Throughout the first four episodes of Season 2, Riverdale has leaned heavily on its thriller elements, as the mysterious identity of the Black Hood and the horrible crimes he continues to commit have been the driving force behind much of this season’s action. However, somehow, some way, by relying more heavily on those genre tropes, Riverdale has also pulled off the impressive feat of becoming a richer, more well-developed, and more fun teen drama. The relationships between the central characters on the show have become deeper and more believable, particularly the romance between Veronica and Archie, and because of this, the stakes on the show are higher. Sure, there’s a serial killer loose in the town, causing mayhem and terror every night and day, but none of that matters unless we are invested in the characters he’s threatening. This season, much more than Riverdale Season 1, has provided the series’ main players with layers; there’s more levels to each of the core four characters than ever before, and that’s had the biggest impact when it comes to the show’s protagonist, Archie Andrews.
Throughout the first season of Riverdale, Archie wasn’t an unlikable character, but he was a bland, boring hero that could sometimes drag down the rest of the exciting events around him simply because he was the anchor of the show. For much of Season 1, Archie was passive or, at worst, oblivious to the conflicts happening in Riverdale, but in Season 2, he’s not only responding to the problems he faces with decisive action but he’s actually creating some major conflicts on his own. Archie no longer feels like he’s the focus of the series because he has to be; instead, he’s the focus because his story is actually worth telling this time around.
This week’s episode, “Chapter Seventeen: The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” deals with the fallout over Archie’s creation of the Red Circle and the video he and its other members made in last week’s episode. The size of the group and Archie’s warning to the Black Hood at the end of the video sends a violent message that obviously concerns Principal Weatherbee; in fact, the video disturbs Weatherbee so much that he disbands the school’s football team and threatens to suspend Archie unless he formally apologizes for creating the Red Circle and dissolves the group all together.
Of course, Archie does the complete opposite of what Weatherbee requests. He not only fails to apologize but actually goes on the offensive, purchasing a Kevlar vest and ammo from a shady character that Doiley knows and heading to the Southside to tag a Serpents’ building with a Red Circle as a message to the Black Hood. Archie’s actions ultimately lead to his suspension from school, after Weatherbee and Sheriff Keller find Reggie’s black hood in his locker, and to his fellow Red Circle members leaving the group and then rejoining it before the episode’s ending brawl between the football players and the high school-student Serpents.
However, even more important than that rain-soaked fight, which leaves Doiley with a stab wound in his leg (even though both parties agreed to not use weapons), is how Archie’s choices in “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” affect him and Veronica. As I mentioned above, the two of them have become more compelling as a couple throughout these first four episodes of Season 2, and this week’s hour is easily their most captivating one yet, as Veronica wavers back and forth between concern and support for Archie’s crusade against the Black Hood.
Ultimately, it leads to the two of them clashing in one of the episode’s very best scenes, as Ronnie gets Archie to finally admit what his true goal is after she’s forced to retrieve his gun for him. During their conversation, Archie tells Veronica that he wants to be the one who pulls the trigger and takes down the Black Hood; he wants to kill his dad’s shooter himself, and the risk doesn’t matter because, to Archie, his own well-being isn’t important. But Veronica reminds him just how loved he is, not just by her and his dad but by Betty and Jughead; this love for him is the whole reason Veronica makes the dangerous choice to go and get Archie’s gun in the first place. Veronica’s angry but passionate pleas throughout their fight convince Archie that his reckless behavior is not the way to take down the Black Hood, and they are what lead the two of them to get rid of the gun together by throwing it into Sweetwater River in one of the hour’s final scenes.
Archie and Veronica have faced adversity together in the past, but they’ve never dealt with challenges as emotionally and potentially physically dangerous as they do in “The Town That Dreaded Sundown.” Archie’s emotional tailspin, his vendetta to take down the Black Hood all on his own, could have led to them breaking up; instead, though, they’re stronger than they ever were before, and it’s believable because of the strength of the writing and because of the great performances that both KJ Apa and Camila deliver throughout this episode. The two of them as performers bring such a wonderful power and vulnerability to all of Archie and Veronica’s scenes, especially their argument at Archie’s house, and they elevate the already solid writing into something even more special.
So now that Archie and Veronica are officially a team again perhaps they could work alongside their best friends and fellow couple, Betty and Jughead, especially since this week’s Riverdale reveals that the Black Hood has a type of special connection to Betty. He claims that her words at the Jubilee in the Season 1 finale inspired his reign of terror, his quest to cleanse Riverdale of all of its sinners, and while nothing comes of the cipher he leaves for her to solve, as everyone remains safe at the town hall meeting, I’m thinking a lot of conflict awaits Betty after she receives that phone call from the serial killer at the end of the hour.
Maybe combining Betty’s intel and investigative skills with Archie’s drive and resolve will result in the Black Hood’s identity finally being revealed. Maybe the two best friends will be able to come together to stop this maniac and make Riverdale a safe and secure place to live once again.
Other thoughts:
- I forgot to mention it above, but I can’t over-emphasize how amazingly intense the scene in which Archie pulls his gun out on the Serpents is. I knew Archie wouldn’t die and that he probably wouldn’t pull the trigger, but there’s a raw grittiness to that scene that makes it feel realer and scarier than almost anything else Riverdale has done before. I can’t say enough about how much I loved it.
- When Fred speaks up at the town hall meeting, Hermione turns to Hiram and says that he’ll be a problem for their plans for Riverdale. What do you think their ultimate goal is? Simply to have majority ownership over the town, or is it something more sinister than that? Also, I need some scenes between Hiram and Fred ASAP, because the tension from them has the potential to be epic.
- I was surprised how easily Kevin forgave Betty after his anger towards her in last week’s episode. If one thing in “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” rings false to me, it is how quickly their issues are resolved simply for the sake of pushing the Black Hood/Betty storyline forward.
- I’m very much enjoying Vanessa Morgan’s work as Toni and the character overall and am really hoping that Riverdale stays away from the cliche route of having a love triangle between her, Jughead, and Betty. Keep things platonic and let the conflict be from their different life experiences, not about who wants to date whom.
- Really nice, small moment early on in the episode with Alice expressing her worry and concern over losing both Betty and Polly. Alice is definitely one of Riverdale‘s most broad and outrageous characters, but I really appreciate when the writers try to instill her with more humanity and give Mädchen Amick more notes to play.
- I don’t care if my Veronica Lodge fanboy colors are showing here: her firing the gun in the air to stop the fight was BADA** and I loved it.
- I mostly stay away from internet speculation about TV shows because I enjoy watching the story unfold at its own pace. However, I have to throw out my own theory about the Black Hood’s identity right now: it’s Betty’s long-lost brother, Chic (played by Hart Denton), who will be arriving later this season. It helps make the whole connection-to-Betty development make more sense and feel more organic. Plus, you can never trust long-lost siblings on TV.
What did everyone else think about this week’s episode of Riverdale? Are you enjoying Season 2 as much as I am? Comment below and let me know.
[Photo credit: Katie Yu/The CW]
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