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    Riverdale S02E21 Review: Judgment Night – Absolutely bonkers episode!

    By Salome G
    | May 10, 2018
    TV Blogs

    I wasn’t even halfway through this episode when a thought occurred to me. Is Archie getting smarter? I realize that’s a weird thing to wonder about an episode that sees him hurling Molotov cocktails from the roof of Pop’s, but I stand by it. Until the next time he does something glow-in-the-dark dumb.

    But speaking of smarts, delicate poison flower Cheryl. The Black Hood does get into her house and up to her room, but that only gives her enough time to don a full-on cape and grab her bow. My superhero then demonstrates her archery skills on his shoulder, leaving him to flee for the safety of the darkness. “Luckily I was able to get to my archery set and hunting cape.” Yes. Luckily. Hashtag blessed. Your fave could never, etc.

    Riverdale S02e21 Kj Apa Archie Andrews Casey Cott Kevin

    Anyway, not that anywhere’s all that safe in Riverdale these days. After all, as we left it last week, there was a riot in full swing outside the sheriff’s department and it’s still going on. As it turns out, by the way, Reggie did not shoot Fangs. It was actually Midge’s mom. And it was actually Veronica who spotted her with a gun, not that it means much to Hermione. Instead, she chooses to make political hay by blaming the incident on the Black Hood and offering a million-dollar reward for his capture. That’s great, Hermione. Really helps.

    Meanwhile, the Serpents are prowling (slithering?) through Riverdale, looking for Reggie. Archie and crew find him holed up at Pop’s, where the coast is clear until it isn’t. The gang outside, though, is not the Serpents. It’s the Ghoulies, because this episode is nothing if not one problem piled up on top of a pile of other problems.

    So while Archie’s chasing off the Ghoulies with the aforementioned Molotov cocktails and the help of Riverdale’s Hot Dad Squad, Jughead’s having his own hell of a night. Reggie issue? Handled. Ghoulies issue? Handl–oh, no, wait. He’s like, the lone vote against going to war with them. That would be enough of a pickle on an ordinary night, but then he’s got Penny Peabody on the line and there is hell to come.

    Riverdale S02e21 Charles Melton Reggie Mantle

    Speaking of, let’s return to the Pembrooke as I’m wondering, does anyone else live there? Or work there? Is it just Andre? Anyway, he’s dead. That’s because while Hiram is out creating plausible deniability, Small Fry, the heir to the Poutine empire, has come looking for him. In lieu of finding Hiram, he’ll take out anyone else that happens to be around. After eliminating the one barrier–seriously, though, is this what Hiram wanted?–he knocks the Lodges’ door down. And is promptly shot to death by Hermione, while Veronica looks on. I hope that million dollar trust is for therapy.

    Veronica, though, having suspected it’s what funding the Black Hood reward, had been rifling through Hiram’s office looking for proof. Instead, in a folder literally labeled “October Surprise,” she finds her dad’s plans to expose Fred’s affair with Hermione. He even has a press release ready to go. Hiram and Hermione, who’s also in on this plan, think this will irreparably damage Fred’s campaign, while Hermione’s will recover. I am not so sure about that. But maybe “the town with pep” is in a world where women aren’t hammered just as relentlessly for their misdeeds.

    It’s certainly a town where they’re allowed to be just as ruthless. And speaking of, back to Penny. She takes Toni to get Jughead to meet with her, but of course, she’s not alone. She’s backed up by the Ghoulies. Jughead, however, would also never meet with her alone. He has Cheryl and her cape and her bow (and my axe). That’s enough to free Toni, but it won’t save Jughead. To avoid war with the Ghoulies, he sacrifices himself. By the time FP and everyone get there, Jughead has been beaten to within an inch of his life. Unlike Fangs and Dr. Masters (RIP), though, I don’t think Jughead’s dead. (LMAO.)

    Riverdale S2e21 Lili Reinhart Betty Madchen Amick Alice Cooper

    And neither is Hal, although he’s bleeding from a shoulder wound. At the Coopers’, he forces Alice and Betty to watch a demented home movie. While Alice is wondering aloud if it’s a snuff film, I’m wondering why the hell it was made to begin with. It features young “Harold” (Hal) being questioned by his mother regarding the murder of the Conway family. Specifically, she’s instructing him to manipulate little Joseph Conway into pinning the crime on someone else and not Hal’s dad, the real murderer. This is the way it has to be because something something sinners.

    I mean, I guess. At this point, there’s no way the Black Hood reveal wouldn’t be anticlimactic so the whole scene was fine for what it was. It doesn’t make a lot of sense–I’m still hung on the physicality aspect–but I’ll just let it go and focus on Alice, the real MVP in this scene. Telling Hal that not only is he an ineffectual serial killer, but also his stroke game’s weak? Legends only.

    10/10 – In a quieter episode, the reveal that Hal was the Black Hood might have been a letdown. However, in this bonkers episode, everything is so overstuffed that it just landed like a gentle feather. Also, there are definitely more hoods out there and Hal’s not finished. So there’s that. And there’s everything–Hiram making more enemies, the Ghoulies existing with their whole vibe, Penny out there, Cheryl wearing a damn cape (and next week, wearing a RED *SPOILER*), Fred getting shot AGAIN by a Black Hood, Small Fry showing up…it’s incredible this show managed to keep all these things and more coherent. This is the show at its best. And no one mentioned that casino. 

    Speaking of Twitter, I’m with Mädchen.

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    callmeishmael
    callmeishmael
    4 years ago

    I don’t even know where to begin with this episode. Cheryl has turned into Red Coat meets Katniss Everdeen and I’m all about it. I think it’s hilarious that Penny backs off just because she shows up, despite having her Ghoulies. Like really, no one thought to bring a gun they could aim at her? Just the taser? It apparently doesn’t do too much damage since Hal was able to completely act as if nothing had happened to him after she shot him. The Hunger Games have taught me that arrows should do more damage, even if you’re not aiming… Read more »

    0
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    Salome G
    Salome G
    4 years ago
    Reply to  callmeishmael

    Dr. Masters must have put Hal on a bucket of painkillers. That’s the only explanation I can think of for why the cunning serial killer acted so dumb with his family. Yeah, I don’t understand how master manipulators Hiram and Hermione think the October Surprise is going to work. Like you said, Fred has already been called out as an adulterer and I guess you could stretch and say he was because he was messing with a married woman, but he was separated. He’s too nice to do this, probably, but all he really has to do is say that… Read more »

    0
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    callmeishmael
    callmeishmael
    4 years ago
    Reply to  Salome G

    A bucket of painkillers is a better explanation than anything I’ve been able to come up with. I’m going to go with that. That’s true, I guess you could call him an adulterer when you look at it like that. But still, Hermione ends up looking worse. The fact that the Lodges are pretty much the only ones who would run a smear campaign against Fred would make it look even worse. He is. Sometimes I have to remind myself that even though they look like they’re in their twenties (and think they are), they’re really just kids. I think… Read more »

    0
    Reply
    surfari
    surfari
    4 years ago

    I was disappointed by the Hal reveal but with the other people in black hoods running around, I’m alright with it. I just want to see Hiram Lodge burn. Alice has been a little meh to me lately but she was GOLD in that scene with Hal. Also, as much as I hate Penny, I am dying to see more of her.

    0
    Reply
    callmeishmael
    callmeishmael
    4 years ago
    Reply to  surfari

    Yeah, the storyline clearly isn’t over. This is really starting to feel like PLL. I would’ve preferred if they’d gotten an entirely new villain who had a different attire but alas, at least we know the mysteries will continue. Hiram Lodge deserves to get taken out. I hope FP does it. Penny deserves it too but I’m with you, she brings something fresh to the scene. She nails every scene she’s in.

    0
    Reply
    Salome G
    Salome G
    4 years ago
    Reply to  callmeishmael

    If Jughead hadn’t been acting so rashly, he could have tied Penny to Hiram. I would think that would be more damaging to the Lodges’ campaign, but then again, Hermione is apparently the “law and order” candidate despite being married to a recent felon.

    0
    Reply
    surfari
    surfari
    4 years ago
    Reply to  Salome G

    It’s funny how Archie always gets crap for being rash when Jughead can be just as bad.

    Right? I don’t get how she’s the law and order candidate. Surely everyone knows they are really voting for Hiram. Even that one guy Archie talked to said he was voting for Hiram and Archie was like, “You mean Hermione?”

    Callmeishmael, I was hoping that FP would get Hiram but he was not the FP we’ve come to know and love this episode. I hope he gets his act together.

    0
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