Riverdale: La Grande Illusion

Hey everyone,

So, my reviews are going to be a bit different for the month of April, due to the fact I am also participating in #CampNanoWriMo. I will be writing a novella by the end of this month, so here is a picture review of Riverdale.
White is quotes from the show and Blue is my own thoughts.

So, this week began with Cheryl asking Archie to be her date to her family's annual tree tapping ceremony.

And Cheryl goes on to explain what it meant to her and her twin . . . .

And Archie was like

Also, Barb from Stranger Things was back this week and she read a poem about hard life was at home for her:

Then Cheryl's mom showed up at school to talk to Archie

Juggy tried to point out to Archie what the Blossoms were doing to him

But he didn't listen.

The this happened . . . 

Followed by this gathering . . .

Elsewhere, Hermoine made a confession to Luke Perry

And Cheryl made a house call to see Archie, but maybe also Luke Perry to whom she said:

Also, Alice threw a brick at her husband . . .

You can tell by the look on his face, he was terrified!

Cheryl decided to spread rumors about her and Archie to Valarie

Then, at yet another Blossom party, she kissed Archie!

But Archie was not tasting the Kool-Aid and left. The next day, he wanted to catch up with Val.

And Val was like:

And the episode ended with Cheryl so going Regina George . . .

Complete with red sharpie because what other color would be in the Blossom household? I hope everyone ejoyed the review this week, until next week, stay #RiverdaleStrong!

Hello! And welcome back! Another episode of Riverdale watched and it just keeps getting better. I learned two things from the most recent installment. 

1. The kids are all more mature than the parents. 
2. The Blossoms, rich as they are, can't afford winter gear.

I also kind of feel like this was the most Archie centric episode since Grundy was around. The thing about Archie is, he's always having girl problems. If he isn't having an inappropriate affair with his music teacher, he is cheating on Val with Cheryl. Nah! It's not as bad as I make it sound. They did initiate some Archie/Cheryl drama last night, and I really do hope we haven't seen the last of it. 

The Blossoms host a tree tapping ceremony annually to kickoff the maple syrup season, but this year they must do it without Jason. That's OK, though, because there is another red headed kid in town that looks nothing like Jason, but he'll do. His name is Archie. Cheryl wastes no time asking him to escort her to the ceremony. Although hesitant at first, he comes around and agrees to take Cheryl because A) I think he genuinely wants to be there for his friend. I mean Archie does have a heart. But B) Mama Blossom sweetens the deal. Noooo, not with maple syrup. No, she tells Archie she can help him get into some music school he wants to go to. Blossoms have all kinds of connections and she happens to have a connection to the school. 

Plus, seeing that ^^^ face sneak up behind you as you try to steal a sip of water from the fountain has got to be intimidating. There were plenty of reasons for Archie to agree to take Cheryl to the syrup tapping. There were also a few that opposed the date.

Veronica, Jugghead, Val, and Fred all warn Archie. Fred knows the Blossoms, so he knows they don't express gratitude by helping others out, even when they claim they want to help Fred Andrews out. It doesn't matter anyway, because Archie was just going to have to find out on his own. So he went to the ceremony as Chery'ls escort and he did such a good job (standing there? catching maple syrup in a tub? encouraging Cheryl?) that he got invited to another exclusive Blossom event. While there he begins to learn the way the Blossoms work. He finally starts to believe they could, and do, use people. He was also able to find out more about Polly and the reason she chose to live with the Blossoms rather than go home. 

Betty was probably the only one out of their group of friends that wasn't appalled and upset that Archie was getting close with the Blossoms. Not that she thought it was a good idea, I doubt Betty would have been so supportive if she hadn't had an ulterior motive. She wanted Archie to check on Polly. Polly wasn't responding to messages sent from the Coopers (Betty and Alice) and Polly didn't tell them that the doctor found out that she was having twins. Betty was worried and wanted someone on the inside to check on Polly. Or as Alice refers to him, their fox in the hen house. 

Alice was most interested in writing a scathing article on the Blossoms. She wanted to reveal their corruption and awfulness. Info supplied by Archie helped her write this article, but once she gave it to her husband to print, he fired her. Those two are bickering over Polly anyway and we shouldn't expect adults in Riverdale to actually handle situations in a mature manner. So instead of publishing the article he cuts Alice off. And then in retaliation Alice gets that crazy look in her eyes, the one we haven't seen all episode and I kind of missed it...

And she throws a rock through his window. Did I say rock? I meant boulder. Nah, not really. It was pretty big though. It reminds me of the time I sneaked into my brother's room and played his video games. He found out and picked up the closest thing to him and chucked it at my face. My point is, adults in Riverdale argue like children. Their relationships in general are just handled poorly. 

It's not just the main adults either. Veronica spent the entire episode hanging out with Ethel because she was showing signs of depression. Veronica's whole thing is that she wants to be a better person. She was a total mean girl in the past and she's on the road to redemption, so when she saw an opportunity to befriend Ethel and possibly help her through her time of need, she took it. Of course she found out that Ethel's home life is troubled because her family got into bed with the Lodge family and tried to do business with them. Now they are basically screwed and Ethel's dad tried to commit suicide. Veronica found out it was because her dad and his shady ways and she felt terrible. She went to the hospital to give the family flowers and apologize for her dad. Veronica shouldn't have to apologize for her dad. Veronica had nothing to with her dad's business. Veronica is young. Ethel's mom got mad at Veronica. Ethel's mom made Veronica feel bad about what her father has done. Seriously, Ethel's mom? You're a dick. Ethel wasn't mad at V, though. Ethel assured Veronica that she wasn't responsible for her father's actions. See what I mean about the adults in Riverdale? Immature. The kids are left to act on their own since their parents are caught up in drama and scandals. 

Polly is actually investigating a potential scandal. When she sees Archie at the second exclusive Blossom gathering, she lets him in on her secret. She's only there to spy on the Blossoms. She tells him that she is certain they had something to do with Jason's murder and she is determined to find out what role they played in his death. She wants him to let Betty know he plan because she basically doesn't want Betty interfering. Archie is able to let Betty and Alice know so they back off for a bit and let her do her Polly thang. I still think Polly is loony. Not as loony as Cheryl. 

I don't want to be misunderstood, I LOVE Cheryl. Yeah she's bitchy and crazy but it's amazing. And if she were to have some ridiculously weird fling with Archie, I would welcome that. Anyway, for now it seems they won't because the Blossoms scared Archiekins off pretty fast. By the end of the episode Archie had rejected most of Cheryl's advances. Perhaps this is why we were left with the image of Cheryl scribbling Archie's face from the group photo taken at the tree tapping. 

But she also put a red sharpie to Polly's face. Curious.