seeing the Gargoyle King inside the loony bin. Though Betty then clarifies she has seen the Gargoyle King outside of the loony bin (comforting). Anyway, she wants Ethel's help in getting information out of the nasty nun to prevent more deaths. Damn it, I wanted Ethel to remain stuck in that chamber indefinitely. You're too good a person, Betty. At school, the principal announces he's closing the student lounge - which is where all the main characters seem to hang out (apparently there's nowhere else to hang), canceling extracurriculars and sports, and Cheryl informs Veronica it's possible the school might get shut down like what happened with the Southside school. Veronica's parents apparently sent out emails about a meeting, then suddenly guys in hazmat suits turn up and start grabbing those who are considered to be 'infected' (ie. the ones who had seizures). Naturally, Veronica makes a run for it. She hides out at her speakeasy with Reggie and they discuss the fizzle rocks/drugs that are being distributed coming from the Southside prison that was once the school there. At the not-so-secret-anymore board meeting with Betty's, Veronica's and Cheryl's parents as well as the principal, they're all about finding 'patient zero' because they seem to think someone's passing along a virus that causes seizures. Veronica and Cheryl crash the party, with Veronica announcing that her dad has been tricking them all and is only wanting to expand his drug empire. I'm always amused when someone says something which Cheryl simply follows up with the word 'fact'. Also amusing was after she exchanged words with her mum, Penelope starts seizing and Cheryl (like me) appears as if she either doesn't care or doesn't believe it's actually real and thinks that her mum is faking it. Another amusing moment was how Jugsis immediately developed a crush on Archie (if you'd witnessed how stupid and useless he is, you'd think twice, Jugsis) after outright asking him whether he was available when he said he was no longer with Veronica (Archie, you jerk, if she ever takes you back, you deserve to be doing some serious groveling for the crappy way you ended things with someone who did nothing but help your useless arse). Jughead tries to calm down his sister, who's overly excited by this news, calling her 'Jellybean', but now in her attempt to be more 'mature' or whatever she's going by 'JB' (which means little to me, as they're just Jughead, Jugdad, Jugmum and Jugsis as far as I'm concerned. They are The Jugs!). Jugmum wants to know how involved her son and Archie are with G&G, and after seeing Jughead's scar, he informs her Penny Peabody cut off his tattoo (neglecting to mention he did the same to her first). Once learning Jughead's the new King of the Serpents, she says she never wanted that for him, but he says she's the one who left, plus she's chopping up cars and stealing/selling their parts, though she claims it's to feed everyone living in the junkyard. As if she wasn't already pretty cool, when Penny Peabody takes Archie hostage at knifepoint (Archie really is totally useless, as Jughead pointed out at the start of last episode), Jugsis calls Penny a 'bitch' before hilariously nailing her right between the eyes with her slingshot. Once Penny awakes, she's tied to a chair and refusing to give any useful information about Hiram's plan other than the fact that he's still after Archie (WHY is everybody so fixated on useless Archie? Just leave him alone for a while and he'll take himself out!) and won't give up. Jugmum has a score to settle with Penny in regards to her cutting off Jughead's tattoo, and yet again it's never mentioned that Jughead was the one who started that whole thing. I mean, Penny is a pretty worthless human being, but it's not like she was the first one to do it - that was Jughead. Jugmum's all "That's not a knife, THIS is a knife." to Penny and then instructs the boys to leave, which tells them/Penny/us what's likely going to transpire next. Cut to Jugmum with blood all over her hands and making vague references to Penny having been taken care of (in the Mafia/Lodge sense). After Veronica's talked to her dad and he's rambled on and on about some biblical-like event he's planning, she gets a call from Betty who informs her of where she's been held (apparently Veronica and everyone thought Betty had gone to Polly's cult farm, which was why her absence hadn't aroused any suspicions), what she's learned and a plan she's formed. Veronica then calls Cheryl to say that Betty saw her Uncle Claudius being involved in the delivery of the fizzle rocks/drugs to the loony bin (hearing Cheryl referencing Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a nice surprise) and suggests they question her mum since she's in cahoots with Hiram. This leads to them waterboarding Penelope using...what else? Maple syrup. And when that's not enough, Cheryl threatens to leave the door open for the ants to crawl in. Suffice to say, this unique/sticky brand of torture gets them some useful information - such as Hiram's plan being to have the town of Riverdale completely quarantined from the outside world so that he and others like him can pursue their illegal enterprises (drug-dealing, prostitution, etc) with no interference from law enforcement (oh yeah, I forgot that Replacement Sheriff wound up dead. So now the town has no sheriff). But Cheryl and Veronica aren't the only ones being awesome. Betty is too, as she takes the nasty nun hostage (there's a lot of that going around this episode) and manages to find out that her and her fellow nuns are the ones who are responsible for G&G, as it was because of them sticking their patients in the chamber with the gargoyle statue that they created a fantasy world to escape to. The nuns fed into their delusions because it helped control them. When nasty nun refuses to tell the police what she told Betty and Ethel, they leave her stuck in the chamber, but not before making it clear to her that they're escaping and taking the other patients with them. Unfortunately, as nasty nun pointed out, the other patients don't wish to leave. So Betty comes up with the idea of playing along with their belief in the G&G game, pretending to be the 'Gryphon Queen' (who I guess is the opposite of the Gargoyle King). She dresses up, plays the part and tosses the head of the gargoyle statue in front of the other patients, declaring the Gargoyle King is dead, so now they're free. This is enough to convince them to escape, but once they do, Betty and Ethel are wondering what they do next. It was kind of funny how they hadn't planned that far ahead and now they just have a bunch of loose crazies roaming the streets. Also funny was Archie dyeing his signature red hair in the hope that'll be enough of a disguise (won't do you much good if you keep blabbing to every hot chick you meet and snog what your name is/where you're from, Archie). His dad has been called and they exchange their goodbyes, even though Fred wants to go with his stupid son (Archie should've taken his dad up on his offer to accompany him, since he's proven to be well and truly useless), but Archie's even too dumb to accept help when he desperately needs it. He's leaving and heading off alone. I was surprised to see Fred had brought Vegas the dog along. At first I thought he just did that so Archie could say goodbye to him, but then he hands him over to Archie and I was like, "NO! Archie can't even take care of himself, let alone Vegas! Take him back, Fred, for his own good! Archie's not only going to get himself killed, but likely Vegas as well, you irresponsible pet owner!". I'm already dreading what will befall poor Vegas while out on the road with Archie. Has he even got any food for him? Anyway, Jugdad (who'd turned up at the junkyard earlier) and Jughead try to get back into Riverdale, but find blockades and police preventing them from doing so all thanks to Veronica's mum having made the order before Veronica and her pals could put a stop to it. Hiram's in his study (where he, amusingly, has replaced the Veronica painting he liked to creepily stare at with a painting of himself - which I'm sure he'll also stare at just as creepily) and basically mua-ha-ha's over the phone to the governor about how his plan is all coming together. And I guess to prove that Hiram is in fact not the Gargoyle King (as so many believed him to be), we see the actual Gargoyle King standing before him, who he toasts to ("To evil." is what I imagine Hiram's toast being).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 13, 2021 11:06:29 GMT 1
Riverdale – Season 3, Episode 9: ‘Chapter Forty-Four: No Exit'. {Spoiler}I was super-worried for Vegas the dog when Fred left Archie in charge of taking care of him near the end of last episode, but to Archie's credit...he's cooking him breakfast at least (can dogs eat eggs?). Archie's stuck in the cabin in the woods (not the movie), where he looks like he might run into lumberjack Dexter, but after radioing some park rangers (because he's apparently joined a park ranger service of some description), he's informed there have been recent bear sightings. So, what's Archie do? He goes out to find Yogi, naturally. Damn it, I knew he'd do something stupid and put Vegas's life in danger! Sure enough, he finds some bear tracks, and all signs point to there being a bear not too far away, but rather than get moving, Archie just lingers, looking around until he's whacked in the head by a bear - not that we actually see it. I was disappointed, as I'd heard about 'Archie vs. a bear' and was expecting more. I guess this show doesn't have the budget for a bear - real, CGI or even a puppet/animatronic. The most they could probably afford is a guy in a bear costume. Anyway, the way it was filmed sort of reminded me of Ernest Borgnine's demise in The Simpsons. Except Archie ain't dead (yet). Thankfully, Vegas appears unharmed (I was really worried for him, so I'm glad he got out of there unscathed), though Archie's scratched up all over his torso - any excuse to get yourself shirtless, eh Archie? He radios for help and the person on the other line helpfully tells him to apply pressure to the wound - because Archie wouldn't have known to do that otherwise? Unfortunately for him, dogs aren't able to do first aid. I imagine Vegas just staring at Archie's stupid arse and thinking, "You bring this on yourself, you know.", but at least Archie says he's a good boy for keeping him company as he tries not to bleed out. Archie's storyline throughout this episode was pretty boring/pointless, I found. Basically, he hallucinates a whole bunch. First, it's dead Cassidy and his dead friends playing G&G, making Archie feel guilty and telling him the only way to return to Eldervair (which we know is an anagram of Riverdale) is to play G&G with them. Then he hallucinates the dead warden from juvie, who also wants him to play G&G, but Archie refuses and the warden makes some vague references to Archie about him having yet to experience his 'do or die moment' like Joaquin (whose moment was apparently him 'ascending' - ie. being killed - after he shivved Archie). He too goes on about Archie returning to Eldervair (aka Riverdale) by playing the game. Archie gets a card that at first says to kill the Gargoyle King, then says to kill the Man in Black (aka Veronica's dad). So Archie goes to do that, Hiram amusingly points out that stupid Archie shouldn't have told him his plans in the Season 2 final (FINALLY someone points that out to Archie's fool self...even if it's just a hallucination doing so), then Archie stabs him. When he returns to the game, the other three members of the core four are there, Betty asks if he's working on any new songs, he says he's not that person anymore (yay! No more subpar Archie songs!) and doesn't want to play G&G anymore either, but once again he's told it's the only way to get back to Eldervair/Riverdale (like, WE GET IT. But I guess since it's Archie, he needs to hear something several times before he gets it) and to 'innocence' (I think that ship has sailed, considering all the murders and whatnot). Archie's last hallucination consists of him and his trusty baseball bat standing over...himself in bed. His dad's suddenly there, telling him not to club himself to death, but Archie's determined to off 'that' part of himself - the part that's 'violent and stupid' (well, offing the stupid part of yourself would certainly be an improvement, Archie. Do it!). I guess Archie's other self is like a Horcrux for him, as killing his doppelganger kills that part of himself...or whatever. This whole plotline seemed to just be 'filler', though at the end of the episode the park rangers finally turn up and Vegas is like, "You're too late, guys." since Archie's doing that eyes-open-stare-of-death thing (though, obviously, he'll be fine next episode and is only mostly dead). As much as it pains me to say it, another rather pointless storyline this episode was the one with Cheryl and Toni being cat-burglars (complete with actual cat masks), as they were robbing from the rich to...not give to the poor, but rather themselves. I was annoyed that they made Cheryl unlikeable this episode (as happened in one episode last season) - STOP doing that, show! She's my favourite character and I don't like not-liking her. At school, Cheryl & Toni (or 'Choni', as their ship is apparently called) are holding hands and then Kevin and his bunch of hall monitors or whatever the hell they are inform the couple that under the new regime (since the town became quarantined and cut off from the rest of the world), there's a rule to keep all physical contact to a minimum. I don't know if this episode aired before or after COVID-19 started, but it seems like that's what being alluded to here. Cheryl, of course, is defiant and refusing to not have physical contact with her g/f. They even get it on at one point, so it would appear they're the type of people who don't obey social distancing rules. Bad Choni! Later, Jughead calls a Serpent meeting due to having found out someone from his gang has been selling fizzle rocks/drugs, so he outlaws any illegal business of any kind from his people. Cheryl isn't pleased, calling him out on his having nicked off with Archie and leaving them, Choni continue burgling, but this time they make the mistake of ripping off Hiram Lodge, stealing his 'Glamergé egg' and Cheryl (foolishly) leaves her signature red lipstick all over his painting of himself he likes to stare at in his study, telling him exactly who was behind the burglary (come on, Cheryl, you're smarter than that! Don't be an Archie!). Meanwhile, Reggie's been getting ambushed as he makes beer runs across the Riverdale border for Veronica. He and V also get hot and heavy at one point. I'm amused that their ship name is apparently 'Veggie' - I think that's the best one since 'Bughead'. Less fun for Reggie is him getting beaten up by the Gargoylettes. Veronica figures out her dad's behind it, since he made it clear to her he wants a cut of her profits she makes at her speakeasy. After some negotiations, they work out an amount, Veronica is paying Hiram to keep the Gargoylettes from attacking, but that doesn't help, since Josie almost gets attacked by one. When Veronica confronts her dad about him not delivering on his end of the deal, he says he's discovered she's been 'cooking the books' and wants the full amount of money he's owned from her, plus that Glamergé egg that was stolen - which, of course, he knows Cheryl was behind, since she (foolishly) left her calling card. Jughead's discovered that Fangs was the one dealing fizzle rocks/drugs, and his excuse is he needs money to take care of his mum. Jughead acknowledges Fangs probably had it pretty rough since he got shot last season (hey, Jug? Other friends of yours got seriously injured too and had messed up stuff happen to them, but that doesn't give them any excuse to sell drugs, does it?). He's willing to let this slide, but Fangs has to promise to A) stop drug-dealing and B) not tell anyone about this. Apparently, Fangs can't keep his trap shut, because Jughead calls another meeting later on after Hiram's made his demands to Veronica and it would seem Fangs blabbed to Sweet Pea who blabbed to Toni who blabbed to Cheryl about Fangs' drug-dealing, since Cheryl says if Jughead wants to kick her and Toni out of the Serpents for robbing Hiram, then he should kick out Fangs too - as all three of them have engaged in illegal activity after Jughead expressly forbade it. Jughead has to concede, otherwise he'd appear a hypocrite, so he asks for Fangs' Serpent jacket - which he gives over reluctantly/angrily (it's your own fault, Fangs, for not keeping your damn mouth shut!). Cheryl refuses to give up hers and Toni's jackets (I can understand Cheryl not wanting to give up hers, since it's a one-of-a-kind), and to Jughead's credit, he lets them keep their jackets, but they're still out of the gang and have to hand over the Glamergé egg. I liked hearing Jughead tell Cheryl that he believes she still has honour. I was hoping after last season when he accepted her into the Serpents, there'd be more scenes between the two - though what we got in this episode weren't exactly the sort of scenes I was hoping for. After handing the egg over, Veronica tells Jughead she wants to hire his Serpents - this way they get paid and she gets protection, so next time Reggie's truck gets attacked by the Gargoylettes, Jughead and his Serpents are there to chase them off. Though when they managed to grab one, I wondered WHY they didn't unmask the Gargoylette they had at their mercy, rather than just giving him a message that Veronica was under their protection, which the Gargoylette was to deliver to his master, the Gargoyle King. Speaking of the Gargoyle King, it seems he's still having an effect on the ex-patients of the loony bin who Betty helped escape last episode. They're having nightmares and still fear him. Betty says they're safe, but one of the ex-patients gets beaten up by the Gargoylettes and accuses Betty of lying, then others start questioning her. Hey, nutjobs? Shuddup. Betty gave you freedom, she gave you shelter and food, quit complaining. As if Betty hasn't already got enough on her plate, she's also dealing with trying to find the ex-patients new homes (since Alice doesn't want to keep housing them) and getting the nuns from the loony bin to turn on Hiram. She's informed that they haven't actually been really real nuns for a long time, so Betty uses that to blackmail nasty nun into testifying against Hiram (saying how he paid them to test fizzle rocks/drugs on their patients) in return for immunity, since their supposed 'vow of silence' wouldn't hold up in court due to them being fake nuns. Betty eventually asks Archie's dad, Josie's mum, Cheryl and her creepy grandma if they can house some of the ex-patients, which they agree to do (Fred specifically says he can house some of the boys, whereas Cheryl specifies girls). However, when Betty returns home, it turns out Alice has sent all the ex-patients who were staying with them to Polly's cult farm, which Betty obviously isn't happy about. She then receives a call from Josie's mum saying that the fake nuns have been bailed out of jail (thanks to Hiram, naturally) and a message has been left that sends Betty to the chamber at the loony bin where the Gargoyle King statue she decapitated last episode now has a new horned skull head and all the fake nuns are dead, having poisoned themselves (like so many in Riverdale seem to be doing). I have to say, I wasn't that fussed on this episode. It was equal parts boring and frustrating, as there was a lot of dumb decision-making going on. Episode 10: 'Chapter Forty-Five: The Stranger'. {Spoiler}Jughead voiceovers the exact time Archie died...except he looks pretty spry for a dead guy to me. Then Jughead's voiceover clarifies it was just a part of Archie that 'died'. Specify that to start with next time, Jughead voiceover! Naturally, Archie was never actually going to die, as all last episode was about him killing off his 'old self' or whatever. I think it was just the writers' attempt to say, "We know Archie's pretty dumb, so we're going to have him acknowledge that and then metaphorically kill the dumb part of himself, thus making him smarter!"...or something. I'm sure Vegas the dog was glad to get back home, where there aren't any bears. Archie's still sensitive where he was wounded, so he fills his dad in on what happened ("You ever see that episode of 24 where Kim Bauer encountered a cougar? It was like that...but even lamer." is what Archie should've said), says he's no longer afraid of Hiram and, oh yeah, how's Veronica doing since he dumped her over the phone? Turns out, after being unsure for a minute who the hell this dark-haired person is in her speakeasy, she's actually pretty alright with Archie's return judging by the way she hugs him. I loved her "What the hell happened to your hair?" and the face she made. Also somewhat amusing (unintentionally so) was Archie explaining he dyed it so he wouldn't be recognised if her dad came after him. Firstly, just dyeing your hair isn't much of a disguise, Archie. It doesn't change your face at all. And secondly, I don't think Veronica was unaware of what hair dye is - I think she was more asking because it looked so wrong. I'll never make fun of Archie's red hair again (now that I've seen the alternative). They don't really seem to discuss him dumping her over the phone after all she did for him, and instead move right onto snogging, like nothing's changed.
Though according to Jughead, a LOT has changed with Archie. I'm not really sure where he's getting this, since he's barely interacted with the 'new' Archie and from what I could tell nothing was really different other than he's morose and has black hair. The core four are at Pop's and Archie's being updated about what's transpired while he was away. They're now planning to take down Hiram (how many times have they attempted that?) and reveal him as the Gargoyle King. And when they're not doing that...SATs! Archie's unprepared (this is what he gets for not taking any school stuff with him on his journey. He had lots of free time in that cabin in the woods where he could've studied in between winding up a bear's chew toy), so Betty's going to help him study. Though she's got her own problems, as Pop informs her that her credit card has been declined. She returns home, justifiably pissed at her mum after learning all her accounts and even her college fund/tuition money have been completely drained. Turns out, Alice has given the money to Polly's cult farm. What a bitch! Meanwhile, Archie's and Jughead's dads pay a visit to Veronica's dad, letting him know Archie's returned home (whatever happened to that blockade that wouldn't allow Jughead and his dad in? How'd they get past that? How'd Archie get past that? Has that just stopped being a thing or are the police really just that bad at blockades?). Hiram maintains he's never wanted to hurt Archie or Jughead (if only someone had recorded all the evidence to the contrary and could play a montage of it, thus proving he's lying through his teeth). Fred threatens to kill Hiram if he goes anywhere near Archie and damn the consequences (kind of funny how Jugdad's right there and doesn't bother to say "Oh, yeah, and if you go near Jughead...what he said." whilst pointing at Fred). Remember how well things went in the Season 2 final when Archie threatened Hiram? I guess his and Jughead's dads didn't get the memo.
Other things going on - Archie being informed by the principal that his best bet is to repeat his junior year since he hasn't had time to study for the SATs (again, that's why it would've been a good idea to take study material with you which you could've read while sitting in a cabin in the middle of nowhere waiting for bears to appear and bitch-slap your stupid arse, Archie!), Veronica informing Reggie that Archie's back...which kind of puts a damper on 'Veggie', and Betty learning (from Josie's mum) that her mum forged her dad's signature to liquidate her funds. If she wants to undo it, she needs to go see dear ol' serial killer dad to get his actual/real signature on an affidavit, saying he never agreed to leave Betty penniless. About the only one who's not having a miserable time is Hiram, who's currently meeting with about a third of his Legion of Doom - namely Cheryl's mum and uncle. Apparently the fake nuns' loony bin is up for auction, there's various bidders in the running (including Polly's cult farm), and I was amused when Cheryl's mum sounded all hopeful about making it 'another brothel', which Hiram proceeded to shoot down as an idea. He has bigger plans than your whoring, Penelope! In the meantime, due to Replacement Sheriff losing his head (literally), the town needs a replacement for Replacement Sheriff, and Hiram's appointing Cheryl's Uncle Claudius - which he seems none-too-pleased about (and who can blame him, considering what happened to the previous sheriff?).
It was mildly amusing watching Bughead attempt to help Archie study, as they seem reluctant to inform him that he sucked on his practice test that they gave him. Archie blah blahs about having changed too much - what, by becoming dumber? Jughead then goes off to a secret meeting with Fangs (who isn't kicked out of the Serpents anymore - that didn't last long - since last episode Jughead said he'd be going undercover with the Gargoylettes), is told that the Gargoylettes are in impressed with Fangs' fizzle rocks/drugs sales and he's found out there's going to be a ceremony with the Gargoyle King in attendance. While that's happening, Betty's convincing Archie to ditch the dark locks and return to his naturally bright red hair. It was probably so that when she takes him to the speakeasy, where everyone's throwing him that 'welcome home' party Veronica wanted to throw for him before he dumped her via phone, all the people there aren't confused when Archie enters and they're left wondering, "Who's this brunette guy?". Veronica proceeds to sing Archie a song in Spanish (since a Gargoylette scared Josie and she's ditched, Veronica has to do everything herself now), Reggie's seething, and Archie rudely runs out mid-performance (maybe he's just upset he couldn't understand a word of what Veronica was singing? Yet another thing Archie could've spent his time learning whilst stuck in a cabin).
Betty's not having an overly fun time either, as she's visiting her dad in his Hannibal Lecter-esque cell, though he's nowhere near as effectively creepy as Dr. Lecter...but he tries to be. She explains the situation/why she's there, he just talks about the fact that she hasn't caught the Gargoyle King yet (hey, jerk, she's caught TWO OUT OF THREE season-long villains, so give her a break!), then says he's intrigued by G&G and if she wants him to sign the affidavit, she has to bring him one of the G&G manuals. Considering the manuals seem to cause those who read them to off themselves...would that really be such a bad thing, Betty? Just make sure you get his signature first. I still can't get over everyone going on about how much Archie has 'changed' - which is what Veggie discuss after he's left his party. This really seems to be a case of all the characters TELLING us he's 'changed', with no real evidence showing us. How is he any different? Because he wouldn't have walked out during the middle of Veronica's performance previously? That's the only thing I can think of that'd make Archie from 'then' different to Archie from 'now'.
Hiram tells Hermione he's bought the loony bin, which she points out is great...except for the fact that it's probably haunted by the ghosts of all the fake nuns who died there. Since this is Riverdale, Hiram actually takes such things seriously and is having a 'cleansing' of evil spirits done. While this is happening, he wants her to go appoint Cheryl's uncle as sheriff, but she basically tells him to do it himself. He says they need someone they can trust in the sheriff's office (hence why he chose one of the members from his Legion of Doom), makes mentions of the 'expansions' he's been doing (Hermione doesn't even know what those are), then threatens her (for what feels like the 100th time), saying it'd be in everyone's best interests - especially hers - to do what he asked. Elsewhere, Betty's brought the G&G manual to her serial killer dad, he signs the affidavit, then they get talking about the Midnight Club and it's revealed that he was in fact the one who sent out all the invites to the Midnight Club's members, gathering them together, then dressed up as the Gargoyle King and poisoned the chalices that the principal drank from (which, according to Betty's dad, was an accident, as he'd intended to off as many members of the Midnight Club as he could because they were 'sinners'). He claims to be able to help her find out who the current Gargoyle King is, then as she's signing out, a guard says she and her mum keep missing each other. This confuses Betty, since as far as she knew her mum never visited her dad.
At the Gargoylettes' ceremony, Fangs is among them and the Gargoyle King is indeed in attendance, though Fangs probably wasn't counting on part of his undercover mission involving him getting branded, so that's when the Serpents step in. They fight off some Gargoylettes, manage to subdue the Gargoyle King and finally unmask him to reveal...Tall Boy? Seriously? How disappointing. After being tied up, he reveals that he's been hiding out in Athens and it was him who paid Betty a visit at her house whilst dressed as the Gargoyle King. He calls her a 'bitch' and thankfully Jughead delivers a well-deserved punch to his face for that. Though Tall Boy doesn't learn his lesson (or maybe he just enjoys pain?), because then he purposely tries to get a reaction out of Sweet Pea and Fangs by going on about the enjoyment he got from carving a symbol into Joaquin's forehead after offing him. Clearly, those two want to tear Tall Boy limb from limb and Jughead's tempted to let them, the only thing that's stopping him is if Tall Boy agrees to help them get Hiram (who he's been working for).
Betty tells her mum she found out she's been paying her dad visits in jail, but Alice claims she hasn't been since before this whole G&G thing started. Furthermore, she never told him about the 'ascension' night which he claimed to be present for, and she never saw him there, so Betty's theory that he was either there himself or someone told him about it leads her to call the jail and get a description of the woman who's been visiting him, saying she's Alice Cooper (hey, maybe it was the rock singer?). She finds out it was Cheryl's mum and when she meets with her to talk about it, Penelope's excuse is that she's really into serial killer types. Because the Blossoms weren't effed up enough already. Betty then goes back to her dad and eventually works out all his lies were just so she'd keep going back to see him. Once she realises this, she has no desire to return.
The plan to get Hiram doesn't really work out, since the one who comes to meet the Gargoyle King ends up being Cheryl's uncle and the one in the Gargoyle King costume isn't Tall Boy, but in fact Jugdad. So they tricked each other! Now what? They make a 'citizen's arrest' of Cheryl's uncle, that's what. It's kind of funny how Veronica just keeps making herself at home in Archie's bedroom, but obviously she doesn't think it's funny, as she's too busy crying and that's because Archie found out from Reggie (who mistook what Archie was upset about earlier and wound up basically outing 'Veggie' to him) that she was with him whilst Archie was gone. It would've been nice if Archie had said, "I totally get it. I made out with someone else too while I was away. Guess that evens things out, huh? Let's have sex!". That's not quite what happens, but it does end with them having sex. I saw some comments from people calling Veronica a 'cheater' and whatnot, but if she is...then so is Archie. It's unfair to say one is and the other isn't. And, hey, there's always the Ross Geller defense (ie. THEY WERE ON A BREAK!).
I guess Bughead either were really poor teachers or, the more likely scenario, Archie hasn't changed at all and gotten smarter (after killing off the 'stupid' part of himself) like he'd hoped, as he walks out of the SATs, unable to answer any questions, and when Veronica follows, she's informed by the teacher that if she goes after Archie, she's going to automatically get a zero/fail on her test. Have some sensitivity, teach! Her b/f just got attacked by a bear recently and she's just trying to be supportive/check that he's not slicing open his wrists or something. The teachers at that school are ALL jerks, it seems. Archie's in the men's room, remembering his past traumas and punching the mirror. While that's happening, Hiram's on the phone to Hermione saying that using Cheryl's uncle as a decoy worked like a charm and it's what's kept him alive...until he's promptly shot by an unseen shooter. Nice how the shooter waited until the perfect ironic moment to fire. At the hospital, Archie arrives after having been called by Veronica (I wonder if hard-ass teacher still said "You leave, you get a zero/fail!" or not?). Veronica's suspicious of Archie, since the shooting apparently occurred not long after he hightailed it out of the classroom. He's offended she'd even suggest that he shot her dad, but considering everything that's happened with him and Hiram, I can totally follow Veronica's logic as to how she could perceive Archie being the culprit. And let us not forget ARCHIE'S CHANGED (according to everyone), so while he mightn't have been capable of attempted murder before, his hair and new attitude suggested otherwise to Veronica, it would seem. This is what 'officially' breaks them up apparently (though you said you were broken up with her when you left, Archie).
While Jughead and his dad were away, something happened that led to Sweet Pea and Fangs killing Tall Boy (this is the second time a murder has happened offscreen. I count the first as when Chic offed the shady guy last season). They're freaking out, but Jughead has the brilliant idea of throwing a party - that'll make everything better! At the Andrews residence, Fred's all like, "You must be so glad that someone finally offed your archenemy, son!" to Archie, but he's too busy feeling sorry for himself. Jugdad is called to the hospital after Cheryl's uncle is found dead in his cell. Betty goes to talk to her dad, despite saying she never would again, because even talking to a serial killer is preferable to dealing with her mum right now. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but when Reggie pays Veronica a visit as moral support, the gifts he brings for her dad make it seem as if Reggie thought Hiram was giving birth to a boy. WTF? At the Serpents' party, they're celebrating Hiram being shot, Sweet Pea and Fangs aren't real good at pretending everything is fine, it looks like the jig is up when a police car arrives...but it's Jugdad, now Sheriff Jugdad, since Hermione made him sheriff (to be fair, his only competition for the job was now dead. Doesn't exactly bode well for Sheriff Jugdad). Since the sheriff is one of their own, now it's all like "YAY! We don't have to worry about having offed someone! Jugdad will be fine with it/won't throw us in jail over it!". The episode ends with Archie working out his issues on a punching bag in his room (shirtless, of course), sipping some booze (*GASP* Would it be...rum? Does Archie know what rum is now?) and I guess this is meant to be further evidence that he's 'changed'...but to me it's no different to how he was in juvie. Although some big revelations happened this episode, I still wasn't that fond of it, even with the new mystery of 'Who Shot Mr. Burns Hiram Lodge?'. Hell, I didn't even feel compelled to include any pics or GIFs from the episode in this review (which just shows my lack of enthusiasm for it). Plus, no Cheryl automatically makes me like an episode less.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 16, 2021 8:26:37 GMT 1
**spoilers below** Riverdale - Episode 11: 'Chapter Forty-Six: The Red Dahlia'. This is the third episode in a row I feel I've been pretty bored by - which I shouldn't have been, considering all the big revelations/developments that occur. The 'noir' feel they were going for with this episode (especially the Jughead and Veronica stuff at the beginning and end, when she comes to him about finding out who tried to kill her dad) was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I was actually surprised they didn't just have the episode be black & white and everyone wearing clothes that would fit the old 'noir' types of films (though Veronica's hat did, at least). Jughead's voiceover was even more 'Jughead voiceover' than usual, since it actually belongs in the 'noir' setting. How bad are Serpents at lying? Pretty bad, apparently, considering Sheriff Jugdad can tell they're lying about having ran Tall Boy out of town. He's like, "Come up with a better lie to tell me by the time I get back!" (I don't know why they wouldn't just come clean. I mean, they were all celebrating Hiram getting shot, so why not think Jugdad would be cool with an ex-Serpent being offed too, since he deserved it?). Also, it would seem Sheriff Jugdad tragically lost his sense of smell at some point in the past, since he doesn't smell the rotting corpse of Tall Boy under the bed. Betty's still paying visits to her serial killer dad, digging into the death of Cheryl's uncle in his cell and convinced it wasn't a suicide like it appeared to be. She thinks Cheryl's mum has been killing a bunch of people via poison and is gonna prove it! Cheryl was there when her dad supposedly hung himself, so as a witness, she can help testify that Penelope's been the one offing her husband, her husband's brother, dead Dilton's dead dad, etc...right? Apparently not, since after Cheryl's all welcoming to Betty and saying, "Mourn with us, cousin." at her uncle's funeral (I love the way she says that. Despite her not trying to be, it still sounds kind of creepy), Betty makes clear why she's there and Cheryl's had enough of her conspiracy theories (blame Jughead! He's rubbed off on Betty...in more ways than one) and wants her to go. Toni backs her up. It would appear the show's still trying to illustrate that 'new Archie' is different from 'old Archie' and their way of proving that is...by having him pick fights, get drunk (remember when he wasn't even sure what 'rum' meant?) and just generally being a dick to people. If this is 'new Archie', then let's get 'old Archie' back! He may have been dumb, but he was less insufferable. Josie's there to slap some sense into Archie and give him a cold shower (miracle of miracles! He manages to have a shower without being shirtless!). Too bad I don't like Josie as a character, otherwise I might've been able to enjoy their 'bonding' time or whatever it was supposed to be. Meanwhile, with her dad out of commission, Veronica's trying to get rid of his drug labs and whatnot, but her mum is all like, "Why don't we just sell them and make MONEY?!". We get the return of Smithers, who's helpful to Veronica, as is Reggie (I was amused when he told Veronica her plan sounded like the plot of Bad Boys II and then her side-eyes reaction to it). Together, all three manage to pull off an elaborate ruse to collect from Hiram's businesses he had a hand in. They also burn all the fizzle rocks/drugs (which turns out to not be such a brilliant idea later on). While that's happening, Betty and Jughead are finding out about Cheryl's mum having a secret brothel, Jughead finds out that his dad shot Hiram at Hermione's bidding (though the payback he got to have against Hiram was just a nice bonus for him), but then Jughead also finds out Hermione set up his dad by making him sheriff, so he could take the blame for shooting Hiram, he warns his dad, who then kills two birds with one stone (metaphorically-speaking) by shifting the blame for Hiram's shooting onto Tall Boy (who he's found out is in fact dead, since his son and his friends are so crap at hiding a body/keeping a secret) and outsmarts Hermione by saying he was forced to shoot Tall Boy (thus, Tall Boy being dead is explained and Jugdad can no longer be held responsible for shooting Hiram). Something no one was counting on, though, was Replacement Sheriff (now Replacement Ex-Sheriff) still being alive and in bed (metaphorically and literally) with Hermione. She uses him to go finish Hiram off, but Archie (who originally went there to finish off Hiram himself) ends up stopping Replacement Ex-Sheriff (who's in disguise) and saving Hiram instead. When Veronica asks why Archie was even there, he lies and doesn't say, "Well, I came to off your dad...but someone beat me to it, damn it!" (though he does supposedly come to a 'truce' with Hiram, once he's informed Archie saved him. We'll see how long that lasts). Hermione, once she's gone another round with Replacement Ex-Sheriff in bed, is probably thinking something along the lines of "If you need something done, do it yourself."/"Never send a man to do a woman's job." as she plugs Replacement Ex-Sheriff full of holes. So, this makes at least three characters who were thought to be dead, then weren't, only to actually wind up for really reals dead not long after the revelation of them not being dead in the first place. Suffice to say, Riverdale has gotten very convoluted. Veronica sums it up best after she returns to Jughead at the end of the episode and basically says, "Yeah, about finding out who tried to kill my dad...who cares? There's going to be someone trying to kill somebody in this town every other week." *yawn* Episode 12: 'Chapter Forty-Seven: Bizarrodale'. I can already tell my interest in the show is starting to wane, when I can manage to review the episodes within a handful of paragraphs. This episode seemed to focus on Kevin and Josie - which wasn't a good sign, since I find both their characters equal parts boring and annoying. Their parents want a simple wedding, which they don't agree with, we meet Moose's dad - who Josie's mum believes has a crush on her and is pissed she's now with Kevin's dad (but we later find out just how wrong she is), Cheryl and Toni have a nice moment in bed together regarding checking their SATs scores (Choni shippers should cherish it, as it'll probably be their last 'nice' moment together for some time), Cheryl goes for an interview at the prestigious college she wants to get into, but despite having an almost perfect SAT score and plenty of qualifications, she's informed they want to 'diversify' outside the 'alumni pool'. Cheryl works out that means her mum had a hand in this (I was amused by her line "I'm just imagining which board member in particular suddenly developed a conscience.") and when she confronts Penelope about it, she freely admits to it, calling her daughter a 'aberration' - which Cheryl counters, calling her mum a 'twice-widowed dominatrix with a proclivity for poison' and threatens to share with the alumni newsletter, but Penelope isn't worried since she's given them lots of money over the years). Moose still hasn't come out to his dad, Kevin keeps pressuring him to do so and talks to Cheryl about it, so then Cheryl (in her typical Cheryl way) tries to 'help' by announcing a support group for others like her in the LGBTQIA (I stopped knowing WTF those letters stood for after the 'Q') community and 'subtly' (well, subtly for her) referencing Moose - which basically 'outs' him to everyone. This doesn't just piss off Moose, but also Kevin (c'mon, Kev, it was only one step further to what you'd been doing) and Toni (who's pissed because her uncle apparently hated her dating girls and she thinks Kevin's dad might've harmed him had he heard the announcement). While she does call Cheryl out on her not thinking through her actions, she should've known by now this is who Cheryl is and not have been so surprised by it. Cheryl, for her part, apologises to Toni and says she's going to fix it. The first step is 'Operation Fifty Shades of Blackmail', which involves them photographing Penelope's clientele at her brothel and threatening to go public with the photos/names if she doesn't revoke her ban on Cheryl's admittance to the college. The next time Cheryl goes to see the headmistress for the college, she's naturally changed her tune. Cheryl figures she's a shoe-in now, and since the headmistress only grants a certain amount of interviews, Cheryl gives up her interview time so Toni can have it instead - giving her a good shot at being admitted to a college that she'd said (during their fight) she never would've had a chance with before. I think the final part of Cheryl's attempt to make everything right is apologising to Moose. While he's still not happy about what she did, at least he finally ended up coming out to his dad (who seemed to take the news okay) and he and Kevin have planned a hot night together in dead Dilton's bunker (I'm not sure dead Dilton ever intended for his bunker to become a love shack, but at least it's getting used/not just gathering dust). The scene ends amusingly, with Cheryl suggesting they bring a fresh change of sheets since a lot of people have had sex on the cot in that bunker. I saw people giving Cheryl hell for her actions this episode, but like Toni, they should know how Cheryl is at this point and while it's still not 'right' what she did, she was trying to help in her own way. She just needs to think things through more. Meanwhile, the parents of all the main 'teens' in the show have received warnings from the Gargoyle King (I guess Tall Boy wasn't 'The' Gargoyle King after all) that they need to finish 'ascension night' which they started all those years ago. It was funny seeing them break into the school, since they're grown-arse adults who really shouldn't be doing such things, not to mention Hiram seems to have recovered well so soon after having been shot. They eventually work out that the Gargoyle King's plan wasn't about getting them, but rather distracting them so he could get at their kids instead. There's a somewhat amusing sequence where the parents call their kids - who just so happen to all be having sex at around the same time in different places. After almost everyone answers their parents' calls, saying something to the effect of "Uh...I'm kinda in the middle of something here, mum/dad.", it appears Kevin and Moose are the ones who're done for, as the Gargoylettes pay them a visit, kidnapping them and taking them to the Gargoyle King who forces them to roll the dice and drink from the chalices (one of which is most assuredly poisoned). Kevin says he'll go first, and just as he's about to drink, the cavalry arrive in the form of Kevin's dad, Sheriff Jugdad and his deputies, Toni and Cheryl with her bow & arrows (she shoots an arrow into the Gargoyle King). They capture the Gargoylettes and unmask the Gargoyle King who ends up being...Moose's dad. Clearly, Moose's dad isn't 'The' Gargoyle King (just like Tall Boy wasn't), he's just another one using that guise, and apparently he wasn't so cool with Moose coming out to him after all, but that's because he had a thing for Kevin's dad in the past, tried to kiss him, but was rejected...so now he wanted to take out his anger on their kids, I guess. That's messed up, which Sheriff Jugdad points out to him (though it's because of the fake nuns from the loony bin who subjected him to their conversion therapy). So, on the plus side, Moose lived...but on the downside, he's apparently moving away now (too bad we never got to hear him say "Stay out of Riverdale!" to anyone before he left. Instead, it seems he's the one who'll be 'staying out of Riverdale'. Oh, the irony). Cheryl has one more step in her 'Make things right' three-step plan (a bonus Step 4, it would appear) and that is to give Toni a new family, since she's lost her previous one after having been kicked out of the Serpents. Cheryl's gathered a bunch of like-minded women together and says they're starting a new gang. Together, Cheryl and Toni come up with the name 'Pretty Poisons' - since they're 'pretty by day, poison by night'. Now you just need to assign each of you a plant name, Cheryl, and appoint yourself Poison Ivy - then your journey towards becoming a supervillain will be COMPLETE! While all this^ is going on, Veronica's mum informs Veronica and Reggie that they are in big strife since they burned all the fizzle rocks/drugs from Hiram's drug labs and Hermione already had a buyer for them who's going to want to collect. Veronica takes it upon herself to sort this out, Reggie reckons he can steal money from his dad (who totally deserves it, since he beats Reggie regularly), though they weren't counting on a dye pack exploding when they open the bag of money they stole. Even more surprising is when the one they go to meet ends up being Jughead's mum. They don't have enough money, but work out a deal with her (which she wants to keep secret from Jughead, naturally). Although Jughead and Sheriff Jugdad are happy to see Jugmum and Jugsis (who's come along too), at the end of the episode we find out the two lady Jugs are up to no good and have their own nefarious plans. The most boring storyline of the episode is Archie and Josie, as it just seems to be about them getting back into their music (*yawn*), Josie reckons she can't do the relationship thing with Sweet Pea and he's had enough of her only coming to him when it suits her, so then she quickly moves onto Archie (who just recently broke up with Veronica) and it would appear Archie's the biggest whore in the show (he should go work at Penelope's brothel). The two sing, snog and nearly put me to sleep. Though at least if all their scenes are together, it means I now know when to take my toilet breaks during episodes. Episode 13: 'Chapter Forty-Eight: Requiem for a Welterweight'. The next episode isn't really any better than the last one. As if Archie's story wasn't already boring enough, he then decides to get into boxing (because apparently Archie changes his mind about what sport he's into every month or so - I guess wrestling didn't last long?). He wants Kevin's dad to be his coach, but is too impatient with getting in the ring, so then he takes Veronica's suitor (the one who tried to rip her off on casino night at her speakeasy) up on his offer - he has a fight planned, Archie will get paid, but he has to throw the fight. He's not really down with this, but the allure of money is too great. He then later changes his mind, and even gives the money back, but Veronica's suitor says it's too late for that and tells his own fighter to kill Archie in the ring. While that doesn't happen, Archie still doesn't get counted as the 'winner' (even though, as far as Kevin's dad is concerned, Archie clearly won). I think there's more stuff between him and Josie, but since they bore me to tears, I don't remember any of it. Slightly more memorable is Veronica and the hole she's dug herself into with Jugmum. She's got her own parents to deal with, Jughead's mum to deal with and now she owes her dad money on top of what she owes Jugmum. At this point, I think she's going to have to knock over a bank or steal a rare diamond to find all this money she owes people. Though she's not having the worst time out of everyone - I think that 'honour' goes to Betty, whose mum is going to get 'baptised' by Polly's cult farm, but she learns from another woman who went through this that it means almost certain death. Upon learning this, Betty runs (why doesn't she have a car or motorcycle or even a pushbike? Or maybe when she didn't get through to her mum on the phone, she should've called someone/anyone else?) all that way to the baptism and is just in time to see Polly basically drowning her mum. Betty is the only one who tries to help her, she manages to revive Alice, but this whole near-death experience hasn't changed her outlook on the cult farm one bit. If anything, she's even more nutso now, as she apparently wants to sell their house so they can be together at the cult farm. Poor Betty, she seems to be all alone. Her mum and sister are crazy cultists, her dad's a serial killer who's locked up, and none of her friends really seem to be there for her. Meanwhile, Cheryl and Toni's new gang - the Pretty Poisons - are causing headaches for Jughead and his Serpents, since all the women apparently left them to go join this new gang (and who can blame them? Cheryl teaches them archery and everything!). Jughead's got to find new people to recruit and his choices basically boil down to the Ghoulies or the Gargoylettes (I think maybe the former has even joined the latter? I honestly can't keep track of all these different gangs). Anyway, Jughead tries to lure Toni back, saying that she's just Cheryl's 'vanity project', and this is the beginning of a rift between Choni (thanks a BUNCH, Jughead, you jerk!), as Cheryl takes out the Pretty Poisons to show Sweet Pea and Fangs (who are dismissive/insulting towards them) who's boss, they beat them up, but this doesn't go over well with Toni who later confronts Cheryl and demands to know whose gang the Pretty Poisons is - hers or Cheryl's (well, since we haven't actually seen you doing anything with your gang so far, Toni, maybe you should actually start leading them?). Cheryl says they're Toni's and Toni tells Cheryl never to deploy the Pretty Poisons again without her say so. It was weird how these two seemed to be forgotten about/had their storyline dropped partway through the episode, but clearly this isn't going to end well. It's rather disappointing, as is the fact that the last five episodes in a row have been pretty boring (despite the big revelations/developments that occurred). Here's hoping things improve.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 19, 2021 7:52:16 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 14: 'Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk with Me' and Episode 15: 'Chapter Fifty: American Dreams'. {Spoiler}I still hate that Alice is selling the house she and Betty live in (as if Betty hasn't lost enough already), but it was worth it for all of Betty's comments, illustrating just how messed up their house was to the potential buyers of it. It's rare that we get to see Betty be amusing, so this was most welcome. It still sucks that she's having to try to keep her family (what remains of it, anyway) together and Alice is doing everything she can to tear it apart by joining Polly's cult farm. Evelyn's horrible too. The quicker she can get offed by whatever killer's not in jail or dead, the better. And to top things off, Betty doesn't even have Kevin as a friend anymore (not that he's been much of one for a while now), since he too has been recruited by the cult farm and is acting like a pod person. Even when Betty sees the crazy cultists holding their hands over bunsen burners at school, this isn't enough to have the principal sort them out. In fact, the principal seems to be more worried about petty squabbles between the different gangs (remember when he wouldn't even let the Serpents wear their jackets? Now multiple gangs are allowed at school - Serpents, Pretty Poisons, Gargoylettes, Ghoulies...or 'Garghoulies', I guess, since they combined), and even more baffling is when the emo Garghoulie leader hangs Fangs upside down and drops him to what would've been his death if Jughead & co hadn't softened the landing, that's still not enough for the principal to take action...but getting into fights is where he draws the line, telling Jughead and Toni to get their respective gangs under control. Their solution? Well, Jughead tries to have the Serpents and Garghoulies getting along, but emo Garghoulie leader has proven he's nothing but trouble (not sure why Jughead doesn't get his dad, the SHERIFF, to arrest the psycho and throw him in jail), so then Jughead decides the Serpents' new purpose will be acting as deputies to Sheriff Jugdad (how is that even allowed?), giving emo Garghoulie leader an ultimatum to fall into line or take a hike. Naturally, he chooses the latter (and the Serpents' new place to hang is the Gargoylettes' creepy old lair with a hit list that has Archie's name on it). Meanwhile, the Pretty Poisons are hired by Veronica as the 'muscle' at her speakeasy (because both Veronica's dad and Jughead's mum have been causing problems there for Veronica and she's over it), Toni doesn't consult Cheryl about it (though since it's Toni's gang, she doesn't need to - but Cheryl obviously isn't impressed. I think those saying she was being 'emotionally abusive' towards Toni were going a bit far. That implies Toni's not strong enough to stand up to Cheryl - which she is), Cheryl more or less says to Toni that if she kicks her out of the gang, they are going to have to find a new place to hang since they've been using Cheryl's place as their hangout (let's not forget, Cheryl is the one we've actually seen training the Pretty Poisons. What have we seen Toni do with them thus far?). I hate that they're already having a 'rift' when they haven't even been happily together for that long. The WORST storyline this episode is, of course, Archie's - as it involves a kid (always a bad news), who he tries to help by giving him shelter, food, finding a nice family for him to live with...and how's the turd pay Archie back? By slicing him in his favourite place to be sliced/stabbed/clawed (seriously, everyone seems to go for that same spot on Archie's torso). How I wished that psycho little shit had been made to pay - but, no, he gets away scot-free (I was just thankful Vegas the dog was absent, as I would've been freaking out about his safety otherwise). Earlier, when Archie had invited the turd to meet his dad, the fact that we never saw them meeting made me wonder if this was when Luke Perry passed away, though I'd seen his name in the credits at the beginning of the episode, and since this show doesn't include the actors'/actresses' names unless they're actually in the episode, I was waiting for him to appear. So, it was slightly surprising when he appeared just in time to help Archie after his attack from the psycho little shit and then even more surprising when the episode ended with an 'In Memoriam' tribute to Luke Perry. I mean, I'd suspected something was up with how little he appeared in the episode, but I thought he'd just suddenly stop appearing in episodes and that would be that. It was good if his final scene ends up being him helping Archie, giving him one of his usual father/son talks (telling Archie he's not an idiot, he just has a big heart - which isn't quite true, but if these end up being his final words, then at least they were something nice/positive), but I'm guessing maybe he'd shot some other episodes before passing away? If so, I just hope his last scene in the show doesn't end up being him having an argument with Archie or something mundane like, "I'm going to the store to get more milk." (RIP, Luke Perry. You played the most sane/emotionally stable parent on this show and will be missed). The episode ends with Betty finally having had enough of her nutjob of a mum and taking action (maybe Cheryl gave her some advice/pointers), as we previously saw her doing the hand-over-flame trick, thinking she might join the cult farm, but instead she walks downstairs with the candle (it was weird seeing someone using a candle during the daytime) and then next thing she's with Jughead and he's wondering why she looks so happy - that's 'cause she just went all Cheryl Blossom on her house, Jughead! Which, obviously, Alice isn't too happy to see - but it's what she deserves for putting her daughter through hell. Go Betty! So, in the next episode we discover that the anonymous buyer of the Cooper house was Jugmum, she and the rest of the fam go to check it out, and that's when those who weren't in the know learn who's buying what. Cue awkwardness (Jughead's like, "I ain't gonna live in my g/f's house!"). I'm surprised it's still standing, but even more surprised that there appeared to be minimal damage inside, considering last episode ended with seemingly a LOT of the living room on fire. We didn't even see how it was put out! And there's no water everywhere. Did it just put itself out? Is the Cooper house possessed? Wouldn't put it past this show. Anyway, Jughead suggests Betty continue living in her room in the house and stay with his non-cultish family (though unbeknownst to him, his mum and sister are up to some shady business - 'shady' seems to be the show's new favourite word, as I keep hearing it uttered by different characters to describe goings on, other characters, etc), but Betty doesn't take him up on the offer - not sure why. It'd be a heck of a lot easier than having to move all her stuff out of there, not to mention who knows what they'll do to her room? I would've said 'yes' if I was Betty (and I don't even like Jughead). It was nice to get a scene with Bughead and Archie (there's been so few scenes featuring the core four, and while we got one with them last episode, this episode it was just the trio...but still, better than nothing). Archie's mission this episode is to get some wannabe assassins (that's basically what they are) off his back as, pre-truce, Hiram sent cards to various people telling them to take out Archie. Obviously he hasn't bothered to distribute other cards saying "scratch that", so Archie's having to find a solution (after that psycho little shit last episode added to Archie's already impressive number of scars...or rather, scars that he should have. I don't personally pay close attention to Archie's torso, so I'm not sure if the continuity/makeup people have remembered to give him however many scars he should have by now each time he takes his shirt off. Maybe that's why it seems like he gets slashed/stabbed in the same place every time? It's just fresh scars over the old ones and no need to have them all over his body in different places). So, together the trio decide that the best course of action is to tell Sheriff Jugdad bring all the wannabe assassins to Archie as part of a G&G 'quest' (since even wannabe assassins are into G&G) and have him take them all on one at a time in an old boxing ring Hiram gives to him. Since Archie won every match in 'the pit' at juvie, taking on some cosplayers isn't that hard for him. At least not until one of them bites him (I guess their G&G character is a vampire?). This doesn't seem to effect him too much, though. However, when one of the guards from juvie who was pretty rough on Archie turns up, that presents him with a bit of a challenge. Naturally, he overcomes it and slogs the guy good. I guess all the wannabe assassins just accept Jughead as game master and when he says that if none of them defeat Archie, then the quest to kill him is over, they obey that rule. While that's^ happening, Veronica tells Betty about Jughead's mum being the one who's taking over the drug trade (to her credit, Veronica doesn't keep this information to herself and neither does Betty, who tells Jughead pretty soon after hearing it. Even better - he takes her at her word, more or less, and there's no distrust between any of the characters. It's refreshing that they avoided unnecessary drama). It was nice to have a scene between B & V, since it feels like we don't get many of those (they were so close in Season 1. What happened?). Too bad Veronica couldn't be with the other three earlier on in their scene together, but she has her own stuff to deal with - namely Reggie being pissed that he had to give Jugmum his car that he loves (as part of their paying her back) and feeling unappreciated by Veronica. He wants to be an equal partner with her, but she's not really into that idea. She buys his car back from Jugmum, but that's not enough for him. Hey, Reggie, if you want to be an equal partner...you can have half of Veronica's debt she owes everyone! How's THAT for 'equal'? Choni are still on shaky ground, as Toni is not wanting to go on a holiday with Cheryl, instead singing with Veronica at her speakeasy. I appreciated that we were treated to the requisite Cheryl slow-mo entrance...but that and the steamy Choni sex scene earlier didn't really make up for the fact that they seem to be breaking up because Cheryl wants Toni to be more focused on them as a couple than on her gang and Toni's not on board with that. She's also moving out. Such a shame about this, since they were good together up until the writers decided to make Cheryl too controlling. I did enjoy her barking orders at Kevin, though, as he's been a dick since joining Polly's cult farm. Like last season with the episode before the musical episode, there was a really awkward/rather forced part from Cheryl in this one mentioning a musical version of the movie Heathers (whilst playing croquet, as an 'homage' to that movie). It just kind of comes out of nowhere and it's like an obvious lead-in to the following episode, but it doesn't matter whether it fits or not. It's as if Cheryl just randomly gets these musical ideas and then they come into existence through the sheer power of her will (though if anyone could manage that, it's Cheryl Blossom). The only other storyline this episode that I could recall was it being Jugdad's birthday, Veronica throws him a bash at her speakeasy, Fred shows up (so I guess Luke Perry did film more episodes after all. It's going to be tough watching him have scenes in episodes, wondering which will be his final one). At least he had a good scene with Jugdad as they reminisced, and some of his lines took on more meaning (since we know he won't be around in the show much longer). Jughead also gives a heartfelt speech to his dad onstage, and he stealthily tells his mum she better watch it and not screw up their family, now that he knows she's doing shady stuff (well... more shady stuff than what he was already aware of) thanks to what Veronica told Betty to tell him. I'm still waiting for the show to pick up the pace a bit. It seems to be dragging. Hopefully the musical episode can liven things up.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 21, 2021 7:44:22 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 16: 'Chapter Fifty-One: Big Fun', Episode 17: 'Chapter Fifty-Two: The Raid' and Episode 18: 'Chapter Fifty-Three: Jawbreaker'. {Spoiler}Unlike a lot of people, I'm not opposed to this show doing a musical episode once per season (as seems to be the pattern - excluding Season 1, of course). So long as it remains only one per season, then that's fine with me. Reading comments from people acting like a musical is THE WORST THING EVER sort of amuses me, because trying to figure out why they're so opposed to seeing characters sing what they're feeling makes me wonder if those people have some deep-seated issues or something. It's people singing! What's the big deal? If it was people singing BADLY, then I would complain. Having said that, I wasn't really fussed on the opening number (though I was amused that Veronica's mum came to the principal to object to them performing Heathers: The Musical because of its themes, and then when Kevin sung his justification for it, Hermione just had to stand around awkwardly and listen to it). I mean, everyone sung it fine (from what I can recall), but it seemed a lot more like a traditional 'musical', with everyone singing parts of the song whilst being in totally different places - there was even teleportation involved, with Veronica and Betty going from wherever they were to being at the school hallway to back up Cheryl (though all three looked great in their Heathers movie colours) - and whether it made sense for them to be singing or not. From what I remembered of last season's musical episode, it seemed most of the singing was restricted to when it made sense for the characters to sing (though maybe I'm remembering it wrong). I didn't mind the 'Candy Store' number later on (I was amused by the sound effects used, like hair flipping/swinging whooshes and whatnot), where Choni aired out their grievances (though, surprisingly, that wasn't where they 'made up' again - that came in a later scene). I really didn't think much of the 'Big Fun' number - though that may have been because it featured Evelyn (who I can't stand) and her singing (which I thought was meh) whilst using the musical to recruit for the cult farm. I almost cheered when Cheryl called her 'Child of the Corn'. Speaking of Cheryl, I read comments online from people saying that her whole "Here, I invented red. I AM red." rant to Toni, after seeing she was wearing what she deemed her 'signature colour', was 'cringy' and whatnot...but, honestly, Cheryl's always had a flair to the way she talks. It's nothing new. To me it lines up with how she's always been presented right from the very first episode, so while it was a bit ridiculous for her to call 'dibs' on a colour, I'd expect nothing less from Cheryl Blossom. You either accept the way she is (including how she talks) or you don't. While I can admit she has been hard to like in recent episodes, I was glad that she and Toni finally talked out their feelings later on. So, for once it wasn't the magic of singing that mended fences, but actual talking (who'da thunk it?). Hopefully now the petty squabbling can cease. Other things going on in this episode (that I couldn't care less about) - Archie & Josie having their 'relationship' (if one can even call it that) outed to everyone (Archie seems more into Josie than vice versa - though we all know he'll find someone else to pursue in no time, as it seems like he's working his way through every female in the school), Veronica being upset that her parents are getting divorced because Hiram apparently draws the line at Hermione trying to kill him twice (which he just found out, though that's rich coming from him, considering we only just recently discovered he handed out cards to wannabe assassins to take out Archie among other evil acts he's committed), Reggie thinks Veronica got with him because of jealousy over Archie being with Josie (but Veronica didn't even know about that until they were outed by Sweet Pea, who'd seen them snogging and was 'hurt'. Dude, so much for being a big tough Serpent like you always pretended to be) but she tells him it's to do with her parents splitting (didn't you want your mum away from your dad at one point, Veronica? Make up your mind! Though I did like your song you sang by yourself), Kevin's sucking Fangs into the cult farm (as well as snogging him. Does this make them 'Kevangs'? 'Kangs'?), while also experiencing visions of dead Midge from last season's musical and the guilt he feels over that production. Slightly more interesting than those^ things was Bughead hatching a plan to run Jugmum out of town by destroying her drug trade she's taken over from Hiram - namely by burning down the trailer Jughead and his dad lived in that got towed away and turned into a drug lab. It was kind of amusing watching them sit in their car like they were having a sweet date as they watched the trailer burn. This, coupled with attempting to burn down her house, tends to suggest Betty's becoming a bit of a pyromaniac. Careful, Betty, next thing Cheryl will be coming after you and saying, "Burning down things is MY signature move! I invented burning down things. I AM fire!". I was glad to see Bughead working as a team again, and I'd totally thought Jughead was going to be the only one not singing (like during last season's musical), but then when he appeared to get one line during Betty's part of the opening song, I was slightly surprised and then thought maybe that'd be it. I was wrong. He actually got a decent amount of singing with Betty later on (Cole Sprouse is decent, so obviously the writers didn't have him not-sing in the last musical because he's bad. Though he's not up to the same standard as some of the others, at least he didn't sound as average as Evelyn), but I was amused during the final song where he seemed to be singing unenthusiastically to start with (since Jughead was dragged into that number at the last minute). The episode ends with Chad Michael Murray being the first to applaud the final performance, and it's revealed that he is Evelyn's dad/that 'Edgar' character who Betty's mum hasn't shut up about since the beginning of the season (ie. the cult farm's leader), then other members of the audience who are also obviously part of the cult farm join him in his creepy applause (including the principal, who Betty found out earlier had gotten involved with them since he totally dismissed the evidence she brought to him that Evelyn was using the musical to indoctrinate students into the cult). So, CMM's playing a creepy leader of a crazy cult - makes a certain kind of sense, I guess. It was noticeable that Archie's dad wasn't shown in the audience, there to support Archie - which has me wondering if there's any other episodes Luke Perry filmed before his passing or not. I didn't think this musical was as good as last season's - there wasn't any dead bodies or Cheryl threatening people whilst covered in blood and holding a candelabra - but it was okay. Certainly not as 'awful' as some made it out to be. At the start of the next episode, Jugdad and Kevin's dad are training the Serpents, but reckon they're not ready to take on the Garghoulies. Archie gets a call from his juvie buddy, Mad Dog (who still isn't dead, apparently. I guess he beat all those guards who he took on, allowing Archie to escape), about the detention centre shutting down - which sounds like a good thing until he reveals that they'll be getting sent to Hiram's new prison where their life isn't exactly going to improve, but then with Veronica's help (and with a little blackmailing of the governor), Archie manages to pay Mad Dog back by getting him and the others free - though Mad Dog's grandma and little brother have moved into a shithole which has been taken over by Garghoulies and they're cooking drugs there, etc. So, the Serpents' training from the start of the episode comes in handy, as they raid the place, taking out Garghoulies, trying their best to out-do the hallway fights from Daredevil (but not really succeeding) and then Jughead captures the emo Garghoulie leader, who shoves them both out a window and they miraculously survive the fall (despite the fact that they really shouldn't have). In the end, Mad Dog has taken Veronica's suitor up on his offer to fight for him since he gave Mad Dog's family a nicer place to live in. Jughead's also been dealing with his mum who seems to almost be on the same level as Cheryl's mum as far as being a bad parent is concerned. He wants to tell his dad she's up to no good but she keeps preventing him doing that, then at the very end of the episode Jugdad stumbles upon one of Archie's juvie buddies (the ridiculously named - even for this show - 'Baby Teeth') who has been sacrificed to the Gargoyle King and is missing his teeth (naturally). I still don't know what the point of Veronica being so concerned about her parents splitting up is. Numerous times she told her mum to get away from her dad, but now that's actually happening...she's against it? She even says at one point she split with Archie because she chose her family over him (hey, Hiram, remember when you were tormenting Archie because your daughter chose him over you? Well...you can't complain about that now). She goes so far as to anonymously send some dead fish to 'threaten' her mum so that her dad will be forced to stay with her...but that doesn't work. This whole storyline seems rather pointless. The most interesting storyline is Betty wanting Cheryl to go undercover at the cult farm. I was amused when Cheryl was answering the question about her favourite colour and couldn't just leave it simply as being 'red' - she had to go on about some fancy name for the colour and Betty (who was listening in) just rolled her eyes at that. I was also amused during their bathroom conversation when one girl came in to use the toilets and Cheryl just did her Cheryl thing, then the girl promptly left (reminded me of a scene from the first episode of Hannibal). It was nice to see Betty and Cheryl (Beryl?) working together (just like it was nice to have a Betty and Veronica scene earlier on), but it all went pear-shaped when Cheryl was led to a room and the next time Betty saw her at school she'd joined the pod people, wishing to return to the cult farm but not to be Betty's spy anymore. Damn it, Betty, you really should've had a back-up plan to prevent Cheryl from becoming yet another recruit! You're just helping them add to their number now! And as if it wasn't already obvious Cheryl is not herself...she even ditched the red (which, oddly, Betty made up for with her wardrobe). In the following episode, I was amused when cult farm leader, Edgar, was telling Betty his origin story which included him walking through the desert and finding a tree on a hill (shoutout to that other show CMM appeared in, perhaps? I have that on DVD, but haven't watched it yet). I'm so glad that Betty seems to not be buying into any of Edgar's BS - since everyone else seems to be, including poor Cheryl who is convinced she's been seeing Jason. Even when Betty tries to use logic with her or has Toni show Cheryl the video of her dad shooting her brother, it's still not enough to convince her (I think that's realistic, though, that those sucked into a cult can explain away anything that might interfere with their beliefs). It was gearing up to be a sad moment when it seemed like Cheryl was choosing the cult farm/Jason over Toni (since they'd given her an ultimatum to choose between the two), but then Toni joined and is now Betty's undercover person...because that worked out so well the last time, Betty? For a minute there, Toni was back to being how she first was around Betty, getting mad at her/holding her responsible for Cheryl being sucked into the cult. However, by the end of the episode she was reassuring Betty that she wasn't a psycho like her dad and joined Cheryl in her slow-mo strut through the school hallways (in ALL WHITE. Cheryl not wearing red is just wrong - shows what that crazy cult has done to her ). Betty continues to be the only one really trying to sort out this whole cult farm mess, but unfortunately she's also still going to her serial killer dad for advice (apparently Alice is divorcing him - seems to be a lot of that going around, just ask Veronica). And in an effort to get through to her crazy mum - who thinks she's seeing her real son, Charles (who Chic pretended to be last season), in much the same way as Cheryl thinks she's seeing Jason - Betty chloroforms Alice and handcuffs her to the cot apparently lots of people have had sex on (according to Cheryl earlier in the season) in dead Dilton's bunker, leaving her there with a photo album to look through (to remind her of her real non-dead/hallucinatory family) as she goes off to school. What if Alice needed to go to the toilet? Did you at least leave her a bucket, Betty? Not that she really deserves one with the way she's been acting (but just think of the mess you'd have to clean up. Plus the smell). Instead of being concerned about answering the call of nature, Alice is busy somehow finding a way to start a fire (so it's not just Betty who's a pyromaniac now. She, her mum and Cheryl could be a trio of pyros!) and burn the family album by the time Betty returns. So... that didn't work, faking Charles' tombstone (in the hope of proving to Alice he's dead/gone) didn't work, and this leaves Betty with no other choice but to send Alice back to the cult farm (since she was looking pretty rough) and telling Evelyn to take care of her. Speaking of that annoyance, I LOVED the scene earlier on where Betty went all 'Dark Betty' on Evelyn. It was quite awesome. Another annoyance resurfaced this episode - namely that psycho little shit who tried to kill Archie a few episodes back. He returns, engages Jughead's sister in a game of G&G at Pop's diner (how is it wearing a hat managed to make him unrecogniseable to Pop, who knew what the kid looked like from the episode where he sheltered him in the diner for a time? Surely he should've seen the turd and called Archie...but I guess not) and then at the end of the episode basically kidnaps her/takes her to the Gargoyle King (the really real one this time!). This is connected to Jughead's storyline, as he's trying to find out what the deal is with people going crazy and foaming at the mouth. He suspects there's been something added to the fizzle rocks/drugs that don't seem to have slowed down their distribution at all after Veronica burned a bunch of them. There was one morbidly amusing cut in the episode from a cheerleader bashing her head against the school lockers to Jugdad saying he needed Jughead's brains ("Like what were just left all over the lockers?" was my first response to that). They even have the people growling all animalistic-like (I swear one dude looked like a feral goatman/faun/Mr. Tumnus from the Narnia films). They capture emo Garghoulie leader (again) and he informs Jughead that the Gargoyle King wants him to do one last big quest - which involves him rescuing his sister. Once again, Archie has the most boring storyline, as he gets involved in yet another boxing tournament against a boxer who Veronica's suitor is dosing with the crazy drug. It's barely even worth talking about, except for the end when Archie knocks the guy out...and then it seems like he's dead. Uh-oh, has Archie wound up being indirectly responsible for yet another person winding up dead (that would be too bad, since his dad's still around and was supporting Archie at his boxing match)? Is he going back to jail again? *yawn* The only mildly interesting part was the amusing advert he shot with Veronica and Alice at the start of the episode, encouraging people to come watch him box, as both the ladies gave the commercial their all, while Archie gave a very awkward/monotone delivery of his lines. Clearly, he wouldn't make a great news anchor (just wait...next season that'll be his next 'hobby' that he picks up, just like music, football, wrestling and boxing before it). Though stranger things have happened. One example of stranger things happening is if after Betty's serial killer dad told her he wants to come home, that actually does happen - it'll possibly be the most unbelievable thing that's occurred on this show (and that's REALLY saying something).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 23, 2021 13:13:40 GMT 1
Riverdale - Season 3, Episode 19: 'Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper', Episode 20: 'Chapter Fifty-Five: Prom Night' and Episode 21: ‘Chapter Fifty-Six: The Dark Secret of Harvest House’. {Spoiler}Archie and everyone (except Betty, Jughead and his family - because they've got their own shit to deal with) are at the hospital, waiting to hear how the guy Archie beat up/knocked into unconsciousness at the end of the boxing match last episode is doing, the guy's family are also there, as is Veronica's douchenozzle suitor who Archie points out is to blame for why the guy was on drugs, though he claims innocence. They're then informed that the guy died and the douchenozzle responsible puts all the blame on Archie, naturally. It should be noted that Luke Perry's final scene as Archie's dad is in this episode and involves him he reassuring Archie that the guy's death wasn't his fault (which was nice, as final scenes go. At least it was positive words being given from him to his onscreen son. Again, RIP Luke Perry). Archie once again proves himself not the quickest thinker ever, as it takes Mad Dog calling and telling him to dispose of the fizzle rocks/drugs (which he gave Archie last episode to help him against the guy he was fighting, though he refused to use them) for Archie to go and actually do it (like, WHY wouldn't he have tossed them as soon as he was given them? He didn't use them, so why hang onto them?) - except it's too late, the police catch them trying to get rid of the drugs and they're arrested. Lucky for them, Veronica's on the case and she has their urine tested, which comes back negative for drugs (though that still doesn't disprove Archie's a drug-dealer) and the sister of the dead guy slaps Archie as he says he wishes he'd died instead of the guy - which the douchenozzle points out is a sentiment shared by the dead guy's family, then after a meeting with Hiram in a sauna (in which he rambles on about there being 'two Archies' - one that pointed the gun at him in hospital and the other that saved him, but he reckons 'real' Archie is the former rather than the latter. I guess that truce didn't last long, as was to be expected from someone like Hiram) he later tries to award Archie the money from the fight, calling him the 'Riverdale Reaper', but Archie's not interested and tells him to take a hike. Eventually, though, Archie does take the money from the douchenozzle (so all that stuff about not being interested in his 'blood money' was BS?), after threatening him (wouldn't this just get Archie in more trouble than he already was?), and takes it to the dead guy's sister, apologises profusely, she admits her brother had a drug problem and Archie says there's more money on the way. She then forgives him. Once again, Betty seems to be the only one really trying to take down the cult farm. She's doing her usual sleuthing (at this point I think Betty Cooper is more Nancy Drew than the actual Nancy Drew character from the TV series Nancy Drew, which I watched the first season of on TV before I ever started watching this show on Blu-ray/DVD), gets information about Evelyn (after finding out she's actually 26 years old and has been repeating the same grade at different schools as part of her recruiting for the cult farm. Also? She's an anti-vaxxer, apparently) and learns that she's not Edgar's daughter, but actually his wife. Which, ew. It's kind of weird how Evelyn is meant to be older than the rest of the students, when in fact she looks younger than all the other 'teens' at the school. Betty then talks Cheryl's mum into helping her get Polly's kids away from the cult farm, since they're Penelope's grandkids (huh. So they are still alive and didn't fall into the fire at the end of the season premiere like I thought may have happened), though she only grabs the boy (who she calls 'Jason Jr.' - hey, at least it's better than Dagwood) and seems like she couldn't care less about the girl (poor Juniper). Betty then enlists her undercover spy, Toni, to help...but all she does is lead Betty into the chamber where it's revealed that she's been sucked into the cult just like Cheryl and everyone else. When Betty attempts to 'out' Edgar and Evelyn's weird-ass/gross relationship, it has no effect, since everyone is all like, " Phfft. We already knew that, and it's totally normal!". They then start chanting "Join us." creepily (which is at a different speed to Edgar and Betty's conversation), she hightails it out of there and they give chase, but she makes it to her car and leaves them in the dust. This^ isn't all she's had going on, however. There's also the matter of her serial killer dad wanting out of his Hannibal Lecter-esque jail cell (though he's not expecting to come 'home' to their literal home like I'd previously thought he meant. Just as well too, since there would've been a snowball's chance in Hell of that occurring. Where is Betty even living now?) and to be transferred to Hiram's new prison, which is apparently nicer or whatever. Veronica helps out with that (she does a LOT of helping out her friends this episode), but when Betty returns from escaping the cult farm, Veronica informs her that the vehicle that was transferring her dad had an accident and there were no survivors. Meanwhile, in the storyline that interested me the least this episode, Josie wants to get out of Riverdale, go with her dad, he says no, she uses Pop’s diner being robbed (more on that shortly) as an example of why she wants out of Riverdale, performs at Veronica's speakeasy, thinks her dad hasn’t shown up, but eventually he does and is now accepting of her going with him on the road, so she says goodbye to Archie (but doesn't bother with anyone else, apparently. Great friend, that Josie) and gets gone. Wish I could say I was sad to see her leave for SpinOffville...but I'd be lying. The craziest storyline this episode had to be the one featuring all of The Jugs. They're beating on emo Garghoulie leader, who's getting crazier by the second, and demanding to know where Jugsis is, but he'll only answer once The Jugs play a game of G&G - which is pretty preposterous, considering adults like Sheriff Jughead and Jugmum are letting some punk kid tell them what to do. Anyway, they play the game, first involving Jugmum having to come clean about her taking over the drug trade (which Jugdad is NOT happy to learn of. Nor is he pleased to hear that Jughead knew about it). The next thing they have to do is go rob Pop's (though the guns are empty), but they weren't counting on Pop being prepared for just such an occasion (I guess he learned his lesson after the last time, when he was held at gunpoint by the Black Hood), he pulls out a shotgun and Jugdad gets wounded (how did Pop not recognise Jugdad's voice even with them all wearing those stupid Serpent masks?), Jughead reveals his face and tells Pop to stop, but then Jugmum makes them leave Jugdad behind. Next step on their quest is Jugmum fighting a 'cyclops' which turns out to be Penny Peabody (who's lost an eye - telling us exactly what Jugmum did last time she was left alone with her). They then proceed to fight each other using sai, as Jughead and crazy emo Garghoulie leader watch. It's over-the-top, beyond ridiculous, but also probably the most entertaining part of the episode. Penny injures Jugmum, but she gets her back and is ready to finish her off until Jughead stops her (Jugdolt! Don't you see you're just leaving the door open for her to return in future episodes to cause you even more grief?). After Jugmum's been taken to hospital, crazy emo Garghoulie leader takes Jughead to a junkyard where he makes him choose between two refrigerators, saying one will have his sister and the other will have his 'doom'. Jughead opens one (nope, no doom in there), then opens the other (also lacking doom, as well as Jugsis). Of course, crazy emo Garghoulie leader is a LYING LIAR WHO LIES and it's a trap (!), as he's then pointing a gun at Jughead and telling him to get in a fridge if he wants his sister set free from the clutches of the psycho little shit who kidnapped her. Jughead talks to Jugsis over the phone to check she's alive, then gets in a fridge, which - naturally - crazy emo Garghoulie leader locks, thus trapping him...with a screwdriver! It takes Jughead several hard shoves until the mighty screwdriver is defeated, and once he escapes this easily-escapable trap, he finds crazy emo Garghoulie leader is now dead (thank goodness, as it means I don't have to type 'crazy emo Garghoulie leader' anymore), which appears to be the handiwork of the Gargoyle King who is standing right there, but since he's not very mobile, Jughead escapes him just as easily as he escaped the fridge. When he gets home, Jugsis is fine and the psycho little shit ran off ( of course they were never going to have him answer/pay for his crimes. Kids always get off scot-free ). Jughead talks with his mum in hospital, apparently Jugdad has been cleared of any charges due to being 'under duress', Jugmum wants to leave town with Jughead's sister, while he wants her to stay/answer for what she's done as well as leave his sister behind. She agrees to the latter, but not the former, as evidenced by her saying goodbye to them at the end. So I guess psycho little shit wasn't the only one who got away scot-free for his crimes. At the start of the next episode, it was nice to see Veronica there as support for Betty while they investigated the crash/explosion that apparently killed Betty's dad as he was being transported to Hiram's new prison. Despite Sheriff Jugdad (who's sporting an arm cast in a sling after getting shot last episode and is allowed right back on duty after having been cleared of any charges regarding him holding up Pop's) saying there were no survivors, Betty's convinced this was all an elaborate ruse set up by her dad so he could escape and he's out there somewhere ready to pick up where he left off. Even after the coroner says he got fingerprints off the burned disembodied hand that prove that it's the hand of Betty's dad, that's still not enough to make her believe he's dead. She's got everyone trying to convince her she's crazy, but Betty's no fool! After Jughead's sister tells him about a 'gospel' with all the Gargoyle King's secrets in it, he and his dad go to investigate at the junkyard where crazy emo Garghoulie leader (damn it! I thought I was done typing that!) attempted to imprison Jughead in a fridge. Instead of pointing at the fridge and laughing whilst telling his dad that was the lame 'trap' crazy emo Garghoulie leader set for him, Jughead finds the gospel (not very well-hidden, it would seem). After going through it, he and Betty hatch a plan to bring the Gargoyle King to them by making the prom G&G-themed. Speaking of prom, Cheryl is super-excited for it because, naturally, she fully expects to win Prom Queen. However, Evelyn is apparently not just an anti-vaxxer, but also anti-prom and after ratting out Cheryl to her dad/hubby ( still ew), he gives Cheryl an ultimatum - telling her to choose between being Prom Queen and continuing to 'see' Jason. I felt sorry for Cheryl, being forced to choose, and even moreso later on when Bughead were asking her about changing the prom's theme and she just looked so bored/like she couldn't care less since she wasn't going to get to be Prom Queen. Damn you, cult farm, you broke Cheryl's spirit! She LIVED for being Prom Queen! Though it was amusing that not getting to be Prom Queen was what made her rethink joining the cult farm. Also amusing was her calling out Evelyn on her real age (though it still baffles me why they chose an actress who looks younger than the rest of the 'teens' to play a character who's supposed to be older than them), as it seems no one else gives it much thought/cares that a '26-year-old' is posing as a student at Riverdale High. The final sad moment for Cheryl was at the prom, watching someone other than herself getting to be Prom Queen, after she'd looked so happy when she thought she was a shoe-in. THE CULT FARM MUST DIE NOW! Speaking of queens - Betty is now many queens, it would seem, as part of the plan she hatches with Jughead involves her being voted Prom Queen (they rigged the votes to achieve this). It was kind of amusing how unenthused everyone (except Cheryl) was about prom earlier on, as Veronica was like, "That's still a thing?" (I was mildly amused by her and Archie giving each other looks, but missing seeing the other looking at them, as they considered going to prom together) and Bughead said they'd go with each other, but only in an 'ironic' way until their plan began to form. This was like rubbing it in poor Cheryl's face - she wanted to be Prom Queen, but doesn't get to, while Betty couldn't care less, but gets to be Prom Queen as part of her plan. Once it comes time to crown Betty Prom Queen (which was when they were hoping the Gargoyle King would show up, I guess), Betty gets a message delivered to her by a guy dressed as a court jester who says he got it from a druid who got it from a centaur who got it from someone else. Instead of staying among people, she ventures out into the halls alone, then is attacked by the Black Hood (who REALLY wants to let Betty know he has a hook for a hand now, since he keeps scraping it against every surface he can find so it continues making ear-piercing screeching noises that are REALLY ANNOYING). The Gargoyle King is there in the hallway also. Kudos to Betty for bringing a gun to school (only in this show could such a statement be made), though she doesn't really get to use it and is chased by the Black Hood, stumbling upon at least three dead bodies as she tries to hide from him (how is this school not shut down after all these deaths that have occurred at it?). She fights him off when he catches her at one point (go Betty!), but he torments her by banging on the door of where she's found to hide, then she hears a gentle knocking (it would've been funny if it had been the 'Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits Knock'), so either the Black Hood's decided the polite approach might work better than the scaring-Betty-to-death approach...or it's Jughead (which it is). One thing that occurred to me when they showed up in medieval garb was that this would've been the perfect opportunity for Jughead to wear his signature crown...but, no, he just keeps wearing that stupid beanie (I hope he washes that thing). So...I guess Bughead's plan didn't work out so great after all. Earlier Betty had theorised that Edgar was the Gargoyle King, and after Jughead had seen tattoos on the body of dead crazy emo Garghoulie leader, she figured Edgar should have them too, demanding he show them in front of his disciples. Really, it was just a lame excuse to get CMM's shirt off, which I'm sure made certain people watching swoon over him and wonder where they could sign up to the cult farm, but thankfully Betty's immune to crazy cult leader shirtlessness - if she wants shirtlessness, she'll go to Archie! Speaking of, once again his storyline is the most boring. He's all "Screw college, mom, I want to keep punching people in the face for money!" but his mum doesn't want him to box...unless it's for a naval academy, which has a boxing program and Archie's mum has called an old friend of hers who is a recruiter. That way, Archie can punch people in the face and get an education! There's a boxing tournament he wishes to compete in, but he's over the correct weight he needs to be, so with Veronica's help his plan is to lose weight and box for both the tournament (without his mum's knowledge) and the friend of his mum's in two separate boxing matches. He trains to 'Eye of the Tiger' (YES, REALLY), starves himself, then loses at the tournament and faints at the match (that he's late to) for his mum's friend. You lose, Archibald! Twice. Near the end, though, Archie's mum has had a change of heart after seeing his 'commitment' to boxing (like his commitment to music/football/wrestling?) and says he can keep doing it, so long as he doesn't go about it the dumb way (does she even know her son?). He says he'll need her help convincing his dad who's 'away'...alas, I don't think we'll ever be seeing that conversation, since it was rather obvious this was the first episode after Luke Perry had passed away, as his absence stuck out, as did Archie's mum filling in for what felt like they were originally supposed to be father/son scenes. At the start of the next episode, it's kind of funny how Sheriff Jugdad and his son seem to be the only ones doing any police work. Hell, it seems like every day is Bring Your Kid to Work Day for Sheriff Jugdad, as Jughead is photographing the multiple dead bodies at the school after the prom. The coroner informs Jughead that the cut-off hand which was the hand of Betty's dad was self-inflicted. Why is it a surprise that a serial killer would cut off his own hand? They're not exactly stable people to begin with. Meanwhile, Hiram's new evil plan in his long list of evil plans (right between 'torment Archie' and 'make evil deals in the sauna') is to BUY ALL OF RIVERDALE! Muahahaha! Veronica overhears her dad's dastardly plan as he basically tells Hermione she'll be out of the mayor's office in the very near future. This gives Veronica a brilliant plan of her own. Thanks to Archie's mum having useful connections (I had to laugh at Archie's line to Veronica where he said, "Yeah, Ronnie, your dad sucks." after she rattled off his latest evil scheme), she puts them in touch with a federal agent who wants to nail Hiram (ew, not like that) and doesn't care that technically all the shady shit that's gone on at Veronica's speakeasy has been her shady shit, so long as they can get Hiram (who can be held responsible for all the shady shit that's been going on in Veronica's speakeasy since she found out in the previous episode he does still in fact own it, as he tricked her with false documents that made her believe she owned it). The trouble is, they need to catch Hiram in the act of doing something illegal (couldn't they just show those cards Hiram sent out to wannabe assassins? Surely taking a hit out on a high-schooler is regarded as 'illegal'...right? Then again, this is Riverdale), so Archie challenges him to a boxing match (that's your solution to everything these days, Archie!) - whilst they're in the sauna, of course - and if Archie wins, then Hiram has to bugger off out of town, but if Hiram wins, then Riverdale is his (isn't it basically his already?). Naturally any big tough Mafia boss feels the need to prove himself by beating the snot out of a high school 'teen', so he accepts. Apparently everyone's cool with an adult vs 'teen' boxing match, if the crowd is anything to go by. Even Archie's mum was super-confident that she was going there to watch her son kick Hiram's arse...though it doesn't quite go that way. Hiram looks like he's going to beat Archie, but that's when Sheriff Jugdad comes in and arrests him (and he was just enjoying his gloating about having 'beaten' Archie too! Though according to Archie, he was simply keeping Hiram busy. Nice of him to let his face be pummeled as he waited for Sheriff Jugdad to turn up. Might've been better if he'd turned up a little sooner, though). I had to laugh at Archie's mum asking if he was okay, considering the condition he was in. Veronica visits her dad in jail to gloat (see how you like being on the receiving end of the gloating, Hiram!), but clearly this isn't over. Neither is the cult farm, as Betty's still paying visits to Edgar who uses metal clicking balls to hypnotise her and when she's in a room by herself, she starts seeing her dark self/'Dark Betty', who torments her with all the shady shit she did as a kid including drowning their cat, Caramel (way to make it hard for me to like Betty, show! ) and pushing Polly down the stairs (eh). Thanks to Jughead's genius idea that MAYBE IT'S THE BALLS and the clicking sounds they make, next time Betty goes through this, she uses earplugs (ingenious!) and consequently the hypnotism doesn't work, so she sees it is in fact Polly, her not-so-dear sister, dressed up as/pretending to be Betty's 'dark' self. Earlier she and Alice had told Betty she was born with the 'serial killer gene' or whatever they call it, but not even Betty's dad had that (doesn't that just prove how faulty the tests are? If they didn't say her dad had the 'gene', yet he still turned out to be a serial killer, then it's just as likely that Betty supposedly having the 'gene' means jack squat and she's not a future serial killer. Also...A SERIAL KILLER GENE? Really?? *sigh* Only in Riverdale). So, clearly Edgar, Alice and Polly have been gaslighting Betty. Earlier she discovered Kevin had a giant scar on his side (which he took exception to her sneaking a look at, and got all pissy over), then later on she finds Evelyn hooked up to a machine and on anti-rejection meds. She soon puts the pieces of the puzzle together and realises Edgar is harvesting organs from his cult farm disciples. She even finds a room full of organs. So then she goes to tell Cheryl about it, who is dismissive until Betty actually shows her one (she really should've started with that), which manages to get Cheryl on her side, especially since Toni's about to get a procedure done. Cheryl goes to save her girlfriend (kicking arse as she does so), while Betty goes to knock some sense into Kevin and Fangs...and when that doesn't work, she delivers a well-deserved kick to Kevin's balls ( that's for being such a shitty friend!) and manages to hold her own until they gang up on her, dragging her across the floor, calling out for help and saying that they're the ones being attacked (but aren't you the ones dragging a girl by her ankles across the floor?) and then orderlies come in and restrain her. When Betty wakes up, she's strapped to a chair and it appears Edgar is going to perform one of his procedures on her. Man, Betty just can't catch a break. Neither can Choni, apparently, since they're split up yet again when Cheryl lets Toni escape first, then stays behind to keep the orderlies busy (kicking their arses!) while Toni runs for it. This is probably the most selfless act Cheryl's ever done, and it's an emotional moment as she tells Toni she loves her. Anyone who claims Cheryl doesn't really care about Toni needs to STFU - this scene proved she really does love her. So, SUCK ON THAT, HATERS! In another (much more annoying) storyline, Jughead’s chasing up the court jester who got a message from a druid who got it from a centaur who got it from someone else that was what led to Betty getting terrorised by the Black Hood and Gargoyle King at the prom, he learns that it came from the psycho little shit who attacked Archie, finds out where the turd is after talking to Jugsis, and for some reason tries to prevent the psycho little shit from doing the ritual with the chalices that would rid the world of his menace. I'm not sure why Jughead thinks the psycho little shit would help him stop the Gargoyle King, and sure enough, adding to his list of evil deeds, he tells a bunch of boy scouts with spears to KILL Jughead and they proceed to chase after him. Yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds. Jughead seeks shelter in dead Dilton's bunker (who would've thought that place would be so popular?). Unfortunately, Jughead finds that Ethel Muggs is still alive (ugh) and she wants his help (double ugh). She utters the line "Help me, Jughead Jones, you're my only hope." - which royally pissed me off because A) Pretty Little Liars did that Star Wars reference SO MUCH BETTER (and wittier), and B) She keeps finding ways to get close to him. She SO doesn't deserve it, but he agrees to help - which involves them chasing after one of the missing boy scouts, then they get chased by the Black Hood onto a bus and proceed to trap him on the bus after they escape it (seriously, as soon as he saw they were climbing out the back, he should've headed to the front of the bus. Instead, he gave them a ridiculous amount of time to run to the front and lock the door. I guess he forgot about his HOOK FOR A HAND that he has now - and likes to scrape across everything, making irritating screeching sounds - since he could've just used that to smash through the glass). Anyway, the only actual notable thing about this whole painful-to-sit-through storyline is that Ethel whispers in Jughead's ear (I'm not sure why, when no one else is around to listen, but I guess it's just another excuse to get close to him. She'd already hugged him, and for a second I thought she was going to snog him against his will...but thankfully that didn't happen) the identity of the Gargoyle King, then Jughead calls Betty to inform her that Ethel said (it would've been funny if Betty had been like, "Ugh, did that psycho bitch force you to kiss her again?") the Gargoyle King is in fact...Jason Blossom. So either the show is finally making him a vampire like I always thought he was or, the more likely scenario, someone's dug him up - which Jughead finds out is indeed the case when he goes to dig up Jason's grave and discovers it's empty. Episode 22: ‘Chapter Fifty-Seven: Survive the Night’ (the Season 3 final). {Spoiler}The episode begins with Toni running to Cheryl's mum and telling her what's going on at the cult farm (including the whole organ harvesting thing), but Penelope just basically says "That's nice, dear." and drugs her. Jughead and his dad are skeptical about Jason being alive and the Gargoyle King (after all, how can they trust psycho bitch, Ethel Muggs?), but they still have yet to solve the mystery of where his body's at, so Jughead does some sleuthing which takes him to Penelope's brothel and he learns that someone matching Jason's description has been spotted by one of the ones who works there. Meanwhile, Betty's about to get a lobotomy from Edgar, who's interrupted in the nick of time by his daughter/wife who says Penelope has called. She has no problem with his organ harvesting, nor does she bother to ask about Cheryl, all she wants is Betty. While that's happening, Archie and Veronica both receive mysterious invites (I was so worried when Archie discovered the mysterious black gift box, and was praying it wasn't going to have Vegas the dog's paw or something like that inside it). Despite discussing with Jughead how the invites are obviously a trap, they still go. Betty wakes up and finds she's been given a dress to wear (which she wears very well, it must be said), then goes downstairs and sees Archie, Veronica and Jughead sitting at the dinner table that has loads of food that'll likely never be eaten (such a waste), and Penelope's there along with nasty nun (with a gun) from the loony bin. Why is she there? Because apparently she cared for Penelope when she was a child at the loony bin. Turns out that episode from early in the season, involving the parent characters as 'teens', was actually a pretty important episode for a number of reasons - not least of which is that it explains why Penelope IS BEHIND EVERYTHING (!). The core four sit there, as the Black Hood removes his hood to reveal he is indeed Betty's dad, while Jughead has figured out that 'Jason' as the Gargoyle King is actually Chic - who apparently didn't die (but dyed his hair red instead) and removes his GK getup to reveal this to be true. Then there's a big exposition dump. Basically, Betty's dad didn't kill Chic (after she delivered him to her dad towards the end of last season) because apparently after chasing him he realised he'd found a 'kindred spirit' or something, so this brought them together (I guess because they're both creeps). And Penelope used both to help her in her plan to get back at everyone in Riverdale, but especially the parents of the core four because none cared about her being sold from the loony bin to the Blossoms where she was first raised as Clifford Blossom's sister, then made his wife. So, EVERYONE MUST PAY (but especially you kids who had nothing to do with it!). She just wants to make the core four's parents feel how she felt after losing Jason, since they didn't 'reach out to her' or anything after he was killed (maybe because of your shit personality, Penelope - just a guess). As far as surprises go...this one was a 'moderate' surprise for me. I figured Betty's dad was the Black Hood (who else would it be?), and because I'd accidentally stumbled across something saying Chic was in a later season, I figured he must've been the GK (especially since we never did see what happened to him), but Penelope being the mastermind behind it all was something I hadn't been spoiled for (though given her evilness, it makes sense). This episode's title comes from a line Penelope says to the core four, because that's exactly what they have to try to do - survive the night in the woods. She introduced the G&G game back in the day and it's been passed along ever since then up to the present day. Now she's got one final quest for them, where each one will be tested. They either complete it and get to live ( yeah right) or they fail and die. Since Cheryl's mum doesn't give two shits about her daughter, Cheryl's still stuck at the cult farm, overhearing Edgar and his daughter/wife talking about everyone 'ascending' (which probably means offing themselves, since that's what happened to everyone else who 'ascended'), so she tries yet again to explain to Kevin and Fangs that Edgar is HARVESTING ORGANS, but they still won't listen, so then she takes them to the room full of organs that Betty found in the previous episode, but (naturally) they're gone. She runs off in search of further proof, checking behind every door (why is no one doing anything about this? They supposedly confined her to her room after she helped Toni escape, but no one seems to be monitoring her/enforcing it. Cult farm security sucks), then finds something she wasn't counting on...Jason's corpse in a wheelchair. Madelaine Petsch has really perfected the horror movie scream with the way her face looks as she's screaming her head off. When Alice is asking Edgar about the rumours she's heard regarding organ harvesting, Cheryl bursts in and yells at Edgar about what he's done with Jason's corpse - though it would've been helpful if she'd gone into specifics before she was dragged away, as that would've told Alice exactly what was going on, but instead she just gets vague hints of what Cheryl's on about. Anyway, I guess what she heard from Cheryl was enough, because then she's helping her escape with Polly's remaining kid (who Penelope left behind last episode). Eventually Cheryl reaches home, passes the kid off to one of the Pretty Poisons or Serpents (I can't really tell which. All these gangs basically have the same dress code - black leather) and shares a reunion snog with Toni. Cheryl's creepy grandma then fills Cheryl in on what's happening with her friends and says Penelope's been planning all this for some time (then WHY didn't you warn anyone, creepy grandma?!), so both gangs set off at Toni's command. The core four wander through the woods, and the first test ends up being for Archie. He reads a card saying he must conquer the 'grizzled beast', and it's kind of funny how he immediately knows what that means and is all "Oh noes, not again!" while nobody else has a clue. Although I was half-kidding during the episode where he was attacked by the bear that this show couldn't actually afford a bear (or even a CGI or puppet/animatronic one), the most they could manage was a guy in a bear suit...that's more or less what we get here. It's a dude wearing a pelt and bear skull on his head - how lame. Archie has to duke it out with him (at this point I'd be surprised if Archie ever finds an a solution to a problem that doesn't involve using his fists...or taking his shirt off. Hey, maybe he should've tried that and the bear dude might've ceased kicking his arse, as we all know how no one in Riverdale seems to be able to resist Archie shirtlessness). Anyway, they fight, Archie finds a big bone to whack the dude with...then keeps on whacking until I'm pretty sure the dude is dead ( another body to add to the pile of victims you're racking up, Arch?). The next test is Veronica's, though it also requires Betty's participation. There are six chalices (if nothing else, this season was certainly the Season of the Chalice!) and one apparently has in it fast-acting poison. They have to spin a bottle and drink from whichever one it points to, taking turns until all have been drunk from (for anyone wondering why the guys don't stop them, I'm pretty sure one of the stated rules is there be no interference/straying from what has been instructed). So, the girls each take turns drinking from the chalices (and tipping out the rest after they've had some from each) until it gets down to the final one...which ends up being the one Betty has to drink from. However, before she can, Veronica selflessly takes it and drinks from it, fully believing she's drinking the poison. So, this just goes to show that Veronica IS a good friend to Betty. More than 'good', in fact. How many friends do you have who'd drink poison for you, HUH?? I constantly see people badmouthing Veronica, saying she's a crap friend and whatnot, but honestly, I put the blame for there being so little 'Beronica' squarely on the writers who gave them hardly any scenes together with just the two of them this season. The Beronica friendship is one I liked from the very beginning, and although I knew Veronica wouldn't end up dying, it still got to me emotionally when she did this selfless act for Betty. Both actresses did a great job in the scene, but special shout-out to Camila Mendes who totally sold Veronica's love for Betty. Of course, then Penelope appears (has she and her Gargoylettes just been following the gang from test to test?), says the poison isn't actually fast-acting but is in fact slow-acting, and not one chalice was poisoned, ALL of them were (how very Dread Pirate Roberts of you, Penelope), so they better hurry up and go find the antidote. It's weird that Veronica seems to be more affected by the poison than Betty (did she watch The Princess Bride too and build up a tolerance to poison?). So, what does Archie do when he knows both Veronica and Betty are slowly dying from poison? Why, he stops Veronica to tell her he loves her and they proceed to snog. PRIORITIES, GUYS! Maybe do that after you've found the stuff to prevent dying. The third test is the lamest one of the lot - it's just Jughead fighting Chic (Archie be like, "Hey! Fighting's my thing!"). Really, they should've made it a battle of wills (hey, they already did the poison thing, why not go full Princess Bride?). After their lame fight - which Jughead naturally wins - they come to the last test which involves a box with a loaded gun inside that has one bullet that is meant for Betty's dad. Despite everything he's done, she doesn't want to kill him, he blah blahs about how it's her 'destiny', she refuses, he has a gun himself and says he'll shoot Betty's friends if she doesn't shoot him, and in the end she shoots his hand that's holding the gun (blowing off several fingers in the process. Go Betty!). Penelope once again appears (she must have teleportation powers, otherwise how is she keeping up with the others/moving at the same pace as them? I mean, when Archie and Veronica stopped moving to snog, did Penelope stop and roll her eyes, looking at her watch impatiently until they started moving again? Actually, it's amazing Betty and Veronica haven't caught their dresses on anything, dragging them across the ground in the woods as they have been) and she is totally over the uselessness of Betty's dad, calling him a 'terrible serial killer', so then she blows his brains out right in front of Betty, who's totally devastated (if her reaction is anything to go by). Kudos to Lili Reinhart for portraying Betty's grief so believably. I didn't give two figs about Betty's dad, but I cared about how much Betty was upset. It was nice to see Jughead and Veronica come to comfort her. Archie doesn't, but that's because he's retrieving the antidote (finally he does something useful). Not sure why Penelope bothered with a real antidote to the poison since she seems to be all "Did I say you'd survive if you won? Well...I lied." and is going to kill them all anyway, even after they proved they're not as scummy as she believed their parents/the rest of Riverdale to be. See, this is why you shouldn't have ditched your weapons earlier, guys. Jughead had an axe from his fight with Chic and Archie had a big bone from his fight with bear man...yet they left them behind. Sure, neither weapon is much of a match against a gun, but they could've thrown either weapon at Penelope and knocked the gun away from her hand (or, in the case of the axe, chopped off her hand) or something. Anyway, luckily this is when Cheryl, Toni and the rest of the cavalry arrive. It was good to see Cheryl in her Red Arrow garb and using her bow again...but her mum somehow manages to get away? WTF? She should've been the first one you shot with an arrow, Cheryl! It also should be noted that night turned into day quicker than in the Season 1 episode of Supernatural titled 'Bugs'. Literally one moment the gang are fleeing at night and the next it's morning. Oh well, group hug! They return to the cult farm to find Kevin's been left behind while all the others have 'ascended' (serves you right, Kev, for being such a shitty friend to Betty!). We then get a Jughead voiceover. *sigh* They just had to get that in there, didn't they? Since we didn't have it at the start of the episode like normal. Speaking of 'normal', that's what the Jughead voiceover says things are returning to (what about all the dead bodies? Shouldn't numerous people be getting arrested?), GK graffiti on Pop's is getting painted over, and Cheryl...is talking to Jason's corpse (well, I guess that's 'normal' for a Blossom). Veronica gives Archie full ownership of the gym Hiram gave to him, while she and her mum now own all the stuff Hiram did before he was sent to jail. Hermione has found out something that Hiram was keeping from her, but before she can tell Veronica she gets arrested (which Hiram has arranged from prison). So, now both of Veronica's parents are in jail (I imagine Veronica's probably thinking, "I just drank poison, I don't need this shit!"). It's too bad, as Archie's mum is encouraging him to get with Veronica (obviously she's a Varchie shipper). I guess it's just as well Veronica told Archie earlier (when she was dying from poison) that nothing happened between her and Reggie in the previous episode when Archie came over to tell her how he felt and saw Reggie was there, then he informed Archie that he'd told Veronica he wanted to be with her and she'd returned the sentiment (Archie looked to Veronica for confirmation and all she replied with was that was what she said - rather unenthused, implying she didn't really mean it). An FBI agent knocks on Betty's Jughead's door and informs Bughead that he's looking for Alice, as she wasn't actually sucked into the cult farm, but instead was an undercover informant (so then WHY didn't she bail as soon as she had enough evidence against them? Or tell Betty what the real deal was when they were alone and no one could've possibly been listening in?). Betty feels there's something familiar about the FBI agent and he reveals that he's actually her not-so-dead-after-all brother, Charles ( for realsies this time! None of this fake bro/Chic shit). Jughead then realises that since Charles is the son of his dad and Betty's mum, that makes him his half-brother. I'm sure some people automatically thought, "Ew! Bughead share a bro? Hasn't there been enough incest on this show already?!", but that's not really the case (not unless Betty gets with Charles...and I highly doubt that'll happen). So, then the core four fill each other in on what has transpired since...what was it? The night before? How much time has passed? Once everyone's caught up on everything (including the fact that Veronica now has Smithers as her legal guardian since both her parents are in jail), they make a vow (when have those ever worked out?) to be done with death cults, murder mysteries and anything else of that sort (how boring! You take all that away and you'll have nothing left!). They toast to the fact that senior year may be the final time they're all together (unlikely, unless the show abruptly ends), so they want to make sure nothing ruins that. Smash-cut/flashforward to Spring Break of senior year, with Archie, Betty and Veronica standing around a bonfire in their underwear (FINALLY, after it being a season of Archie shirtlessness, it's about time there was some equal-opportunity near-nudity from the girls!) and Archie's holding Jughead's stupid beanie. Jughead himself is absent and all three have blood over them. Betty says they need to burn all their clothes and then tells Archie to throw the stupid beanie on the fire too. Burn, beanie, burn! I'm sure the fangirliest of Jughead fangirls were screaming like Cheryl at that. It seems to be heavily implied that Jughead is dead and a murder has been committed...but, come on, did anyone really believe that Jughead would actually be dead? Unless any of the actors/actresses who portray the core four decide to leave, I think it's a safe bet they'll be sticking around until the end of the show. I read somewhere online that originally Jughead was supposed to be there (so I guess it was meant to be all about who'd gotten murdered and not about one of the core four seemingly being dead), but apparently Cole Sprouse was 'too cold' and that's why he wasn't present and the scene ended up the way it did. Firstly...WTF, Cole Sprouse? Your castmates are there in their underwear, probably freezing their butts off, but they just suffered through it, while you can't hack the cold? This doesn't reflect well upon you. And secondly, I will admit this scene certainly was interesting to watch. I liked the look of it, and there just being three instead of four certainly gave it an eerie feel, so in a way, something good came out of Cole Sprouse's wimpiness (even though it's bleeding obvious Jughead ain't dead for really reals). I'd heard about this scene prior to watching the show, but it still had impact when watching it. I'm eager to see what led to all this. Final thoughts on this third season as a whole:Well...this was certainly a bonkers season. I'd heard things got crazy around Season 3, but didn't realise just how crazy they were going to get. It seemed a lot of people turned on the show because of the craziness (it appears some even gave up watching it), but it didn't bother me. There was stuff that dragged, as well as stuff that bored/annoyed me, but that's been the case right from the start. I actually didn't mind the balls-to-the-wall craziness. I like shows that mix genres, as it allows more stories to be told. Besides, there wasn't actually anything truly supernatural going on, as it turned out to just be mere mortals and a whole lotta drugs that made it seem like there was supernatural stuff going on. This was probably also the season with the most shirtlessness. I lost count early on, but it felt like there was hardly ever an episode where someone didn't get shirtless...which, naturally, brings me to Archie. He's still not the brightest bulb, but he's somewhat 'grown' as a character and K.J. Apa continues to improve from the first season. I also found out this season that he's a New Zealander - which I didn't know when watching the prior two seasons. Now I keep hoping they'll find an excuse to have Archie 'put on' a Kiwi accent. He could pretend to be one for whatever reason and make a call, asking for 'Bitty' (which is what 'Betty' sounds like with his Kiwi accent. Just listen to him say the name in interviews) and whoever answers the phone could be totally confused about who he's asking to speak to. I just hope he's not going to be constantly trying to solve every problem (and end up getting himself in trouble) with his fists. All the boxing stuff was one of the things that bored me this season. I also hope he's not going to just keep bouncing around from love interest to love interest. He's been involved with half the main female cast on the show already, so how about he has an actual stable relationship for a while? And no more fights with bears unless you ACTUALLY GIVE US A BEAR, SHOW! I think Betty was one of the best characters this season. Considering all the crap she had to deal with, she actually handled it pretty well. I love that she did sleuthing not just as part of 'Bughead', but by herself as well. While everyone else was worrying about their own personal drama, she was actually taking the initiative to try to solve the mystery of all this G&G stuff. I've seen some people say that she's the 'crappy friend' in the various friendships she's a part of, but I didn't see any evidence of that. If anything, others were crappy friends to her when she really needed them. Betty might have a 'darkness' in her, but I like that she's no pushover and can fight back (if not with fists, like Archie, then with words and being just as cunning as those she goes up against. Though clearly she can kick some arse when she needs to as well). I wished we could've gotten more 'Beroncia' moments, but I appreciated the ones we did get. Speaking of Veronica, it feels like quite a few people aren't fond of her, and while she does tend to get in over her head at times, she's also helped her friends and bailed them out of trouble a LOT. If not for Veronica paying for/buying various things, her friends would've been screwed. I do wonder what'll happen when/if she ever winds up with no money at all. I think Veronica has shown she has a good heart and I just hope we can get more Beronica scenes next season. I can't say I was that interested in much of the stuff Jughead had going on this season. I'm kind of over all the different gang-related shenanigans, various members of his gang (and the gangs he dealt with) bored/annoyed me in about equal measure, and I hope I never have to sit through another scene with him and Ethel (stop trying to make Ethelhead happen, Ethel! WHY couldn't you have been a victim of the Black Hood or Gargoyle King, damn it?!). However, it was somewhat interesting to see him interacting with his mum and sister. Though Jugmum kind of devolved into just another shady parent. I still don't really have a 'feel' for what Jugsis is like as a character. She didn't really live up to the awesomeness she displayed during her introductory episode. I hope she doesn't turn into an annoying brat (if I have to see anymore of that psycho little shit she was hanging out with, I think I'm going to cut a bitch - probably Archie, since he'd be stupid enough to be standing too close and yet again getting himself sliced across his torso). Sheriff Jugdad constantly calling his son 'boy' is getting a bit old/annoying too, and I'm not sure how a member of a biker gang becomes sheriff...but whatever. It's kind of nuts how he and Jughead seem to be the only ones doing any police work, considering wasn't the Serpent gang meant to become his deputies or something? And is it even legal for him to take his son to crime scenes? Eh, it's Riverdale. As for the other adults - I was bit premature with my goodbyes to Luke Perry in the episode I originally thought was his last, as he had several after that, but I've read that the next season's first episode will be the one that deals with his character no longer being in the show. I'm interested to see what the writers came up with, but hopefully it's something respectful to the character of Fred Andrews. He was a good dad and the best parent in the show (what about Vegas? He's going to be very sad, since Fred was the one who really took care of him, as Archie seemed pretty neglectful). It's a true shame what happened with the actor, but I'm glad I got to see his final TV role before he passed, since I hadn't really seen him in anything since 90210. Once again, RIP Luke Perry. You will be missed. It didn't feel as though Hermione Lodge got a whole lot to do this season, she seems to switch between being a half-decent person and being almost as bad as her husband. It does feel like a waste of Marisol Nichols, and I know she's not going to be a regular later into the series. I can only guess this is because they don't find a way to write her better in the next season? I would really like to see her and Veronica joining forces to be an unstoppable team, but unfortunately Hiram is still around. He started off interesting in Season 2, but has pretty much become a mustache-twirling cartoon villain at this point. It's pretty ridiculous that his arch enemy is a high school 'teen'. I hope he gets taken down for good next season...but I'm not holding my breath. Alice was...not very likeable AT ALL this season, but that's what happens when a character is seemingly brainwashed the whole season. She was really terrible to Betty and it just proved how strong a person Betty really is, to have kept it together throughout all crap her mum put her through. It feels like the writers decided to make Alice an FBI informant in this season's final simply because they needed to have Betty (and the audience) be able to forgive Alice for all the horrible things she did and this is the easiest way to achieve that - she was just pretending to be an awful human being! I hope Betty doesn't forgive her easily, as Alice could've let her know or at least given her some clues that she wasn't really the worst mum ever. Actually, that award goes to Cheryl's mum, who really was a diabolical villain, and I'm glad the show isn't pretending she's anything else. I felt bad for Cheryl this season too, as she had a lot going on and although she could be hard to like at times, she never stopped being my favourite. Madelaine Petsch has the difficult task of playing someone who could be downright loathsome in the hands of a lesser actress, but because she's such a likeable actress, that likeability comes through onscreen - even when Cheryl's at her worst. I just hope she's not going to spend the entirety of next season speaking to her rotting corpse of a brother. I think Toni is good for her, as she's the only one who seems to be able to handle Cheryl when she's being difficult. My main wish is to see Cheryl having more scenes with 'cousin Betty', as there was some good stuff between them previously, but we haven't gotten much since. Other characters that I didn't care enough about to mention before now - Josie was never a part of the murder mysteries/sleuthing, so that's why she wasn't really involved in the various storylines. She was all about her pursuit of a solo musical career (apparently not caring that she lost her fellow Pussycats/supposed 'friends' in the process), and someone who really doesn't play well with others was never going to be a great fit with the rest of these characters who are all connected in some way/part of a 'team'. I'll probably never watch the spin-off, but I imagine those who wanted to see her character get more focus got their wish with that show. I myself am not sorry to see her leave this series. Nothing personal against the actress, I just didn't like her character. Reggie grew on me a bit this season. Last season when he took over/was still 'New Reggie' to me, I didn't think much of him, but they actually gave him a bit of development this time. I don't mind 'Veggie' (plus, they have one of the most amusing ship names EVER), but if all he's going to do is complain about Veronica not treating him how he wants to be treated, then he should just move on. Loving someone who doesn't love you back isn't good for anyone. Kevin was...not likeable at all, and that's about the only thing I have to say regarding his character. Most of the other recurring characters/guest-stars were ones I didn't really care about (and a few annoyed me to such an extent I want to see them wind up as casualties of whatever killer the town of Riverdale is home to next). It says how much the show messed up keeping the characters together when the episode I think I liked the most this season (before the season final, that is) was the one with the 'teen' actors/actresses playing the 'teen' versions of their characters' parents. That one had all the younger actors/actresses together, and that's when the show's at its best. One thing about the Season 3 final I really appreciated was that it featured the core four TOGETHER. There'd been so little of that throughout this season and, really, it feels like we haven't had much of it since Season 1. I'm not sure why shows that have a really good group dynamic between their main characters think the best course of action in later seasons is to split them apart. Seriously, you've got something that works...why mess with that? I really do hope there's more of the four of them together next season, as that's when they're all at their strongest. I'm still into this crazy ridiculous show and will be sad once I finish Season 4 (which I just received on DVD for my birthday), as I don't think we'll be getting Season 5 released on DVD here anytime soon - this is what I get for binge-watching the show instead of working my way through the season slowly. I can't help it! I think I'm addicted!
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