‘Riverdale’ Recap “Chapter 23: The Blackboard Jungle”
Chapter 22 brought the end to Black Hood and to Bughead (yet again) and it rekindled the Varchie flame. Now it’s business as usual in Riverdale, sort of.
Veronica is now a partner in her parent’s business. Whatever pays the bills, I guess. Well, Fred’s medical bills, that is.
Southside High has been shut down and its student body will now be attending Riverdale High. That spells trouble for everyone. While Veronica is doing her best to make this work, Cheryl is determined to make this hell for everyone. She plans to play dirty too, apparently, she caught Archie and Betty kissing last chapter and that Nick tried to assault Veronica.
So let’s just say the integration isn’t going well at all.
FP tries to talk some sense into Jughead, who cares if they have to shed their jackets during school hours? He suggests laying low. Jughead creates a club so that he and the other serpents can hang out while laying low.
Agent Adams is fishing around Riverdale for information on Hiram Lodge. He thinks Hiram is up to no good and that he might be behind Nick St. Clair’s accident. Archie is now being asked to find out about Nick’s accident. Archie is freaked out but tries to gather information anyways.
Polly is back, kind of, and she had her babies, but she didn’t tell her parents… Her disregard for family prompts Betty to meet up with Jughead to see if he can help her find her long-lost brother. He agrees but things are clearly awkward between them.
Jughead’s social worker tells Betty that her brother’s name is Charles Smith and that he lives a few towns over. Betty tells her parents about Charles and Polly. Alice really wants to see her son, even if her husband doesn’t. They set out to meet him.
Charles is less than pleased to see the woman who gave him up and the child that got to have a family.
After speaking with Cheryl, Archie visits Nick to get payback for what he did. I want to say “go Archie!” but it feels weird seeing him beat up a man who can’t defend himself. Veronica finds out and Archie tells Veronica everything, even the kiss.
Betty goes back to see her brother and saves him from getting beat up and brings him home. The Coopers patch him up and let him spend the night.
Varchie is still in a good place, thank goodness! I am also glad that we finally got to meet Betty’s brother, Charles. I hope he sticks around, especially now that Polly is gone. I also hope he is not the creepy monster he alluded to at the end of this episode, and that he helps Betty figure out the darkness inside her.
I wonder what agent Adams is up to by making Archie do his bidding. Anyway, this episode was a great mid-season premiere and I can’t wait to find out what mysteries await us in Riverdale. See you next week.
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When Beth “grows up” she wants to see her creations appear on the screen and stage. In her free time, Beth blogs about her love of craft beer and writes screenplays. She received her bachelors in journalism from Youngstown State and received her masters in communication from The University of Akron. She is honored to be a part of the FanFest family.
