Each week, Teen Vogue will be demography you on a adventure to Riverdale, a bizarre little boondocks ambuscade some actual big secrets.
This week’s adventure picks up with... Kevin! (Hi, Kevin!) Kevin is out jogging in the woods, again authoritative out with a guy who’s cutting a actual agnate outfit, until they apprehend gunshots. Kevin runs adjoin the sound, and finds Midge, who’s amazing out of the car covered in claret and agreeable for help. Wowza. What an opening.
Elsewhere, afore anybody in Riverdale knows what Kevin, Midge, and Moose know, Veronica asks her dad to accommodated her accompany aback she has them over to watch the Matchelorette (LOL) premiere. Hermione watches this barter go down, attractive unhappy, possibly because she’d aloof been in the average of cogent her babe that the old aphorism of her not actuality accustomed in Hiram’s abstraction still applies. For whatever acumen (Protection? Jealousy?), Hermione seems actual absorbed on befitting Veronica as abstracted from both herself and her bedmate as possible. Meanwhile, can I get a account of the Lodge Ancestors Rules, please?
At aboriginal morning football practice, Captain Reggie informs the aggregation that Coach Clayton is at the hospital with Midge and Moose — who are both alive, phew. Anybody at academy (including Ethel; hey Ethel!) is worried, and Kevin gives the aggregation his play-by-play. Betty, aloof like her mother, credibility out that they don’t apperceive that all those crimes are related, and Veronica says she’s aloof blessed Midge, Moose, and Fred all survived (she does not animadversion on Ms. Grundy’s non-survival). Afterwards Jughead leaves to accommodated his associate coach at South Side Aerial Academy (not abiding why he came to RHS first, but OK…), Betty catches up with Kevin and quizzes him on this new “night jogging” habit. He admits that he was canoeing for guys and she suggests he uses an app to date instead, which Kevin dismisses because anybody online lies about themselves, apparently. Betty acutely doesn’t acquire of his method, but she’s additionally afraid about Kevin actuality out in the dupe aback a analgesic is on the loose. Kevin agrees not to go aback out there until the ballista is caught.
Archie visits Moose, who is convalescent from his gunshot wounds, and confirms that the ballista was cutting a atramentous awning (and had blooming eyes that Midge, who had been cloistral by Moose's body, calls “blank”). Later, Archiekins tries to argue Fred that the ballista is the aforementioned guy — and that they should buy a gun for aegis (which he has already done). Fred is not on Aggregation Let’s Buy A Gun. Archie is acutely on Aggregation I Already Bought One But I'm Not Cogent You About It, so this does not augur well.
Meanwhile, Archie’s BFF gets acclimated to SSHS with the advice of Toni Topaz, his Serpent-initiated associate guide. She gives him the briefing on the Jingle Jangle in the halls, a assemblage alleged the Ghoulies, and tells him that blind with the Serpents will accord him aegis (though, for now, Jug prefers his beatnik status).
At the Pembrooke for Matchelorette night, Archie balustrade adjoin what he sees as Sheriff Keller’s cessation and how he feels the RHS acceptance are actuality targeted. Veronica suggests clandestine aegis appropriate afore her parents airing in so she can acquaint Daddy Hiram to the group. Hiram invites Archie to banquet afterwards in the anniversary and advisedly addendum that the badge aren’t consistently the solution.
We don’t get to see the admiration that is Matchelorette, but afterwards that night we do get to see Archie staring at some superhero comics and cuddle his actionable gun. The abutting morning, Archie gives an animated accent to some of his football teammates and Dilton Doiley. He wants to alpha a watch accumulation (called the Red Circle): not to bang base but to act as added eyes and aerial for the police. All the boys are hyped, and while it’s abundant they appetite to assure their community, it does assume like they could calmly veer into alarming male/toxic adulthood mob mentality area here. (Wouldn’t be the aboriginal time Riverdale has tackled that issue.)
Over at SSHS, no one is abutting a adjacency watch group. No one is accommodating in English class, either, except Jughead Jones. Afterwards class, he asks Mr. Phillips about reinstating the academy bi-weekly (the Red & Black). The abecedary is exhausted out for sure, but he agrees to booty a attending at Jug’s clips and again accede reopening the paper. Later, Jughead convinces Toni to accompany the agents as the photographer, and she promptly defends him to adolescent Serpent Sweetpea, who’s mad that Jughead will ask for and acquire the Serpents’ advice but doesn’t appetite to adhere with them.
Reporter Betty is on the Kevin case aback he didn’t appearance up at Veronica’s the night before. They action about his whereabouts, and admitting it seems like Betty’s appropriate to be anxious about his assurance — there’s a ballista on the loose, and hooking up with strangers in the dupe ability not be the best assurance abstraction — but Kevin speaks his accuracy and tells Betty that a) he’s had to acquire to her allocution about Archie and now Jughead for abounding years; b) he doesn’t charge her permission; and c) it’s none of her business, anyway. Cheryl overhears aggregate and schools Betty with her armchair psychoanalysis of Kevin: he’s hot, but he acclimated to be not, and now he’s gluttonous validation and connection.
Betty ponders this abstraction and again arrives home to acquisition both her parents cat-and-mouse for her with a letter from the ballista (AKA the Atramentous Hood) in hand. He’s hunting bottomward “sinners” to absolve the town, and the wants the Coopers to broadcast his acclamation in the cardboard — and he beatific forth Fred’s wallet and Ms. Grundy’s heart-shaped sunglasses to prove he’s the absolute deal. Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy are not admiring that Alice publishes the letter (which prompts Polly to leave Riverdale for the acreage to which she and Jason already planned to run away), and the Sheriff is added affronted to acquisition Archie’s Red Circle flyers all over RHS. Luckily for Archie, Principal Weatherbee stands up for the group, adage that the acceptance aloof appetite to assure anniversary other.
Over at the hospital, Kevin visits with Moose, cogent his above cast that he knows he’s alive on the bend but can’t assume to stop. Moose comforts Kevin, adage that guys like them — admitting he corrects that to “guys like [Kevin]” — don’t acquire a lot of options in Riverdale. So aback article comes up that can accomplish them feel beneath alone, they go for it. As Kevin leaves, Moose says he can appear aback anytime to adhere out or talk. Will this accord continue?
Over on Red Circle patrol, Archie and Reggie cruise about — both with edgeless force weapons alike admitting Archie’s aboriginal accumulation aphorism was “no weapons” — and eventually get a ache alarm from Ethel, who was walking home abandoned (ETHEL, WHY, THERE IS A KILLER ON THE LOOSE) and noticed a van alive by and ambit aback around. Archie comforts Ethel, but the van gets away.
And at SSHS, Jughead is already logging late-ish hours at the paper, area he’s visited by Betty and Toni — both of whom accompany a coffee pot for the office. The bigger account than these two meeting, though, is that Jughead has apparent that the Ghoulies assemblage is the JJ/main biologic band about boondocks and he affairs to betrayal them in the paper. Afterwards both girls leave, Jughead is attacked and exhausted up. Oh no!
Betty, though, is accepting a alive night too. Afterwards Cheryl calls her to address that Kevin is activity for addition “night jog,” the two sometimes-allies clue Kev bottomward and accost him in the woods. Well, Betty confronts him and Cheryl aloof watches, apparently blessed with her abiding stirring-the-pot role. Kevin absolutely lets apart on Betty this time afterwards she tells him to account himself added than this: he yells at her that she acts like they acquire the aforementioned adventurous options, but they don’t — her adventurous activity is all sunshine and blush billowy clouds. (Except aback she’s Aphotic Betty, he and Cheryl agree, casting Betty’s aphotic moments aftermost division like a choice, aback the appearance has additionally hinted that there ability be some brainy bloom issues at comedy — I assumption we’ll acquire to see area they acquire to go with Aphotic Betty from here.)
Kevin: “Please don’t appear actuality and acquaint me [this is] disgusting. If you can’t acquire what I do again we’re not absolutely friends.”
Betty’s affair for Kevin seems 18-carat but does appear off as a bit judgmental, and it’s accurate that their accord and Kevin’s storylines acquire seemed appealing one-sided/one-note for the show’s duration. It’s additionally accurate he’s demography some risks appropriate now. Here’s acquisitive this babble continues through the blow of the season.
The abutting morning, Betty cleans Jughead’s wounds while Toni watches — and astutely addendum that Jughead has aria to Betty about the account of his injuries. But she promises that the Serpents will watch out for him; it’s a simple case of ancestors loyalty. Toni Topaz, acceptable to the Riverdale fam.
That night, at the Lodge banquet (which Veronica has able Archie for by selecting some key Spanish phrases for him to memorize), things are activity appealing calmly admitting the actuality that both Hermione and Veronica — and Hermione and Hiram, and Archie and Fred — had words afore the black began. There is a lot of burden on this apprentice aerial academy relationship. Hiram invites Archie into his abstraction for a chat, area he tells Archie that the Red Circle should go on breach and threatens Archie to never, anytime aching Veronica. Chill dad stuff, H!
Kevin isn’t answering Betty’s buzz calls, so she shows up at his abode and bangs on the door. But Kevin’s in the woods, chatting up a guy in a car who has his cap pulled over his (maybe green?) eyes. In a terrifyingly real-feeling moment, Kevin gets in the car and the guy stabs him in the belly — but it turns out that’s aloof a cursory aberration on Kevin’s part. IRL, he denies the guy, and aback the baseball cap dude gets affronted and calls him a tease, he runs off. Phew. I don’t appetite to lose Kevin, and it would be air-conditioned not air-conditioned of Riverdale to put two anomalous characters (and the alone capital appearance who’s gay) in bitter crisis two weeks in a row.
When Kevin gets home, his dad is cat-and-mouse for him, accessible to bolt him in his “I was with Betty” lie (because Betty was at his abode and agitated to the sheriff). He’s afraid about his son — he wants him to be safe. And as Kevin tears up, his dad tells him that it’s time they alpha to allocution about “certain things” (meaning, presumably, Kevin’s sex life). They hug, and it’s touching. Hope Sheriff Keller follows through on that promise, because Kevin needs addition to allocution to.
In the end, Veronica convinces her dad to accord her a added alive role in Lodge Industries, to her mother’s chagrin; Jughead joins the Serpents for lunch; Kevin ignores Betty in the hallway; and Archie and the Red Circle bros almanac a aggressive bulletin for the Atramentous Hood, all cutting red hoods (and no shirts? Sure, why not?). Already it’s uploaded online, Hiram Lodge watches it and seems pleased…but what could his motives be?
Related: This Is What Happens Aback You Challenge the Stars of Riverdale to TRUTH OR DARE
