S05.E17: Chapter Ninety-Three: Dance of Death

[rmontro]

Quote

After learning that a friend has gone missing, Tabitha enlists help from Jughead and Betty to investigate the disappearance;  Penelope plants doubt in Kevin's mind, which leads him to confront Cheryl about the ministry.

Airdate:  22 Sept 2021

[SourK]

LMAO. "At my quinceanera, you said you wished I were a boy, and, ever since then, the prophecy has been that one of us must die."

Relatedly, I have a fan theory that maybe stupidity is an STD in the Riverdale universe. I think it would explain a lot of things.

[thuganomics85]

I swear, a lot of actual sitcoms and comedy films out there can only wish to make me laugh as hard as I did when Archie stopped Chad by actually throwing a trashcan lid at him like a frisbee and it straight-up smacking him face first.  I honestly am at the point where I can totally believe it wasn't initially scripted, but then K.J. Apa was jokingly all "Why doesn't Archie just Captain America his way out of this?" to someone and they were like "Brilliant idea, kid!"  And then he just shrugs and goes with it because what else is there to do at this point.

So, in the end, not only were the Highway Killers also the mysterious Mothmen (basically dressing up in weird shit to scare everyone in Riverdale which admittedly isn't a hard task on this show), but they are bastard descendants of the Blossoms?  Sure, why not?!  At least Betty and Alice finally have closure over what happened to Polly, even if it wasn't a very good outcome for them.

Can't remember if Veronica actually killed that guy in the Speak-easy season ago (when she set him on fire), but I kind of find it ironic that she's the one that has actually killed people so far.  Sure, all of it was self defense, but despite all the "Dark Betty" stuff, it's none other than good old Veronica that has the bodycount and has ended lives here!

At least Kevin has had enough of Cheryl's crazy ministry and is bailing, although its hilarious that they are making it look like Penelope is evilly manipulating him into doing it.  As far as I'm concerned, she's looking out for him more than anyone else is!

I don't know if I'd go as far as to call it a recon, but Hiram apparently being disappointed that Veronica was a girl (and stupidly it loud enough at her quinceanera) seems like a reach to me.  Unless I'm just forgetting stuff, I don't remember Hiram ever showing sexist views like that.  Hell, he seems to think very highly of Hermosa.

Cheryl might apparently control wind and fire now (?!), but Archie can dig himself out of an entire collapsed mine thanks to the power of his former solider's souls!!

Cool that Nathalie Boltt got to direct this one.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by thuganomics85

[the-grey-lady]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

I swear, a lot of actual sitcoms and comedy films out there can only wish to make me laugh as hard as I did when Archie stopped Chad by actually throwing a trashcan lid at him like a frisbee and it straight-up smacking him face first. 

After Betty knocked out a serial killer with a wrench, I guess anything can be used as a weapon in Riverdale.

[Lady Calypso]

I did have a good laugh at Archie Captain America'ing Chad in the face with a trashcan lid. It's almost as if Archie was taking out the trash. And I had a good laugh at Hiram, once again, failing to kill a kid at least half his age. 

I will say, this is one of Cami Mendes' best episodes. Now, the plot was dumb and so Riverdale, but the scene where she just lets herself at it with her father, and telling him about what he did as a kid that damaged their relationship, that was top notch acting from Cami. Why the show barely gives her that kind of material, I will never understand. That, and Veronica calling her dad a "little bitch". I guess Josie started a trend! It's such a shame that this will not change a damn thing, since this would have been the perfect time to have Veronica truly walk away from her father. They gave her a truly badass episode where it felt like she finally broke the cycle, and it's likely not broken at all. 

And I really dislike Varchie, at this point, because they're so boring together. Yawn. But, at least Chad is gone. He had potential right off the start before they turned him into straight villainy, and it's kind of a shame they didn't do more. 

So, the TBK stuff is solved. I was kind of hoping they'd go nuts and have TBK be Betty's FBI ex fling, but I guess the random old guy we saw at the beginning of the time jump works too. It does suck that Polly is now truly dead, but I guess it was expected and they DID basically say that she was likely dead. It was just about looking for her body, at this point. And they did also tie in the Mothmen stuff, and that...surprisingly worked. I'm just happy both plots seem to be over.

Cult Leader Cheryl just...is so Cheryl. And now she's a witch? Or she's not a witch and Archie had his ghost friends help him out of the mine. Either way, classic Riverdale. 

[rmontro]

18 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I swear, a lot of actual sitcoms and comedy films out there can only wish to make me laugh as hard as I did when Archie stopped Chad by actually throwing a trashcan lid at him like a frisbee and it straight-up smacking him face first. 

I have to admit I laughed out loud when Archie smacked him with the trash can lid.

I was not at all expecting the Mothman/serial killer plot to be resolved so suddenly, I had actually kind of given up on it ever being resolved.  But the resolution was satisfying, if silly.  Inbred Blossoms, with the Cooper serial killer genes.  I was expecting Polly to still be alive though, so that was a sad moment.

I guess Cheryl is becoming a witch now?  This show gets weirder and weirder.  I've been expecting a tunnel collapse since the mine plot started.  Amazing how Archie and his ghost brigade dug the tunnel out, and Archie emerged to see all the rescuers sitting on their behinds.

[ruby24]

I am SO sick of Archie and Veronica together. And I'm amazed that the show insists on keeping them together forever and still isn't doing that with Betty and Jughead (looks like we're going down the Tabitha route next week after all). Do they think at least one of these couples has to be together at all times?

Honestly if we have to have Archie and Veronica I think we're at the point where they should save it for the series finale or a few episodes before the series finale to get them back together, because I don't know what else they can do with them as a couple at this point. It's the same thing over and over again and there's never been that much chemistry btw KJ and Camila, but there certainly isn't now. If you have to have them, just save it til the end please. Also, honest question: does this pairing have fans? Other than canon comics stuff, are there devoted Archie/Veronica fans who watch the show for them? I'm just saying, I don't think anyone would complain if we didn't have to watch them be a couple until the end.

So Archie just doesn't care that Chad tried to murder him? Why isn't HE the one who would press charges against him for that? He had literally no reaction. 

The Hiram stuff is annoying, because he burns that photo of his family just a couple episodes after he vowed to get them back in that origin story episode. I guess that didn't mean anything.

Now that Veronica's murdered a guy, and her husband no less, will she have any reaction to that or no? Thinking no, since she seemed non fazed or even delighted.

Edited September 25, 2021 by ruby24

[tennisgurl]

Archie going all Captain America on Chad was pretty amazing, its like the show is officially screwing with us at this point. I was just surprised that he didn't make some quip about "taking out the trash" before Chad scampered off. Bye Chad, I will not miss you, plot contrivance that you were. Few comedy's can make me laugh as much as this show can as it tries to be serious.

Hiram apparently being disappointed by Veronica being a girl seems really random, for as many faults as Hiram has he has never been sexist or disappointed in Veronica being a girl, I guess they wanted us to have another reason to hate him? Because he already dropped a mine on top of Archie as only his latest terrible crime, I think that ship has sailed. Veronica might be really posturing about being over Hiram and their "dance of death" but we all know that they an never quite each other, nothing is going to stop that Elektra complex of hers. That ride of the Valkyries bit though, the show was trying to hard to be cool, and just succeeded in being hilarious.

I did think it was funny when Penelope basically called Kevin stupid, which is probably not unfair considering how quickly he jumped into yet another cult despite how badly the last one went, and that at least led him to leaving this ridiculous plot. So Cheryl is just a witch now I guess? 

The Highway killers being the Mothmen and them being found out has been resolved surprisingly quickly, I guess we will have to find some new crazies now. The explanation actually works alright, some inbred offshoot of the Blossoms that kills people for kicks, and at least they finally found Polly, it sucks that she actually did die. It makes sense, but it still sucks. 

[Dobian]

The way they got rid of Veronica's husband on this show felt like they thought it was a mistake to have her married in the first place and they were scrambling to get rid of him as quickly as possible.  Usually a character like that would be around for multiple seasons just to be a thorn in someone's side.

I also felt like Hiram's disappointment that Veronica was a girl came out of left field.  For all his faults, the one good thing about him that always stood out was his pride and admiration of Veronica's accomplishments.

With Hiram burning his loved ones' picture, I wonder if they are getting ready to close the curtain on him.

If Archie wasn't trapped in the cave, only his old army buddy, why didn't one of the others go back in and check?  I thought it was all caved in and they couldn't get back in.

Cheryl's "Cult of Gaya" plot is going nowhere, time to kill it.

It figures the Blossoms were the source of the Mothman weirdness.  The Lodges have always been the gangsters of Riverdale and the Blossoms the weirdos of Riverdale.

Jughead solves a Riverdale caper.  Now that he has rediscovered his true purpose, maybe he will get off the sauce.

[Panda Bear]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:34 AM, Dobian said:

The way they got rid of Veronica's husband on this show felt like they thought it was a mistake to have her married in the first place and they were scrambling to get rid of him as quickly as possible.  Usually a character like that would be around for multiple seasons just to be a thorn in someone's side.

It was completely absurd the way Veronica reacted to killing a man she loved enough to marry not so long ago. And I wondered, wouldn't she be arrested or at least have to face some kind of press scrutiny for this, if she and Chad were such a big deal in New York? But then I remembered the show I watching and told myself, "Forget it, Panda Bear. It's Riverdale." 

[SourK]

11 minutes ago, Panda Bear said:

It was completely absurd the way Veronica reacted to killing a man she loved enough to marry not so long ago. And I wondered, wouldn't she be arrested or at least have to face some kind of press scrutiny for this, if she and Chad were such a big deal in New York? But then I remembered the show I watching and told myself, "Forget it, Panda Bear. It's Riverdale." 

I'm not 100% sure he's dead. He looked like he was, but then it sounded like she was walking it back when she talked to Hiram about it. IIRC, she says she shot him, not that she killed him. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back at some point.

[Andromeda]

I just find the show's cultural references entertaining, if strange choices, like Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Er, Finch or Flake or whatever. She should have been a redhead.

When they were revealing the creepy inbred family's motive, I was bracing for "breeding". Even this nutty show didn't go there. It would explain why they tossed the kid back.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Andromeda