Last week’s episode felt a bit light for me, but this episode brought it all back in several ways. Let’s dig in:
1. Veronica
I said before in an earlier review that this Veronica felt like one that was mid-way through her comic counterpart’s character development and that has gotten more true here. Apparently, Miss Lodge was quite the terror back in her old school and is now trying to make good when she senses Ethel’s home life isn’t so great. The scenes between them are really touching, both Camilla Mendes and Shannon Purser have good chemistry with one another.
2. The Blossom’s Are a Bit Weird, Aren’t They?
I know. They were being so subtle about it before. What with the whole WASPy ness turned up to Eleven, that’s one thing. But the way Cheryl approaches Archie to escort her to a Family party, on top of a comment that Mrs. Blossom makes to Archie the words “Replacement Goldfish” kept going off with all the klaxons in the world. And Archie does try to give Mr. and Mrs. Blossom some words about how they treat Cheryl, it is nice to see him go to bat for her. But again, that ol’ Blossom creepiness just comes right back in full tsunami-force.
Also, Cheryl says this to Fred Andrews: “Looking extremely DILFy today.”
That Was a Line.
3. Pick a Character, Alice
So, last time I said that maybe Alice Cooper was going through a Heel Turn to being a better character. Yeah, think I have to throw that out the window here. Really, this comes down to the writing because at this point I’m not even sure where Alice Cooper is going. Like she swerves between “grrrr the Blossoms are bastards and Polly made her choice” and “I want my daughter baaaaack!” And I get that this back-and-forth with the character might be intentional, but it is so jarring.
4. Oh, Betty
So yeah, her life has kind of gone to shit, no? Her parents. Polly. Everything feels like it’s tearing apart around her and this is the moment where it finally begins to crack her apart. The scene where she finally does break down is really good. Lili Reinhart is a real good talent.. She did a remarkable job with the scene, able to communicate such vulnerability without it ever going over the top. And Jughead’s line to her “You’re so much stronger than all that white noise”. That was a good one.
5. Lodge vs. Blossom: We’re All Caught in the Crossfire
Wow. Hiram Lodge can do a lot of damage, despite being a Ghost character. The threads around the murder of Jason are beginning to tighten and this guy is coming to be a centerpiece of it all. The Blossoms. The Muggs. Even the Andrews. This character is getting very intimidating and we still haven’t been formerly introduced to him yet but how Mr. Blossom, the Muggs, Hermione, Fred Andrews and, most importantly, Veronica see Hiram by the end of this episode really speaks volumes. We’ve only got a couple episodes left, but the powder keg is just waiting for its spark.
