Riverdale, Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners

Riverdale, Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners | Season 2, Episode 19 | Rating: 9/11 |

The best analogy I can use for tonight’s episode of Riverdale is that it was something akin to a really bad zit. The kind that rears its head, really hurts and stuff busts out but you know that you haven’t gotten rid of all the pus and you have to wait to fully extract the rest of the mess. Yeah, it was something like that. While all our favorite characters are acne free, there were more than a few pimples that reared their heads with secrets that poured out.

The first major thing is that the Black Hood is back and those notes about the musical were not from Mr. Hood: they were from Ethel. She was tired of Cheryl always getting what she wanted but she was never actually going to hurt anyone, so that mystery is solved. But is the Black Hood really back? There is speculation amongst the group that it could be a copycat but our core four put that theory to bed rather quickly. Another possible option is that our former Black Hood, Mr. Svenson, was working with the current Black Hood or there was some kind of partnership. Either way, the threat is incredibly real given Midge’s dead body.

Despite Veronica’s plea with Archie to keep his head, he goes snooping around Mr. Svenson’s house for clues and subsequently gets himself beat up and captured by three guys in hoods with masks. Don’t worry, none of them are the Black Hood. This brings me to our second surprise return, Nick St. Clair. In case you need a refresher, Nick and his family were friends of the Lodges and Nick developed a nasty habit of dropping roofies into girls’ drinks and assuming he was owed something from Veronica since they used to talk about dating when they were just kids. Nick and some friends kidnapped Archie in both an attempt at proving to his daddy he had the nerve to take over the family business (they are also mobsters) and as revenge for Archie beating him up way back when. Nick asked for a cool million in ransom and since Veronica’s parents weren’t really going to do anything (they don’t want to set a precedent especially for someone who isn’t family), she took matters into her own hands.

Veronica

While she didn’t have enough cash, she did agree to meet with Nick and said she would get him the rest. Nick, being the vile creature he is, said he would release Archie if he and Veronica could finish what they started in his room at the Five Seasons. Shockingly, she agrees to secure Archie’s release. Nick, thinking he’s so damned smart, has a laptop with a live feed in front of Archie so he can watch the whole thing go down, but Nick doesn’t know two things: Veronica is about to give him a taste of his own medicine and Archie seeing the feed is enough for him to flip out and escape from his not so diligent captors. By the time Archie reaches Veronica at the Five Seasons, Nick is passed out on the floor. Veronica turns the table and ransoms Nick back to his family for a cool million. Plus she called out her parents about doing nothing to help Archie.

Over in Betty-land, she and Jughead decide to delve further into possible suspects for who the Black Hood really is and the top of that list is Chic. Spoiler alert: it’s not him. However, Chic is a bad boy. We already knew that, but he’s also not who he’s been pretending to be. After going to check out the only link between Chic and Mr. Svenson, Betty and Jughead see a picture of Betty’s brother, and it’s definitely not Chic.

When Betty confronts Chic with the photo, a desperate lie turns violent. Thankfully, Chic gets knocked out before he can do any more damage and is restrained in the basement and eventually Chic starts to talk. He met Betty’s brother, Charles, on the street and they moved into the flophouse together. One day Charles went to see the Coopers but Alice slammed the door in his face and he overdosed on jingle jangle that night. The story changes after Betty and Jughead talk to a neighbor in the flophouse and find out there used to be two boys who would have nasty fights but then one day there was only one along with bloody sheets and pillows in the trash. So, what are Betty and her family to do now?

They can’t drop Chic off somewhere or he will come back. They can’t go to the police because Chic will blab about the literal body they disposed of after he murdered someone in the house. They can’t kill him because they aren’t like that. So, what to do? Alice decides to come clean to Hal and explain everything despite all the pain it will bring but Betty has another option. The Black Hood has been calling her again and admits to killing Midge and setting up Mr. Svenson. He also seems to know all about what Chic’s been up to. Being who he is, the Black Hood offers to help in his own way: If Betty delivers Chic to him, no one would ever need to know about the man who died in the Cooper home.

At first, Betty is reluctant to hand him over but being faced with an impossible situation, she relents to a solution that solves all their problems. Betty sneaks Chic out the basement door (with a gun she stole) and meets the Black Hood in the cemetery. While faced with a gun in the dark at a cemetery, Chic confesses to losing control and hurting Betty’s brother, Charles. It was an accident, he says, and this seems more like the truth. In the shadows lurks the Black Hood and it’s like a slow, horrible countdown as the Hood gets closer to Chic. Betty tells Chic it’s his own Angel of Death and she’s giving him a head start. Finally, panic kicks in and Chic runs into the night with the Black Hood on his tail. By the way, Betty’s father Hal is missing when she gets home. Apparently, he’s out looking for her.

New Blood:

No one is too thrilled with how Sheriff Keller has been keeping the town safe considering people keep getting killed. Cheryl vows justice served to Midge’s killer by way of the cheer squad and informs Sheriff Keller that his days in office are numbered. Always looking for an opportunity, the Lodges decide to use this to their advantage and Hermione (after being shot down by Veronica who is tired of scheming) gets Cheryl to write an op-ed piece for the paper that calls for Keller’s resignation and is rightfully hurtful to both the sheriff and his son Kevin. In the end, Keller has to surrender his badge and admits he might have cut corners. Hopefully, someone else can solve the mystery and if Fred Andrews gets elected, he can expect his job back. This whole mess is topped off with someone spray painting his cruiser to read “Sheriff Killer.” Not funny.

Hiram & Hermione

Other Notes:

• Is it possible that Betty’s brother survived and is alive and possibly the Black Hood?
• Do we, as an audience, already know the Black Hood or is it someone we haven’t met yet?
• The son that Alice gave up was, in fact, FP’s and she ended up spilling the beans to him about everything. Literally, everything.
• FP got Jughead out of the Cooper house which is good since he was wailing on Chic for “the truth.”
• Archie wants revenge on the Black Hood. He thinks it will earn him his “bones” with Hiram.  Oh, dear.

Quotes of the Week:

• “He’s telling the truth. There was a boy and I turned him away. This – this boy. He knocked on the door and I asked him to leave. It was me, Betty… I’m responsible for my own son’s death.” (Alice Cooper)
• “Funny enough, they hadn’t heard boo about Archie’s kidnapping. But, I’ll leave that to you to explain to Archie. He’s in the study waiting for you.” (Veronica)