S06.E05: Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox

[Bort]

Unnerved by a series of strange happenings around him, Jughead's quest for answers leads him to uncover the truth about Rivervale.

Airdate: 14 Dec 2021

[Chaos Theory]

The ending was a little anticlimactic but all in all I kinda liked the whole Rivervale arc.    When Jughead brought up how Hiram was Riverdale’s major villain and that Rivervale lacked a big bad I thought that Luke Perry/Fred would have been perfect as the pocket world big bad so it makes sense that the big bad ended up being Archie Considering that Archie spent most of RiverVale off screen.   I did like the darker versions of all the characters and my favorite story is still the deal with the devil story because I am still a fan of Dark Betty which is why seeing Betty’s family all together getting along really creeped me out more then anything else on this crazy ass show ever has.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[ruby24]

Well, this show sure does bonkers shit. 

Not gonna lie though, this episode made me laugh out loud multiple times at the sheer unintentional hilarity. 

Seeing OG Reggie again just emphasizes how much hotter Charles Melton is. Man, what an upgrade.

I liked the short heaven in the sky thing with them all in old-fashioned clothes, but at this point I'm surprised they haven't figured out a way to do a whole episode based on a parallel universe that really would try to recreate the actual dynamics in the original comics somehow. Seems obvious by now. Saving it for the series finale, perhaps?

I also think the ending does once again heavily imply a forthcoming Betty/Jughead reunion...still gonna say by the end of this season.

All in all, I gotta be honest here- I really did highly enjoy this five episode event and it makes me think the show should probably do more of this kind of thing? I mean, it turns out leaning MORE into its craziness and the supernatural (and mostly episodic) nature made the show just consistently entertaining imo. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by ruby24

[Quark]

This episode was such a hoot. Of all the characters that came back, Ethel was my favourite.

[SourK]

I generally liked this & the meta jokes. For a second, I thought they were going to do something really smart and smash the two universes together as a way to reset the story and retcon the universe, so I'm a little disappointed that we're back to normal Riverdale, but oh well.

Also, everyone kept saying Rivervale was a dark, twisted version of Riverdale... but I think Riverdale is actually the worse universe, overall.

14 hours ago, ruby24 said:

Not gonna lie though, this episode made me laugh out loud multiple times at the sheer unintentional hilarity. 

My favourite was when Jughead said that Betty and Archie having sex was also an act of creation... because he was writing in their garage.

My second favourite was when Archie showed up to stop the bomb, and he was like, "When you didn't show up for my wedding, I knew you'd be doing something stupid like trying to separate the universes."

[Artsda]

I enjoyed they brought Reggie #1 back to show the double universes. Also all the old characters like Betty's dad, Cheryl's brother and other dead people. 

So is universe 2 Jughead the one there? I hope this moves on the old pairs. I'm liking Barchie and Veronica/Reggie.

[ruby24]

2 hours ago, SourK said:

My second favourite was when Archie showed up to stop the bomb, and he was like, "When you didn't show up for my wedding, I knew you'd be doing something stupid like trying to separate the universes."

Yup, this line was so absurd I can't imagine how you can deliver that with a straight face.

[thuganomics85]

Man, if nothing else, show went all in with the craziness here and it actually kind of worked for me.

So, basically thanks to Hiram's bomb going off when Jughead was writing something, Archie and Betty were "showing their love" and they happened to be near that magical rock or whatever, that all leads to the explosion actually creating Rivervale a.k.a. a pocket universe that runs parallel with Riverdale a.k.a. the main universe (yup, all of that checks out, I'm sure!)  But if things kept going for much longer, both universes would have been destroyed.  At first, a self-aware Jughead plans on reversing it and simply wiping Rivervale out of existence by recreating everything that happened in Riverdale.  But then Narrator Jughead crashes the party and reveals that they can actually save both universes by having Writer Jughead lock himself in a bunker and spend the rest of his days writing stories for Rivervale, while Narrator Jughead takes his place and goes back to Riverdale (and forgetting who he is/being normal Jughead.)  And... it all pretty much works out?  Hey, probably isn't the most far-fetch thing to happen when it comes to alternate universes!

Episode found a way to get some returning faces, I see.  Ethel!  Dilton Doiley!  Clifford AND Jason Blossom!  Hal sporting facial hair but actually being the nice, none serial killer version of himself this go around!  But my favorite?  Ross Butler returning as O.G. Reggie and basically spending his time getting in spats with Normal Reggie like a pair of peacocks trying to outshine the other.  Found all of that highly entertaining.  I do think it kind of establishes that Charles Melton is the better fit in my opinion, but then again, Butler's got himself a nice gig in the Shazam! franchise, so I'm sure he's perfectly fine with that!  And, of course, not only would Veronica at one point basically propose a poly relationship between the three, but I honestly thought it might happen.  If any show would have a threesome involving two different versions of the same guy from different universes, it would be this one!

Actually didn't predict Archie being the killer.  Kind of like that he/K.J. Apa wasn't over-the-top with the reveal, but more casually annoyed like "Dammit, Jughead!  Can't you just let me have my wedding and bring my dad back to life, and quit fucking around here?!" instead.

It might be totally manipulative on the show's part, but anytime we see Fred/Luke Perry on screen still gets me.

Old-school "Riverdale Heaven" was pretty cool.

I can safely say that I actually enjoyed this little arc.  Still batshit crazy as always, but in a way that was actually kind of unique and the ridiculousness of it actually made sense for this type of story.  And the actors actually seemed to have a new energy here and really stood out more: especially Cole Sprouse.  Really wouldn't mind if the show took more insane risks like this going forward.  

[tennisgurl]

That was sure a bonkers way to celebrate your 100th episode, and I cant imagine any other way for Riverdale to celebrate. We get confirmation that Rivervale is a weird alternate universe where people die in insane ways pretty frequently then come back, that this universe was created when the bomb exploded at Archie's, and that this show is at its best when it really leans into the crazy horror. Its clear that the writers really enjoy horror, so leaning into the horror tropes in an anthology format was something they were having a lot of fun with, and actually managed to make pretty interesting. I have quite liked this weird little arc, and I like that it was more or less a real thing and not just a dream or a story that Jughead is writing...kind of, I guess it sort of is a story Jughead is writing, but convoluted in that way that Riverdale usually is. 

Fun to see so many familiar faces, Ethel, Dilton, a non evil Hal, even Jason Blossom, who speaks for the first time in the entire show! But the best one so far is bar far Ross Butler as the original Reggie, who of course cant stand new Reggie and vice versa. I am glad though that at least they both shut down Veronica's creepy multiple Reggie three way. Don't make it weird, Ronnie. 

In general I liked all of the call backs to Archie comics, and the heaven filled with everyone in their wholesome attire was cute, it made me actually wish we got an episode featured the gang in their traditional comic book forms, alongside creepy Rivervale. This has really been a fun ride, I am actually a bit sad to get back to Riverdale where we are sometimes supposed to actually take this nonsense seriously. 

On 12/15/2021 at 7:33 PM, ruby24 said:

Yup, this line was so absurd I can't imagine how you can deliver that with a straight face.

Bless KJ for actually saying such a ridiculous line with such conviction. He gets back from paternity leave, reads this script, and must have been like "looks like not much has changed here."

Edited December 17, 2021 by tennisgurl

[rmontro]

That was probably the most bizarre TV episode I have ever seen, and I watched all three seasons of Legion.

Veronica:  "Thank you, other Reggie".  Lol.

For awhile there, I was thinking this was the end of the series, it would have worked well that way.

Bughead saves the universe!  I think this was the writers throwing those shippers a bone, since they're probably not going back there in this series.

Didn't see Archie as the big bad coming.  Nice to see his expectations to see his dad again as a driving force.  Nice touch with saving Jason Blossom meaning a dead Cheryl.  Anyway, I loved it.  Even though I can't believe we're supposed to take any of this seriously.

 

[Dobian]

I got a kick out of the parallel universe stuff and Riverdale Heaven was the highlight with all of them dressed like from the comics.  I had totally forgotten about original Reggie.  Showing a clip of Luke Perry and bringing back other old cast members, plus paying homage to the comic books made this a very appropriate 100th episode.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, Dobian said:

I got a kick out of the parallel universe stuff and Riverdale Heaven was the highlight with all of them dressed like from the comics.

I liked that too.  I kept thinking the universes would explode and they would end up in a very sanitized old fashioned Archies comics type of world.  I guess that wouldn't really work, unless maybe as a series finale, but it was nice they snuck it in as Riverdale Heaven.

[Affogato]

17 hours ago, Dobian said:

I got a kick out of the parallel universe stuff and Riverdale Heaven was the highlight with all of them dressed like from the comics.  

I liked Jughead responding to all you can eat. 

[Bill1978]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:50 AM, tennisgurl said:

even Jason Blossom, who speaks for the first time in the entire show!

OK I officially quit Riverdale when it did its time jump, but man I think I'm gonna have to at least check out this episode since Jason speaks. Only to cross off the square 'Jason Blossom speaks' from my Riverdale Drinking Game Card. I had concinved myself the actor was so terrible at acting that there was a rule he wasn't allowed to speak.

[HeatLifer]

On 12/15/2021 at 3:21 PM, Artsda said:

I enjoyed they brought Reggie #1 back to show the double universes. Also all the old characters like Betty's dad, Cheryl's brother and other dead people. 

So is universe 2 Jughead the one there? I hope this moves on the old pairs. I'm liking Barchie and Veronica/Reggie.

Barchie is the breath of fresh air I wanted for many years. I’m happy they’re sticking around this time. I’m excited for new episodes (and I never thought I would say that again, ha!)