Cheryl Is Appalled At The Suggestion That She’ll Be Shaking Pom Poms When ‘Riverdale’ Returns In Two Weeks
by Rachel Bellwoar
Everyone was lamenting that Reggie (Charles Melton) never got to celebrate Halloween before. Maybe he was better off. Reggie certainly knew better than to get into a car with a bat-wielding Julian Blossom (Nicholas Barasch), but he did anyway, and while the trailer for next week’s episode doesn’t tease his fate, Julian looks to be in bad shape (which make the scenes in this trailer of Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Veronica (Camila Mendes) sporting bathing suits feel somewhat in bad taste):
Between Archie (KJ Apa) earning his hot rod back, and all the talk about James Dean, Riverdale has been building up to a car crash all season, and while the series is known for leading viewers on when it comes to promising consequences, and then letting everyone be okay, maybe that won’t be the case this time. Even if Reggie is okay (which hopefully he is), there’s no way the adults aren’t going to find a way to blame him for the crash.
Some other thoughts on this week’s episode:
- I’m not sure which is more of a stretch: trying to make Halloween work in June or having Veronica (Camila Mendes) (dressed like Marlene Dietrich in Morocco) lead a rendition of “Rose Tints My World” from Rocky Horror Picture Show (anachronistic much?). If I had to limit my criticism to one thing, though, it would probably be the way the series handled the Milkman (Matty Finochio) storyline this week.
- Milkman, we hardly knew ya, and while it’s doubtful you worked alone — here’s looking at you, Hal Cooper (Lochlyn Munro) — you sure got taken out fast which, under normal circumstances would be great. Who wants a serial killer lurking around? But given that Riverdale already did the whole serial killer thing with TBK (Doug Chapman), one would’ve hoped there would’ve been a point or payoff to introducing another one this season. One only has to look at how easily everyone was able to ignore Jughead (Cole Sprouse) to see how invested this series was in that storyline.
- Poor Ethel (Shannon Purser). Talk about someone who always has do everything for herself, from escaping an abusive nunnery, to killing the guy who allegedly murdered her parents…
- When did Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Midge (Emilija Baranac) become so close, that they felt comfortable telling each other their secrets?
- One would’ve thought Alice (Mädchen Amick) wouldn’t have been able to contain herself from shutting down Veronica’s ghost show then and there (even if she had no legal recourse), but the fact that she’s biding her time might be even more scary.
- Even if Cheryl and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) had gotten in trouble for performing at the ghost show, Alice might never have known about their kiss. Now that Evelyn Evernever (Zoé De Grand Maison) has confirmed her suspicions, they’re at least getting blackmailed.
- Hasn’t Betty gotten tired of sneaking into Ethel’s house yet? “Haunted house” does not mean breaking into a crime scene to fulfill some weird Halloween checklist.
Riverdale returns Wednesday, June 21st on The CW.