‘Riverdale’ Review: What are the Parents Hiding?

This has to be my favorite season of Riverdale yet. It’s got the right level of darkness, drama and mystery, to keep my emotions on edge, and I’m here for it.

I was nervous to see Archie (K.J. Apa) in juvie for the first time after already seeing Oliver in prison this week. My stomach was turning as the boys in the yard said Archie had nice shoes, but I wasn’t prepared for anything that was going to follow. I’m pleasantly surprised with what the writers are doing with this storyline. I still don’t like that Archie is in juvie, but this is getting interesting.

I guess we should have guessed that Jughead (Cole Sprouse) inducting Archie into the Serpents, and FP (Skeet Ulrich) giving him a tattoo, wasn’t going to be good enough. Was it really going to be that easy? I guess Archie could have shivved the Goolie, but he wouldn’t be Archie then.

I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder than Archie than when he rallied his fellow inmates and got them to play a football game. The game and the Vixens cheering them on had me distracted, so, I didn’t foresee the boys getting beaten up by the juvie staff for playing a game. The warden called it a “riot”. It was actually a pretty friendly football game if you asked me.

I like that the writers are keeping us on our toes. They give us Archie doing what Archie does best, and then they pull the rug out from under us. I hope the writers keep this up.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa teased a dark season and he wasn’t kidding. We ended last week with Betty (Lili Reinhart) having a seizure and hallucinating the twins being dropped in the fire. Now Jug and Betty are investigating a pretty creepy mystery. Did these kids kill themselves, or was it murder?

I may have written off Betty’s seizure as a cause of stress until Ethel (Shannon Purser) also had a seizure. If that wasn’t enough, the parents are pretty freaked out by the latest events, and that their kids are involved. They vowed to take it to the grave, but whatever it is, it’s back. What exactly are they hiding? This mystery is darker than the other two so far, and it’s testing the limits of almost all the characters. I enjoy when characters are tested and we get to see what they are truly made of.

This episode gave us so much more than what I’ve even mentioned so far. We got some great Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) scenes. She lightens up the drama, and then she goes and cares and tells Veronica (Camila Mendes) about the Innocence project that could help Archie. I love when she does that, but I also love when she’s a bitch too.

I wasn’t liking what was going on with Kevin (Casey Cott) and Moose (Cody Kearsley). I get that Moose is not completely out yet, but I wasn’t liking how he was treating Kevin. Then Kevin went and joined the ROTC to be close to his man, and my heart just fluttered. Kevin has had bad luck in the love department, but I’m shipping this relationship and looking forward to seeing it grow.

We’re two episodes in and I’m in love with this season so far. I’m looking forward to where this storyline takes us.