slightly silly: riverdale, episode twenty one: house of the devil

i don't care what people say, i still think it's the janitor. even if archie claims that it's not him. archie isn't the brightest bulb. and sure the green eyes aren't the same, but maybe the dude had contacts. or maybe he's not the black hood.

so, let's talk about the relationship drama abounding in this episode. we have f.p. and jughead, for once having a good, easy father-son relationship that is destined to go to shit when f.p. realizes how far gone into serpent business jughead is.

we have jughead cutting ties with betty in order to protect her. this after she's put it all out there on the stage for jughead in her very own serpent dance. something that she does in front of her mother, who happens to be in full serpent gear at the time.

an aside, alice cooper is one of the most perplexing characters on this show. you never know what version of her will show up. and i kind of love her when she's her most serpent self. i think that's the real alice. the other alice, the one who is all brimstone and fire and propriety feels like an act. she and f.p. had something a long time ago it seems. and whatever she and hal have going on, it's clearly nothing stable.

i know this is a show about the kids, but i am just as intrigued as to what is going on with all the adults. because there are ties and feelings and drama held back from their kids, and i want to know it all.

and then there's archie and veronica, who have been going at it like bunnies. and when poor dumb archie tells veronica he loves her, she freaks out. she's never known love. her parents don't have love. in her book it's a weakness. and veronica has always been untouchable. but she doesn't know how to tell him this. and he doesn't know how to accept that she can't speak her feelings. and so when she walks away from him, it's the right thing to do. because how can you tell someone you love them when you don't even know what it means? but this doesn't mean you don't feel anything. and her breakdown in the car is the most vulnerable veronica has been in a while.

but when you push people away, and when they finally believe you, you have to reap the consequences of that. because it's easy to fall back on relationships and feelings that are safe and familiar. and this leaves an opening for betty and archie to reconnect. this isn't something i'm particularly interested in, because i think they are not very interesting together. but i understand it. and i'm hoping that the show takes us there in a way that makes sense and leaves the door opening for the challenge that jughead and veronica bring into both their lives.

also, cheryl is still being all single white female with josie. where this is going will be interesting to see. especially since cheryl is like one step away from being dragged away in a straitjacket.