Riverdale 2.1 A Kiss Before Dying

Welcome back loyal readers! Just a reminder Shane Lee's review is blue and Syd's is pink!

Holy Archikens! Riverdale did not hold back in it’s second season premiere, picking right back up where we left off, embracing it’s darker side and starting off with another murder mystery!

• “Our story continues,” Juggy narrates as we open with Archie, who does not yet have his license, drives his father to the hospital. It’s hard to forget that Archie and friends are only suppose to be 14-15 years old.
  
• Flash-forward to graduation day Archie, B & V and NuReggie posing for a pic in their cap and gowns complete with a Molly Ringwald cameo! This was a happy moment for Fred, until Archie’s friends reminded him that he didn’t live to see this day!
  
  
• Archie decides to call his his friends, beginning with the most important one- not his girlfriend, lol, but his best friend/neighbor Betty who was having a frank conversation with her mother about how and she and Juggy almost did it. And Alice was like
  
• So, everyone arrives at Riverdale General, which has not seen a grant of any kind since the 50’s, to support Archie and while Fred Flash-Forwarded again; this time, Archie takes over the construction business so their dead relatives can take Fred away.
  
• While Juggy used his Southside Serpent friends to help find the shooter, Veronica convinces Archie to go home and change, but Archie is insistent on walking Hotdog first, in his bloody shirt . . .
  
• Then V decides that the best thing she can do for Archie is to give him shower sexy time.
  
• To which Archie immediately becomes a douche afterwards, when he discovers Fred’s wallet is missing, but V continues to be his shoulder to cry on. Archie is then called in to do a line up, which goes unsuccessfully while V let’s Hermoine know that her innocent act isn’t fooling her.
  

  
• Meanwhile, Kevin played by Casey Cott, who was bumped to series regular, but got no more screen time then he did in season one comforted Betty, then saw this heavenly sight.
  
• Cheryl gives an obviously fake story about why her mom is in the hospital, attempting to save her from the Thorn Hill fire.
• Fred has another Flash-Forward where Archie is preparing to as V the big question, but then pop comes along and ruins it by reminding him that he will never see this day.
  
• #Bughead goes to Pop’s to try to find the missing wallet with no luck. So, Juggy does what anyone would do in a diner that’s just been robbed, has lunch- not just any lunch but a hamburger!
  
• We next see Cheryl threatening her “mommy” to keep quiet about the fire, or she will tell everyone what really happened with Clifford in the barn . . .
  
• All episode long, it’s been hinted that Archie was hiding something about the shooting and he confess to V and #Bughead that he froze in fear, and closed his eyes until the shooter left.
  
• Then Archie finds Cheryl smooching Fred’s forehead, returning the favor of Archie saving her last season. She is confident Fred will pull through.
  
• Fred has one final, creepy flash-forward, that is Archie and V’s wedding, complete with dead friends Jason and Clifford Blossom!
  
• Fred wakes up after having taking the bullet in his flash-forward for Archie, vowing he came back to protect his son. Archie makes the same vow to protect him.
  
• Veronica arrives home to find her father has arrived and Hermoine is all like, now you’re getting to get it.
  
• Before the episode ends, we visit Greendale, the neighboring town to Riverdale, where see Grundy! She hasn’t changed her old ways and continues to go after younger boys. That’s okay though, the Black Hood strikes again, this time successfully killing his target, Ms. Grundy.
  
  
  
  

*Extra Tidbits*

• Two things happened happened last night from my season 2 wish list! The show went way darker and Grundy returned! Also, Juggy's bile helmet has the crown on it!
  
• I really dislike when TV shows bring characters back only to kill them. NOTE I am not condoning Grundy’s predatory lifestyle, but she could have served up so much more drama.
• It’s obvious the Black Hood is going after people in Archie’s life.
• Can the Black Hood get Hermione next? Seriously, her change of attitude is so annoying.
• I am still sad that Josie and the Pussy Cats still seem like nothing more than one line background characters but it is only episode one and hopefully there is more to come.
  

That was a great episode and it set up a killer new story (wink, wink), plenty of mystery and may have finally embraced it’s darker tones! I can’t wait for next week, until then, stay #RiverdaleStrong!

If the “Angel of Death” killed Ms. Grundy, a sexual predator preying on young high school boys, is it OK? Is that justice? These are the questions we should be asking, people. We should also ask why Grundy. Why would the man that attempted to kill Fred Andrews be interested in killing Geraldine Grundy? This is the question we were left with after Riverdale’s season two premiere.

They are back! I was super impressed with Chapter 14 of our beloved drama, but I’m always impressed with Riverdale. The last time we saw these characters, Fred Andrews had been shot at Pop Tate’s and Archie was left holding his father, dying in his arms. In A Kiss Before Dying, we join Archie as he’s flying to the hospital with the wounded victim in the passenger seat by his side.

I’m really sorry that Fred had to get shot, but this is exactly the kind of thing Archie needed to become the character I want him to be. Season one Archie was not my favorite character. He came across as pretty shallow to me, and self obsessed at times, but can I really blame him? He is young. He isn’t super mature. His personality fell a little flat for me last season and the most compelling stories involving him revolved around his love life and which girl he was pretending to like that week. I’m not above it, I like petty drama, but this tragedy should make Archie a more interesting character. It’s already starting to show. Remember when he was walking his dog with Veronica? He reveals to her how he talked his dad into getting the dog by promising to take care of it. Raise your hand if you’ve made that promise to a parent before. Anyway, he has this incredibly self aware moment where he admits that he didn’t really keep that promise. It’s a really great moment where he acknowledges some of his faults and he seems genuinely sorry about what he has realized. This is the kind of maturity that Archie needed. Speaking of maturity, Archie and Veronica’s relationship seems to be growing in a grown-up kind of way.

OK, so before this episode I would have told you there were two kinds of couples on Riverdale. There is Bughead, the true love story just waiting to happen, and there is Ronnie and Archie, the relationship born out of lust. But now? After seeing this episode I’m starting to see the love between V and Arch. Veronica put a lot of time and effort into Archie after finding out about his father. Betty originally encouraged her and got the ball rolling by volunteering V to take Archie home to shower and change his blood covered clothes. But a tired and frustrated Archie eventually tried to kick Veronica out of his house so that he could be alone. Veronica refused to leave him and shortly after you knew Archie appreciated that greatly. You could argue that Veronica is so invested in making Archie feel better right now because she feels guilty about what happened to Fred. There is a theory that Fred wasn’t a victim of robbery, instead this was a deliberate hit with murder as the intent, and the top suspect in that case would be Hiram Lodge, Veronica’s dad. But I choose to believe it’s love. Anyone else? Shane? Shane, I really need to know how you feel about this because I know you hate this couple. Please tell me asap how this episode made you feel about Veronchie. Varchie? Aronica? What do people call them?

So it is looking like this crime committed against Mr. Andrews was attempted murder. Archie suspects this pretty much from the moment it happened but he doesn’t tell the sheriff. He does express his concerns to Jughead, Betty, and Veronica in a private meeting. Jughead promises to ask the Southside Serpents what they know, if anything, about what happened. Betty spent most of this episode worrying about Jug and his new friends. She’s a bit judgemental but she seems justified because a lot of her concerns seem to be validated towards the end of the episode. I don’t think Jughead is cautious enough with the Serpents at first. I think he’s confident that his dad has good in him, so maybe he tries to see the good in the Serpents. I mean, they offer protection to their members and a brotherhood type atmosphere, but I don’t think Jug weighs in their crimes enough. When he asked them to look into Fred’s case to see if a Serpent was involved, he did not expect them to bring an innocent man to his dad’s trailer (Jug’s current home) to beat him to a pulp. Their reason for doing it was to show their loyalty to FP and Jughead, but it’s not OK. Judging by Jug’s reaction he doesn’t think it’s OK either. I think Jughead really wants to find a group of people to call home, and I think we will see him struggle with that this season. Or I hope.

Cheryl needs an actual house to call home because she burnt hers down. We know she set fire to Thornhill in the finale, but we did not know her mother suffered 3rd degree burns from the blaze. The last time we saw the two Blossoms they were standing safely outside of the house. How did Mrs. Blossom get back in? And what exactly happened to her? And what actually happened in the barn with Pappa Blossom? Cheryl leads us to believe that it may not have been suicide. His wife possibly had something to do with his death.

I think Cheryl thinks she is some kind of God now. I think burning Thornhill to the ground really empowered her. She is not letting Penelope call the shots anymore, instead she makes it very clear to her that if she breathes, it is because Cheryl gives her air. Her words (Cheryl’s) not mine. And then Archie walks in on Cheryl kissing Fred on the forehead. She tells Archie she gave him the kiss of life and assures him that his father will now be OK. So Fred’s survival is credited to Cheryl Blossom and kiss of life, the doctors and nurses had nothing to do with it. That is how I imagine Cheryl sees it in her mind. She is so over-the-top, crazy, and ridiculous. It is really great! I seriously love it. Knowing how off her rocker she is, I can’t wait to find out how her mother got burns all over her body. I also wonder how far Cheryl is willing to take this with her mom. I’ll be honest, Penelope should fear for her life right now.

Who else in Riverdale should be fearing for their lives right now? Hiram Lodge is back and that dude is shady as hell. But Fred’s shooter is also still on the loose and he’s currently on the other side of Sweetwater River killing Grundy, a former Riverdale resident. There is a connection and we must try to figure it out! Feel free to comment your thoughts in the section below!