S03.E10: Chapter Forty-Five: The Stranger

[WhosThatGirl]

I also think at the beginning KJ was also going back dark sometimes more in between than he should have? I think. I think he said something in an interview where he doesn’t do it as frequently.

[Wilpen]

I've shipped Bughead from the moment they started sleuthing together. Why do I love them so much? Their friendship/emotional connection rules over anything else. In this episode, the adorable forehead kiss, sitting cheek to cheek, sitting close at the diner. They have never been about sex first. They are so real, you can tell how much they respect and care about each other. 

Varchie, on the other hand, have zero depth. They never talk about anything, they have sex instead of communicating. I cannot believe they had sex twice in this one when they had endless things to discuss. Plus,, Veronica was the worst in this one. She seemed more upset over Archie's hair color over anything else. She actually accused him of shooting her psychopath of a father. While Bughead instead picked up on Archie's PTSD change in the diner (change of drink selection, haunted look/gaze) Veronica is in her own world not noticing a thing. Also, she didn't realize that Reggie is as dumb as a stump and he was more than likely going to let it slip he screwed around with Veronica? She didn't cheat on Archie officially, but she still screwed around with someone else and she owed it to him to tell him before someone else did. Archie wouldn't have had to bail if her psychopath of a father wasn't trying to kill him. Veronica doesn't care, she only gets mad when she thinks Archie tried to shoot him. Veronica came across as really bad in this one and I'm glad Varchie broke up. They needed this break. Should they reunite, they need an emotional connection this next time around because the constant sex is so disgusting. 

[thuganomics85]

So, Alice drains Betty's banking accounts to help The Farm and has basically become so bad that Betty is now finding more emotional support from her other parent.  Yep, the guy who is totally chilling in a Hannibal Lector-like cell because he went on a murdering spree last season!  Poor Betty!

Of all the crazy shit to happen on this show, bringing up the SATs as an important plot point and even treating school as something serious was... unexpected.  I kind of almost forget these guys are still in high school.  How do they even find the time to study between running the sleuthing, running the underground non-alcoholic bars under a diner, running the world's cuddliest biker gang, dealing with cults of all kinds, and trying not to get their asses killed by a petty mobster?!

I usually love me some Ronnie, but Veronica was not in good form tonight.  I feel like Archie and even Reggie; while still obnoxious in his own way; deserve better.  The problem still seems to be her connection to Hiram, because it feels like one moment she is acknowledging that her dad is evil as fuck, but then the next she's back to being daddy's little girl.  She's just so inconsistent, which is really saying something.

F.P. is now the new sheriff.  That might be interesting.

I guess the next big mystery is who shot Hiram.  I know Veronica already suspects Archie and I'm sure Fred's threat will be brought up again too.  But I agree that I think Hermione will end up having something to do with it instead. 

Keep the crazy coming, Riverdale!

[WhosThatGirl]

I mean I liked very little of this episode. And I’m hoping that Betty is playing Hal and this isn’t a way for the show to open up Dark Betty because I thought we were done with that. The show has said it, they made a promo for it saying Dark betty was dead, Lili said it many times that dark Betty was over, I’m not okay with them bringing it back for this. I have a bad uneasy feeling about them showing that Hal is bettys only true caring parent and while this is true right now in terms of what Alice has done, (although Alice is always awful but keeping reading my post)he isn’t caring either.  Betty has no caring decent parent and never will.Sorry but no. He isn’t caring. He’s showing support for her college goals and her but he is not caring at all. He has a obsession with her that if we all go back and remember those notes and the phone calls verges on really uncomfortably creepy, he tried to isolate her from everyone, and he kind of wants her to be a serial killer too. Maybe that’s where this is going but I doubt it. At least I hope not. So I hope betty is playing him. I can never tell with Lilis acting. I like her but I can never tell what I’m supposed to take from some of her scenes sometimes.

Edited January 26, 2019 by WhosThatGirl

[rmontro]

On 1/25/2019 at 1:31 PM, HeatLifer said:

Without getting too deep, a lot of women do things for beauty that are unfun and not too pleasing because of societal pressure to do so.

I'm sure.  And I'm also sure a lot of actors do a lot of things that aren't much fun either.  Remember the stories of how miserable Jim Carey was in the Grinch makeup?  Supposedly it was very painful.  But in Carey's case at least, he was being paid very, very well.  I'm not sure what kind of compensation KJ Apa is getting.

On 1/25/2019 at 3:07 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I do think they changed the way they did his hair so they don't use bleach, which has to help. I don't get why they don't just have him wear a wig, though. LOL.

A wig would help!  Maybe it's not in the CW's budget though, a bottle of Clairol is probably cheaper  :)

[pinkglove]

4 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I have a bad uneasy feeling about them showing that Hal is bettys only true caring parent and while this is true right now in terms of what Alice has done, (although Alice is always awful but keeping reading my post)he isn’t caring either.  Betty has no caring decent parent and never will.Sorry but no. He isn’t caring. He’s showing support for her college goals and her but he is not caring at all. He has a obsession with her that if we all go back and remember those notes and the phone calls verges on really uncomfortably creepy, he tried to isolate her from everyone, and he kind of wants her to be a serial killer too. Maybe that’s where this is going but I doubt it. At least I hope not. So I hope betty is playing him. I can never tell with Lilis acting. I like her but I can never tell what I’m supposed to take from some of her scenes sometimes.

As I said before, I believe she's playing Hal, but in case she wasn't, I believe there's one thing she gets from Hal that she will never get from Alice - respect. When she isn't brainwashed by a cult, Alice does care for Betty in her very misguided "thank-god-she-isn't-my-mother" kind of way, but she's never respected her and she's only ever taken her seriously when she had absolutely no choice. She repeatedly questioned her choice of friends, she's read her diaries, kept her from contacting her sister, sent her to those creeps. All in all, Alice keeps treating Betty like someone who's unable to make a single good decision and take care of herself. Despite the fact that it turns out over and over again that it's actually Alice who only makes bad choices and can't take care of herself. So, I suppose that Hal's charm in Betty's eyes could be that she might be the only person he respects; of course for all the wrong reasons but in desperate times, when she can't count on anyone from her family, she could find comfort in that. Though I still think she isn't that naive. 

[WhosThatGirl]

2 hours ago, pinkglove said:

As I said before, I believe she's playing Hal, but in case she wasn't, I believe there's one thing she gets from Hal that she will never get from Alice - respect. When she isn't brainwashed by a cult, Alice does care for Betty in her very misguided "thank-god-she-isn't-my-mother" kind of way, but she's never respected her and she's only ever taken her seriously when she had absolutely no choice. She repeatedly questioned her choice of friends, she's read her diaries, kept her from contacting her sister, sent her to those creeps. All in all, Alice keeps treating Betty like someone who's unable to make a single good decision and take care of herself. Despite the fact that it turns out over and over again that it's actually Alice who only makes bad choices and can't take care of herself. So, I suppose that Hal's charm in Betty's eyes could be that she might be the only person he respects; of course for all the wrong reasons but in desperate times, when she can't count on anyone from her family, she could find comfort in that. Though I still think she isn't that naive. 

Eh. I can’t get behind any parental reason for having Hal. I don’t find that he respected her but that’s just me. His notes and phone calls were disgusting beyond belief. Not to mention that he wanted to isolate her. I would hope she wouldn’t think this is respect and guidance and I would hope that she is strongm enough to realize any member from her family is toxic, no matter what loyal and kind words they offer, that she can turn to other people in her life. Hell we are shown countless times that Betty and Jughead rely on each other more than their parents, go to him. 

I hope she’s playing him but I won’t be surprised if this is a way for the show to have Betty go through a dark path again. It’s this show.

[pinkglove]

8 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Eh. I can’t get behind any parental reason for having Hal. I don’t find that he respected her but that’s just me. His notes and phone calls were disgusting beyond belief. Not to mention that he wanted to isolate her. I would hope she wouldn’t think this is respect and guidance and I would hope that she is strongm enough to realize any member from her family is toxic, no matter what loyal and kind words they offer, that she can turn to other people in her life. Hell we are shown countless times that Betty and Jughead rely on each other more than their parents, go to him. 

I hope she’s playing him but I won’t be surprised if this is a way for the show to have Betty go through a dark path again. It’s this show.

Agreed, it's not a sufficient reason to renew your relationship with your parent who not only is a serial killer but kind of implicated you in his crimes. Just an idea that it's how she may see it - Alice never sees or hears her, which gives Hal an advantage in this department, because he does. Again, of course it's in a very dark and twisted way, and used to manipulate Betty, so let's hope it's not going to be a factor. 

[PeekaBoo]

Ok I'm super late on this but here goes (short-version) 

So you survived a "bear" attack, was "dead" for like a second or so then you walk back unseen through the American border and return to your hometown and NOW you're worried about having to repeat your school year?!?! 
oh Riverdale, how you never cease to surprise me!
Where to start!
OMG, they brought back TallBoy!!! :D :D :D Now that was a surprise! I didn't expect that because of the actor and his injuries in S1. Like OMG! And he had to die, boohoo! 
I am very disappointed in Veronica. I mean FFS, she KNOWS her dad is evil and has done evil things, and still manages to think that ARchie shot him?!! Gahh.... Then I am glad those two are on a break, a definite break. 
GAH! Alice, let's throw HER into sweetwater river! So unforgiveable.

Sheriff Jones?!?! As in Sheriff DILF? lol!What the hell are he and hermione up to? Trying to dethrone Hiram on the DL? 

The dynamic between Hal and Betty was interesting. I don't think we'll see Betty going "dark" again, but I wonder whether hall will try to endoctrinate her into doing some nasty stuff or worse, brainwash into that whole "sinners" thing Hal is so obsessed about. IT is a shame though that Betty has to go to someone like him when her mother isn't any better. I mean, really?

A great episode nonetheless. 

And way to go for Bughead for noticing the changes in Archie and not Veronica, I mean. Is she that superficial?!?! Gah! The way they are writing her, I'd hope they are turning her into comic book-veronica? Why sis she standing there by his side though? 

On 1/26/2019 at 9:06 AM, Wilpen said:

I've shipped Bughead from the moment they started sleuthing together. Why do I love them so much? Their friendship/emotional connection rules over anything else. In this episode, the adorable forehead kiss, sitting cheek to cheek, sitting close at the diner. They have never been about sex first. They are so real, you can tell how much they respect and care about each other. 

Varchie, on the other hand, have zero depth. They never talk about anything, they have sex instead of communicating. I cannot believe they had sex twice in this one when they had endless things to discuss. Plus,, Veronica was the worst in this one. She seemed more upset over Archie's hair color over anything else. She actually accused him of shooting her psychopath of a father. While Bughead instead picked up on Archie's PTSD change in the diner (change of drink selection, haunted look/gaze) Veronica is in her own world not noticing a thing. Also, she didn't realize that Reggie is as dumb as a stump and he was more than likely going to let it slip he screwed around with Veronica? She didn't cheat on Archie officially, but she still screwed around with someone else and she owed it to him to tell him before someone else did. Archie wouldn't have had to bail if her psychopath of a father wasn't trying to kill him. Veronica doesn't care, she only gets mad when she thinks Archie tried to shoot him. Veronica came across as really bad in this one and I'm glad Varchie broke up. They needed this break. Should they reunite, they need an emotional connection this next time around because the constant sex is so disgusting. 

^^^That is where I'm at wtih Varchie! Let them have their break from each other, let them get more depth. 

[kissedbyarose]

I watch this show in spurts. No way I can watch this live each week so I just watched both episodes so excuse me if I'm misremembering who did what when. First, having these kids in high school was a big mistake.

They are going to run back everything Alice did by saying she was under the influence of this cult. (All of these parents are awful except Fred...who can't help his son because Archie needs professional help and all the adults in this town are terrible. Even Attorney (LMAO) McCoy who has also the benefit of being a horrible lawyer. I assume Mary Andrews divorced Fred because you would need to pry Riverdale out of his cold dead hands and Mary was like...NOPE, not staying in this god-forsaken hell hole. They need to recast her though. No sense why she wouldn't be around for all this worried about her son...unless she's just as awful as all the other adults in Riverdale. Take Archie and get out Fred!)

Hermione only cares because Hiram dared to do things without her knowledge so she's throwing a tantrum by possibly shooting Hiram or just having FP (FP!) be the sheriff. Hilarious and yet...so very wrong because isn't FP an ex-felon?

I think I'm on record here with my undying love for Archie Andrews and he's probably (aside from Riverdale's greatest father Fred Andrews) the only one left that I like. Everyone else I watch with some level of dislike and amusement. 

I also don't see Archie/Veronica as endgame either so I don't care that they broke up. It looks to me that Veronica really only likes someone who will worship her  and once Archie could no longer do that...well...Reggie is more than happy to. I almost wish I liked Veronica more than I do. I was hoping she'd fit in the Blair Waldorf/Brooke Davis/Spencer Hastings shaped hole in my fandom heart but alas... I also thought Cheryl would fill that role but this season ruined her for me. Mostly because I hate everything in this Serpent storyline and then of course have this gang be led by 16 (16? who knows anymore) year old Jughead Jones who has never been about that life...and I already have enough unrealistic stuff to swallow here and I just refuse to do it with this storyline and the underlying problematic themes it carries. 

Which begs the question...where are the other adults? Are they okay with all the shit going down in this town? Why is it up to Betty, Jughead and whatever teenager happens to be around for plots sake to dither around and make half-assed well-telegraphed plots to take Hiram Lodge down?

See, this is why I shouldn't put my thoughts into words since the more I think about this show, the more it all falls apart for me. I'm okay with batshit crazy what I'm not okay with is that this show doesn't even follow (or even have, if we're being honest) it's own logic/timeline so things just move based on how much fizzle rocks and jingle jangle the writers mainlined before writing these scripts.

But so long as Archie Andrews removes his shirt each episode I'm here until the end. Also was it this episode that had Hiram's fur coat? That shit was glorious and hilarious and I want it just so I can swan in and deliver clever bon-mots flanked by two bodyguards like the badass I am in my head.

Edited January 28, 2019 by kissedbyarose

[WhosThatGirl]

1 minute ago, kissedbyarose said:

I watch this show in spurts. No way I can watch this live each week so I just watched both episodes so excuse me if I'm misremembering who did what when. First, having these kids in high school was a big mistake.

They are going to run back everything Alice did by saying she was under the influence of this cult. (All of these parents are awful except Fred...who can't help his son because Archie needs professional help and all the adults in this town are terrible. Even Attorney (LMAO) McCoy who has also the benefit of being a horrible lawyer. I assume Mary Andrews divorced Fred because you would need to pry Riverdale out of his cold dead hands and Mary was like...NOPE, not staying in this god-forsaken hell hole. They need to recast her though. No sense why she wouldn't be around for all this worried about her son...unless she's just as awful as all the other adults in Riverdale. Take Archie and get out Fred!)

Hermione only cares because Hiram dared to do things without her knowledge so she's throwing a tantrum by possibly shooting Hiram or just having FP (FP!) be the sheriff. Hilarious and yet...so very wrong because isn't FP a whole ex-felon?

I think I'm on record here with my undying love for Archie Andrews and he's probably (aside from Riverdale's greatest father Fred Andrews) the only one left that I like. Everyone else I watch with some level of dislike and amusement. 

I also don't see Archie/Veronica as endgame either so I don't care that they broke up. It looks to me that Veronica really only likes someone who will worship her  and once Archie could no longer do that...well...Reggie is more than happy to. I almost wish I liked Veronica more than I do. I was hoping she'd fit in the Blair Waldorf/Brooke Davis/Spencer Hastings shaped hole in my fandom heart but alas... I also thought Cheryl would fill that role but this season ruined her for me. Mostly because I hate everything in this Serpent storyline and then of course have this gang be led by 16 (16? who knows anymore) year old Jughead Jones who has never been about that life...and I already have enough unrealistic stuff to swallow here and I just refuse to do it with this storyline and the underlying problematic themes it carries. 

Which begs the question...where are the other adults? Are they okay with all the shit going down in this town? Why is it up to Betty, Jughead and whatever teenager happens to be around for plots sake to dither around and make half-assed well-telegraphed plots to take Hiram Lodge down?

See, this is why I shouldn't put my thoughts into words since the more I think about this show, the more it all falls apart for me. I'm okay with batshit crazy what I'm not okay with is that this show doesn't even follow (or even have, if we're being honest) it's own logic/timeline so things just move based on how much fizzle rocks and jingle jangle the writers mainlined before writing these scripts.

But so long as Archie Andrews removes his shirt each episode I'm here until the end. Also was it this episode that had Hiram's fur coat? That shit was glorious and hilarious and I want it just so I can swan in and deliver clever bon-mots flanked by two bodyguards like the badass I am in my head.

The way you feel about Archie is how I feel about Betty and Jughead and Bughead. They are the only people I like anymore.

[rmontro]

On 1/24/2019 at 9:39 PM, methodwriter85 said:

That doesn't serve any actual alcohol. She's basically running The Bronze from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The bar does serve alcohol:

Spoiler

In Chapter Forty-Six:  The Red Dahlia, Archie is getting drunk at the bar, Reggie is the bartender, Archie tries to order another drink, and Reggie cuts him off.