Lines are drawn in the sand for many friends and families alike in the sixth episode of Riverdale. Val must decide whether to stick with the Pussycats or team up with Archie for the Riverdale Variety Show. Veronica deals with the idea that her mother might be moving on from her father and Betty teams up with Jughead to get Polly’s side of the story. “Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!” was written by Tessa Leigh Williams & Nicholas Zwart and directed by Steven A. Adelson. Here is what went down.
MUSICAL ALLIANCES | It is time for the annual variety show at Riverdale High (and another excuse to listen to The Pussycats perform their sweet harmonies). Archie (K.J. Apa) has decided it is time to show the town his voice but chokes during his audition and runs off stage. Val (Hayley Law) finds him in the hall and he tries to convince her that all he needs is a partner but she is a Pussycat first and foremost and won’t turn her back on them. Veronica (Camila Mendes) manages to convince Kevin (Casey Cott) to put Archie in the show even with the botched audition but Archie still refuses to go up on stage without a partner so Veronica offers to be his musical wingman. At the Pussycats’ rehearsal, Val and Josie (Ashleigh Murray) are at each other’s throats both for outside reasons but it leads to Val quitting the Pussycats in favor of singing with Archie. Archie is delighted but when Veronica finds out she’s been replaced (while also dealing with some family issues) she turns around and takes Val’s newly vacated spot in The Pussycats. Things aren’t all smooth harmonies with Val and Archie as she realizes that he might not understand how big of a risk she is taking by leaving Josie and the group that helped her find her voice. After some contemplation he realizes that he can do this himself and that she will always be a Pussycat so he tells her to talk to Josie. Val and Josie reconcile and come to an agreement just in time for her to join them on stage (along with Veronica) to perform. Archie is set next to perform and after some words of encouragement from Veronica and a nod from his father in the audience, he nails his performance.
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SINS OF THE FATHER | Hermione (Marisol Nichols) has been working the books at Fred’s (Luke Perry) construction site and discovers that the company is struggling. He tells her that is why he is pushing so hard for the old drive-in theater contract and is even having dinner with the mayor in an attempt to woo her into convincing the buyer to pick him. Unbeknownst to him, he is standing right in front of the buyer but Hermione isn’t about to reveal that information. Instead, she offers up her house for the dinner and agrees to be his plus one. It is at that moment that Veronica, flowers for her mother in hand, sees the two of them through the window in a very non-platonic embrace. She wastes no time in confronting her mother about it at home and Hermione tries to explain but Veronica has been holding out hope for things to return to normal once her father is out of jail so she isn’t having it. Still stewing over the feelings of betrayal by her mother, she doesn’t take it well when she finds out Archie replaced her with Val as a singing partner, and takes out her anger at his father on him. Her rage burns pure enough to send her right over to The Pussycats to channel her aggression through song. It just so happens that Josie is also dealing with an absent father and taking out her frustration on everyone around her. Her father, also a musician, is flying in just to see her perform but has never seen what Josie does as good enough so she is determined to prove him wrong. At the dinner, everyone is tense about a whole host of things so the presentation is used as a mediator. Mayor McCoy (Robin Givens) is impressed with Fred’s proposal but tells him unfortunately, the contract is already in the process of going to another bidder and it would take shareholder signatures to stop it. Later, Hermione reveals to Veronica that not only is Hermione one of the legal shareholders, but Veronica is as well. She asks Veronica to co-sign the contract over to Fred but Veronica, furious that her mother wants to use her to help her new boyfriend, refuses. As soon as she leaves, Hermione forges her signature on the papers anyway. At the variety show, The Pussycats (and Veronica) perform a phenomenal arrangement but Josie’s father (guest star Reese Alexander) is not only unimpressed, he leaves in the middle of their performance. Everyone else in the crowd gives them a standing ovation but that means nothing to Josie after watching her dad walk out. After the show, Veronica notices her mother and Fred talking and discovers that Fred has been awarded the contract. It takes Veronica two seconds to realize what Hermione must have done and congratulates Fred, stone-faced, and walks off.
POLLY UNCOVERED | Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) continue their investigation into Polly’s real situation by sneaking a picture of her mother’s checkbook. They figure out that she has been writing regular checks to a home for troubled youth that sounds like the actual worst place imaginable and make it their next stop. While Jughead makes himself scarce, Betty is taken to see Polly (guest star Tiera Skovbye) out in the garden of silent reflection and they run into each other’s arms as the music swells. They break apart and Betty discovers that Polly is quite pregnant (I KNEW IT) with Jason’s child. Their parents lied to Betty – Polly and Jason were planning on running away together to start a family but the Coopers locked Polly away before she could meet up with Jason on the Fourth as was planned. She asks Betty if Jason knows where she is and Betty realizes to her horror that her parents didn’t just lie about Polly’s situation. They also never told Polly that Jason had been killed leaving it to Betty to break the news to a now distraught Polly. Betty is removed by the nurse and it isn’t long before Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick) herself barges in to take Betty and Jughead home. Polly intercepts them in the hallway and manages to get a few choice words in before being dragged away by some orderlies. Back at home, Betty demands to know the truth from her parents. She accuses her father of stealing the sheriff’s murder board and then less confidently, of murdering Jason himself. Her parents deny everything and that Betty is starting to sound as crazy as her sister. Jughead shows up in her window and tries to comfort her, going as far as to kiss her (original comic character be damned), but Betty isn’t to be distracted from the case for long and remembers something Polly said about Jason’s getaway car he stashed on the highway. They track down the car and uncover Jason’s varsity jacket along with a whole lot of drugs (and a camera shot that looks suspiciously like they are being watched). Betty realizes that this is a crime scene and they are getting their prints all over it so they put everything back, take some pictures, and race to find the sheriff. By the time they collect him and bring him back to the car, it is already engulfed in flames, destroying any evidence that may have helped them piece together what happened that day. To make matters worse, when they rush back to the home to get Polly, they find her window smashed and Polly nowhere to be found.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• Hermione, I was rooting for you to be the one parent who wasn’t awful on this show and you let me down. You are no Alice Cooper but still, I am thoroughly disappointed in you.
• I was a huge fan of the original comics growing up so I am always going to be upset at the direction they are taking Jughead’s sexuality. I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less irked.
• I have no legitimate proof for my theory that The Cooper parents are to blame for everything. All I have is my distain for them and the desire for that to be validated.
• Even with all sorts of musical performances I was left needing more Pussycats. More Pussycats make everything better.
So what did you think? Do you think the Coopers are behind Jason’s disappearance and death? Where did Polly go? How long until Fred realizes the Lodges are the mysterious buyers? Let us know your theories in the comments below!
Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9pm on The CW!