-I finally get the purpose of having Jughead's narration be a novel that he's writing in-show about the events of the show. It's so they can do meta scenes like the one tonight where they talk about the novel while also talking about the show but they're not actually talking about the show. Clever (Yes, this is sarcasm.). There is something I like about that scene though. Jughead tells F.P. that he's less interested in "whodunnit" than he is about the idea of Riverdale being a good or a bad place and F.P. suggests that it can be both. That's Riverdale in a nutshell. It's giving us the world of Archie we've always known and it's also adding a lot of darkness and edge into that world but one doesn't negate the other. The good and bad in Riverdale exist side-by-side, making for a much more interesting show than if it had just picked one or the other.
-The "F.P. and Jughead discuss the book scene" also provides a fascinating glimpse into Jughead's worldview, showing us that no matter how wise beyond his years he seems, in the end he's a kid who still has a "black/white" sense of viewing the world. Few things are purely good and few things are purely bad, as the character of F.P. and his arc of "criminal trying to get his life and family back together" illustrate, but Jughead has a hard time seeing things that way. It's why when he discovers Archie and Veronica's betrayal at the end, he's equally mad at Betty even though her offense is nowhere near as bad. It's why Jason's death and all the complexities and deceptions it's revealed has rattled him so. Jughead is on course to learn that the world isn't all black and white, and hopefully he'll learn that sooner rather than later.
-After a couple weeks of relatively good and sympathetic behaviour, Alice is back up to her old tricks this week. Would you believe that Betty inviting her mother to join the school newspaper that she revived solely to get away from her mother turned out to be a bad idea? Honestly Betty is right to be mad at Archie and Veronica for going behind her back to investigate things while she was busy but she also needs to be mad at herself for allowing her mother into the school newspaper in the first place.
-Hiram is getting out of prison in time for season 2 (Where he'll be a series regular played by Mark Consuelos, unless Consuelos' other show Pitch gets a second season) and Veronica is not happy. Camila Mendes has been playing Veronica's growing disillusionment with the man who recently blackmailed her very well these past few episodes and she's especially good at keeping Veronica sympathetic tonight as she reaches her low point here, going behind Betty and Jughead's backs to help Alice investigate F.P., convinced that he murdered Jason on her father's orders. When Jughead brought up how he doesn't really consider Veronica a friend in the last episode, what seemed like a clever observation on how those two really don't interact outside of a group context turns out to be a plot point here as Veronica doesn't have the loyalty to Jughead that Archie and Betty do. So when the opportunity to learn the truth about her father comes up, of course she's going to take it. She's so obsessed with the idea that her father could be involved in this that she almost gets her and Archie caught during their break-in session because she can't believe there's nothing there. It's an interesting turn for the character in line with how comic Veronica would behave and Mendes does a great job selling it.
-Okay, let's get real. Archie claims he was helping Veronica investigate F.P. because he was worried about Jughead but we all know the real reason. He just wanted to finally be involved with the murder investigation after a whole season of being at most, Murder Mystery-Adjacent. And if he also got some action because of that, all the better. This episode does a really good job though at showing how Archie's biggest character trait, his need to help and protect his friends is also his biggest character flaw. Archie ultimately agrees to investigate F.P. because he doesn't want Jughead to get hurt by his dad again, even though he knows he's breaking Jughead's trust by doing this. He doesn't trust Jughead to handle the information. He just decides what's best for Jughead and does it no matter the consequence. That's called being a bad friend Arch.
-You know it's a great episode of Riverdale when there's an awkward dinner scene and we get a great one this week when Alice invites F.P and Jughead to dinner so she can interrogate F.P. while Archie and Veronica are off breaking into his trailer. Betty has been learning some tricks from Alice though and invites her father to dinner to throw Alice off. This leads to a fantastic scene where Mädchen Amick, Lochlyn Munroe and Skeet Ulrich passive aggressively insult each other and throw veiled references to Alice's abortion around that's uncomfortable to watch but impossible to look away from.
-Seriously though, did Jughead really not pick up on the fact that Alice clearly suspects F.P. of being up to something during that dinner? She wasn't even hiding it! Why did he need Betty to tell him what he could see with his own eyes?
-Cole Sprouse does a terrific job as Jughead every week but he really takes it up a notch this week. We know all that kid wants is to have his family back together and to have that dream finally start to become a reality (Even if it means moving to Toledo) only to have it snatched away at the same time his closest friends (and Veronica) betray him is devastating, made even more devastating by the way Sprouse makes us feel what Jughead is feeling every step of the way.
-So I know I rag on Jughead's narration almost as much as I rag on Archie's music (the best joke of the night for me was easily the scene where Betty and Jughead finally have a reaction about Archie's music that isn't "It's uniformly great!") and I know that I literally started this review ragging on his narration but because we've spent all season accustomed to some kind of narration to close out the episode (Though not always), the total lack of it once Jughead disappears after homecoming added greatly to the emotional impact of him leaving.
-Archie and Veronica breaking into F.P.'s trailer was bad but if they didn't do it, they wouldn't have realized he was being framed later. So what they did was bad AND good. Duality. Sometimes it's cool to break and enter.
-Meanwhile Cheryl apparently forgot that she's supposed to be holding a grudge against Polly (Based on the fact that an episode literally ended with Cheryl crossing out Polly's face on a picture) and the two of them are out campaigning to be the co-queens of homecoming. Of course this is all just pretense for them to have a reason to stumble upon the ring Jason was going to give to Polly hiding among Penelope's things. The elder Blossoms are such obvious villains that it seemed to eliminate them as killer candidates but this episode makes a strong case for them to have done it. Sure Jason denouncing them and returning the ring seems believable and them drugging Polly to calm her down is perfectly in character but finally giving Cheryl the validation and approval that she's always craved? Telling her she should be running the company one day despite everything they said about her a couple episodes back? They are hiding something for sure. Luckily, Cheryl isn't an idiot and she's holding onto that ring nice and tight (Also I know they were trying to appease Cheryl but the fact that they took her story about disposing of the ring at face value seemed out of character for them, considering how distrustful and paranoid they are.).
-Molly Ringwald is still around and she's a delight as Mary, fitting into the world of Riverdale perfectly whether she's trying to get Archie to go to Chicago, bantering with Fred, or not buying into Alice's mindgames for a second. More of her please!
-Mary thinks Archie will be safe living in Chicago? That seems a bit too farfetched, even for Riverdale.
-The scene where Fred enters the dance with both Hermione and Mary at his side was a very funny recreation of when Archie did the same thing with Betty and Veronica during the first episode. Like father, like son.
-I enjoyed Archie and Veronica's performance of Kids in America, even if Archie's guitar seemed totally unnecessary but it's telling that Archie couldn't come up with his own upbeat, danceable song. Expand your range Archie. You won't get far without it.
-Also we're totally getting The Archies in season 2 whether we want them or not, right?
-Murder Theory Corner: I'll be honest. I'm impressed with how straightforward Riverdale has kept it's big murder mystery. There isn't dozens of suspects or reasons why Jason Blossom could have been murdered and everything seems to come back to the Coopers and the Blossoms or the Blossoms and the Lodges. The show means it when it says they don't care about the "whodunnit" aspect. So I'm comfortable with buying into the idea that Penelope or Cliff Blossom killed Jason. In case the show does want to surprise us with the big reveal though, let's have Hermione Lodge as a back-up guess. And as a real outlier theory, let's speculate that Jason was killed because he was trying to rip off drugs from the Southside Serpents by Mayor McCoy, who secretly has the Serpents under her thumb and uses their profits for her own end (It won't be this, but better safe than sorry).
Saturday 29 April 2017
Wednesday 26 April 2017
Jane The Virgin Gets Her Lust On in Chapter Sixty
-This Week in Titles: Jane The Horndog.
-When we last left "Jane" about a month ago, Alba was falling in love with her new boyfriend Jorge and Jane was falling in lust with Rogelio's new co-star Fabian. Both these threads carry on into Chapter Sixty, another great episode of Jane that works in all the usual twists and turns and strong emotional beats, while exploring how Jane and Alba's relationship with the idea of sex has or hasn't changed over time.
-For roughly 47 episodes, Jane's view of sex was based around the idea that it was special and she decided to wait for marriage for reasons connected to both her faith and her romanticism. This show wasn't titled Jane the Virgin for nothing. Then she got married and finally began having sex with the love of her life. Then he died. Now Jane is ready to start getting back out there but what does that mean for her sex life? Chapter Sixty is smart in showing us how Jane's view of sex has changed and evolved from the first time she felt lust (As a child watching a particularly steamy telenovella) to now post-Michael. Where sex used to be this big, looming, forbidden thing, now Jane has no problem openly talking about her sexual needs and where she used to want to wait for that special someone, now that special someone has come and gone and she doesn't see the point in waiting anymore, no matter what her grandmother thinks about her choices. It's a smart move that shows off how much Jane has grown and changed from the unsure girl we met in the pilot. Jane knows what she wants and she's not going to let anyone stop her from trying to get it, whether it's the not-so-subtle guilt trip of Alba or Rogelio's anger that she's after the co-star he thinks is trying to "All About Eve" him.
-Alba can't worry too much about Jane's love life though because now she has her own to worry about. Just as we can understand why Jane decides she's not going to wait to be married again to have sex, we understand why Alba isn't going to make that same choice. Alba had sex before marriage and it destroyed her relationship with her family. She's never going to make that decision again, even if it costs her all of her relationships because she knows the right man will wait for her. She's so used to this being a deal-breaker though that when Jorge seems to have a negative response to her telling him and doesn't contact her afterwards, she's ready to write him off as someone not worthy of her love. It turns out Alba needs to have more faith in people though because what she thought was a break-up wasn't a break-up at all. Jorge has no probably with Alba's celibacy and the two end the episode in a better place than ever. It's a good storyline and what I really like about it is that the show doesn't try to compare Alba and Jane's choices about sex or suggest that one choice is better than the other. They're both independent women who allowed to make their own choices without being punished for it and the show recognizes it.
-Fabian makes for an interesting choice for Jane's first post-Michael love interest. It's clear that he and Jane would never work as more than a casual thing. He's just not complex or intelligent enough to challenge Jane on a meaningful level and her attraction to him is purely physical, as she openly admits. At the same time, Francisco San Martin brings such a dopey earnestness and sweet enthusiasm to the character that it's hard not to fall for him just a little bit. The key thing here is that he seems to be genuinely falling for Jane, which should lead for some interesting complications down the line.
-Of course Jane has more on the brain than sex this week as her book about her romance with Michael begins to move to the publishing stage. Jane is excited to be selling her book but runs into trouble when she learns the publishers want to use her backstory to help sell the book. This would mean a generous initial printing and a slot at a book fair moderated by Maria Semple but Jane shoots that idea down because she wants the book to stand on it's own, even if it means an order of only 1500 books. Of course there's more to Jane's reluctance then that and while a conversation with her former adviser and current friend Professor Donaldson is enough to make her realize standing for your art this early into a career isn't the best plan, it doesn't fix the underlying reason she was so reluctant to use her backstory as a marketing tool: Michael.
-One of the things I've really appreciated about how "Jane" has handled the death of Michael is that while they chose to skip ahead in time and only touch on the immediate aftermath of the event, they're not forgetting or ignoring him either. His memory is a constant presence on the show, popping up when you least expect it to. Jane is worried that by agreeing to talk about what happened, she'll be reducing Michael to an anecdote and what they had will become less meaningful over time. It's a valid fear, but luckily Alba is there to reassure her that this won't happen and Michael will always be meaningful to her. Jane and Alba have always had a special relationship and that relationship becomes even more meaningful post-Michael because Alba is the only person who understands what it means to lose the love of your life so young and can offer Jane a kind of support and insight that no one else can. Alba's story about seeing her Mateo's favourite Ice Cream at a grocery store last year and being overcome with emotion is a powerful story that lets Jane and the audience know that no matter how far in the past Michael becomes, he's never going to go away.
-Jane's conversation with Alba wasn't the only emotional Michael-related scene in this episode though as Rogelio's complicated feelings about Fabian trying to befriend him and Jane dating Fabian turn out to be rooted in his own grief about Michael. For the first few Post-Michael episodes of "Jane", we mainly focused on Jane's reaction to losing the love of her life and how she reached a place where she could begin to heal. This was a smart move as this is first and foremost Jane's story and her feelings take initial priority. Now that we've taken the time to see how Jane is dealing with all this though, "Jane" has space to explore how Michael's death impacted Rogelio who lost his best friend. Jaime Camill has always been good at playing the comic relief, but his conversation with Xo is a terrific chance to show how good he is at the big emotional moments too and is one of Camill's best scenes in the history of the show. Rogelio knows Jane has to move on from Michael eventually but he's not ready for that to happen yet and he's definitely not ready to go get mani-pedis with someone else. Tellingly though, he only tells Xo this information, not wanting to burden Jane with his feelings and showing just how far he's come from the self-centered Rogelio that we began the show is. Andrea Navedo is great in this scene too, as she manages to display her own grief about Michael, without making it the central focus of the scene.
-We finally get an explanation for Rafael's shady behavior with his handyman Caesar. Turns out Caesar isn't an ex-con, he's a private investigator who Raf has hired to keep an eye out for Rose. It's a solid twist that makes perfect sense. Of course Raf is still after Rose and still doesn't trust Eileen or Luisa. We know how fiercely protective Rafael can be and after everything Rose has done to him and the people he loves, it would be dishonest to the character for him not to be actively searching for her.
-Luisa can be a hard character for the show to get a handle on, thanks to her status as a perpetual trainwreck, which causes her character to be overly broad and hard to take at times, Season 3 has been taking steps to ground her more by actually delving into why she cares about Rose while showing how conflicted she is about Rose's history and how her choices have alienated her from her family (Raf won't let her see any of his children). This has made Luisa more complex and interesting than she's been in past years and her dilemma about having to choose between leaving with a (rightfully) paranoid Rose or staying and finally starting to take steps towards a real reconciliation with Rafael is honestly compelling. If she does choose to stay though, it'll be interesting to see how long it'll be until she finds out Rafael being open to a conversation about her seeing the kids was just a ploy to get keep her busy while Caesar bugged her room.
-It's been a while since Chapter Fifty-Four (The last episode Luisa and Rose were in) but I don't think it had been established that Rose's "Eileen" face was a removable mask and not a total facial reconstruction of Rose (Though I guess that makes sense, considering she went the mask route when she was Susanna last year). So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Bridget Regan is still going to be around. She's always been great in the part so it's nice that she'll still be around, even if she'll be sharing the role with Elisabeth Röhm for the time being.
-Petra mostly spends the episode preparing for the arrival of her sister and continuing to strengthen her relationship with Chuck. So she's mostly off to the sidelines but the cliffhanger of Anezka being arrested upon arrival into the country instead of just questioned like Petra was promised ensures that the focus will be on her soon enough. The crime stuff is still "Jane's" weakest element but the Scott stuff is much more intriguing than last year's Mudder and Derek shenanigans and I'll admit I am very curious to learn just how exactly Petra and Anezka are involved with the death of Scott.
-There's a lot of great narrator jokes tonight, but I think my favourite is when he keeps interjecting when Rogelio and Fabian's telenovella characters talk about their "lady scientist" love to point out that they should really just be saying scientist.
-When Jane's teasing Alba about the possibility of Alba sleeping with Jorge, the same music cue from the opening scene of the series plays during Jane's recitation of the advice Alba gave her as a kid. It's a nice touch.
-Luisa attempting to use being the reason for Mateo being born as justification for being able to see him was a solid use if Luisa's trainwreck status. It's also always good to be reminded that she was the catalyst for literally everything that's happened on the show.
-No spoilers about the promos for next week, but they seem to be showing an interesting twist on Jane's romantic dynamic with Fabian.
-When we last left "Jane" about a month ago, Alba was falling in love with her new boyfriend Jorge and Jane was falling in lust with Rogelio's new co-star Fabian. Both these threads carry on into Chapter Sixty, another great episode of Jane that works in all the usual twists and turns and strong emotional beats, while exploring how Jane and Alba's relationship with the idea of sex has or hasn't changed over time.
-For roughly 47 episodes, Jane's view of sex was based around the idea that it was special and she decided to wait for marriage for reasons connected to both her faith and her romanticism. This show wasn't titled Jane the Virgin for nothing. Then she got married and finally began having sex with the love of her life. Then he died. Now Jane is ready to start getting back out there but what does that mean for her sex life? Chapter Sixty is smart in showing us how Jane's view of sex has changed and evolved from the first time she felt lust (As a child watching a particularly steamy telenovella) to now post-Michael. Where sex used to be this big, looming, forbidden thing, now Jane has no problem openly talking about her sexual needs and where she used to want to wait for that special someone, now that special someone has come and gone and she doesn't see the point in waiting anymore, no matter what her grandmother thinks about her choices. It's a smart move that shows off how much Jane has grown and changed from the unsure girl we met in the pilot. Jane knows what she wants and she's not going to let anyone stop her from trying to get it, whether it's the not-so-subtle guilt trip of Alba or Rogelio's anger that she's after the co-star he thinks is trying to "All About Eve" him.
-Alba can't worry too much about Jane's love life though because now she has her own to worry about. Just as we can understand why Jane decides she's not going to wait to be married again to have sex, we understand why Alba isn't going to make that same choice. Alba had sex before marriage and it destroyed her relationship with her family. She's never going to make that decision again, even if it costs her all of her relationships because she knows the right man will wait for her. She's so used to this being a deal-breaker though that when Jorge seems to have a negative response to her telling him and doesn't contact her afterwards, she's ready to write him off as someone not worthy of her love. It turns out Alba needs to have more faith in people though because what she thought was a break-up wasn't a break-up at all. Jorge has no probably with Alba's celibacy and the two end the episode in a better place than ever. It's a good storyline and what I really like about it is that the show doesn't try to compare Alba and Jane's choices about sex or suggest that one choice is better than the other. They're both independent women who allowed to make their own choices without being punished for it and the show recognizes it.
-Fabian makes for an interesting choice for Jane's first post-Michael love interest. It's clear that he and Jane would never work as more than a casual thing. He's just not complex or intelligent enough to challenge Jane on a meaningful level and her attraction to him is purely physical, as she openly admits. At the same time, Francisco San Martin brings such a dopey earnestness and sweet enthusiasm to the character that it's hard not to fall for him just a little bit. The key thing here is that he seems to be genuinely falling for Jane, which should lead for some interesting complications down the line.
-Of course Jane has more on the brain than sex this week as her book about her romance with Michael begins to move to the publishing stage. Jane is excited to be selling her book but runs into trouble when she learns the publishers want to use her backstory to help sell the book. This would mean a generous initial printing and a slot at a book fair moderated by Maria Semple but Jane shoots that idea down because she wants the book to stand on it's own, even if it means an order of only 1500 books. Of course there's more to Jane's reluctance then that and while a conversation with her former adviser and current friend Professor Donaldson is enough to make her realize standing for your art this early into a career isn't the best plan, it doesn't fix the underlying reason she was so reluctant to use her backstory as a marketing tool: Michael.
-One of the things I've really appreciated about how "Jane" has handled the death of Michael is that while they chose to skip ahead in time and only touch on the immediate aftermath of the event, they're not forgetting or ignoring him either. His memory is a constant presence on the show, popping up when you least expect it to. Jane is worried that by agreeing to talk about what happened, she'll be reducing Michael to an anecdote and what they had will become less meaningful over time. It's a valid fear, but luckily Alba is there to reassure her that this won't happen and Michael will always be meaningful to her. Jane and Alba have always had a special relationship and that relationship becomes even more meaningful post-Michael because Alba is the only person who understands what it means to lose the love of your life so young and can offer Jane a kind of support and insight that no one else can. Alba's story about seeing her Mateo's favourite Ice Cream at a grocery store last year and being overcome with emotion is a powerful story that lets Jane and the audience know that no matter how far in the past Michael becomes, he's never going to go away.
-Jane's conversation with Alba wasn't the only emotional Michael-related scene in this episode though as Rogelio's complicated feelings about Fabian trying to befriend him and Jane dating Fabian turn out to be rooted in his own grief about Michael. For the first few Post-Michael episodes of "Jane", we mainly focused on Jane's reaction to losing the love of her life and how she reached a place where she could begin to heal. This was a smart move as this is first and foremost Jane's story and her feelings take initial priority. Now that we've taken the time to see how Jane is dealing with all this though, "Jane" has space to explore how Michael's death impacted Rogelio who lost his best friend. Jaime Camill has always been good at playing the comic relief, but his conversation with Xo is a terrific chance to show how good he is at the big emotional moments too and is one of Camill's best scenes in the history of the show. Rogelio knows Jane has to move on from Michael eventually but he's not ready for that to happen yet and he's definitely not ready to go get mani-pedis with someone else. Tellingly though, he only tells Xo this information, not wanting to burden Jane with his feelings and showing just how far he's come from the self-centered Rogelio that we began the show is. Andrea Navedo is great in this scene too, as she manages to display her own grief about Michael, without making it the central focus of the scene.
-We finally get an explanation for Rafael's shady behavior with his handyman Caesar. Turns out Caesar isn't an ex-con, he's a private investigator who Raf has hired to keep an eye out for Rose. It's a solid twist that makes perfect sense. Of course Raf is still after Rose and still doesn't trust Eileen or Luisa. We know how fiercely protective Rafael can be and after everything Rose has done to him and the people he loves, it would be dishonest to the character for him not to be actively searching for her.
-Luisa can be a hard character for the show to get a handle on, thanks to her status as a perpetual trainwreck, which causes her character to be overly broad and hard to take at times, Season 3 has been taking steps to ground her more by actually delving into why she cares about Rose while showing how conflicted she is about Rose's history and how her choices have alienated her from her family (Raf won't let her see any of his children). This has made Luisa more complex and interesting than she's been in past years and her dilemma about having to choose between leaving with a (rightfully) paranoid Rose or staying and finally starting to take steps towards a real reconciliation with Rafael is honestly compelling. If she does choose to stay though, it'll be interesting to see how long it'll be until she finds out Rafael being open to a conversation about her seeing the kids was just a ploy to get keep her busy while Caesar bugged her room.
-It's been a while since Chapter Fifty-Four (The last episode Luisa and Rose were in) but I don't think it had been established that Rose's "Eileen" face was a removable mask and not a total facial reconstruction of Rose (Though I guess that makes sense, considering she went the mask route when she was Susanna last year). So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Bridget Regan is still going to be around. She's always been great in the part so it's nice that she'll still be around, even if she'll be sharing the role with Elisabeth Röhm for the time being.
-Petra mostly spends the episode preparing for the arrival of her sister and continuing to strengthen her relationship with Chuck. So she's mostly off to the sidelines but the cliffhanger of Anezka being arrested upon arrival into the country instead of just questioned like Petra was promised ensures that the focus will be on her soon enough. The crime stuff is still "Jane's" weakest element but the Scott stuff is much more intriguing than last year's Mudder and Derek shenanigans and I'll admit I am very curious to learn just how exactly Petra and Anezka are involved with the death of Scott.
-There's a lot of great narrator jokes tonight, but I think my favourite is when he keeps interjecting when Rogelio and Fabian's telenovella characters talk about their "lady scientist" love to point out that they should really just be saying scientist.
-When Jane's teasing Alba about the possibility of Alba sleeping with Jorge, the same music cue from the opening scene of the series plays during Jane's recitation of the advice Alba gave her as a kid. It's a nice touch.
-Luisa attempting to use being the reason for Mateo being born as justification for being able to see him was a solid use if Luisa's trainwreck status. It's also always good to be reminded that she was the catalyst for literally everything that's happened on the show.
-No spoilers about the promos for next week, but they seem to be showing an interesting twist on Jane's romantic dynamic with Fabian.
Friday 21 April 2017
Superstore Gets Distracted From Spring Cleaning
-With three episodes left in the season, Spring Cleaning feels like a breather episode of Superstore. It touches on and advances a couple ongoing storylines (Jonah dating Glenn's foster daughter and Cheyenne's upcoming wedding to Bo) and sets up a significant new one to carry us through the last two episodes, but it's main concern is letting us have a good time with the characters we've grown to love over these past 31 episodes. This results in an episode that doesn't reach the heights of the season's best episodes, lacking the emotional resonance and comedic chaos those episodes have and containing one story that doesn't really work, but Spring Cleaning still has plenty to like about it as it sets the stage for a big finish.
-Let's start with the story that doesn't really click, Bo's day working at Cloud Nine. Johnny Pemberton's Bo is a character who works best in small doses. He's funny for a quick pop-in now and then, but he's such an over-the-top, broad character that the more he's on screen, the more it becomes impossible to understand why Cheyenne puts up with him (She's not the brightest bulb, but she's a genius compared to Bo), making the standard "he really does love her in his own crazy way beat" they put into every Bo storyline feel false and unearned. That's basically what happens tonight though it starts off on a promising note as Bo sets out to quickly make 5000 dollars and is almost immediately confronted with the realities of a minimum wage job. There's lots of fun to be had in watching Bo clash within the restraints of a real job but once the story shifts to Bo planning to rob the store, the character becomes too much to take. Yes it's funny learning that only half of the security cameras work and the security guard is basically blind (More Reggie in the future, please), but Bo's actions take his character too far, crossing the line from "likeable dope" to "insufferable moron" even if there's no real chance that he'll actually rob the store. The story redeems itself a bit with the ending where upon learning Cheyenne doesn't need a fancy wedding he immediately quits and tries to steal the vest he's wearing, but it still rubs me the wrong way that Cheyenne lets him off the hook so easily. Maybe this whole thing is building to Cheyenne breaking up with Bo, which would justify the storyline more but for now the story's basically a wash.
-Also here's hoping that Nichole Bloom gets more to do in season 3. Cheyenne has probably been the most underserved of all the main characters this season and the show often seems at a lost about what to do with her now that she's had her baby, but Bloom is a lot of fun to watch and always makes the most with what she has.
-Luckily the other two storylines more then make up for the weak Bo storyline by focusing on two of their stronger comedic duos: Jonah/Glenn and Amy/Garrett. Jonah and Glenn have a complex relationship that alternates between Glenn attempting to impress and be a mentor for a disinterested Jonah and Glenn transferring his inferiority complex onto Jonah and trying to compete with him. Spring Cleaning flips the script a bit by following up on Glenn's conflicted feelings about Jonah dating his step-daughter. People pleaser Jonah is used to having the parents of his girlfriends like him (He still hangs out with Naomi's dad apparently) so when he sees Glenn seeming unsure of him, he decides to start spending time with Glenn in an effort to put him at ease. This leads to a delightfully awkward lunch at a Mexican restaurant where Glenn doesn't seem to have any concept of what Mexican food is or what traditional getting to know you questions are ("Do Jewish people like snow?", he asks a baffled Jonah). Of course spending time with Glenn is easy but ending the time together is hard and before long, Jonah has agreed to become Glenn's assistant and Glenn is faking a draw for Cardinals tickets so he and Jonah can attend a baseball game. The whole push and pull between an oblivious Glenn and an increasingly desperate Jonah makes for a delightful series of increasingly absurd sequences until Jonah is finally honest with Glenn (to an extent), which is what Glenn wanted all along. It's a low-stakes storyline, but one with a lot of great jokes and interplay between Glenn and Jonah, which is just what an ideal breather episode needs.
-Amy and Garrett meanwhile find photos someone apparently forgot to pick up and after Garrett looks through them (to try and find nudes of course), they realize they both know the woman in them from somewhere and start going through their former co-workers to try and figure out who she is. Initially things start in familiar territory as Amy gets obsessed about identifying the mystery woman and Garrett stays detached and snarky about the whole situation, but when Amy points out that the photos show a former Cloud Nine employee has ended up in a house with a million dollar kitchen and a french press, Garrett becomes just as obsessed as Amy about tracking down the one woman who came out of her Cloud Nine experience OK. As the two characters who least enjoy their jobs, they latch onto the idea that one day they'll be able to leave this place and not end up in prison or addicted to meth or fused to the couch. This anonymous woman becomes a symbol of hope for the pair. Of course the whole thing has a somewhat poignant twist when it's revealed the pictures are reference photos for the large signs that hang in various sections of the store. Garrett and Amy have spent a day chasing a false fantasy and are going to need to look elsewhere to find their hope that things can be OK after Cloud Nine. It's a very funny note to end the story on, with just the right hint of darkness to it.
-Smartly, the show decides to let us learn the truth about the photos a few scenes before Amy and Garrett do, adding a nifty layer of dramatic irony to their scenes and making the moment where they learn the truth even funnier.
-The really clever thing about the Amy/Garrett storyline though is how it quietly lays out the stakes for the "forthcoming lay-offs" cliffhanger. By showing how poorly off so many former Cloud Nine employees have ended up, the episode reinforces that has poor as the working conditions at Cloud Nine can be, the employees there really don't have a lot of other options available to them and leaving could put them in a really bad spot. So even if it's unlikely that we'll lose any characters we care about to the lay-offs, we understand how devastating they could potentially be, which helps a great deal in getting us emotionally invested in the storyline.
-Best Interstitial: Not really an interstitial but Sandra finding and putting back a dead rodent was the perfect Sandra joke.
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: "What is the biggest dog you've ever seen and why?" It's his delivery of "why" that really sells the joke. The runner-up is his relieved reaction to Jonah asserting that he and Kristin really did got to a gas station for breakfast at 4 in the morning.
-I also could've watched an episode worth of Glenn at the Mexican restaurant. "Do you have a Mexican version of the churro?"
-Between Bo's blurred-out Middle Finger Penis shirt and Jonah's assistant attire complete with cloud tie (And Garrett's endless delight about the tie), it was a great week for clothing-based humour on Superstore.
-Oh Jonah, if you wanted to make up a lie about a 4 AM breakfast place, why didn't you just say Denny's? The story reason is probably because going to a gas station for breakfast at 4 AM is a funnier, more transparent lie and Jonah was thinking fast but as someone who works the graveyard shift at Denny's, I see this as a big oversight.
-With Marcus rising this year to fill the "obnoxious moron" role, we haven't seen a lot of Tate, who fills a similar role, but with more arrogance and surprising frankness about people's medical history. Tate was out in full force tonight though and Josh Lawson clearly delights in playing up the character's casual sliminess. Pairing him up with Bo for a scene and having them hit it off was inspired, especially when Tate admits how jealous he is of Bo's terrible moustache. Even better is his genuine interest in the Cardinals tickets Glenn is trying to sneak to Jonah. I like to think that he and Glenn did ultimately go to that game together.
-As tiring as Bo's storyline got, his "I contain multitudes, yo" response to Dina telling him she thought he was only a worthless dirtbag is a terrific line.
-Let's start with the story that doesn't really click, Bo's day working at Cloud Nine. Johnny Pemberton's Bo is a character who works best in small doses. He's funny for a quick pop-in now and then, but he's such an over-the-top, broad character that the more he's on screen, the more it becomes impossible to understand why Cheyenne puts up with him (She's not the brightest bulb, but she's a genius compared to Bo), making the standard "he really does love her in his own crazy way beat" they put into every Bo storyline feel false and unearned. That's basically what happens tonight though it starts off on a promising note as Bo sets out to quickly make 5000 dollars and is almost immediately confronted with the realities of a minimum wage job. There's lots of fun to be had in watching Bo clash within the restraints of a real job but once the story shifts to Bo planning to rob the store, the character becomes too much to take. Yes it's funny learning that only half of the security cameras work and the security guard is basically blind (More Reggie in the future, please), but Bo's actions take his character too far, crossing the line from "likeable dope" to "insufferable moron" even if there's no real chance that he'll actually rob the store. The story redeems itself a bit with the ending where upon learning Cheyenne doesn't need a fancy wedding he immediately quits and tries to steal the vest he's wearing, but it still rubs me the wrong way that Cheyenne lets him off the hook so easily. Maybe this whole thing is building to Cheyenne breaking up with Bo, which would justify the storyline more but for now the story's basically a wash.
-Also here's hoping that Nichole Bloom gets more to do in season 3. Cheyenne has probably been the most underserved of all the main characters this season and the show often seems at a lost about what to do with her now that she's had her baby, but Bloom is a lot of fun to watch and always makes the most with what she has.
-Luckily the other two storylines more then make up for the weak Bo storyline by focusing on two of their stronger comedic duos: Jonah/Glenn and Amy/Garrett. Jonah and Glenn have a complex relationship that alternates between Glenn attempting to impress and be a mentor for a disinterested Jonah and Glenn transferring his inferiority complex onto Jonah and trying to compete with him. Spring Cleaning flips the script a bit by following up on Glenn's conflicted feelings about Jonah dating his step-daughter. People pleaser Jonah is used to having the parents of his girlfriends like him (He still hangs out with Naomi's dad apparently) so when he sees Glenn seeming unsure of him, he decides to start spending time with Glenn in an effort to put him at ease. This leads to a delightfully awkward lunch at a Mexican restaurant where Glenn doesn't seem to have any concept of what Mexican food is or what traditional getting to know you questions are ("Do Jewish people like snow?", he asks a baffled Jonah). Of course spending time with Glenn is easy but ending the time together is hard and before long, Jonah has agreed to become Glenn's assistant and Glenn is faking a draw for Cardinals tickets so he and Jonah can attend a baseball game. The whole push and pull between an oblivious Glenn and an increasingly desperate Jonah makes for a delightful series of increasingly absurd sequences until Jonah is finally honest with Glenn (to an extent), which is what Glenn wanted all along. It's a low-stakes storyline, but one with a lot of great jokes and interplay between Glenn and Jonah, which is just what an ideal breather episode needs.
-Amy and Garrett meanwhile find photos someone apparently forgot to pick up and after Garrett looks through them (to try and find nudes of course), they realize they both know the woman in them from somewhere and start going through their former co-workers to try and figure out who she is. Initially things start in familiar territory as Amy gets obsessed about identifying the mystery woman and Garrett stays detached and snarky about the whole situation, but when Amy points out that the photos show a former Cloud Nine employee has ended up in a house with a million dollar kitchen and a french press, Garrett becomes just as obsessed as Amy about tracking down the one woman who came out of her Cloud Nine experience OK. As the two characters who least enjoy their jobs, they latch onto the idea that one day they'll be able to leave this place and not end up in prison or addicted to meth or fused to the couch. This anonymous woman becomes a symbol of hope for the pair. Of course the whole thing has a somewhat poignant twist when it's revealed the pictures are reference photos for the large signs that hang in various sections of the store. Garrett and Amy have spent a day chasing a false fantasy and are going to need to look elsewhere to find their hope that things can be OK after Cloud Nine. It's a very funny note to end the story on, with just the right hint of darkness to it.
-Smartly, the show decides to let us learn the truth about the photos a few scenes before Amy and Garrett do, adding a nifty layer of dramatic irony to their scenes and making the moment where they learn the truth even funnier.
-The really clever thing about the Amy/Garrett storyline though is how it quietly lays out the stakes for the "forthcoming lay-offs" cliffhanger. By showing how poorly off so many former Cloud Nine employees have ended up, the episode reinforces that has poor as the working conditions at Cloud Nine can be, the employees there really don't have a lot of other options available to them and leaving could put them in a really bad spot. So even if it's unlikely that we'll lose any characters we care about to the lay-offs, we understand how devastating they could potentially be, which helps a great deal in getting us emotionally invested in the storyline.
-Best Interstitial: Not really an interstitial but Sandra finding and putting back a dead rodent was the perfect Sandra joke.
-This Week in Mark McKinney is a Treasure: "What is the biggest dog you've ever seen and why?" It's his delivery of "why" that really sells the joke. The runner-up is his relieved reaction to Jonah asserting that he and Kristin really did got to a gas station for breakfast at 4 in the morning.
-I also could've watched an episode worth of Glenn at the Mexican restaurant. "Do you have a Mexican version of the churro?"
-Between Bo's blurred-out Middle Finger Penis shirt and Jonah's assistant attire complete with cloud tie (And Garrett's endless delight about the tie), it was a great week for clothing-based humour on Superstore.
-Oh Jonah, if you wanted to make up a lie about a 4 AM breakfast place, why didn't you just say Denny's? The story reason is probably because going to a gas station for breakfast at 4 AM is a funnier, more transparent lie and Jonah was thinking fast but as someone who works the graveyard shift at Denny's, I see this as a big oversight.
-With Marcus rising this year to fill the "obnoxious moron" role, we haven't seen a lot of Tate, who fills a similar role, but with more arrogance and surprising frankness about people's medical history. Tate was out in full force tonight though and Josh Lawson clearly delights in playing up the character's casual sliminess. Pairing him up with Bo for a scene and having them hit it off was inspired, especially when Tate admits how jealous he is of Bo's terrible moustache. Even better is his genuine interest in the Cardinals tickets Glenn is trying to sneak to Jonah. I like to think that he and Glenn did ultimately go to that game together.
-As tiring as Bo's storyline got, his "I contain multitudes, yo" response to Dina telling him she thought he was only a worthless dirtbag is a terrific line.
Saturday 15 April 2017
Riverdale: Chapter Ten: The Lost Weekend
-Pop Quiz: You have helped thrown your best friend a birthday party you know he doesn't want because everyone throwing the party is trying to avoid their own issues. It's a small, intimate deal but even with a couple drinks in your system, it is obvious your friend is uncomfortable by all of this. Then the doorbell rings and an army of kids led by the girl you and your friends recently pissed off and the guy two of your friends got kicked off the football team are at your door wanting to turn your party into a rager. Do you let them in despite the fact that there's no way this ends well for anyone? Answer: Of course not, unless you're a total idiot. Luckily for Riverdale, they've set up their lead character to do nothing but make the wrong decision time and time again so it makes perfect sense that Archie would let these people in. He doesn't know any better.
-Jughead and Betty have been in a relationship for a few episodes now, but we've yet to really explore what that means for either of them until The Lost Weekend, which uses Jughead's birthday to put their relationship under the microscope as Jughead has to deal with a party he doesn't want and Betty has to deal with the return of Chuck Clayton, who can't shut up about Dark Betty (The side of Betty we saw way back in episode 3 when Betty disassociated and tried to drown Chuck in a hot tub), compelling Betty to try and do something normal like throw her boyfriend a birthday party. This inevitably leads to conflict between them and the episode does a really good job developing the argument between Betty and Jughead so we can understand where both sides are coming from. On the one hand, Betty is aware that Jughead doesn't want this party and that she's throwing it for the wrong reasons but she does it anyways, which isn't a great relationship move even if her heart is in the right place. On the other hand, Jughead doesn't even try to give the small, intimate version of the party a chance and he makes a lot of wrong assumptions about Betty and why she wants to be in this relationship with him. We get it Jug, you're a moody outsider and you got a lot of pain, but you don't have the monopoly on pain and feeling like an outsider and it's not cool of you to act like you do.
-Thank God F.P. is weirdly hanging around a wild party full of teenagers (Seriously, Betty inviting him to the double feature made sense but inviting him to this party did not) so he can talk some sense into Jughead and shut the party down when it goes too far. The Lost Weekend could've used Jughead's "We're too different to be together" argument and Chuck's subsequent revelations about Dark Betty as a catalyst to break Betty and Jughead up like many a lesser show would've done but instead the show ably demonstrates why Betty and Jughead are actually a good couple. They're two kids who are both damaged thanks to their messed-up family situations and who both feel like outsiders even if one of them is a cheerleader, but when they're together they make each other feel normal and less alone. It's not the most original take on a relationship in the world but Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart sell it with their terrific chemistry. Their reconciliation at the end of the episode is genuinely sweet and I'm much more interested in this relationship now than I was an episode ago.
-I don't understand why people let Secrets & Sins go on for as long as it did. It was obvious from the get-go that Cheryl and Chuck were up to something and things took a turn for the uncomfortable almost right away. Also Dilton abruptly deciding to participate and drop the bomb about Archie and Ms. Grundy felt really shoehorned in, like the writers remembered that was still a loose plot thread they should probably address which they then put in in the most awkward way possible. Veronica finally voicing what everyone was thinking about Cheryl's affection for her brother was a lot of fun though so at least the scene has that going for it.
-Also I felt the flashes to the depravity of the party and Jughead's ominous narration about the party made the whole situation seem more exciting than it actually was. Like it wasn't a good party and those secrets that came out are probably going to have consequences for the remainder of the season, but the set-up made it seem like Archie's house would burn down or something equally apocalyptic and what we got was just standard teen drama.
-I am liking the return of Chuck as an extra element of chaos for the show though. Jordan Calloway does a great job getting across the entitled sliminess of the character in every line reading. Teaming him up with Cheryl was also a lot of fun as Calloway and Madelaine Petsch seemed determined to top the other in terms of over-the-top campy insanity.
-Veronica challenging Cheryl to a dance-off for the head cheerleader position is another thing that felt shoehorned in so the writers could get Cheryl firmly back in the antagonist camp but the dance-off itself was a lot of fun, as was Cheryl admonishing those extras who always follow her around for being extras.
-Let's be honest, Archie is more fun when he's drunk. Sure he still has his typical Archie problems like being concerned about his parent's divorce being finalized (Which is a pretty solid problem for him to be concerned about actually) but at least when he's drunk he does things like invite a bunch of shady characters and randos into his home and drunk dial his dad to spice the scenes of him dealing with his problems up. I probably shouldn't be advocating for Archie to start drinking all the time, but I care way more about Drunk Archie than I do Sober Archie.
-Keeping Luke Perry offscreen for the majority of the Archie plot is a smart choice. As much as I would've liked to see more of Molly Ringwald, keeping what happened between Fred and Mary a mystery allows the show to keep the story focus solely on Archie and his attempts to forget about the situation, which is what was needed to make this story work.
-So Archie and Veronica kissed and spent the night together (I'm assuming nothing much further than that happened since they woke up in separate beds and Archie sleeping with Veronica for the first time would be too big of an event to just gloss over). It was an unexpected move that came out of nowhere with minimal set-up but I bought it. Archie and Veronica are both in weird head spaces and are both trying to distract themselves from their problems so it makes sense that they'd do something impulsive like this. It'll be interesting to see how they handle this development going forward and if it'll be a one-off thing (for now) or the beginning of an Archie/Veronica coupling.
-The show's slow burn in setting up the inevitable arrival of Hiram Lodge and all the drama that's going to bring is starting to reach a boiling point as we learn the Blossoms have been making payments to the Lodges for 75 years (Weird, that seems to be as long as the town of Riverdale has been around) giving motivation for the feud between their families and a reason for Hiram to be a suspect in this murder. Hiram also makes his presence known when Veronica is unsure about testifying to his character through a letter that's simultaneously loving and threatening, hinting that he'd throw Hermione in harm's way to save his own skin if he had to. It instantly makes Hiram one of the more compelling antagonists the show has and he hasn't even appeared in the flesh yet (Who should play him when that happens by the way? I'm picturing a Jimmy Smits type). The "good girl" necklace he sends Veronica when she ultimately decides to testify for her mother's sake is equally chilling.
-Also kudos for the show for having Archie and Betty tell Veronica about Clifford getting her dad arrested immediately instead of having them keep it from her for no real reason.
-I'm surprised that Alice's only objection to the big party going on right next to her house was the presence of F.P. Even a couple episodes ago, she would've shut that party down before Cheryl and Chuck were even through the door. I guess that's character development for you. Also Alice is apparently the only character who figured out that a Southside Serpent dating the son of the sheriff in the middle of a big murder investigation is probably not above board. Smart Alice.
-Hey, Molly Ringwald's here! I'm sure her arrival at the end would've been much more surprising if I hadn't been aware that she was playing Mary Andrews for weeks now but it's still an effective way to end the episode.
-This Week in Hot Archie: Shirtless Archie crashing on Jughead's bed so Veronica can sleep in his.
-This Week in Hot Betty: Seductive Happy Birthday has been done to death at this point, but Lili Reinhart really sells it here. Also she looks really good in that crown T-Shirt.
-Speaking of Archie sleeping in Jughead's bed, where did Jughead sleep? Was he just out all night? He seemed surprised to see Veronica so I don't think he checked Archie's room to find his bed was taken.
-I know this is a darker, more emotional take on Jughead but having it look like he's crying tears of blood (Well it was really only one tear) is a little too on the nose for me.
-I really want to know more about Alice's past growing up on the wrong side of the tracks and maybe being a Serpent. Here's hoping the arrival of Molly Ringwald also means we get some flashbacks to the parent's past next week.
-Murder Theory Corner: Veronica accuses Cheryl of murdering her brother out of a jealous rage so it's safe to take Cheryl off the suspect list again. Veronica also suggests that F.P. could've killed Jason on her father's behalf, so he's probably off the suspect list too. Meanwhile Smithers assures Veronica that Hermione is unequivocally good to convince her to protect her mother and testify on her father's behalf and Hermione as the killer is beginning to seem more and more like a possibility. Apparently we're going to find out who killed Jason before the end of the season so get ready for that reveal.
-Jughead and Betty have been in a relationship for a few episodes now, but we've yet to really explore what that means for either of them until The Lost Weekend, which uses Jughead's birthday to put their relationship under the microscope as Jughead has to deal with a party he doesn't want and Betty has to deal with the return of Chuck Clayton, who can't shut up about Dark Betty (The side of Betty we saw way back in episode 3 when Betty disassociated and tried to drown Chuck in a hot tub), compelling Betty to try and do something normal like throw her boyfriend a birthday party. This inevitably leads to conflict between them and the episode does a really good job developing the argument between Betty and Jughead so we can understand where both sides are coming from. On the one hand, Betty is aware that Jughead doesn't want this party and that she's throwing it for the wrong reasons but she does it anyways, which isn't a great relationship move even if her heart is in the right place. On the other hand, Jughead doesn't even try to give the small, intimate version of the party a chance and he makes a lot of wrong assumptions about Betty and why she wants to be in this relationship with him. We get it Jug, you're a moody outsider and you got a lot of pain, but you don't have the monopoly on pain and feeling like an outsider and it's not cool of you to act like you do.
-Thank God F.P. is weirdly hanging around a wild party full of teenagers (Seriously, Betty inviting him to the double feature made sense but inviting him to this party did not) so he can talk some sense into Jughead and shut the party down when it goes too far. The Lost Weekend could've used Jughead's "We're too different to be together" argument and Chuck's subsequent revelations about Dark Betty as a catalyst to break Betty and Jughead up like many a lesser show would've done but instead the show ably demonstrates why Betty and Jughead are actually a good couple. They're two kids who are both damaged thanks to their messed-up family situations and who both feel like outsiders even if one of them is a cheerleader, but when they're together they make each other feel normal and less alone. It's not the most original take on a relationship in the world but Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart sell it with their terrific chemistry. Their reconciliation at the end of the episode is genuinely sweet and I'm much more interested in this relationship now than I was an episode ago.
-I don't understand why people let Secrets & Sins go on for as long as it did. It was obvious from the get-go that Cheryl and Chuck were up to something and things took a turn for the uncomfortable almost right away. Also Dilton abruptly deciding to participate and drop the bomb about Archie and Ms. Grundy felt really shoehorned in, like the writers remembered that was still a loose plot thread they should probably address which they then put in in the most awkward way possible. Veronica finally voicing what everyone was thinking about Cheryl's affection for her brother was a lot of fun though so at least the scene has that going for it.
-Also I felt the flashes to the depravity of the party and Jughead's ominous narration about the party made the whole situation seem more exciting than it actually was. Like it wasn't a good party and those secrets that came out are probably going to have consequences for the remainder of the season, but the set-up made it seem like Archie's house would burn down or something equally apocalyptic and what we got was just standard teen drama.
-I am liking the return of Chuck as an extra element of chaos for the show though. Jordan Calloway does a great job getting across the entitled sliminess of the character in every line reading. Teaming him up with Cheryl was also a lot of fun as Calloway and Madelaine Petsch seemed determined to top the other in terms of over-the-top campy insanity.
-Veronica challenging Cheryl to a dance-off for the head cheerleader position is another thing that felt shoehorned in so the writers could get Cheryl firmly back in the antagonist camp but the dance-off itself was a lot of fun, as was Cheryl admonishing those extras who always follow her around for being extras.
-Let's be honest, Archie is more fun when he's drunk. Sure he still has his typical Archie problems like being concerned about his parent's divorce being finalized (Which is a pretty solid problem for him to be concerned about actually) but at least when he's drunk he does things like invite a bunch of shady characters and randos into his home and drunk dial his dad to spice the scenes of him dealing with his problems up. I probably shouldn't be advocating for Archie to start drinking all the time, but I care way more about Drunk Archie than I do Sober Archie.
-Keeping Luke Perry offscreen for the majority of the Archie plot is a smart choice. As much as I would've liked to see more of Molly Ringwald, keeping what happened between Fred and Mary a mystery allows the show to keep the story focus solely on Archie and his attempts to forget about the situation, which is what was needed to make this story work.
-So Archie and Veronica kissed and spent the night together (I'm assuming nothing much further than that happened since they woke up in separate beds and Archie sleeping with Veronica for the first time would be too big of an event to just gloss over). It was an unexpected move that came out of nowhere with minimal set-up but I bought it. Archie and Veronica are both in weird head spaces and are both trying to distract themselves from their problems so it makes sense that they'd do something impulsive like this. It'll be interesting to see how they handle this development going forward and if it'll be a one-off thing (for now) or the beginning of an Archie/Veronica coupling.
-The show's slow burn in setting up the inevitable arrival of Hiram Lodge and all the drama that's going to bring is starting to reach a boiling point as we learn the Blossoms have been making payments to the Lodges for 75 years (Weird, that seems to be as long as the town of Riverdale has been around) giving motivation for the feud between their families and a reason for Hiram to be a suspect in this murder. Hiram also makes his presence known when Veronica is unsure about testifying to his character through a letter that's simultaneously loving and threatening, hinting that he'd throw Hermione in harm's way to save his own skin if he had to. It instantly makes Hiram one of the more compelling antagonists the show has and he hasn't even appeared in the flesh yet (Who should play him when that happens by the way? I'm picturing a Jimmy Smits type). The "good girl" necklace he sends Veronica when she ultimately decides to testify for her mother's sake is equally chilling.
-Also kudos for the show for having Archie and Betty tell Veronica about Clifford getting her dad arrested immediately instead of having them keep it from her for no real reason.
-I'm surprised that Alice's only objection to the big party going on right next to her house was the presence of F.P. Even a couple episodes ago, she would've shut that party down before Cheryl and Chuck were even through the door. I guess that's character development for you. Also Alice is apparently the only character who figured out that a Southside Serpent dating the son of the sheriff in the middle of a big murder investigation is probably not above board. Smart Alice.
-Hey, Molly Ringwald's here! I'm sure her arrival at the end would've been much more surprising if I hadn't been aware that she was playing Mary Andrews for weeks now but it's still an effective way to end the episode.
-This Week in Hot Archie: Shirtless Archie crashing on Jughead's bed so Veronica can sleep in his.
-This Week in Hot Betty: Seductive Happy Birthday has been done to death at this point, but Lili Reinhart really sells it here. Also she looks really good in that crown T-Shirt.
-Speaking of Archie sleeping in Jughead's bed, where did Jughead sleep? Was he just out all night? He seemed surprised to see Veronica so I don't think he checked Archie's room to find his bed was taken.
-I know this is a darker, more emotional take on Jughead but having it look like he's crying tears of blood (Well it was really only one tear) is a little too on the nose for me.
-I really want to know more about Alice's past growing up on the wrong side of the tracks and maybe being a Serpent. Here's hoping the arrival of Molly Ringwald also means we get some flashbacks to the parent's past next week.
-Murder Theory Corner: Veronica accuses Cheryl of murdering her brother out of a jealous rage so it's safe to take Cheryl off the suspect list again. Veronica also suggests that F.P. could've killed Jason on her father's behalf, so he's probably off the suspect list too. Meanwhile Smithers assures Veronica that Hermione is unequivocally good to convince her to protect her mother and testify on her father's behalf and Hermione as the killer is beginning to seem more and more like a possibility. Apparently we're going to find out who killed Jason before the end of the season so get ready for that reveal.
Saturday 8 April 2017
Riverdale Chapter Nine: La Grande Illusion
-One of the smartest decisions Riverdale ever made was making the principle industry of their town and the source of the Blossom's wealth and power maple syrup. If Riverdale was built on, say, oil or lumber, the Blossoms would still be interesting characters because of how ridiculous and over-the-top they are but they would feel slightly more generic, more run-of-the-mill evil rich people. Maple syrup though, is such an unlikely source of power that it gives the Blossoms a much needed specificity and adds some extra quirkiness to their sinister vibe. The idea that this dark and twisted family's claim to fame is a substance that's so sweet and overpowering just fits as does the increasingly growing possibility that all the murder and forbidden love and craziness on this show can be traced back to one man killing another over syrup.
-Archie lucks out this week and gets to be the star of the episode again. He even gets to learn some relevant plot information, lucky guy. It looks like the writers were challenging themselves to find a way to work Archie's desire to be a musician into a story that actually tied into the important plots of the show and their best solution was to put him in his own version of Indecent Proposal where instead of a million dollars, he gets help with his music. It's a story that's been told so many times that you probably guessed how it would play out right away, but it works because it allows us for another deep dive into the world of the Blossoms, which always works well for the show and it takes Cheryl's arc in a promising new direction.
-Cheryl Blossom was introduced to us as a simple chaos-driven antagonist, but the show and Madelaine Petsch quickly fleshed her out into more than that, created a fascinating, complex, tragic character trying to figure out how to cope with the loss of the only person who ever truly cared about her. La Grande Illusion doesn't show us anything really that we didn't already see in Heart of Darkness, but it does reinforce just how hard Cheryl really has it without Jason. Whether because of her gender, her tendency for drama, or her inability to be liked, no one on the Blossom Syrup board views her as stable or suitable enough to be heir for the Blossom Syrup company, not even her parents. She and her parents are all trying to turn Archie into Jason, but she's doing it because she genuinely likes Archie and her parents are doing it because they'd rather have him run the company than Cheryl. It's a hard truth for her to face but she tries to ignore it and push it away until Archie rejects her after they kiss. It's this rejection that puts her back on the path to being a chaos-driven antagonist as the season enters it's 3rd act, but the difference is now we can more fully identify with her and understand where her anger is coming from.
-La Grande Illusion is actually pretty smart in how it gets us so focused on Archie's moral dilemma about how far in bed to get with the Blossoms, we forget about the fact that Cheryl isn't part of her parents game until she blows up on him for using her to get what he wants. Archie's dilemma was never a dilemma. There's a difference between making a connection and having someone let you in before you earned your place (If the uptight New York guy doesn't like your music, the elite Music School People probably won't either, Archie!). He was always doing the wrong thing, even when he tried to get altruistic about it and help his dad out and Riverdale isn't afraid to call him on it. It's a good move that makes Archie more flawed and therefore, more interesting.
-Valerie breaking up with Archie for always ignoring her and never spending enough time with her felt like the writers coping to the fact that they didn't actually have space in the season to explore Archie dating Val outside of the episode where they got together. Which is a shame because Hayley Law is a delight in the role and hopefully we'll get to see more of her outside of the Josie scenes (Speaking of which, where has Josie disappeared to?). I am glad they didn't try to use that Archie/Cheryl kiss to motivate the Archie/Val break-up. Val had enough reason to break up with him when he downplayed her genuine concerns about him going to the dinner. She didn't need another reason.
-Archie accidentally stumbling on Penelope and Clifford talking about how Clifford should've sent Hermione to jail instead of Hiram was one of the most delightfully soap opera-ish moments on this show to date and I loved it so much.
-So Polly's dramatic decision to join the Blossom household last week turns out to be part of her plan to go undercover and figure out what really happened to Jason. It's a reveal that undercuts the tragedy of last week's ending somewhat but also makes a lot of sense with what we know of Polly. My question? If Polly didn't want Betty to worry about her, wouldn't it make more sense to just tell her her plan before she went to Thornhill? Yes, Betty might have tried to talk her out of it but she probably would come around to the idea quicker than she'd accept that her sister had abruptly abandoned her. It just feels like a silly way to create more drama for the show.
-Shannon Purser returns this week as Ethel Muggs and there's no wink-y Stranger Things joke this time, but we do get more of a character exploration for her. Ethel reads a pretty personal, dark poem in school and Veronica becomes concerned about her, deciding to befriend her to make amends for her bullying ways back when she lived in New York. It's a story that seems ripped out of a Very Special Archie at first, but it takes an intriguing turn when we find out that Ethel's family is having financial troubles because her dad invested with Hiram. Veronica has always had a loyalty to her father that's felt kind of naive, so it's interesting to watch the show dive into it and pull it apart until it finally breaks as she realizes that her dad has hurt people. Camila Mendes turns in a terrific performance as Veronica struggles to find some way to make amends for what Hiram has done only to realize she can't. Purser for her part mostly has to look sad and grieve, but she's able to put a lot of nuance and humanity into it, and the final passages of the plot where she's able to overlook Veronica's name and remain friends with her is both powerful and unexpectedly sweet for Riverdale.
-Apparently Hermione had forgotten that Fred could actually lose a lot being in business with the Lodges as once Veronica points out he could ends up with Ethel's dad, she finally decides to tell him that she's the mystery buyer he's working for (She tells him about Hiram hiring the thugs too for good measure). Fred reacts as one would when they find out their girlfriend has involved them in a criminal enterprise without telling them. The end sets up an interesting status quo going forward though as Fred breaks up with Hermione, but agrees to stay on the project for a 20% stake in it. After weeks of basically reacting to things, it's nice to see Fred finally take charge on something.
-So here's where the Ethel/Veronica plot confused me. Was Ethel unaware that Veronica was Veronica Lodge or was she just unaware of the specifics of what her father did? I was under the impression that everyone was aware of who Veronica was so I was confused why Ethel was so surprised at Veronica's confession.
-Betty, Alice, and Jughead are mostly on the side of the action this week, getting information about Polly and the Blossoms from Archie so Alice can write an expose and Betty can find out if her sister is OK. Alice gets a really effective arc though as her initial reversion to her old behaviour and her indifference towards Polly is quickly revealed to be a front for the amount of pain she feels from her daughter's rejection. Alice also began this season as a simple antagonist, but she finally comes over to the protagonist side tonight (for now at least) as mother, daughter, and daughter's aloof boyfriend start working in tandem to take down the Blossoms. It's a big leap from where she was even a few episodes ago but it feels earned and natural because the show has been quietly building towards it for weeks.
-I don't understand why Hal doesn't want to print the expose about the Blossoms. Yes, he's mad at his wife and has somehow fired her from the newspaper, even though she always seemed like she was the one running the show there. But why is he pretending he doesn't care about the Blossom family at all and this whole thing has been Alice's obsession? Did he forget about how just last week he was screaming about refusing to raise a child with Blossom blood? Or the family blood feud? Running this piece helps his agenda and it seems like a false note that he's not interested. I can forgive it though because the scene where Alice dramatically tosses a rock through the Register's window was easily the best part of the episode.
-So Alice is going to work for the high school newspaper now? Wasn't the reason Betty started the newspaper up again in the first place to get away from her mother's sensationalism? I know Betty has become more sympathetic to her mother's cause but does she really think that's going to change? Also how is the school OK with letting a non-faculty adult just work on a school newspaper? And does that newspaper even get put out? I was just under the impression that they used the office to stash their murder board. And don't even get me started on what Jughead implied about the paper having a large overhead budget (I'm really hoping that was supposed to be a joke).
-This Week in Dapper Archie: Nice suit Archiekins. It'd look even better with some dignity.
-If Archie was smart, he'd hang onto that guitar the Blossoms gave him but he's probably going to give it back out of some misplaced sense of nobility.
-The dark poem and fears of suicide in this episode reminded me of Netflix's new drama 13 Reasons why, which I watched this week. It's terrific and it features Riverdale's own Ross Butler (Reggie) in a supporting role that gives him a chance to actually show off his acting chops a bit. Hopefully the Riverdale writers also watched this, took note, and are beefing up Reggie's part for next season.
-Murder Theory Corner: It's getting pretty late in the season for someone not connected to the Coopers/Blossoms feud to be involved in killing Jason (Unless they're planning on dragging this out for season 2, which I really hope is not the case). Hiram probably didn't kill Jason, but could Hermione have? It's possible. Alice continues to look like a better and better suspect as well the less suspicious she becomes. It's even possible that Cheryl could've done it without realizing it. After all we know everyone thinks she's unstable. Maybe the one person she trusted to protect her let her down and she went to far? It's hard to say for sure at this point who the killer is, which makes for good TV.
-Next Week: Molly Ringwald!
-Archie lucks out this week and gets to be the star of the episode again. He even gets to learn some relevant plot information, lucky guy. It looks like the writers were challenging themselves to find a way to work Archie's desire to be a musician into a story that actually tied into the important plots of the show and their best solution was to put him in his own version of Indecent Proposal where instead of a million dollars, he gets help with his music. It's a story that's been told so many times that you probably guessed how it would play out right away, but it works because it allows us for another deep dive into the world of the Blossoms, which always works well for the show and it takes Cheryl's arc in a promising new direction.
-Cheryl Blossom was introduced to us as a simple chaos-driven antagonist, but the show and Madelaine Petsch quickly fleshed her out into more than that, created a fascinating, complex, tragic character trying to figure out how to cope with the loss of the only person who ever truly cared about her. La Grande Illusion doesn't show us anything really that we didn't already see in Heart of Darkness, but it does reinforce just how hard Cheryl really has it without Jason. Whether because of her gender, her tendency for drama, or her inability to be liked, no one on the Blossom Syrup board views her as stable or suitable enough to be heir for the Blossom Syrup company, not even her parents. She and her parents are all trying to turn Archie into Jason, but she's doing it because she genuinely likes Archie and her parents are doing it because they'd rather have him run the company than Cheryl. It's a hard truth for her to face but she tries to ignore it and push it away until Archie rejects her after they kiss. It's this rejection that puts her back on the path to being a chaos-driven antagonist as the season enters it's 3rd act, but the difference is now we can more fully identify with her and understand where her anger is coming from.
-La Grande Illusion is actually pretty smart in how it gets us so focused on Archie's moral dilemma about how far in bed to get with the Blossoms, we forget about the fact that Cheryl isn't part of her parents game until she blows up on him for using her to get what he wants. Archie's dilemma was never a dilemma. There's a difference between making a connection and having someone let you in before you earned your place (If the uptight New York guy doesn't like your music, the elite Music School People probably won't either, Archie!). He was always doing the wrong thing, even when he tried to get altruistic about it and help his dad out and Riverdale isn't afraid to call him on it. It's a good move that makes Archie more flawed and therefore, more interesting.
-Valerie breaking up with Archie for always ignoring her and never spending enough time with her felt like the writers coping to the fact that they didn't actually have space in the season to explore Archie dating Val outside of the episode where they got together. Which is a shame because Hayley Law is a delight in the role and hopefully we'll get to see more of her outside of the Josie scenes (Speaking of which, where has Josie disappeared to?). I am glad they didn't try to use that Archie/Cheryl kiss to motivate the Archie/Val break-up. Val had enough reason to break up with him when he downplayed her genuine concerns about him going to the dinner. She didn't need another reason.
-Archie accidentally stumbling on Penelope and Clifford talking about how Clifford should've sent Hermione to jail instead of Hiram was one of the most delightfully soap opera-ish moments on this show to date and I loved it so much.
-So Polly's dramatic decision to join the Blossom household last week turns out to be part of her plan to go undercover and figure out what really happened to Jason. It's a reveal that undercuts the tragedy of last week's ending somewhat but also makes a lot of sense with what we know of Polly. My question? If Polly didn't want Betty to worry about her, wouldn't it make more sense to just tell her her plan before she went to Thornhill? Yes, Betty might have tried to talk her out of it but she probably would come around to the idea quicker than she'd accept that her sister had abruptly abandoned her. It just feels like a silly way to create more drama for the show.
-Shannon Purser returns this week as Ethel Muggs and there's no wink-y Stranger Things joke this time, but we do get more of a character exploration for her. Ethel reads a pretty personal, dark poem in school and Veronica becomes concerned about her, deciding to befriend her to make amends for her bullying ways back when she lived in New York. It's a story that seems ripped out of a Very Special Archie at first, but it takes an intriguing turn when we find out that Ethel's family is having financial troubles because her dad invested with Hiram. Veronica has always had a loyalty to her father that's felt kind of naive, so it's interesting to watch the show dive into it and pull it apart until it finally breaks as she realizes that her dad has hurt people. Camila Mendes turns in a terrific performance as Veronica struggles to find some way to make amends for what Hiram has done only to realize she can't. Purser for her part mostly has to look sad and grieve, but she's able to put a lot of nuance and humanity into it, and the final passages of the plot where she's able to overlook Veronica's name and remain friends with her is both powerful and unexpectedly sweet for Riverdale.
-Apparently Hermione had forgotten that Fred could actually lose a lot being in business with the Lodges as once Veronica points out he could ends up with Ethel's dad, she finally decides to tell him that she's the mystery buyer he's working for (She tells him about Hiram hiring the thugs too for good measure). Fred reacts as one would when they find out their girlfriend has involved them in a criminal enterprise without telling them. The end sets up an interesting status quo going forward though as Fred breaks up with Hermione, but agrees to stay on the project for a 20% stake in it. After weeks of basically reacting to things, it's nice to see Fred finally take charge on something.
-So here's where the Ethel/Veronica plot confused me. Was Ethel unaware that Veronica was Veronica Lodge or was she just unaware of the specifics of what her father did? I was under the impression that everyone was aware of who Veronica was so I was confused why Ethel was so surprised at Veronica's confession.
-Betty, Alice, and Jughead are mostly on the side of the action this week, getting information about Polly and the Blossoms from Archie so Alice can write an expose and Betty can find out if her sister is OK. Alice gets a really effective arc though as her initial reversion to her old behaviour and her indifference towards Polly is quickly revealed to be a front for the amount of pain she feels from her daughter's rejection. Alice also began this season as a simple antagonist, but she finally comes over to the protagonist side tonight (for now at least) as mother, daughter, and daughter's aloof boyfriend start working in tandem to take down the Blossoms. It's a big leap from where she was even a few episodes ago but it feels earned and natural because the show has been quietly building towards it for weeks.
-I don't understand why Hal doesn't want to print the expose about the Blossoms. Yes, he's mad at his wife and has somehow fired her from the newspaper, even though she always seemed like she was the one running the show there. But why is he pretending he doesn't care about the Blossom family at all and this whole thing has been Alice's obsession? Did he forget about how just last week he was screaming about refusing to raise a child with Blossom blood? Or the family blood feud? Running this piece helps his agenda and it seems like a false note that he's not interested. I can forgive it though because the scene where Alice dramatically tosses a rock through the Register's window was easily the best part of the episode.
-So Alice is going to work for the high school newspaper now? Wasn't the reason Betty started the newspaper up again in the first place to get away from her mother's sensationalism? I know Betty has become more sympathetic to her mother's cause but does she really think that's going to change? Also how is the school OK with letting a non-faculty adult just work on a school newspaper? And does that newspaper even get put out? I was just under the impression that they used the office to stash their murder board. And don't even get me started on what Jughead implied about the paper having a large overhead budget (I'm really hoping that was supposed to be a joke).
-This Week in Dapper Archie: Nice suit Archiekins. It'd look even better with some dignity.
-If Archie was smart, he'd hang onto that guitar the Blossoms gave him but he's probably going to give it back out of some misplaced sense of nobility.
-The dark poem and fears of suicide in this episode reminded me of Netflix's new drama 13 Reasons why, which I watched this week. It's terrific and it features Riverdale's own Ross Butler (Reggie) in a supporting role that gives him a chance to actually show off his acting chops a bit. Hopefully the Riverdale writers also watched this, took note, and are beefing up Reggie's part for next season.
-Murder Theory Corner: It's getting pretty late in the season for someone not connected to the Coopers/Blossoms feud to be involved in killing Jason (Unless they're planning on dragging this out for season 2, which I really hope is not the case). Hiram probably didn't kill Jason, but could Hermione have? It's possible. Alice continues to look like a better and better suspect as well the less suspicious she becomes. It's even possible that Cheryl could've done it without realizing it. After all we know everyone thinks she's unstable. Maybe the one person she trusted to protect her let her down and she went to far? It's hard to say for sure at this point who the killer is, which makes for good TV.
-Next Week: Molly Ringwald!
Saturday 1 April 2017
Riverdale: Chapter Eight: The Outsiders
-OK, let's start this week with the big burning question on everyone's mind: why did Riverdale tiptoe around using the word abortion when discussing the appointment Hal offered to make for Polly (And the one he made for Alice way back when)? OK, maybe this isn't the big question on everyone's mind but I'm curious about it so we're starting with it. It couldn't have been a standards and practice thing. TV has gotten much more open about discussing abortion in recent years and two other CW shows did abortion stories earlier this year where they were very frank and open about it. It might've been an Archie Comics thing but if the company has no problem with the this dark, sexier take on Archie I can't imagine they'd object to the word abortion. So is it a story thing? Is it representative of the repression that the Coopers have all internalized? Are Alice and Hal are so obsessed with projecting a certain image that they can't even bring themselves to utter the word in privatw for fear of scandal? Probably. If this is what the writers are going for though, it's too bad the result is a couple key scenes of the episode feeling like they're from the 80s or 90s.
-Alright, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, let's get to the actual meat of the episode. Riverdale did something weird this week: they made Archie the focus of the big, flashy A-story and relegated the clash between the Coopers and the Blossoms to the B-story sidelines. Now technically In A Lonely Place did the same thing, but Jughead was definitely the lead character of that episode, while Archie was relegated to the sidelines. To contrast, The Outsiders puts Archie front and centre as he learns about his father's business woes and takes matters into his own hands in an effort to fix them. Why is this weird? Mostly because Archie is almost never the focal point of a Riverdale episode. He gets storylines and stuff but they're almost never supposed to be the most compelling part of the episode. Even the episode ostensibly about Archie's romance with Grundy was more of a Betty episode. This has been to the show's benefit because Archie is clearly the weakest character and his biggest character traits (Music! Good friend apparently!) doesn't translate to compelling A-stories. The Outsiders takes a gamble though by leaning on Archie's 3rd and 4th biggest character traits (Loves his dad! Does Not Think Things Through!) and it works pretty well. Archie's still not as compelling as the other characters and The Outsiders isn't as good as the past couple episodes but it's a solid outing.
-The main thrust of the episode revolves around Andrews Construction, which is undergoing problems thanks to Cliff Blossom stealing away the construction crew and random thugs trashing the equipment when Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Moose, and some rando jock come in as a replacement crew. Now the parts of this story that revolve around the land itself, whether from Cliff Blossom trying to stall out construction to get the land or Hermione trying to not tell Fred that Hiram owns the land are pretty dull because land contracts are pretty dull and it's never been clear why so many TV shows seems to think otherwise. The interesting stuff comes from Fred trying to hold the company he built together and Archie realizing for the first time how hard his dad has been working to keep them afloat. That's compelling stuff. The Andrews boys aren't the most interesting characters on the show by far but their bond and their relationship has developed this season in an interesting way as Archie begins to see his dad as more human and tries to start giving back to his dad a little. The care put into developing that relationship carries much of this portion of the episode and provides useful context to Archie's impulsive decision making.
-Of course, as much as Archie wants to help his dad, he's still a kid so a lot of his solutions involve getting into danger, trying to take justice into his own hands and yelling at Jughead for not mentioning that his dad was a Serpent without trying to consider Jughead's possible reasons for omitting this. Maybe the reason Archie is the most frustrating character on this show is because Archie is the one who acts the most like a normal, if a bit hotheaded teenager would in this situation, and a normal teenager would not be useful. It's all well-acted by K.J. Apa though who brings a lot to a thankless role and the reconciliation between Archie and Jughead at the end does a good job at folding in the theme of children protecting their parents. Seriously though Arch, learn to control that temper of yours before you get into real trouble.
-Can you really blame Jughead for not wanting to tell people that his dad was a Serpent? Of course not, unless you're Archie. Cole Sprouse does a really good job capturing how conflicted Jughead is in this episode, as he struggles between helping Archie out and not wanting to believe that his dad could've sunk so low. Of course, even without his dad being a member, Jughead is right about not jumping to conclusions about who the thugs were. He does seem a little too surprised when he's informed the Serpents are drug dealers though. Like what did he think the Serpents did? Just hung around and caused random trouble like they were a street gang from out of The Warriors? C'mon Jughead. Use your brain.
-Really the best part of the main story is the continued presence of Skeet Ulrich, oozing charisma as he gets to play the more confident, dangerous side of F.P. this week. After the drunken mess we saw last week, it's a bit weird to see how in control of himself F.P. is, but Ulrich keeps things consistent, letting us see the more vulnerable side of F.P. in moments like his confrontation with Fred or his interrogation from Jughead.
-Ultimately the saboteurs turn out to have been hired by Hiram, presumably because he knows about Hermione and Fred. This is an interesting development but I'm more curious about the fact that the thugs are identified as being from Montreal. First, is having Montreal connections supposed to be threatening? Every time they said Montreal, it just sounded goofier and goofier. Also, how does Hiram know people in Montreal? Are they implying that's where he's imprisoned? Or does he just have criminal connections up there? Is this all coming back to maple syrup?
-I know Fred is desperate for a crew but hiring a bunch of people you know are criminals because your old high school buddy charms you into it does not seem like the best idea.
-I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the Southside Serpent's bar, which gave off a really cool Mos Eisley vibe.
-Kevin's Southside Serpent boyfriend Joaquin returns to remind us he exists before the reveal that he's been romancing Kevin on F.P.'s orders to get a line on the sheriff's department. This is a decent twist but it really needed one or two more appearances from Joaquin prior to the reveal for it to land. Like we've only known the guy two episodes so it's not as big a betrayal for the audience as it could've been. Also Joaquin is totally going to fall for Kevin for real right before his deception is discovered and Kevin dumps him.
-Is F.P. the leader of the Serpents? From the way he commands the bar, he's clearly high up in the chain of command, but no one seems to notice this or care.
-Meanwhile the Polly Cooper story heats up as Betty and Veronica throw Polly a baby shower in an effort to ease tensions with Alice and to a lesser extent, the Blossoms in hopes of figuring something out for Polly and the baby (Or babies if Grandma Blossom is to be believed). Now throwing Alice, Polly, Penelope, and Cheryl into a room together seems like a recipe for disaster and the show even suggests it will be by having Hermione remind us that the Blossoms and Coopers are the Hatfields and McCoys of Riverdale. Rather then things turning crazy immediately though, writer Julia Cohen uses our expectations to build tension, even when nothing that tense is happening. When the conflict does burst out over Penelope trying to get Polly back to Thornhill, it's quick and messy, a cathartic release of tension that feels well-earned and that pushes the story in an interesting direction.
-Mädchen Amick has been killing it from episode one on Riverdale, playing a ridiculously broad cartoon villain, but one who had hints of depth and humanity to her. The Outsiders though brings her to new heights as we see Alice finally seem like a real, vulnerable human being finally starting to figure out the terribleness of her actions. It comes up slowly at first as we see her slowly warm up to the baby shower she had no interest in attending at the episode's beginning. Alice clearly doesn't like that this is happening but she does love her daughter and she does want her to come home so she decides to take the step of welcoming Polly home. It's more humanity than we've seen from Alice so far. Then Alice learns Hal tried to schedule an appointment for Polly to take care of her problem and we see something else. From the way Alice reacted when she heard what Hal did, I figured that this story was building to Alice throwing him out but I was blown away by the depths of pain and rage that Amick shows in her confrontation with Hal (Who is becoming more and more monstrous by the week as the depths of his Blossom hatred keep getting exposed). The way she shouts at him to get out, as we see her building up the strength to bring herself to say the words is extraordinary, only matched by the defeated and exhausted way she admits that she doesn't care about what people think anymore. It's a stunning display of the depths of her love for her daughter and it makes what comes next all the more heartbreaking.
-I'll admit it. I did not see Polly choosing to go to Thornhill rather than return home even after learning what Alice did coming. The episode lures you into a false sense of security with that scene between Betty and Polly before punching you in the gut with the very next scene. It's a shocking move but one that makes total sense. The Blossoms are sketchy but they're offering financial and emotional stability that Alice just can't offer. In addition, Alice did arrange for Polly to be sent to an asylum and that's not something that can be easily papered over. Still it's a surprising turn of events and the shot of Betty holding a crying Alice before showing Polly walk through those doors is an effectively devastating note to end the episode on.
-It's a small moment, but the look Penelope and Cliff give each other as Polly enters into Thornhill gave me chills. Polly, get out of there while you still can.
-I really like the cinematography on the big Betty/Jughead kiss. The way the camera uses the streetlights to give the impression of their romance being a bright spot in the darkness of their lives? Well done.
-This Week in Hot Archie Gang: Are you a fan of watching attractive men do manual labour? How about Cole Sprouse in a tank top? If so, then the beginning portions of the episode were definitely for you.
-This Week in Dumb Archie: Wearing your high school letterman jacket into a seedy bar? Way to be inconspicuous, Archie.
-Nana Rose Blossom has dementia and gypsy blood. So she's definitely giving Cheryl a run for her money as the best character on this show.
-So that giant building Fred is constructing is definitely going to be the Lodge Mansion, right? That feels like the only thing interesting enough to justify dedicating all this time to a story about construction contracts.
-Murder Theory Corner: Well the Southside Serpents are definitely trying to get away with something. Is it murder? Hard to say. I'm almost certain they burned down that car because of drugs though. Meanwhile Alice gives Hal a "You know what I'm capable of", which could be a red herring but given that we're eight episodes in and Jason and Polly's romance is still the only plausible reason for his murder, who knows? Alice is less obvious as a choice for killer now. Maybe she is the killer after all. Cliff Blossom is also starting to feel like a possibility, considering he's filling the role on the show that Hiram filled in the comics meaning that when Hiram comes to Riverdale inevitably, Cliff will be expendable.
-Alright, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, let's get to the actual meat of the episode. Riverdale did something weird this week: they made Archie the focus of the big, flashy A-story and relegated the clash between the Coopers and the Blossoms to the B-story sidelines. Now technically In A Lonely Place did the same thing, but Jughead was definitely the lead character of that episode, while Archie was relegated to the sidelines. To contrast, The Outsiders puts Archie front and centre as he learns about his father's business woes and takes matters into his own hands in an effort to fix them. Why is this weird? Mostly because Archie is almost never the focal point of a Riverdale episode. He gets storylines and stuff but they're almost never supposed to be the most compelling part of the episode. Even the episode ostensibly about Archie's romance with Grundy was more of a Betty episode. This has been to the show's benefit because Archie is clearly the weakest character and his biggest character traits (Music! Good friend apparently!) doesn't translate to compelling A-stories. The Outsiders takes a gamble though by leaning on Archie's 3rd and 4th biggest character traits (Loves his dad! Does Not Think Things Through!) and it works pretty well. Archie's still not as compelling as the other characters and The Outsiders isn't as good as the past couple episodes but it's a solid outing.
-The main thrust of the episode revolves around Andrews Construction, which is undergoing problems thanks to Cliff Blossom stealing away the construction crew and random thugs trashing the equipment when Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Moose, and some rando jock come in as a replacement crew. Now the parts of this story that revolve around the land itself, whether from Cliff Blossom trying to stall out construction to get the land or Hermione trying to not tell Fred that Hiram owns the land are pretty dull because land contracts are pretty dull and it's never been clear why so many TV shows seems to think otherwise. The interesting stuff comes from Fred trying to hold the company he built together and Archie realizing for the first time how hard his dad has been working to keep them afloat. That's compelling stuff. The Andrews boys aren't the most interesting characters on the show by far but their bond and their relationship has developed this season in an interesting way as Archie begins to see his dad as more human and tries to start giving back to his dad a little. The care put into developing that relationship carries much of this portion of the episode and provides useful context to Archie's impulsive decision making.
-Of course, as much as Archie wants to help his dad, he's still a kid so a lot of his solutions involve getting into danger, trying to take justice into his own hands and yelling at Jughead for not mentioning that his dad was a Serpent without trying to consider Jughead's possible reasons for omitting this. Maybe the reason Archie is the most frustrating character on this show is because Archie is the one who acts the most like a normal, if a bit hotheaded teenager would in this situation, and a normal teenager would not be useful. It's all well-acted by K.J. Apa though who brings a lot to a thankless role and the reconciliation between Archie and Jughead at the end does a good job at folding in the theme of children protecting their parents. Seriously though Arch, learn to control that temper of yours before you get into real trouble.
-Can you really blame Jughead for not wanting to tell people that his dad was a Serpent? Of course not, unless you're Archie. Cole Sprouse does a really good job capturing how conflicted Jughead is in this episode, as he struggles between helping Archie out and not wanting to believe that his dad could've sunk so low. Of course, even without his dad being a member, Jughead is right about not jumping to conclusions about who the thugs were. He does seem a little too surprised when he's informed the Serpents are drug dealers though. Like what did he think the Serpents did? Just hung around and caused random trouble like they were a street gang from out of The Warriors? C'mon Jughead. Use your brain.
-Really the best part of the main story is the continued presence of Skeet Ulrich, oozing charisma as he gets to play the more confident, dangerous side of F.P. this week. After the drunken mess we saw last week, it's a bit weird to see how in control of himself F.P. is, but Ulrich keeps things consistent, letting us see the more vulnerable side of F.P. in moments like his confrontation with Fred or his interrogation from Jughead.
-Ultimately the saboteurs turn out to have been hired by Hiram, presumably because he knows about Hermione and Fred. This is an interesting development but I'm more curious about the fact that the thugs are identified as being from Montreal. First, is having Montreal connections supposed to be threatening? Every time they said Montreal, it just sounded goofier and goofier. Also, how does Hiram know people in Montreal? Are they implying that's where he's imprisoned? Or does he just have criminal connections up there? Is this all coming back to maple syrup?
-I know Fred is desperate for a crew but hiring a bunch of people you know are criminals because your old high school buddy charms you into it does not seem like the best idea.
-I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to spend more time in the Southside Serpent's bar, which gave off a really cool Mos Eisley vibe.
-Kevin's Southside Serpent boyfriend Joaquin returns to remind us he exists before the reveal that he's been romancing Kevin on F.P.'s orders to get a line on the sheriff's department. This is a decent twist but it really needed one or two more appearances from Joaquin prior to the reveal for it to land. Like we've only known the guy two episodes so it's not as big a betrayal for the audience as it could've been. Also Joaquin is totally going to fall for Kevin for real right before his deception is discovered and Kevin dumps him.
-Is F.P. the leader of the Serpents? From the way he commands the bar, he's clearly high up in the chain of command, but no one seems to notice this or care.
-Meanwhile the Polly Cooper story heats up as Betty and Veronica throw Polly a baby shower in an effort to ease tensions with Alice and to a lesser extent, the Blossoms in hopes of figuring something out for Polly and the baby (Or babies if Grandma Blossom is to be believed). Now throwing Alice, Polly, Penelope, and Cheryl into a room together seems like a recipe for disaster and the show even suggests it will be by having Hermione remind us that the Blossoms and Coopers are the Hatfields and McCoys of Riverdale. Rather then things turning crazy immediately though, writer Julia Cohen uses our expectations to build tension, even when nothing that tense is happening. When the conflict does burst out over Penelope trying to get Polly back to Thornhill, it's quick and messy, a cathartic release of tension that feels well-earned and that pushes the story in an interesting direction.
-Mädchen Amick has been killing it from episode one on Riverdale, playing a ridiculously broad cartoon villain, but one who had hints of depth and humanity to her. The Outsiders though brings her to new heights as we see Alice finally seem like a real, vulnerable human being finally starting to figure out the terribleness of her actions. It comes up slowly at first as we see her slowly warm up to the baby shower she had no interest in attending at the episode's beginning. Alice clearly doesn't like that this is happening but she does love her daughter and she does want her to come home so she decides to take the step of welcoming Polly home. It's more humanity than we've seen from Alice so far. Then Alice learns Hal tried to schedule an appointment for Polly to take care of her problem and we see something else. From the way Alice reacted when she heard what Hal did, I figured that this story was building to Alice throwing him out but I was blown away by the depths of pain and rage that Amick shows in her confrontation with Hal (Who is becoming more and more monstrous by the week as the depths of his Blossom hatred keep getting exposed). The way she shouts at him to get out, as we see her building up the strength to bring herself to say the words is extraordinary, only matched by the defeated and exhausted way she admits that she doesn't care about what people think anymore. It's a stunning display of the depths of her love for her daughter and it makes what comes next all the more heartbreaking.
-I'll admit it. I did not see Polly choosing to go to Thornhill rather than return home even after learning what Alice did coming. The episode lures you into a false sense of security with that scene between Betty and Polly before punching you in the gut with the very next scene. It's a shocking move but one that makes total sense. The Blossoms are sketchy but they're offering financial and emotional stability that Alice just can't offer. In addition, Alice did arrange for Polly to be sent to an asylum and that's not something that can be easily papered over. Still it's a surprising turn of events and the shot of Betty holding a crying Alice before showing Polly walk through those doors is an effectively devastating note to end the episode on.
-It's a small moment, but the look Penelope and Cliff give each other as Polly enters into Thornhill gave me chills. Polly, get out of there while you still can.
-I really like the cinematography on the big Betty/Jughead kiss. The way the camera uses the streetlights to give the impression of their romance being a bright spot in the darkness of their lives? Well done.
-This Week in Hot Archie Gang: Are you a fan of watching attractive men do manual labour? How about Cole Sprouse in a tank top? If so, then the beginning portions of the episode were definitely for you.
-This Week in Dumb Archie: Wearing your high school letterman jacket into a seedy bar? Way to be inconspicuous, Archie.
-Nana Rose Blossom has dementia and gypsy blood. So she's definitely giving Cheryl a run for her money as the best character on this show.
-So that giant building Fred is constructing is definitely going to be the Lodge Mansion, right? That feels like the only thing interesting enough to justify dedicating all this time to a story about construction contracts.
-Murder Theory Corner: Well the Southside Serpents are definitely trying to get away with something. Is it murder? Hard to say. I'm almost certain they burned down that car because of drugs though. Meanwhile Alice gives Hal a "You know what I'm capable of", which could be a red herring but given that we're eight episodes in and Jason and Polly's romance is still the only plausible reason for his murder, who knows? Alice is less obvious as a choice for killer now. Maybe she is the killer after all. Cliff Blossom is also starting to feel like a possibility, considering he's filling the role on the show that Hiram filled in the comics meaning that when Hiram comes to Riverdale inevitably, Cliff will be expendable.
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