Happy Thursday TV fans!  After watching the CW’s Riverdale season 2 episode 12 last night, I’ve realized how dangerous it can be to live in the moment.  Decisions have consequences but it can be tempting to push them aside and worry about them later.  That is until they show up again, threatening everything that matters most to you.  Please note spoilers are ahead if you have not gotten a chance to watch yet.  In last night’s episode, “Chapter Twenty-Five:  The Wicked and the Divine,” Veronica announces her Catholic confirmation, which seems to be more of a substitute for the spotlight to be on her in front of an adoring crowd.  Penny is back and is looking to seek revenge on Jughead for how he treated her and Archie gets an exclusive invite to Mr. Lodge’s poker game.   Meanwhile, Betty tries out “webcamming,” Jughead comes clean to her about the past, and Alice begins cleaning…literally, to cover up something beyond appalling.  My top 5 moments from Riverdale season 2 episode 12 are:

5

Jughead comes clean to Betty about his past with Toni.

Jughead and Betty have pretty much avoided having a serious conversation since their breakup until now.  Whether it was too hard to talk about or they were concerned with hurting each other in the process, their breakup has been somewhat of a smooth ride.  However, when Jughead and Betty are face to face in the beginning of the episode, Jughead feels the need to tell her the truth about what happened with Toni.  He reveals that they did have a fleeting moment but that’s all it was.  Betty is offered the chance to reveal any secrets she may be keeping, but decides not to tell Jughead about her kiss with Archie or her new scandalous life of “webcamming.”  Jughead offers to “shield her from darkness,” but Betty has already gotten a taste for it and is spinning a complicated web of deception without realizing the consequences just yet.

4

Veronica’s Confirmation.

Veronica really knows how to do absolutely everything in style.  She turns her Catholic Confirmation into more of a Debutante ball.  Veronica wants to sing The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” at the event with Josie because it was from the film, “Cruel Intentions.”  I was excited for the reference but also a little saddened that this is the only way Veronica knows this epic song.  Either way, her performance with Josie is beautiful as Veronica walks down the aisle of the church in style, rejecting Satan and making her family proud.

3

Penny is back and seeks revenge on Jughead.

After Jughead turned Penny away from the Serpent’s gang and had her tattoo carved off her arm in a brutal way, it was no surprise that Penny would be back at some point.  She wants “blood for blood” and demands that Jughead be kicked out of the gang and that she be able to remove his own tattoo.  Jughead continues to make excuses but his father ominously reveals to him that he “will be the death of us.”  Jughead is always reacting and needs to take the time and patience he puts into his writing and apply it to everyday life.  Without realizing it, Jughead is taking a turn down a very dark path and it may be too late for him to find his way back unscathed.

2

Archie is invited to Mr. Lodge’s poker game.

Archie is thrilled when Mr. Lodge begins to take notice of him and actually commends him on what he did to Nick Sinclair.  He invites him to his poker game which Archie ambitiously accepts, knowing that some major players will be in town and it will be a great time to provide Agent Adams with the inside scoop.  However, when Archie learns that one of the players was found dead, he has second thoughts about coming clean about what he found out.  He lies to Agent Adams, which begs the question, is Archie in over his head?  Have his feelings for Veronica complicated his mission to bring down Mr. Lodge?

1

Betty and Alice Cooper embrace the darkness.

In the beginning of the episode, Betty is sporting her femme fatale black wig, turning away from the computer with newfound passion and excitement.  While her deception may initially seem harmless, Betty is not ready to abandon it just yet.  She begins keeping secrets from those she loves without even the slightest hesitation to suggest that she has no guilt or second thoughts about her actions.  While Chic opened the door to the darkness, inviting Betty in, she is making her own decisions.  Later in the episode, Betty and Jughead reunite and share a passionate kiss as Jughead tells her that “he wants all of her,” but what will he do when he finds out that he needs to share Betty with the rest of the cyber world?  Whether intentional or not, Chic has also brought out the darkness in his biological mother, Alice as well.  At the end of the episode, a man appears at the door looking for Chic and Betty walks into her mother cleaning up a mess of blood with the lifeless body spread across the floor.  Alice quickly tells her daughter to close the door, implying that she is not about to let her actions reach the surface either.  Who is responsible for the death of this stranger?  Is Alice covering up for Chic or did she do the unthinkable?

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