Oh hey, we’re finally getting back to that videotape story from Halloween! I was worried it had been completely forgotten. We finally got a really great creepy mystery this season on Riverdale and it goes on immediate hiatus.
This time, Jughead makes it clear that everyone dusts off their old VCRs. They don’t have them set up already. That makes a little more sense, but it still raises the question: WHO HAS HUNG ONTO THEIR VCR FOR 20 YEARS? Veronica only moved to this town like three and a half years ago, are you telling me she brought her VCR with her from New York in 20-damn-16? Anyway, the other difference is that the footage of the front doors is closer this time. That’s definitely creepy. And it’d be a whole lot creepier if Jughead hadn’t explained why we’re supposed to be scared. Show don’t tell, Riverdale.
If you thought we were going to really dig into this mystery though, you’d be wrong. I guess Riverdale plans to make this mystery a slow burn. Popping up every few episodes until coming to a head sometime in 2020. That would be cool, but this season hasn’t had a great hook like the last three did. Season 1 had Jason’s Murder, Season 2 had the Black Hood, and Season 3 had the Gargoyle King. The tapes could become Season 4’s thing eventually, but for now, there’s nothing really scary or intriguing to latch onto.
I was ready to be pissed at the bait and switch, but this episode has a really good gimmick. Yeah, I want to know more about the tapes, but the drama of this episode is shockingly well done. Like, is this even the same show? It’s arresting, affecting, and emotionally honest. I can’t take my eyes from the screen and for once, it’s not because the train is veering off the rails. Riverdale High has employed the services of a licensed therapist, Mrs. Burble, to hold extended office hours for the students. FINALLY! There’s not a character on this show that doesn’t need some form of therapy and they’re finally getting it. Someone on Riverdale’s writing staff KNOWS!
Madchen Amick as Alice Cooper and Gina Torres as Mrs. Burble. (Photo Credit: Dean Buscher / The CW)
Each character gets a vignette where they discuss the issues that have been weighing on them this season. First up is Betty with the awful parent teen angst I love about this series. She doesn’t get into Yale, and Alice freaks out about her not getting into “college.” Because if you don’t get into one of the most exclusive schools in the country, you’re clearly not getting accepted anywhere. Alice goes through Betty’s room and finds birth control pills. Shocked that her daughter is having sex (really?), she tries to exert further control over Betty’s life. Betty tries to talk to Mrs. Burble about it, but her mother barges into that too. They get the proper family therapy session the Coopers have needed since…forever, and it actually leads somewhere. Alice realizes she’s afraid of her daughter growing up and leaving her. That’s why she’s exerting more control after three years of neglect.
That’s what I really appreciate about this episode. These aren’t just forgotten vignettes. They move each character’s story forward and have real consequences for the story. Archie is sent to Mrs. Burble because he falls asleep in class. She notices he’s angry. That going out at night in a mask is an unhealthy way of channeling his grief. He finally talks out his feelings and she gives him some ideas of less dangerous ways to protect the neighborhood. On her advice, he sets up a tip line people can call if they’re afraid to go to the police. He also moves out of his house temporarily so his mom won’t be caught in the crossfire of any fight with Dodger. He even throws the black mask in the trash… temporarily.
Molly Ringwald as Mary Andrews and KJ Apa as Archie. (Photo Credit: Jack Rowand / The CW)
The one character I was actually overjoyed to see getting therapy was Cheryl. She’s clearly dealing with some serious mental health issues, and no one around her seems to have noticed. Now, she can talk through all the weird stuff going on at Thistle House. Mrs. Burble tells her something very important: She’s not crazy. Sure, the taxidermy brother is a little unorthodox, but is it really that different from an urn? In Riverdale logic, I mean? For everything else that’s been happening to here, there’s a simple explanation. She’s being gaslit. Someone is moving the doll around to convince Cheryl she’s crazy. Mrs. Burble gives her a place to start: A lab that will test whether or not she actually did absorb a triplet in the womb.
Next up is Veronica, with enough daddy issues to keep whole generations of therapists busy for their entire careers. Her troubles start with getting into Harvard, which happens to be her dad’s alma mater. She’s initially thrilled with the news until the dean asks her to thank her dad for the rum he sent over. Suddenly her acceptance has an asterisk next to it. Even if she got in on her own merit, which she probably would have, her dad made sure. Veronica’s conversation with Mrs. Burble has enough Shakespeare and Greek tragedy references to make even this theatre major’s head spin.
The gist of it, though, is that Veronica wants to impress her dad as much as she wants to escape him. She’s jealous of the relationship he has with her sister. The counselor shows her the only clear way out: Get out from under his thumb. Make sure that as soon as she goes off to college, he has no control over her life. Credit where it’s due, I imagine there are a few teenagers watching Riverdale who need to hear that.
Vanessa Morgan as Toni and Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl. (Photo Credit: Jack Rowand / The CW)
The last case of the day is Jughead, who doesn’t even go here anymore. The show finds a super contrived way to get him in this room. He hasn’t applied for college yet, and has been apathetic about his classes. Mr. DuPont snarkily advises him to seek letters of recommendation from Riverdale High. So he ends up here. His case is the least interesting of the five, but at least it gets his overall story back on track.
Mrs. Burble makes him realize he’s taking the easy way out: Don’t try, live down to the rich kids’ expectations and say they never gave him a chance. Jughead’s dad works hard to send him to that school and Jughead blows off schoolwork to try and redeem his mean drunk of a grandfather. Jughead realizes that, though the the kids and plagiarizing teacher do suck, that’s kind of a slap in the face to his dad. She encourages him to start writing his assignments, and if he’s going to follow the mystery of who really wrote the Baxter Brothers books, do the work and get real evidence.
What really makes this episode work for me is that it doesn’t pretend radical change happens overnight. Breakthroughs like this don’t happen every session in therapy. Mrs. Burble probably isn’t going to be a permanent fixture around Riverdale High, unfortunately. But she makes sure to say that she doesn’t expect anyone to change overnight. She helps them work out their issues and gives them places to start. I mean, what’s really happening is the show is putting all the characters where they need to be for next week’s midseason finale. It works. If you need a set-up episode, why not get some long overdue character development done while you’re at it?
Cole Sprouse as Jughead. (Photo Credit: Colin Bentley / The CW)
Betty and her mother reconcile and are finally honest about how they feel about each other. Cheryl finds out she didn’t absorb her brother in the womb and sets about finding out who’s gaslighting her. Archie gets a message on his tip line and breaks out the mask again, which is a good way to show that deeper issues aren’t fixed with a single therapy session. Veronica chooses to go to Yale over Harvard, plans to crush her father in business, and drinks his most expensive rum to celebrate. Jughead gets some writing done, tells his dad he loves him, and finds a real lead on DuPont. Apparently, he and Jughead’s grandfather were all part of a children’s book writers’ group. And all but DuPont have died in mysterious accidents.
From that revelation, we cut to another flash-forward, where Brett and Donna identify Archie, Betty, and Veronica as the kids they saw killing Jughead. How this mystery leads there is still anyone’s guess, and there aren’t enough ties to really make me care yet. So far, these flashbacks feel kinda fake. None of the current stories even look like they could go that direction. Until they start heading there, these little teases will lack any tension they’re trying to build. That’s a minor criticism at this point though. This episode was fantastic and I can only hope all this character work pays off in next week’s midseason finale.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Previously on Riverdale:
- Riverdale Season 4 Episode 7 Recap
- Riverdale Season 4 Episode 6 Recap
- Riverdale Season 4 Episode 5 Recap
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