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Man, oh man. What a difference seven years makes in not only the sleepy little town of Riverdale but in the lives of those who live there but currently and formerly. Where to start, where to start? I guess at the beginning!
First things first, Archie has been very successful in the Army and we love that for him. Alas, after seven years of duty and dedication he does get reassigned to go back home and man up the RROTC program at Riverdale High. Upon his return, he notices quite immediately that not all is good in the town of pep . Hiram has ruined the town and for what? Well, you’ll see.
Toni is the new Serpent queen and she’s a preggo eggo! Archie, in all of his Archiness (or would it be gauche, according to Cheryl?) does ask the question that’s on all of our minds: Who’s the father? Well…we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we? It’s clear that Toni will be taking on a bigger role this season and what drives that point home more than anything is a scene towards the end of the episode. You’ll know it when you see it.
Jughead is in deeper trouble than is first apparent but he also has no problem keeping his bed warm if you know what I mean. More than that though, one of his ~friends~ might actually just be my favorite person in this episode because she definitely knows what she wants and does what she has to in order to get it. I’m waiting on pins and needles to see if she’ll wind up making another appearance later on in the season. The door isn’t exactly closed or open there.
Veronica has been married for a year already and her husband is….well. He is. While there are some obvious and blatant parallels to Hiram I’m hesitant to write him off completely as a villain quite yet. The potential is there but there’s also something deeper. Maybe the fact that his intentions do in fact seem to be good if misguided and flawed. But you know what they say: the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Regardless, more than just being married Veronica’s job isn’t what you’d expect. Or maybe it’s exactly what you’d expect? You’ll all have to tell me after the fact.
And Betty. Ohhhhhhhhhh, Betty. Betty has clearly been through the wringer while training for the FBI. She seems to think that because she used to catch serial killers in high school that she knows best though we learn that that isn’t necessarily the case. She has forked up big time and has to redeem herself in the eyes of her colleagues. She shares a special relationship with one colleague in particular and I (and maybe she) would be hard-pressed to define it clearly.
We get a glance into the lives of Cheryl, Kevin, Fangs, and others, never fear! But I would say that the majority of the episode was used to re-introduce us to these characters in a new and different way as well as jump-start and propel us into the new era of, Riverdale. I, for one, am happy to be here.
Riverdale airs on The CW Wednesday’s at 8/7c
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