'Riverdale' Recap: Locked Doors, Secrets Hidden

Last week "Riverdale" brought back the much loved Jughead but that wasn’t all. It gave the Barchie folks a little loving between Betty and Archie. Come on folks! In Riverdale, our foursome has been divided into Jughead/Betty and Archie/Veronica. Do we really want to mess up those showmances? Will the writers? Well, we have the rest of the season to go (and a fifth season also). Tonight, behind a “supposedly” locked double door Jughead and Betty take on the prep school supposed killers. What do you think they’ll reveal.

Jughead is talking about the two weeks he lived in the bunker. It looks like he suffered. Why? Sure there was no sunlight but he was hidden and could plot. Heck, Betty even set up cameras for him to watch the wake and get evidence. Really? Oh, and don’t forget that the great misdirection was Betty and Archie as a couple. Really? Which one of you set that in motion — you or Betty? Roberto — kudos to you and the writers on this!

And let’s count all the people in on this. First, there was Charles who was helping gather evidence. Then Jellybean, who eavesdropped and learned that Jughead was alive. She offered a fur coat because she was “just glad her brother was okay.” Betty told FP because they needed his help and FP was relieved that Jug was okay. Archie brought in his mom and Ronnie got Hermosa to help. My this list is long and no one revealed a thing. I didn’t think this many living in Riverdale could keep their mouths shut.

Betty comes to find Jughead to go to Stonewall Prep. Evidently, Charles and FP have been looking for a witness, found him, and he’s showering. I personally hope this is dear old Grandpa but we have to wait to find out. At Stonewall Prep, three of the horrible four are meeting for class with Mr. Dull — er DuPont. The topic is: Crime and Punishment. Jughead and Betty enter and tell the four to prepare for a mystery to be revealed to which Donna says: “I knew you weren’t dead.” Sorry, Donna. There is no prize for figuring everything out too late.

Jughead now starts to let us in on what happened. After telling Betty to lock the door, the story starts to unfold. I love a mystery so kudos to Roberto and company for giving us a Christie ending to this (yes, I refer to Agatha Christie. For those who haven’t read the book or seen either one of the movies, I recommend “Murder on the Orient Express.”) They have 30 minutes before the next class and Jughead thinks that is all the time they need. As Bret threatens to call security, Betty collects his and the rest cell phones so they can’t be disturbed.

Jughead starts presenting the evidence. It seems that instead of Jughead, the victim was supposed to be Moose. Jughead asks DuPont if it was the same way when FP the first (from now on granddad) was at the school. DuPont doesn’t like to talk about granddad and calls him an arrogant fool. From where I sit, it’s DullPont who is the arrogant tool (er — I mean fool). Jughead tells DullPont that the story is a tale about grandparents and grandchildren and Betty adds the phrase “cycle of violence.” With the reveal, I love that phrase. The problem was that with Moose marked to be the victim of the crime, Jughead threw a wrench in the plan when he arrived at Stonewall at the same time. Mr Chipping had the assignment to find the victim but why? To set up the transition to a new writer, of course!

Well, it seems Mr. Chipping was feeling guilty about Moose. Alice got an interview and included it in her documentary.  Moose was recruited by Chipping who knew he was marked for death. It was Mr. Chipping who got Moose to leave. Mr. DuPont was involved (of course) and his role is coming into focus more. I always wondered why Mr. Dull was so sneaky. Now I know.

Now as to Mr. Chipping, he was brought in to be the ghostwriter. It seems that for every new ghostwriter, someone had to die. So Chipping had to kill someone to get the job. Jughead asks Dull if this was the original plan for his grandfather when he wrote the novel that DuPont stole. Dupont claims that the contract was legal. (By the way, I am intentionally using DuPont, Dullpont and Dull for the man. He drives me that crazy.) Jughead had made the mistake of telling Chipping about his grandfather which meant that Jughead would be the target. Alice learns from Mrs. Chipping that her husband was drinking and having trouble sleeping. He was feeling guilty and that caused him to jump out the window. She knew Donna had told a lie and mentioned that Donna did something similar to Mr. Kotter. Donna Sweet isn’t sweet after all. I always thought she should be on Sabrina. Mr. Chipping jumped to his death then from guilt over Moose.

DuPont tells Jughead and Betty that this is a demented conjecture of the situation. (Don’t you love a suspect using such words!) Chipping got the contract fair and square but Jughead draws a diagram. For Chipping to get the contract, he had to murder someone. Ryan Allen had been the ghostwriter before him and had to win the contract in the same way. It was Dull who gave Jughead the clue. DuPont talked about collaborating on murder.

Now it’s time for Jughead to reveal what happened with his death contract. Seems Donna and Bret wanted the book deal. We see the flashbacks in the woods where Donna distracts Betty as Bret leads Jughead further into the woods (I keep hearing a fairy tale musical in my head — “Into the Woods we go”). Anyway, while Donna drugs Betty, Joan hits Jughead over the head with a rock and Jonathan (who is missing from the Horrible Four’s class) pronounces him dead. Betty is lead to the scene and Donna places the rock in her hand while Betty is in the trance from Devil’s Breath. As we now know, they didn’t kill Jughead (which he points out). Guess Jonathan isn’t as good a doctor (or genuis) as some thought because it was a big FAILURE. Betty was to take the fall when it was discovered.

Now here is where Archie and Ronnie come in. The prep four go back to the party and send them in search for Betty and Jughead. They figured that the two of them would raise the cry and Betty would be blamed. Archie did think Jughead was dead (per the flashback/flash forward).  Jughead is bleeding but Doctor Archie somehow decides to do CPR. As Archie pumps, Betty breathes and Ronnie staunches the blood. Jughead seems to rouse but doesn’t really regain consciousness to stay awake. He does tell the gang “no hospital” so Charles is brought in. Archie, Ronnie, and Betty carry an unconscious Jughead to the road where Charles and an FBI med van is waiting. Jughead doesn’t regain consciousness for 36 hours. Donna, to her credit (or discredit), asks why not a hospital and Jughead doesn’t know why he didn’t want to go there. Charles is the one who directs the gang to return to the clearing and burn their clothes which is where last year’s scene comes from. The forgetting what happened, pretending it didn’t happen, etc was part of what to do if Jughead died.

The Stonewall idiots (I mean three) want an explanation over the coroner’s office scene (flash-forward scene). Jughead tells them that the coroner is an old friend and we see money exchange hands. I knew something was up there and now we know what! Money can buy anything. DullPont tells them it is a good story, better than Jughead’s original one, but there is no proof that he was behind it or did anything criminal.

Jughead and Betty have been playing a good “cat and mouse game” as they turn over the floor to DullPont.  Having called Dull a serial killer, Jughead reveals a story of murders that have happened over the years. Each person in the class that had included granddad and Dull had been murdered. Just before the third person’s death, he had visited granddad and told him what was going on. When he, a skilled diver had drowned in shallow water, granddad knew he would be next. That’s the night he left FP and went out for a pack of cigarettes. DuPont looks scared and feels it can’t be proved but Jughead directs Betty to open the door. And now we get a moment we all been waiting for. Charles enters with FP and granddad. The family is united and FP knows the true story.

DullPont tells them that they can’t prove anything but granddad has been waiting for that moment. It seems that the others involved over the years are getting lawyers. DuPont then questions who will believe a drunk. Now, granddad does some confronting and accusations of his own. DuPont calls himself a builder and is really upset. How upset you may ask? Well, he calls himself an honorable man and builder of the Baxter Brothers saga and the school then jumps out the window as Chipping had committed suicide. The prep three watch with no emotion.

Later at the jailhouse, the three prep school bullies are questions. Joan is first and told not to protect Donna. Joan won’t turn and says her daddy is an ambassador. She also denies and Donna and Bret are her friends. Guess she has immunity folks. Donna follows and tells Charles that she’s glad that DuPont is dead. She doesn’t admit to anything either. Bret finally comes in and is confronted with all his sins, including the sex tapes. He’s offered a lesser crime if he turns over said tapes. Bret says he will not have to stand trial or the tapes will get released.  Let’s just say that Charles was prepared for this as Jughead and FP enter and Charles leaves. Bret’s beautiful face isn’t beautiful for long and he does plead guilty and give them the location of said sex tapes which Jughead, Betty and FP retrieve.

All watch the documentary and want to celebrate, but Betty has one more “bridge to cross.” She goes to see Donna is who packing to leave. Betty (and the gang) know that Donna is the daughter of Joan, one of the original three. She was killed by DuPont and Donna had come to Stonewall for revenge. Donna had set up everyone to do her dirty work so her hands were not dirty. In exchange for not signing a contract and not writing about Trudy (or telling), Betty won’t tell her story. Betty is smart though. She will be watching Donna.

As the show ends, Cheryl talks to Betty about what she has seen happen between Betty and Archie. Cheryl knows that Betty has feelings for Archie but promises not to tell.  Could this be the start of Barchie that everyone seems to want on Twitter. It looks like FP is happy and he and his dad are getting back together. Kevin has a new play and all must be in it (Jughead included). Finally, the gang promises to make the last few months their best ever.

So where do we go from here . . . Next week, the play starts, Mr. Sweet isn’t happy, strange costumes roam Riverdale High, and did I see the start of “The Archies.” More later.