S01.E04: Chapter Four: The Last Picture Show

[imakicola]

On 2/19/2017 at 7:17 PM, Misty79 said:

Lili Reinhart (the actress playing Betty) is really owning this show so far IMO. Everything Betty and everything B+V seems to be on a different level.

The greater focus on Archie this week was a challenge therefore, and I'm not sure that KJ Apa was quite up to it. I know comic book Archie is a dullard but I'd still like to see more energy from the actor. He was decent in the pilot though so I'm still hopeful. 

Jughead being homeless and fathered by Skeet was an unexpected twist. I haven't really been feeling him up until now, hopefully this opens up the character a bit. He comes across as a lot more neurotic than I recall from the comics. Which is fine of course, but I keep expecting him to be this ultra laid back character and it throws me for a loop. 

Yeah the grundy scene seemed a bit over his acting ability during the major confrontation but that being said actors are often awkward in their role until they've been playing them a bit longer. 

[ByTor]

On 2/16/2017 at 11:39 PM, tennisgurl said:

I didn't even see the last scene people have mentioned of Grundy checking out some teenaged boys! How did I miss that scene?

I missed it too...along with scenes showing Jughead is homeless and his father is a Serpent.  I guess a rewatch is in order! :)

[queenanne]

On 2/17/2017 at 0:03 AM, ruby24 said:

So glad the Grundy stuff is over with. Archie remains super dull, and Jughead is by FAR the best of the male characters. I'm interested in him and his dad's story already and I want to know what happened to Jellybean.

I don't think the show knows exactly what to do with Cheryl. She can't be the rival who hates them AND a random friend at times- that doesn't make sense onscreen.

I think it's kind of a problem that Archie as a character is so lifeless, given that he's the star of the show. But usually showrunners can see these things behind the scenes, so I wonder if they realized by this point in filming that Jughead was going to be the far more interesting character.

Betty's the best of the girls for me. I like that they make her sweet but unafraid to do things like break into cars, etc. 

I find the decisions behind this show fascinating, or rather the potential lack thereof.  To some extent I'm hugely glad I wasn't the only person who had trouble with Grundy, because I marathoned everything, and when I peeked at reviews I was very disappointed they were favorable and praising it as part of the "dark edge".  I am really surprised to find this is a Greg Berlanti joint because it seems like he'd be better than this at organizing things.  As late as the episode that Alice sneaks into the morgue, I had no idea that she was managing editor (? owner, at minimum) of a newspaper (!); and in fact, even before the "waving around sage" thing, there was a scene with Betty and Alice where I thought "Aha.  So, witches then?"  I could barely remember Polly as a motivation in the first 2 episodes, so it came across as weird - "wait, what?  Alice hates Archie and Veronica just on general principles, even before Betty tells her about the "Seven Minutes in Heaven" humiliation?  Archie and Veronica haven't actually *done* anything to be despised over."

On 2/17/2017 at 9:23 AM, AzureOwl said:

The biggest takeaway from this episode for me is that we need to add Hiram to the suspect pool. He may have been in jail when the kid was killed, but we just saw that this would be no impediment for him. And actually, if the Blossoms represent an obstacle for Hiram's plans for the property, then kidnapping their son for leverage is not that far-fetched. Hiram's agents could've then fumbled the kidnapping and killed Jason.

The same birth date as the actress apparently. And since she is a little over two months older than me, I'm suddenly feeling a lot better about myself.

But back to the point, finding out she's actually 34 makes it a lot more skeevy somehow. I didn't know the actress' age and had been assuming that Miss Grundy was supposed to be on her early 20s. Still wrong and predatory, but somehow more understandable as someone that age could still be pretty immature.  

But she's actually old enough to be his mother! And now I feel old again. 

I too felt pretty sure they were trying to tell us she had *just* graduated Juilliard, like 24 or something, so it's not just you.  (While I grant I did abandon PLL largely and primarily because of the squick factor of Ezra and Aria, at least they took pains to establish as a baseline that if a mature 16-year-old met a guy of 24 or so, just fresh out of grad school out in public and not in a classroom, they could conceivably think "oh, he/she has to be 'about my age'".  Contrarily, Archie has only ever known Grundy as "teacher who should be wise and above it all, in a position of advisory capacity and power"; at least I think they didn't meet without him knowing who she was.)

On 2/17/2017 at 1:33 PM, Sakura12 said:

I think Cheryl's kind of obsessed with Veronica. 

I don't think Archie realises what happened to him. He thinks he and Miss Grundy had something special and everyone else was taking that away from him. He doesn't know she's a sexual predator. 

As for not getting Fred's pov, who would he voice that too? Betty's mother is crazy and hell bent on hurting a teenage boy for the issues of another teenage boy. The other two in the room was his idiot son and Betty. And Miss Grundy was trying to leave so she wouldn't go to jail. I also agree this is not the last we'll see of her. 

Yeah, no kidding, like "Hellooooo, writers!  Where's the scene where "Betty, or hell, even Archie, calls Juilliard and asks after "Jennifer Gibson" by name, as clearly anyone with an ounce of curiosity or investigative grit would do?"  Clearly the only reason someone *didn't* delve into her background, is because there's "secrets hidden around Jennifer Gibson Grundy and this isn't the last we've seen of her, thus we have to 'save' a 'big surprise reveal' (*koff*) for the future, which would be ruined if we background-checked her at this point in time.  Mental note:  Revisit background check issue around Episode 10."  I'd love never to see her again, and for the denouement to have been that the focus-grouped audience reaction to the characterization and development of statutory rape-land was so negative they wrote off the character.  I don't think I'll be that lucky.  

Also, as Cheryl has been shown trying to get physically closer to both Veronica and Betty at this point (prior weeks' "straddling to put on makeup"), I think she might be gay as well.  I could be wrong.

[methodwriter85]

On 2/17/2017 at 9:23 AM, AzureOwl said:

The same birth date as the actress apparently. And since she is a little over two months older than me, I'm suddenly feeling a lot better about myself.

But back to the point, finding out she's actually 34 makes it a lot more skeevy somehow. I didn't know the actress' age and had been assuming that Miss Grundy was supposed to be on her early 20s. Still wrong and predatory, but somehow more understandable as someone that age could still be pretty immature.  

But she's actually old enough to be his mother! And now I feel old again. 

I still find it weird that someone born in 1982 is now old enough to play the cougar, but eh,  it happens. Still funny when you consider that maybe a little under 10 years ago, most actors of that particular vintage were still playing the teen parts. I'm just bracing myself for the day when Kirsten Dunst plays the harried mother of a rebellious teenaged girl. (At least when Shiri Appleby did that, I could keep telling myself that she was a teen mother and her youth is a part of it.) Kirsten Dunst though...she looked pretty much like all ingenue had left her face when she appeared in Hidden Figures, which means "middle-aged mom" roles can't be far away.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't make her 24, though. I kept reading the card and being that my T.V. is old I couldn't really tell if it was 1992 or 1982. I guess the actress didn't give a shit about shaving her age. If I were her I would have shaved it back to 1986 or 1987, at least.

It was nice to see Skeet Ullrich again. Shame the guy never really took off after Scream. Neve would never do it but it'd be hilarious if they cast her as Jughead's mother. (I don't know if she's supposed to be dead, but they could have a picture or something.)

Edited March 6, 2017 by methodwriter85

[MarkHB]

is Neve Campbell even doing anything these days?  I haven't heard of her in years (not that I've been paying particular attention, either).

My own "how time has flown" processing gap is Shelly the waitress (Damn fine coffee!  And hot!):

[Anna Yolei]

6 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

It was nice to see Skeet Ullrich again. Shame the guy never really took off after Scream. 

He doesn't seem to have much luck. The first thing I ever watched him in was Jericho, where CBS's stupid move to skip reruns and host them solely online in 2006 (when many households still had dialup) screwed that particular pooch.

[thuganomics85]

Betty and Veronica breaking into Miss Grundy's car was the best.  The relationship between those two continue to be the best thing about this show.  I would so watch a spin-off of just those two solving crimes, with Betty pushing out her lock-picking and car-breaking skills, while Veronica dresses to the nines for a stakeout.

Glad Archie's relationship with Grundy has finally come out into the open, although the resolution was a bit strange.  Basically, after Betty does her sleuthing and finds the gun, she stupidly hides it in a drawer that Alice easily finds, and then grabs both Betty and Fred, to confront them.  But instead, Alice seems less concerned about Grundy taking advantage of a minor, and more just wanting to prove that Archie sucks, which, yeah, he's a moron, but he is the teenager in this situation.  Betty then basically threatens to make everyone thing she is crazy and ruin her family's reputation if Alice turns Grundy in to embarrass Archie, so they all agree that Grundy should just simply quit and leave (including Fred, who seems strangely chill over finding out his son was having sex with his music teacher.) And then the final shot of Grundy is her leering at other boys.  Wow, this is nuts!

Speaking of nuts, apparently their is some kind of biker gang called the South Side Serpents, who everyone hates, and are actually working with Heromine and Daddy Lodge to acquire the land from an old-rundown drive-in.  Where Jughead not only works at, but lived in, so he's basically homeless.  Also, lead Serpent dude is played by Skeet Ulrich, who not only has history with Heromine, but is Jughead's dad.  Oh, Riverdale!

The scene between Kevin and his dad was nice.  Glad he's supportive and wants him to find a boyfriend.  Although, I suspect he will be unhappy if he finds out about his new squeeze being part of the South Side Serpents.

Cheryl was back to being a jerk mainly, although I did love her inviting herself to Kevin and Veronica's truck at the drive-in.  I think she secretly likes Veronica.  I don't blame her.

Definitely getting a kick out of this show. 

[latincoffee]

On 2/16/2017 at 9:04 PM, laschifosavita said:

What was Joaquin showing Kevin?  I have a small tv, and there wasn't enough warning for me to start squinting.  Thanks!

I like Jughead so much more, because I love my local drive-in.  It's the only good way to watch movies in a theater.

Man this made me google search for a local drive in. It's like a few hours away from me. 😞 Too bad we're in quarantine. Would like to go watch a nice movie at a drive in with some popcorn and a soda. The good ole' days. 

I understand where Jughead is coming from. Losing his job and then the drive in is being teardown. He feels like he has lost it all. His dad is in the gang. Poor guy!

[latincoffee]

On 2/16/2017 at 9:15 PM, tennisgurl said:

Awesome, Kevin gets his own story and a new love interest! I can get behind him in a Romeo and Juliet thing with dreamy biker guy (hopefully without the deaths), which seems like it could be a forbidden love story I can actually enjoy. Unlike...

I'm sorry, but fuck you show for trying to act like Grundie is some kind of tragic figure. Seriously, show, I've praised you sense the start for making the Archie/Grundie stuff skeevy and gross, but now, was it NOT supposed to be skeevy and gross? Yeah, its very sad that her husband was abusive (if her story is true. No one on this show seems to be capable of telling the truth) but that doesn't erase the fact that she had sex, many times, with her teenaged student. The one time Bettys horrible mom is actually right about something, and she's still supposed to be in the wrong!

Wow, Jughead is homeless, AND his dad is the head of the biker gang! Didn't see that coming.

Can't wait to see how Kevin and Joaquin's love story goes. Kevin seemed to really be into Moose but when he saw him making out with the girl at the movies...he was done with him. Joaquin came just in the nick of time lol

Jughead's dad being one of the leaders of the Southside Serpents was the cool ending that we needed for episode 4. I wonder where Jug is going now? Poor guy!