Darkness, Deception and Death-- Riverdale is Back!

Milkshakes and pie, anyone? 

Riverdale Season 2: Episodes 1 & 2 Recap

Riverdale is back with “Chapter 14: A Kiss Before Dying”. The title is hint enough of what’s to come, that  there’s as much hell being raised this time around as in the first season. Jason Blossom’s death was the bombshell at the root of the previous thirteen episodes, but not to be outdone, the season two premiere begins with  bang. Literally. Kicking off from the cliffhanger finale, Archie and his dad’s heart to heart at Pop’s Chock’lit shop is busted up by the sudden appearance of a black-masked man charging into the diner, guns blazing. This mystery man fires a bullet into Fred’s chest and after lingering for just a moment, bolts. The murder and mayhem that came to characterize Riverdale as much as its charming homecoming dances and jubilees is in the air and thicker than ever! There’s another killer, more dark motives in play and the return of some especially shady characters, like the formerly incarcerated Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos), welcome back to Riverdale.

With episodes narrated by Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), with his unflinchingly honestly and --just a touch-- cynical tone, we’re effortlessly spirited back to this small town with big secrets. If the first season was largely a mystery and thriller with dark comedy and generous helpings of drama, there’s no doubt about it that this time Riverdale is ALL about the drama. The CW goes at this full force: yanking at our heart strings, and blowing up the shock value. Starting with our red-haired leading boy-next-door: Archie Andrews.

Far from an angel in season one -- hooking up with his music teacher Miss Grundy (Sarah Habel) was just one of the lines he crossed -- here Archie (KJ Apa) is barreling towards his own destruction. Paranoid that he's being targeted and constantly having PTSD hallucinations about the black-masked shooter lurking outside every door and window, Archie is on the brink of a breakdown. Camping out in his foyer every night clutching a baseball bat to fight off phantom intruders, his obsessions and delusions open up a rift between him and Veronica (Camila Mendes). Jumpy and on edge he sheds his wholesome image, trying to score some drugs called ‘jingle jangle’ from football jock teammate Reggie (distractingly and obviously replaced this season by Charles Melton) to get him revved up and alert for action. Moron moments with Archie, just in case he didn’t make enough dumbass decisions in the first thirteen episodes. He’s flawed and he’s desperate -- I get it, but he’s also whiny as hell and more than a little bit of a drama king.

Badass babe she is ‘Ronnie is having none of his angst and negativity. Much like how Harry’s besties Ron and Hermione set him straight in The Order of the Phoenix she refuses to be discarded and disrespected by Archiekins. Confident in herself and with her self-worth Veronica continues to be a formidable female character and a role model for teen and young-twenty-somethings. This is a girl that stands her ground and refuses to buckle or be shamed -- remember the episodes last season with the whole sexual harassment support group she and Betty set up? And how they put on the kabash on the slut shaming running rampant through Riverdale High’s hallways? Well, V and B are more unstoppable than ever.

That strength is something Veronica is going to need to keep with her  now that the Lodge family is finally reunited in Riverdale. Doorman/bellhop/handiman and for all intents and purposes bulter Smithers is let go (visiting his “sick mother” ? Ha, yeah sureeee…) and Hermione (Marisol Nichols)  runs back to Hiram’s side, changing loyalties quick enough to give us a whiplash. With her one ally cut out of the picture, Veronica  The dynamic between her and Veronica is unlike what we’ve seen before. Gone is the amicable mother-daughter bond. The two girls against the world mentality.  Now it’s very much Veronica on one side, and Hermione and “daddy” Hiram on the other. The devotion Hermione has to Hiram brings to light her deception and her manipulation. Veronica is utterly aghast by the words that come out of her mother’s mouth, as are WE! Whoever Hermione Lodge is, she definitely is not the woman she was pretending to be before-- and this is about to have some seriously dire consequences.

In that same vein, Cheryl Blossom’s (Madelaine Petsch) impulsive decision to torch the Blossom mansion is cast as a tragic accident-- one that leaves her mother severely burned and disfigured. If there was ever any question that Cheryl was ruthless and manipulative last season, there’s not a shadow of a doubt now. Blackmailing her mommy dearest to keep mum about it, Cheryl snatches up the title of “last Blossom standing”. The emotionally unstable and borderline suicidal girl she was at the close at season one, has been burned away with her deliberate destruction of the Blossom estate and she’s risen from the ashes, more determined than ever to take what she wants, when she wants it.

Cheryl's sass and attitude are sharper than ever, as she greets Jughead and Betty as “Hobo” and “Bride of Hobo” with a kind of Emma Roberts cocky entitled bitchiness. Unwilling to just let Veronica take over the cheerleading squad, Cheryl asserts her dominance by introducing Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) as the latest River Vixen, a girl who’s far more partial to her than Betty or Veronica. How this will affect the dynamic of the squad is a bit of a toss up. Whatever happens though, the Josie and Cheryl friendship is cemented even further by Cheryl standing in for Valerie during a Pussycats performance-- busting Josie’s branding and her determination to only feature women of colour in her band. It takes barely any effort for Cheryl to convince Josie to let her slip into bootie shorts, and clamber onto the roof, crooning about how her “milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” as part of the live entertainment portion of the fundraiser to save Pops. This may be the girl who lost it all, but she’s doing her damndest to grab it all back and claw her way back to the top.

Said fundraiser, is launched by Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) who springs to action when Pop’s diner is on the brink of closing. There’s a dark aura around the once cheery little chock’lit shop one that’s emphasized by black grafitti “DEATH DINER” scrawled on the storefront. The shooting makes the once popular afterschool hangout about as welcoming as a leper colony. Once again butting heads with her mom, Alice (Madchen Amick) who is determined to see Jughead as nothing more than delinquent and gang-banger in training. Beyond trying to put an end to Juggy and B’s relationship she’s also digging up dirt on the Southside Serpents who she’s convinced is now “invading” their neighborhood. Alice doesn’t hate the Serpents as much as she hates the Blossom family, but it’s pretty darn close.

Jughead though, has no intentions of becoming the latest Serpent recruit. Yes, he put the jacket on but that doesn’t mean he tattooed the dark mark to his wrist so to speak. Juggy is no fool. He’s extremely clever and deliberate in everything he does-- he knows how to play the game, or at least act like he is. FP (Skeet Ulrich)  is locked up after all, and has a heavy prison sentence ahead of him-- unless Jughead can get any favors from a Serpent on the inside. That whole dramatic sequence at the end of season one, where Jug transfers schools, and is set to live with a Southside foster family? Well, Jughead’s not doing it. The fosters are covering for him, and he’s crashing in FP’s trailer. Oh and riding his motorcycle too. Because: bad boy check off list, check and check. Jughead doesn’t hesitate when says he’s doing it to feel closer to his dad. And with Cole Sprouse’s on point acting, it’s entirely believable and doesn’t feel like laughably cliche writing. He’s not just the tropey “bad boy”. Far from it! He’s edgy and snarky, with a never ending supply of cheeky and dark quips, but he’s also insightful and constantly evaluating himself, everyone around him, and everything around him. In Hogwarts speak, he’s a straight up Ravenclaw.

The next episode “Chapter 15: Nighthawks” has even more bombshells and OMG moments. Juggy’s quest to get his father’s sentence lessened --FP will have to spend twenty years in prison -- sends him into the Serpent’s “nest”: a tattoo parlor in the Southside. Which also happens to be the office of  lawyer and of course, Serpent herself, Penny Peabody. Penny (Brit Morgan) advises Jug that the best way to get FP’s jail time cut is if the remaining Blossom family will publically forgive him in front of a judge. Sketchy only gets sketchier when Penny pulls the favor card. Juggy doesn’t owe her any money, but now for her help he owes her a favor. Ruh-roh. Talk about a deal with a devil. . .

Betty and Jughead’s efforts to convince Cheryl and her recently discharged mummy-wrapped burn-victim mother Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) to forgive FP is a fail. A fail to end all fails. UNTIL, Betty taps into her dark side again. Cornering Cheryl in the Vixens locker room Betty tries her hand at blackmail -- the flash drive which showed Cheryl’s father killing Jason? Betty still has a copy. A copy that she’ll leak all over the internet and news-- blowing the last remaining threads of the Blossom family’s reputation to smithereens. If Cheryl won’t go to court and forgive FP, she’ll never get that video. Cheryl’s retort, that Betty is a “stone cold bitch” isn’t said maliciously but with admiration. The next day under oath Cheryl confesses that she heard her father threatening FP by saying if he didn’t do his bidding, he’d hurt Juggy. It’s a win for FP and another point for  Dark!Betty, and adds yet another layer of ‘what if’ and intrigue. What if Cheryl wasn’t lying by saying that? What if her father truly did make those threats? And now that  she has the video and flash drive-- the last remaining copy-- what will she do with it? Despite making her mother watch the atrocity for herself.

Pop’s Diner gets bought out by an anonymous donor and Veronica instantly gets a whiff of privilege and wealth and is convinced Daddy did it. Hiram Lodge will do anything to buy back her love and get back into her good graces, so her guess is good as gold. Until he uses his default move -- Hiram Lodge uses lie -- and V grudgingly accepts it. After all, mami just lied about the letter Hiram sent to Veronica threatening her if Veronica refused to speak well of Hiram’s character, and pretended she was the one that wrote it. Jaw drop. And when Hiram thanks her for lying for him to Veronica?! Double jaw drop. Hermione-- what are you up to?!

Back at the Andrews household, one night after pulling a moronic prank on Archie, and nearly getting the shit beat out of him, Reggie realizes that Archie is out of his freaking mind and refuses to give him any drugs. The last thing psycho Archie needs are heavy dosages of the jingle jangle Reggie is peddling. Reggie NOPES right out of there, leaving Archie to come up with a new plan of action. Sober and solemn, Archie has a sketchy rendezvous with Dilton Doiley (Major Curda), the Eagle Scout who was shooting off a gun at Sweet Water River not long after Jason’s body turned up, and surprise surprise gets a gun from Dil Doilz.

“Nighthawks” ends with the brutal strangulation of Miss Grundy. The same black-masked gunman snatches up the cello bow Archie gifted to his teacher slash lover and chokes the living day lights out of her. It’s a “crime of passion” that convinces Archie whoever went after his dad is absolutely trying to get to him. But the killings aren’t over yet. And this time, the connection to Archie is barely there. Two Riverdale High teens, amped up on drugs they scored from Reggie, park their car one night in a the remote woodlands. Their hot and heavy makeout session is interrupted by --three guesses who-- our mystery black-mask-wearing killer! The scene brief as it is, is brilliant in how it plays homage to 1950’s urban legends about killers on the prowl in the middle of the night while teens are getting ready for sexy time in their car. The only thing this enigmatic evildoer is missing is a hook hand.

This dark and twisty plot is irresistible. Riverdale has wasted no time in continuing down the path of murder mystery/drama but this time the comedy, while still there, is more subdued. There are sinister vibes and with every answer more questions sprout.  Namely, who the heck is the black-masked-gunman hired by? Why didn’t he knock off Archie or Pop while he had the chance? What sent him after two rando horny teenagers? Is Hiram really connected with it? Could it be bitter Serpents who Fred Andrews let go off his crew? Maybe a player we haven’t even met met yet?! Wednesday nights cannot get here soon enough. Expect my recap for the episode three to be published up here Thursday - a day after it airs live--and to be hammered with more OMG reveals. I know I am. 😉

All photos from IMDB.