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Riverdale
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After a season premiere unlike any other in Riverdale history that paid tribute to departed star Luke Perry, The CW’s craziest show is officially back this week with “Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High.” And as usual, the teens of the Town With Pep are at it again: attending high school, dealing with romantic issues, playing football and…
Wait a second. That can’t be right. Where are the goblin masks, stick monsters and candy drugs that took over Season 3? Whither the murders, investigations, jailbreaks and bear attacks? Can you even call the show Riverdale if someone is engaging in behavior that’s vaguely recognizable as something a human being might do? And characters smiling at each other? Liking each other’s company?? What is this, Saved By The Bell???
Let’s not go that far. The episode, which was written by Michael Grassi and Will Ewing, and directed by Pamela Romanowsky, is still an episode of Riverdale. Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) has the corpse of her brother Jason (Trevor Stines) stored in the basement. There’s a completely unnecessary, completely delightful musical number. And lurking in the background is the specter of organ-stealing cult The Farm.
But at the same time, the promised re-centering of Riverdale on what made the show such a sensation in Season 1 is back, and then some. They can’t totally ditch the baggage of serial killer and cult infused seasons past, and neither should they. But at the same time, at least in the second episode, the series seems to regain that balance between creepy mysteries and teenage earnestness that originally infused the show. A large part of that is the spirit of Perry, which looms large over the episode, and whose sudden passing in March has clearly pushed both the characters in the show and the people behind the scenes to do better, and be better in Season 4.
With that in mind, here’s some teases for what to expect on Season 4, Episode 2.
Are You Ready For Some Football?
After several seasons bouncing around as a mobster-in-training (did he ever make his bones, by the way?), a singer, a boxer, and probably seventy-five other jobs, Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is finally back where he belongs: on the football field. Don’t worry, there’s still a touch of the ol’ boxing, but when Mad Dog (Eli Goree) — who isn’t actually named Mad Dog, by the way — joins Archie as the Bulldogs’ newest member, it’s back to basics. That means practices, locker room scenes, and plenty of intra-team drama. After all, how else would you experience the ePiC HiGhs and lOws oF hiGH SchOol fOotbAll?
Core Foursome
Another things Archie is very into this episode? Uh, Veronica (Camila Mendes). It’s been a while since we got a classic Riverdale sex montage, and things get amped up considerably (by CW standards, mind you) for a little pre-first day of Senior Year fun. Those viewers who felt bummed out that Varchie (Veronica and Archie) spent most of Season 3 broken up, or that Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) were basically mystery-solving business partners last year, prepare to make some serious eyeball emojis at your screen during this, shall we say, extended sequence.
Veronica's Closet
Speaking of Veronica, once school is back in session, she’s about to get schooled, herself. The fallout from sending her father, Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) to prison last season — and by extension her mother Hermione (Marisol Nichols) also going to prison — hits hard this episode, and Veronica is going to have to scramble to get some semblance of her life back. Perhaps Monica Posh — her incredibly clever disguise — isn’t the only new identity she’ll have to take on this season?
Cheryl The Goods
Then there’s Riverdale High’s first openly lesbian student body president, Cheryl Blossom. We mentioned her corpse bro earlier, and it’s an open question how much longer she can keep that pungent, bloated secret. But she’s got bigger problems in the form of the new, hard-nosed principal Mr. Honey (Kerr Smith). Unlike his predecessor Mr. Weatherbee (Peter James Bryant), who disappeared with The Farm last year, Mr. Honey doesn’t take any nonsense from his students. It’s surprisingly refreshing and fun to have an actual adult presence on the series, and nobody — particularly Cheryl — knows how to deal with this development.
As a side-note — literally — Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) is there to support her girlfriend Cheryl, including a cute twirl dance at a party later in the episode, and a kiss Choni (Cheryl and Toni) fans have been anticipating. But without editorializing too much… Can we please give Toni more to do? At least some more lines? She may only be two babies tall, but she’s more than Cheryl’s back-up. Thank you for your continued support.
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), meanwhile, is still recovering from his stint at The Farm, and is ready to make reparations with his former best friend Betty after the long summer. Things get predictably complicated, of course, as Betty isn’t quite ready to forgive him for dragging her across the floor to get a lobotomy last year. But when he finds out she’s working with her newly discovered half-brother/FBI agent Charles Smith (Wyatt Nash) to track down the cult, things take a surprising turn (and a surprising return), leading to a decision point for Kevin and Betty’s future. Hm, did I say this show was back to being a normal high school romp? I guess not totally.
Jughead Prep(ares)
Other than dealing with some Bughead (Betty and Jughead) sexy times, Riverdale’s premiere novelist has some serious decisions of his own ahead of him. After a story he wrote gets noticed by local school (say, how many learning institutions are there in the area, anyway?) Stonewall Prep, Juggie decides to explore life outside Riverdale High. Sure the school might seem pretentious, but isn’t Jughead pretentious, too? Mr. Chipping (Sam Witwer) certainly seems to think he’s the right fit — but are his motives more than magnanimous? And if Jughead leaves Riverdale, what about Betty?
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
