Enginerd

Kevin was in the woods hooking up with some rando when they heard the gunshots nearby, when Moose was shot. I also think the skin around the eyes when we've seen the Black Hood looks like an older man. Kevin is too fresh-faced.

Maybe he's been secretly hooking up with Cheryl and the public disdain is a ruse.

But if Veronica were really friends with her (WHY would Gal Gadot want to hang with the teens?!), wouldn't Veronica have known the correct pronunciation and mentioned it when Cheryl said it wrong?

I normally agree with you, but his decision to name his baby Baby makes me seriously question his moral character and suitability in civilized society. :|

This is a repeating theme for her...namedropping people and places, mispronouncing things like "bon mot" and "Gadot". Even the pearl necklace that Hiram gave her, which she yanked off in the school restroom, sending the pearls scattering. A good quality pearl necklace will not do that. The pearls are individually hand-knotted onto silk cord. If you break it, at most you lose a couple pearls. She's trying really hard to seem more sophisticated and upscale than she really is. I don't doubt that the Lodge family has enjoyed vast ill-gotten financial privilege, but they aren't as comfortably enmeshed in the upper class as Veronica likes to pretend. I assume that when she mentions some celeb as if they are a bestie, that means she ran into them one time. She's pretentious.

His spoiled, undisciplined brattiness was a major plot point in previous episodes. Jane was working on addressing it, but I don't think that's the sort of thing that is immediately cured. I'm glad it's now background noise rather than the focus, though. I don't want my soapy fun entertainment filled with parenting problems all the time.

But what if they're secretly half-siblings?!?! Or cousins? And would you really want to date someone who thinks your dad is "DILFy" and maybekindaprobably was in love with her brother? Never mind; this is Archie, who had no problem with hooking up with a teacher, nor was his dad (who also flirted with said teacher) particularly concerned about it. These people do not have normal boundaries. Archie and Cheryl should totally date. He seemed to like being sucked into the Blossom vortex before. Without creepy Mr. Blossom around, and with Penelope under Cheryl's control for the time being, maybe they could have some real fun.

I agree...it isn't like all the other characters are just like their comic versions. I also think it would be nice to have a prominent asexual character, but there are many ways to get there, even with Jughead. I have some friends who are asexual, and according to them, it's quite common for asexual people to not realize for a long time that this is the case. They start out in childhood, when no one is sexual, so that's normal...eventually their peers start taking an interest in sex and romance and they figure maybe they're late bloomers...maybe they try out dating and kissing and stuff just because that's what the other kids are doing...maybe it isn't that appealing but they figure they're just not ready for it...or haven't found the right person...maybe that was just awkward because they aren't experienced enough to be good at it or to relax and enjoy it...etc. etc. Some kids are more self-aware and informed than that, or have such revulsion toward sex that it's obvious, but asexuality is a spectrum and lots aren't that clear on the matter. They don't have any firsthand experience of the sexual feelings other people are experiencing to compare to, so they may keep trying sexual and romantic things thinking eventually they'll find out what everyone else is so into, before realizing they just don't have that programming. But maybe Jughead will eventually decide he loves Betty as a close friend but doesn't want the romance and sex stuff. Or Archie will be the one who realizes he's asexual or demisexual. I like that option.

This episode would have been way more fun if it had focused more on the party and they had stuck with the 1930s setup for most of the time. It seemed like there was a lot of random stuff all crammed in, only some of which was interesting. I would have enjoyed Jane scoping out Danny and the whole vasectomy issue and the bisexuality dicussions more if that had all happened olde-tymey murder-mystery style. Adam is bland. I feel like they keep trying to jazz him up (graphic novelist! "Fun!!!" apartment! Basketball on the roof! Bisexual!) but he still never seems very interesting to me. Like he's all window dressing and there's nothing in the stockroom. One of the great things about this show has always been that, whatever completely outrageous thing was happening, the main characters reacted to it in normal human ways. So why are none of them saying anything about Baby's horrible name?!?! I can see why they'd feel they couldn't mock it in front of Rogelio or Darcy, but private conversations? Whispering to each other "Are they SERIOUS?!" and "I don't think I can call that poor child Baby for her entire life...how can we get away with using something else?" and the like? I like it when Jane and Rafael are getting along. Platonic affection suits them, and suits my nerves better than the nitpicking and fighting.

I think their "romance" scenes are funny. Veronica clearly envisions herself as a seductive vixen, and makes a bit of a production out of it. But her youth still shows through the cracks. It seems deliberately like she's trying to imitate sexy setups she's seen in movies or something, rather than it happening organically, which is totally something Veronica would do. Meanwhile, as far as I remember, Archie NEVER initiates anything with her, he just goes along with it. Why should he have to make an effort? Girls chase HIM. It isn't terribly hot but it is in character.

I like him, but agree that his voice is a little grating, especially for a narration that's trying to sound jaded and world-weary and wise. On the other hand, that makes it more realistically teenage.

Betty needs to consider that BH has probably bugged her phone and house, and probably other people, too. She needs to head to the local BuyMore and buy a couple burner phones for herself and Archie, at the very least, and not give out the number and not use it indoors or near other people or too close to her bag or regular phone or whatever. Heck, if I were her, I'd start changing clothes in the dark, figuring the BH might have a hidden camera somewhere. Poor girl; you could really see how she was crumbling and terrified to not comply and upset at having to betray her friends. And that was without the extra misery of being the only sober person at a terrible party and having her parents and the sheriff doubt her. Sweetie Pie, dude...if joining your little buddy club requires submitting to being beaten...with brass knuckles, no less...you are a thug. Thug thug thug. So stop objecting to being called thugs. Normal non-thug people just develop relationships with people they like or with whom they share objectives and become bonded WITHOUT beating each other up or demanding that they be willing to die. Imagine that. My current theory is that the older Serpent guy, the haggard-looking one with the nasty hair situation, is the father of Alice's son. It's absurd that the Pussycats were significant characters in several scenes yet had no speaking lines.

I wouldn't say OBVIOUS...but there is definitely some quite distinct evidence for the sharp observer.

Amen to that. After a rewatch of the last couple episodes, I am at least 90% certain I know who the Black Hood is...now I assume I have to wait the rest of the season to find out whether I'm right. But if they reverse-engineer the identity such that the clues we have so far are supposed to be irrelevant, to the point where you can tell the identity wasn't set and the clues weren't correct all along, I'm going to be annoyed. Plot twists and multiple levels of trickery and obfuscation are okay with me, but pretending we didn't see tiny things we saw is not. Everything plotwise needs a reasonable explanation, even in this wacky town where the weather makes no sense. By the way, the trees are now fully green and they've been outside in shorts and short sleeves in this episode, which would suggest it is at least April. If Polly already knew she was pregnant and they had made plans to run away by July 4, shouldn't her babies be born ANY SECOND? Although of course in Riverdale it could be January and the town could hold its annual outdoor beach party complete with wet t-shirt contests, or the Strawberry Harvest Festival, or whatever. Time has little relevance here.

I thought the same thing! "WHY are you all putting targets on your chests?!?!" Archie may be in a downward mental spiral and have a death wish (although not too much of one...he did buy a kevlar vest along with the gun), but what's Veronica's excuse? I also liked how Archie picked the most clean and well-lit dark alley ever to do his spray-painting in. So badass. He may as well yell "Guts! Guts guts guts!" at everyone to show how defiant he is. Sweetie Pie looks so much like Jughead. Any chance that's intentional and they are related? Maybe he knows or suspects this and he resents Jughead for being the legitimate offspring and that's why he's been antagonistic toward him since they met?

I don't blame Toni for being peeved at Betty. Betty kind of doubled down on the idea of the Black Mask being a Southsider..."he's basically going after anyone who's a Northsider", she said...as if there is any evidence of that. There are hundreds of Northsiders who have never been attacked! Three attacks. Four victims, one of whom was not hurt. One was no longer living in Riverdale. Also, the shooter said he was inspired by the Jubilee speech. It never seems like there are many Southsiders, if any, at these events that "everyone in town" supposedly attended. Hard to imagine why they wouldn't feel welcome. Although I suppose anyone could have heard about the speech later.

I hope that poor child's name gets revised ASAP. Any actual name would be better. Or most random nouns! Maybe they should look at My Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter for inspiration. Even those names are much better than Baby. Finally that stupid Kids'Club made itself worthwhile. I loved the playground fight. Isn't an author supposed to have an agent before their book is published? The agent helps them get a good contract with the publisher in exchange for a percentage of the money? What do I know; i've never written or published a novel. I hate how Rafael is such a jerk whenever his business life is suffering. He is a spoiled brat. His tendency to lash out when things aren't going his way is only very slightly above Mateo's level of maturity. I still think Jane's attitude about Rafael's money and rich people in general is unfair, but he is a brat. Using money to make your lives better when you have it isn't wrong, but turning into an asshole when you lose that privilege is.

I'm not sold on any one theory of the shooter's identity. I see a lot of possibilities. People who are definitely not the shooter: Archie, Fred, Pop, Kevin, rando Kevin was hooking up with in the woods, Moose, Midge. I'd also remove most of the other ladies from consideration unless they're really into elaborate disguise. The eyes looked like middle-aged man.

Fred is just barely divorced. They've been separated for years, but only signed the divorce papers very recently, and weren't yet divorced when he was smooching on Hermione. To most people, the definitive separation with no intention to reconcile might be enough to say there was no cheating on his part, but the sort of person who tries to kill people for being sinners is not normal. Didn't Alice go to the nun lockup herself when she was pregnant and unwed? I think it's implied she kept it hidden and very few people know she had another baby. She's definitely a complete hypocrite and going overboard to deny her origins and judge others while never examining her own behavior. Reminds me of lots of people I know.

Details, details... Maybe Hal had been having an affair with Faux Grundy, or tried to, and got mad when she blew him off for high school boys. Maybe he wanted her to seduce Jason and keep him away from Polly. Maybe he has a secret second family in Greendale (he does seem to be absent a lot) and Grundy was getting it on with his Greendale son. So he legitimately wanted her dead.

I was also thinking Hal Cooper was Black Hood, based on physical build and the shape of the eyes and eyebrows. I thought Hiram's lawyer, Paul, was another possibility. Hal could be drumming up news to increase newspaper circulation. Maybe he didn't even want his shooting victims to die; it was just to cause drama. Grundy could have been killed by someone else.

...although if Betty's brother's father is someone other than Hal, then he may or may not have toxic Blossom blood himself. I was thinking FP was the most likely, but there could be any number of candidates.

Well, the Coopers are technically Blossoms...I'm not sure attempted incest would be off the table!

He figures his abs are more identifiable than his face?

Warm and snow-free enough for jogging in shorts and holding football practice outdoors, though. Weather and seasons are highly erratic in Riverdale.