slightly silly: riverdale, episode 4: the last picture show

okay so finally everyone knows about archie and miss grundy. these teacher-student things never end well or in a satisfying manner on these shows. back when pacey had an affair with his teacher on dawson's creek the resolution of that left a lot to be desired. and this one isn't really all that much better. betty, her mom, and archie's dad confront the two of them and miss grundy agrees to leave town. this is after betty's snooping reveals that her real name is jennifer gibson and that she tutored jason blossom and owns a gun. there's this final scene when miss grundy is leaving town that you think, maybe she is just a sexual predator. will she be back?

honestly, i kind of hope not. the character was too poorly developed and the illicit romance wasn't really working. having betty find out about it was good for drama though. and finally we got some scenes with archie that showed some actual depth. we see how deep his friendship with betty goes, and archie's good heart in his willingness to understand and forgive her part in the confrontation with grundy. and then there's the moment with his dad, who tells archie that he's not selfish or dumb for falling in love with his teacher, and that things will work out, and then simply holds archie as he cries. and the moments with jughead where you can just tell how long they've been friends, and how different their lives have become.

because jughead is totally worried about the fact that the drive-in is shutting down. and partly he's worried about this because it's a landmark. and partly because it's where he works. and partly because the drive-in was a haven for his family when he was a child. and partly because it's where he sleeps at night. we finally get to learn a little more about the mysterious jughead jones. we meet his gang member father, who is played by skeet ulrich by the way! skeet ulrich. i feel like this show is going out of its way to make me feel old.

we get to know a little more about veronica and her parents' shady dealings. and kevin and his dad and their relationship. even though the miss grundy plot came to an unsatisfying conclusion, and the episode did little to advance the mystery behind jason blossom's disappearance, it did develop these characters further, gave us glimpses into each of their psyches in a way that i ultimately found satisfying. i can't wait to see where it goes. there are still so many threads to untangle, everything in riverdale seems to spin a wicked web.