-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.
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