Homecoming is upon Riverdale and that means generations young and old will come together for a night of music, dancing, and arrests for murder. Archie’s mom is back in town and both the Andrews men are a little confused as to what that means in the long run. Suspicion is still being thrown every which way and everyone is out to prove something whether it be innocence or guilt. “Chapter Eleven: To Riverdale and Back Again” was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Kevin Sullivan. Here’s what went down.
THE BIG DANCE | Past and present students of Riverdale High come together to celebrate Homecoming, more specifically, the Homecoming dance. Archie (K.J. Apa) wants to show his mom (guest star Molly Ringwald) his musical talents and asks her to come to the dance to see him play live. She and Fred (Luke Perry) decide to go together with one Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols) to make it a trio. Archie asks Veronica (Camila Mendes) to be his duet partner, as well as his partner in other terms. She agrees to the duet but tells him they need to hold off any romantic notions until their worlds are at least half as crazy. At the dance they perform a cover of “Kids in America” and it is a hit with almost everyone. The night ends abruptly with an arrest and back at home, Archie’s mom tells him she was thinking about asking him to come live with her in Chicago because she doesn’t think Riverdale is safe. They don’t realize their conversation isn’t as private as they think as Fred listens from the stairs.
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EVERYONE’S A SUSPECT | Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick) is in full Nancy Drew mode and she has her sights set on F.P. (guest star Skeet Ulrich) as her prime suspect. She tries to enlist both Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Veronica to dig up dirt on him but out of loyalty to Jughead (Cole Sprouse), Betty refuses. Veronica however, is still suspicious of her own father’s involvement in the ordeal and with him set to be released from jail soon, is scared of who she could be letting back into her life. With that fear in mind, she agrees to snoop on F.P. and enlists Archie to be her cohort. He doesn’t like the idea at first but the thought of F.P. possibly hurting Jughead again changes his mind. Jughead is finally starting to trust his dad again and is excited at all the progress he is making from shaving, to quitting drinking, to even reading and engaging with Jughead’s novel about Jason. Archie worries that F.P.’s interest in the novel is less than innocent and brings it to Veronica’s attention. While Alice lures Jughead and his dad to their house for a pre-dance dinner/interrogation, Archie and Veronica break into F.P.’s trailer and look for any evidence but they turn up completely empty handed. At the dance, Betty notices the whispers and less than subtle meetings between her mother, Archie, and Veronica and confronts her friends out in the hall where they come clean. Jughead goes looking for Betty and finds the trio and Betty makes them tell Jughead the truth. Somehow, even though she explicitly said she had no idea this was happening, Jughead blames Betty for lying to him. Before their argument can escalate further, Kevin (Casey Cott) and some parents show up to tell Jughead that his father was just arrested for Jason’s murder after the cops found the murder weapon in a lockbox at the trailer. Jughead storms out and goes to the trailer only to find it already trashed by the search. Betty is furious with Archie and Veronica but they implore her to listen. They searched the trailer top to bottom and that lockbox wasn’t there when they left but mysteriously appeared an hour later after the cops got an anonymous tip.
POLLY THE SNOOP | Polly (guest star Tiera Skovbye) is still on her mission to expose the Blossoms from the inside but they are onto her sneaking around. She continues to pretend to be friends with Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and they even plan to be each other’s dates for Homecoming and run for dual Queens. Polly convinces Cheryl that in honor of the dance’s “Blast from the Past” theme, they should root around in her parents’ closet for some vintage bling. While in there, Cheryl finds the engagement ring Jason proposed to Polly with. Polly immediately accuses the Blossoms of foul play because Jason would never hand that ring over willingly but Cheryl defends them. Later, Mrs. Blossom (guest star Nathalie Boltt) goes to talk to Polly and tells her that Jason threw the ring in his father’s face as a way of washing his hands of the entire family. She then gives Polly a pat on the head and her daily milkshake and leaves her to think. The milkshake contained a little something extra this time and it knocks Polly out for the night, meaning that she is unable to join Cheryl at the dance. Cheryl asks her parents if the story about Jason and the ring is true and they stick to their story. She is still uncertain though because she lies and tells them she got rid of the ring when in reality, she pocketed it just in case.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• There is nothing creepier than a wall of ginger toupees. Nothing.
• As creepy as the Blossom house is, how bad can a place be with daily milkshakes.
• While I appreciate hearing Veronica sing and the cover was fun, I still need more Pussycats on my screen. Veronica can sing with them and they can all harmonize beautifully.
So what did you think? You’re almost out of time to predict who killed Jason before it is revealed! Who is your main suspect? Is F.P. really being framed? Let us know your theories in the comments below!
Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9pm on The CW.