‘Riverdale’ 4×09 recap: Things get dark for Betty and company
On Wednesday’s Riverdale midseason finale, things took a dark turn for Betty and Archie, while Veronica took another step in getting a leg up on Hiram. However, it is the last scene that will keep everyone talking until the show returns in January.
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of what went down in Wednesday’s midseason finale.
Did Betty kill Jughead?
Okay, so we’ve got to start off with that ending! I still find it hard to believe that the show writers are going to kill off Jughead. We see Archie standing over his lifeless body in the final scene saying “he’s dead” before the camera pans over to Betty, who has a rock in her bloody hand. A sane Betty Cooper wouldn’t ever kill her boyfriend, right? Exactly, but “Dark Betty” would.
Wednesday’s hour saw Polly nearly claw off the face of a nurse named Betty, even though she insists that she can’t remember anything. Later on, Alice tries to attack Betty with a knife until Betty realizes she’s acting like she’s hypnotized and snaps her out of it. Both of these “attacks” had a phone call in common, so Betty turns to Charles to help her trace them.
Charles helps Betty trace the calls to the prison where Evelyn is. She tells Betty that Edgar came up with the idea to use a code word to get Betty’s loved ones to kill dark/evil/crazy/other Betty. What’s the trigger word, you ask? “Tangerine” said three times in a row. Yeah, thanks to Riverdale, I can’t eat another tangerine after that.
So do I think Jughead is dead and Betty killed him after hearing the trigger word? No, I don’t. There’s no way this show kills off one of its most popular characters like this. With that said, I love the dark turn this show will take once it returns in the new year.
Archie realizes his ways
One character who realized that his ways of helping Riverdale was flawed is Archie Andrews. His turf war with Dodger came to a scary and surprising end when he nearly beat Dodger to death in front of the community center kids and Dodger’s own mother.
While speaking to his mom, Archie says he feels like a monster but she tells him he’s simply still dealing with losing his dad. Archie seems lost and has nowhere to really turn to. But as the episode ends, a man enters the community center. Who is he? Frank, his dad’s brother. Maybe that will set him straight and put him on the right path.
Veronica vs. Hiram (yes, again)
Veronica is still at war with her father. Hiram takes Le Bonne Nuit’s liquor license and when Veronica tries to get the top-secret rum family recipe, Hiram threatens to sue her. He then invites a Columbia representative to Le Bonne Nuit, attempting to sabotage Ronnie’s chances of getting in.
This song and dance between Veronica and Hiram is SO Season 1. They’re going to do this back and forth thing every season and it’s just so boring now. I truly love both of these characters, but I wish they’d give Veronica a different storyline.
What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!
Riverdale returns January 15 on The CW.