Chapter 081 & 082: The Homecoming and Back To School
Next episode airs tonight, 8pm eastern

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport 

“Embrace the weird.”

I recall when I moved back home to Schnecksville, Pennsylvania from Los Angeles, California in 2007, it felt like everything had changed. I was only away for a little over seven months, yet, nothing really quite felt the same anymore. I didn’t belong. 

For Archie and the gang, the last time they set foot in their hometown of Riverdale was seven years ago. 

Seven years might as well be a lifetime and, to their dismay, everything has changed. Archie’s childhood home has been overrun by Ghoulies and turned into a drug den. Betty finds her mother Alice caring for her sister Polly’s twins, while she comes and goes at all hours of the night. For Jughead, not even Pop’s has gone untouched as it will soon be under new management with Tabitha Tate (Pop’s granddaughter) taking over the reins after his retirement. While Veronica finds the prophecy has come true: her father Hiram Lodge has managed to become The Joker (YES! As in The Batman villain) of Riverdale. 

Riverdale has become a drug infested town marked by squalor and desolation. Riverdale High is on the brink of closing and, if the town with pep is going to survive, it is going to take more than a mere weekend to clean up the mess. This type of situation calls for someone willing and prepared to give not just their blood, sweat and tears, but their hearts too. With not much to get back to in their everyday lives, it appears for now Archie has gotten the band back together with the goal of helping turn things around. The Archie quartet is so committed to this revitalization that they have even volunteered to be school teachers at their old stomping ground. My only concern is, will this detour from their realities last? When will their past lives catch up to their present lives?

Betty, Jughead and Veronica may have been beckoned to Riverdale by Archie Andrews but they did not seem to take much issue with leaving their lives behind. Jughead is being chased by debt collectors. Betty was essentially a lonely cat lady being kept up by terrifying nightmares, while Veronica seems to have found herself in a loveless marriage. Archie seems to the only one without any real problems… well that is, until he decides to take a shower… with Betty. They can say they are just friends having fun, but I know, you know, this is gonna end up getting complicated.

For now, each of them seems to be settling in. Jughead nabbed a second job at Pop’s, hoping to make some extra cash. For the first time, he also finds himself somewhat inspired to write again when he obtains a tip from Tabitha Tate about a local man that has experienced an X-files-esque alien encounter. Betty has found herself wrapped up in a mystery, only this time it is personal: the disappearance of her sister, Polly. Meanwhile, Veronica has dollar signs in her eyes with the idea of turning the rundown Blue Velvet video rental store into a high end jewelry shop. She seems to have little regard that customers may be hard to come by, being that most of the population is destitute. However, the main objective seems to be keeping away from husband Chadwick by filling her time with a project… mission accomplished. Unfortunately, much like Hiram Lodge, Chad is also persistent and has ideas of his own.

I think the stories are setting up nicely here and am excited to see where it is all going to go. What surprises me most though is how worried I am for Archie. I just don’t see any of this ending without his heart being completely shattered.