Welcome back all you Riverdale fans! I think the show, which has tiptoed around pure insanity before, has fully embraced its ludicrousness and is now running on the same juices that Gotham is, only with a lot more coherence, a much stronger cast, and (for the most part) characters that are what the writers believe them to be. Still, I yelled fuck you at my TV more times tonight than I did throughout the ENTIRE Hiram is a shitty gangster arc last season so take that how you will.
As always, spoilers ahead.
1. Mugging for the Camera
Ethel, what have they done to you? How could they have changed your characters so much that you went from a teased social outcast to a pariah b/c of Hiram’s shitty ways to someone who felt that the only place they belonged was with an obscure roleplaying game wherein she could play a character that was wanted? OK, wait, fuck. That was some smart writing. . .
I’m hesitant to give too much credit here to the writers because the rest of the characterization of Ethel post-cult brainwashing is, well, less than stellar in terms of realism but then again, the whole situation is predicated on the satanic panic surrounding D&D being actually true. Choosing Ethel, Dilton, and some character we haven’t seen nor heard of before to be the vectors for this game makes a lot of sense, as these are the outcasts of the school that would be into a game like this one, and it gives them an excuse to bring these background characters into the foreground. Yes, Dilton and Ben are deader than doornails, but Ethel is still kicking, despite her attempts to join Ben & Dilton.
Oh man, I really hope Ethel makes it through the season.
2. The Fall and Decline of the Alice Cooper
Mrs. Cooper, what have they done to you? You went from a hard-ass mom with secrets and a deep mistrust of her daughter because she saw too much of herself in her to a hippie mom with secrets and a deep mistrust of her daughter because she is an ass. I don’t understand WHY, after everything they’ve gone through together, Mrs. Cooper cannot seem to trust or even attempt to understand Betty.
Betty was right throughout the entirety of season 2 about Chic and they were both shaken to their core by the revelation that Hal was the Black Hood. It’s true that Betty never did process her father’s actions, something that would be a source of tension, but the way the show presents this as completely destroying their relationship makes me believe that either the writers really dropped the ball on this, or they are doing it on purpose to cause us to question how much is Mrs. Cooper and how much is The Farm’s brainwashing.
Regardless, watching Mrs. Cooper undermine, belittle and generally dismiss Betty is frustrating to watch. It’s not new but so far, much like during the Chic arc, it’s just out of character enough to make me hope it changes soon.
3. One Punch Man
Archie, what have they done to you? Put into solitary confinement for three weeks and then forced to fight in some kind of . . .Fight Club? If you had asked me at the end of last season if this is where I thought Archie’s plot line would lead him, I would have said no. Hell, I didn’t even think we’d even GET to Archie being in prison until at least episode three but here we are. What even is this plot line? We even end on him playing the fight while Josie sings a Bond theme in the background!
I’m genuinely baffled but also pleasantly surprised. Of all the routes they could have taken for Archie Andrews in prison, this is shaping up to be a very interesting one. I say this because 1) he’s getting back to his more heroic roots and 2) they’re still willing to put him through the ringer and have the actions taken against him matter. He was in solitary confinement for 3 weeks, that’s going to cause some damage and it shows when he starts to hallucinate his father being with him. Now, that might just have been a good way of visualizing it for us and for the character but I hope that’s not the case. If handled well, this could be a good way of showing the damages that abuses in our prison system can cause upon those who suffer through it.
Continued belowIs that a true to life portrayal of the prison system or the people it disproportionately effects? Not by a long shot but Riverdale is not set up to tackle those problems as social satire/drama ala The Wire but if it can use that as a touchstone, that can make this plot line just a little bit better.
Oh, and does the Warden remind anyone else of Mitch McConnell? Just me?
4. Betty & Jug: Cult! Cult! Cult! Polly & Ethel: Pulls Up to the Farm, Orders One Wheatgrass Shot, and Drives Away
I honestly have no idea what to say about The Farm & the Cult of G&G this week other than I was genuinely unsettled throughout the entirety of this episode. There have been very few episodes of Riverdale that have managed to get me to have a physical or audible reaction other than the usual yelling at the screen. While the performances from the cultists Ethel, Polly, Evelyn, and the rest weren’t exactly tense in the same way the performances in Get Out or The Thing were, it still managed to fill me with dread and worry for them.
The over-the-top nature of everything and the believable acting I think really helps to sell the danger that this game can cause. Additionally, by tying it to a cult through cult terminology, language, actions and explicit real-life references, the actions become a little bit more believable. Cults don’t seem so scary when you’re in one and when they’ve “helped” you through trauma or “helped” you to feel like a part of a group. It’s only from the outside that one can see the deep toxicity lying within. That’s what makes them so scary.
5. Speak Easy to Me
Veronica’s C(?)-plot is going to take a bit of adjustment to get right. At the moment, it’s uncertain of what it wants to be and is too tied to the machinations of her father and, prior to the opening of the speakeasy, to Archie. Veronica needs her own plot, not propelled by the actions of those external to her. It’s starting to get there but we need to see some more of her scheming and working on her own instead of seeing her trying to one-up her father every 15 minutes.
Reggie being a part of the speakeasy might be my favorite bit of this plot. I like how he’s a jerk but not actively horrible like in the comics. He learned what he was and wasn’t after the Red Circle incident last season and thank goodness for that. Plus, it gives him a reason to stick around and will hopefully also give Sweet Pea, Cheryl and Toni reasons to get more involved in the show.
That about does it for now! What did you all think? Was it too silly for your liking or is it the right amount of weird? Let me know in the comments and join me again next week for Riverdale’s take on The Breakfast Club. That’s gonna be a strange one.
Best Line of the Night:
Veronica: “La Bonne Nuit is not in the business of corrupting minors.”
Reggie: “Not yet.”
