Archie Finally Pays Attention To The Girl Next Door On Next Week’s ‘Riverdale’
by Rachel Bellwoar
Archie (KJ Apa) might be really excited about next week’s episode (he says as much in the trailer below), but it’s not like this is the first time Riverdale fans have seen Barchie in action. For 50’s Archie and Betty (Lili Reinhart), though, this may be their first time (as long as everything goes according to plan, that is).
Jughead (Cole Sprouse) certainly wasn’t expecting Veronica (Camila Mendes) to take offense to how he depicted women in his first major assignment for Pep Comics, but as this week’s episode showed, it didn’t take long for the sparkle to fade out of Jeronica.
The whole Veronica getting bored with Jughead writing felt a little unfair, given she knew he was a writer and making deadlines is part of the gig (there’s a reason he turned down her offer to stay at the Pembrooke), but he shouldn’t have dismissed her opinions so lightly.
Basically, Jughead gave Veronica’s concerns as much time as he’s been giving the town leaders who are trying to stir up trouble around comics (and that isn’t an invention of Riverdale‘s — there really was a moral panic around comic books in the 50’s, much in the same way as the Satanic Panic in the 80’s). The town leaders have their own agenda, but being a good writer means being open to constructive criticism, and that’s what Veronica was providing.
Of the four stories Jughead wrote for his Tales of the Crypt-inspired issue, Nana Rose (Barbara Wallace) getting to pull one over on Archie was definitely a highlight, though Veronica was right to be upset, too. For someone so opposed to gossip, Jughead was awfully quick to believe the rumors about Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) — unlike the rumors about Ethel (Shannon Purser).
The Betty storyline was just cruel. From repeatedly calling her a “plain Jane” (which couldn’t be less true) to the unnecessarily harsh ending, it read like a story written by an angry ex (and technically Jughead and Betty haven’t dated in this timeline…). Plus, that’s another thing: Jughead doesn’t even attempt to disguise who he’s writing about, which means he’s either counting on no one from school reading it or doesn’t care what his classmates think.
Archie being a villain to various degrees in all four stories is notable, and continues Riverdale‘s ongoing trend of not caring about the history between Jughead and Archie (at least Veronica and Betty’s friendship is valued). Finally, Jughead comparing himself to Arthur Miller (and Veronica to Marilyn Monroe) felt like a mistake. Besides the fact that their marriage ended in divorce, Marilyn health was in bad shape towards the end of their relationship and Jughead’s remark is too glib and superficial.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays on The CW.
