Riverdale
- type
- TV Show
- genre
- Drama
- run date
- 01/26/17
- performer
- K.J. Apa, Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Madelaine Petsch, Luke Perry, Madchen Amick, Marisol Nichols
- broadcaster
- The CW
- seasons
- 2
- Current Status
- In Season
Throughout this season, I’ve talked a lot about Riverdale‘s Riverdale-ness. (Yes, it makes sense.) The over-the-top, cheeky nature of the show can sometimes be too much, and there have been a number of moments this season that went too far (like a certain striptease). However, I want to say something about this episode: This felt like the right amount of Riverdale craziness. There were multiple absurd moments — Chic holding that baby! A grown man who goes by the name “War Baby!” Clifford has a twin! — and Jughead turned his dramatic exposition up to 11, but you know what? It was the kind of crazy that makes Riverdale, well, Riverdale. If we’re looking at Riverdale as a scale, this was a balanced episode. Not the best, not the worst. Balanced.
We start at the trailer park, where Jug has created a murder board on a kitchen wall in an attempt to piece together Hiram’s big bad plan for the town. Only, there’s no amount of string that will help him figure this out. Especially when he doesn’t even realize what’s happening across town: The Lodges invited Fred and Archie to dinner in order to ask Fred to run for mayor. It seems that Mayor McCoy’s deputy mayor is on the verge of stepping down, and when that happens, there will be a “special election.” The Lodges think Fred would be an ideal candidate.
I know what you’re thinking: Absolutely nothing about Fred Andrews screams “I want to be mayor,” and yet, this show has decided that long ago, Fred dreamt of becoming mayor. Yes, the guy who wears nothing but flannel and rarely talks to anyone other than his son wanted to get into politics! And furthermore, he once envisioned Riverdale as a futuristic town with a monorail! Sure, Riverdale, why not?!
Ultimately, Archie is the one who doesn’t like the plan. He doesn’t want his dad becoming more entangled with the Lodges, so he’s determined to find a way to convince Fred not to do it…all the while Veronica is bringing over designs for campaign slogans. Because all good relationships involve manipulating your boyfriend’s father in order to further your family’s plan!
And speaking of good relationships, it’s time to check in with Hal, who shows up at the Cooper house officially asking for a divorce. He wants one FAST, and if Alice agrees to move quickly, he offers her half the money he made when he sold the Riverdale Register to Hiram. You know a relationship’s over when it turns into a negotiation! (Well, unless you’re a Lodge, in which case negotiation is the first stage of true love.)
With Archie trying to do everything in his power to stop his father from running for office, he decides it’s time to take down Hiram, so he tells Jug the truth about Pop’s: that Hiram bought it. Only, when Jug goes to Pop’s to confirm the information, the oh-so-adorable Pop uses his adorableness and asks Jug not to publish that information until his mother has passed. He did what he had to do to keep the business alive, but it would break his mother’s heart if she found out that the Chock’lit Shoppe is no longer in the family’s name. And so Jug agrees…but thankfully, Pop isn’t the only adorable man in town who’s ready to talk.
When Jug gets a call from Smithers (!!!), he heads to the Riverdale Bus Terminal to talk to the bus driver. There, Smithers tells him that he used to coordinate transportation to and from Shankshaw Prison. It seems Hiram has been talking to the warden over there…but why? Well, let’s ask War Baby! Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently FP has an inside man in Shankshaw, and his name is WAR BABY. And the second Jug and FP pay him a visit, they learn the truth about Hiram’s plan.
But before we get there, we have to deal with a very public will reading. It seems Clifford Blossom left a secret will that he requested be read in public because he’s Clifford Blossom. So with Toni by her side, Cheryl attends the reading, along with Hal, Betty, Polly — she’s home! — and a few others. The takeaway? Thistle House remains with the immortal Roseanne Blossom, and Penelope gets ownership of Thornhill, a.k.a. the place that burned down. As for all Clifford’s remaining assets, they will be divided in half, with half going to Cheryl and Jason (so Cheryl) and half going to anyone who can prove with medical authentication that even one drop of Blossom blood flows through their veins. So that means Betty, Polly, Hal, and maybe Chic? (Next: Hiram and Archie perform a blood oath)
Comments