Riverdale: Primary Colors (Recap)

Veronica: “This is not the time for drama and flying off the handle.”

Me: “Ummmm, you know you live in Riverdale, right?”

Ethel Muggs, righter of wrongs. Photo by the CW.

Riverdale is reeling from the news that the Lodges plan to build a for-profit prison, and Veronica is taking the heat (or in this case, milkshake). She finally explodes when Reggie gets in her face, and she jacks him up. When her parents come down on her, Veronica bristles, despite appearances. She channels her energy into running for student body president, and recruits Betty as a running mate.

Hiram is getting down to business, and he’s got Archie doing his dirty work to take care of the thorn in his side that Jughead has become. Archie turned away from his dad last week, and this week it looks like the same is happening with Jughead. But Jughead’s not going down easily, and he’s rallying the Serpents for war.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Vixens, and Toni looks like she’s fitting into Cheryl’s squad just fine. At a slumber party, Cheryl dramatically discusses her fears, and Betty hushes the naysayers by talking about her own experience with Chic. But when Nana is found at the bottom of the stairs, her argument gains some credibility. Cheryl later confronts her mother with her suspicions, and it looks like Cheryl is in big trouble.

Photo by the CW

Veronica gets Josie to endorse her with a promise of a television appearance. What is the deal with Andy Cohen? It seems like a pretty weird crossover. Suffering for Suffrage was pretty great though. Ethel shuts it down with a harsh flyer exposing Veronica’s connections, and it looks like Josie wasn’t so sincere in her endorsement. The information has torn a rift between Betty and Veronica too. The pressure is finally getting to Veronica, and she needs her parents to protect her from what’s coming.

Jughead and the young Serpents are chained to Southside High, and the older crowd is there to back them up. When Jughead is the last man standing, his dad shows up to support him. He’s not the only parent at work, Mama Andrews returns to help Fred break out of his deal with the Lodges, and she manages to set Archie straight about his father in the process. It looks like she’ll be sticking around though, and Fred has his own plans for the future of Riverdale.

Alice Cooper reveals the truth that Hal isn’t Chic’s father (because it’s FP!) after Betty confronts her with the DNA results. Then Betty gets seriously creepy with Chic after she finds out that Kevin spilled about the catfishing scheme. Seriously creepy. Chic flips the script on Betty, and now Alice knows that Betty and Jughead have done the deed. But for the sake of her mother, Betty tries to make peace, but Chic isn’t interested.

A visual approximation of me watching Riverdale this week. Photo by the CW

Hiram compels Archie to take care of Jughead and the Serpents, but he wants him to release Fred from the deal in return. When Archie goes to take care of the situation, Jughead shows him that winning the battle doesn’t mean winning the war. I am definitely not on team Varchie right now. #Bugheadforever.

Jughead’s ready to play by society’s rules though, and Betty’s gonna be by his side, at school and at home. Maybe she can also help Toni rescue Cheryl.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on the CW.