Happy Thursday TV fans! After watching the CW’s Riverdale season 2 episode 14 last night, I am left with Mr. Lodge’s words of wisdom: “you never ever hesitate” when it comes to protecting the ones you love. While his words hold true for Archie especially, it’s often difficult for some of our other favorite characters to let their walls down and open up to one another, especially if they have a “ponytail and a secret.” A dangerous combination for sure of sweetness and scandal, but what happens when we finally let others into our inner most thoughts? Can we really trust them or are we in for a dangerous road of lies and deception? Please note spoilers are ahead if you have not gotten a chance to watch yet. In last night’s episode, “Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes,” Veronica, Archie, Betty, and Jughead are off to a weekend getaway at Veroncia’s family cabin on the lake, which leads to an eventful night where buried secrets reach the surface and dangerous threats lurk behind the corner. Meanwhile, Cheryl deals with her own feelings of insecurity and leans on an unexpected new friend, Josie learns the truth about her mother, and Jughead gets a weird vibe from Chic. My top 5 moments from Riverdale season 2 episode 14 are:
5
Weekend getaway.
Veronica is absolutely thrilled when her father suggests that she go to their family cabin for a relaxing weekend with her boyfriend and friends. However, what Veronica doesn’t know is that her father, Mr. Lodge is trying to keep her away from Riverdale, as he begins some important business transactions. Mr. Lodge does fill Archie in on the plan and lets him know that his right hand man, Andre will be there in case anything goes wrong. Mr. Lodge is trusting Archie not to spill the beans to Veronica, which shows that Archie really has passed the test of loyalty with flying colors. Is he up for lying to Veronica to win Mr. Lodge’s approval, however? Our favorite couple, Bughead happily joins in on the fun and poor Cheryl is left out, as they aren’t really looking for a fifth wheel to spoil the weekend. It seems like romance and relaxation is in the air, but not for long, as Mr. Lodge’s plan backfires when Veronica catches Archie talking to Andre in the woods. Veronica is clearly hurt and angered by this betrayal, expecting much more from her boyfriend and father.
4
Josie learns about her mother’s relationship with Sheriff Keller.
After the Lodge family threatened to expose Mayor McCoy, she needed to make quick and sudden moves to protect her reputation and her family. She comes clean to her daughter, Josie about her relationship with Kevin’s father, Sheriff Keller and gently explains that she will be getting a divorce. Josie is completely crushed by this news and feels hurt and betrayed by her mother’s actions. Not thinking clearly about consequences, Josie shares the news with Kevin who doesn’t know anything about his father’s affair. Josie’s mother is upset by Josie’s cruelty as it was not her news to spread, but they come to an understanding when Josie reveals how hurt she was by this revelation. At the end of the episode, the four sit down at Pop’s diner and it looks like they will be able to get through this after all, with some heartache along the way for sure, but at least it’s all out in the open now.
3
Jalapeno margaritas and hot tubs.
Veronica realizes that their weekend getaway will need some spicing up, especially after some dangerous secrets are revealed. She whips up a batch of her margaritas and suggests “step 1: clothes off, swimsuits on.” While it seems like this love rhombus can relax somewhat, Veronica suggests that her and Jughead kiss to “level the playing field.” While Archie and Betty are clearly not thrilled with this idea, they sit by quietly and let it happen because they do still feel guilty about their own secret kiss. Even though Betty initially kept the kiss from Jughead, he is willing to forgive her and explains that he’s “not intimidated by a black hood prompted kiss.” Betty shows her gratitude later on by bringing out her favorite black wig and her sexy side as a distraction, leading to some “aggressive hand holding” as Veronica would say. While it seems like Bughead is ok for now, will the couple be able to survive more secrets and betrayal? After all, Jughead still doesn’t know about Betty’s new and dangerous obsession with “webcamming.”
2
“Cheryl Bombshell.”
Cheryl is clearly disappointed and feeling left out when she is not invited along to the weekend getaway and is desperately trying to avoid her own home that her mother has “turned into a sex playground.” While Cheryl makes some rash decisions as a result of this, it’s hard not to feel sympathetic towards her. Cheryl calls Jughead and reveals the truth about Betty’s kiss with Archie that she thought was “like with tongue serious,” desperately trying to spoil their weekend since she is hurt. Toni walks in on this and calls her out on it, but Cheryl puts her guard up immediately and reminds her exactly who she is: “Hi I’m Cheryl Blossom, aka Cheryl Bombshell which means I need no reasons. Feel free to tremble.” Toni is not scared off by this, however; and continues to reach out to her, recognizing that she is in pain and in need of a friend. After seeing Cheryl alone at the movies, Toni offers to sit with her. Cheryl later admits to Toni that she “never cries at movies because real life is tragic enough.” In this moment, Cheryl finally lets her guard down, revealing her vulnerability and past secrets to Toni. Toni sympathetically listens to her and a budding friendship or relationship is forming at this point for sure. In a beautiful moment, Toni simply tells Cheryl: “you’re not loveless. You’re not deviant. You’re sensational.” Toni’s uncomplicated honesty is getting through to Cheryl and it looks like their relationship will grow even further based on the previews revealed for next week’s episode. Will Cheryl’s mother come between their relationship, however?
1
“It really was the last house on the left.”
While I initially caught the film reference from Jughead, I never guessed that this comparison would actually not be far off by the end of the episode. Tensions begin to run high when Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead learn that Mr. Lodge has bought Sunnyside Trailer Park, clearing the debt and evictions of everyone who lives there along with the Riverdale Register. Jughead initially jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Lodge is buying their silence along with the free press in this action and underlying animosity comes screeching to the surface, as this puts a clear divide between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead. This argument is put on hold, however; when armed robbers break into the cabin, putting their lives in immediate danger. Veronica doesn’t lose her cool and carefully presses the panic button when she reaches for her purse, signaling to Andre and the rest of her father’s security company that they are in desperate need of some assistance. The robbers run off, but not before grabbing Veronica’s necklace, which prompts Archie to irrationally run after them. Andre lets him know that he’ll take it from there and Archie walks away, but not before hearing a deafening gun shot that lets him know the threat is over for good. While Archie clearly has mixed feelings about what happened because of his moral compass, Mr. Lodge reminds him that “you never ever hesitate,” which causes the memories of the Black Hood to come flooding back, invading his conscience and pulling at his unresolved guilt. Will Archie be able to come to terms with what happened? It looks like he will need to put his own feelings on hold for now, while Mr. Lodge continues to make strategic moves in Riverdale. Of course this begs the question, what is his end game in all of this?
I hope you enjoyed the list and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Riverdale below. Happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
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