Veronica and Toni Just Rescued Cheryl on Riverdale
Following last week's dramatic cliffhanger, with Cheryl exiled to a gay conversion center, "The Noose Tightens" wastes no time exploring Riverdale's dark underbelly. As Betty, Alice, FP, and Jughead deal with the truth in the aftermath of that shocking murder, Veronica and Toni hatch a plan to rescue Cheryl.
Here's everything that happened in this week's Riverdale:
1) The Sisters of Quiet Mercy are in control of Cheryl's wellbeing.
The very same place that harbored Polly when she was pregnant has Cheryl locked up and about to "undergo physical therapy," whatever the hell that means. She's made to watch a weird short film about deviance, which happens to star Moose and Kevin as two young men who forgo socializing with women to spend time alone together.
2) The School Council debate pits Archie and Jughead against one another.
Betty is running with Jughead, while Archie is Veronica's running mate. The tension onstage is palpable, and it's clear their friendships are under serious duress right now. What happened to the famous foursome?!
3) FP and Alice have an argument, and sparks fly.
Fresh from the revelation that Chic isn't Hal Cooper's son, and that Alice once had a sexual relationship with FP, it's clear that Jughead's dad and Betty's mom have some unfinished business. And, obviously, FP is Chic's dad. Probably.
Alice has a go at FP for letting her daughter "live in sin," since Betty has moved into his trailer. However, FP reveals that he has been sleeping on the pull-out mattress with Jughead so that Betty can have the bedroom. Alice is shocked that FP has done this for her daughter, and she's clearly touched by the gesture.
4) Archie's parents and Veronica's have an argument in public.
Now that Hermione is going head to head with Fred in the race for mayor, the Lodges and the Andrews are at war, and they have a public argument about their disagreements. Fred still hasn't been let out of his contract with Lodge Industries, but the Lodges won't budge until he signs an NDA.
5) The car belonging to the drug dealer that Chic murdered is found in the swamp.
Betty and Jughead previously disposed of the drug dealer's vehicle by pushing it into a swamp. Unfortunately, the car was discovered, and everyone is freaking out. Alice, FP, Jughead, and Betty meet for a secret meeting at Pop's, where other patrons can probably overhear them discussing the murder they committed.
Jughead and Betty interrogate Kevin for inside information from his dad, and it turns out that the car was stolen.
6) The Serpents are angry that Jughead is running with Betty.
Meeting at school, the Serpents tell Jughead that Betty is "an enemy of the Serpents," and that he will not be getting the Serpent vote as long as she is his running mate.
7) Archie offers to help Hiram with some mob business.
Archie has clearly been watching way too many old episodes of The Sopranos.
Hiram reveals that the other mob families are demanding a meeting with the Lodges. As the prison plan is putting the mob in the public eye, they're unhappy with Hiram's plan for Riverdale, and want a cut of the profits.
Archie attends as some extra "muscle," and even threatens Hiram's associates. However, they laugh at his death threats, as he's just a high school kid.
8) Archie arm-wrestles Reggie, and wins.
Fighting it out in the locker room for School Council votes, Archie seems to easily win the arm wrestle against Reggie, which means the football team must vote for Veronica.
9) Toni enlists Josie and Veronica to find Cheryl.
Mrs. Blossom says that Cheryl is at a wellness center abroad, but Toni isn't satisfied with this explanation. She asks Josie and Veronica to help her find Cheryl, but Josie gets cold feet when it's revealed that Cheryl drew strange stalker pictures of herself with Toni. She believes that Cheryl is a threat, and needs help.
However, Toni and Veronica continue the search, since after all, "her social media's been dead for days." Something is definitely up!
10) Chic agrees to look for a new place so that Betty can move back in.
Betty says she'll only move back home if Chic leaves. He says he'll look for a new place, but Alice refuses to let Betty stay at FP's any longer. She demands that Betty move home immediately, and FP isn't about to mess with Alice's firm decision.
11) Chic finds the owner of the stolen car.
Allegedly trying to "help," Chic finds the stolen car's owner. However, she threatens the Coopers to keep quiet about who borrowed her car. She bribes Betty's mom, asking for the ten grand that Chic's drug dealer apparently owed her. That's the only way she'll stay silent about what happened to him.
12) Adams is working against the Lodges.
Adams, one of Hiram's henchmen, double-crosses the Lodges.
Archie and Veronica come home to Adams beating up Andre while wearing a balaclava. Archie chases him, having Black Hood flashbacks, and unmasks him. He threatens Archie, demanding that Hiram pays the mob families a cut of the prison profits. This is easily the most dull storyline of the entire season.
13) Nana Blossom calls Toni Topaz.
"Antoinette Topaz" receives a phone call while at school. It's Nana Blossom, who has managed to crawl her way to a phone to warn Toni that Cheryl is in trouble. She reveals that Cheryl is with the Sisters, before she's forced to hang up by Cheryl's uncle, who is obviously evil.
14) Cheryl and Veronica consult Kevin about gay conversion therapy.
Luckily, Kevin is well-versed in conversion therapy, and has his eye on all of the places that still conduct it. According to Kevin, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy still carry it out "off the books."
Kevin knows that there's a tunnel in the woods which leads out of the Sister's building. He knows this because many men escape from conversion therapy late at night to hook up with other men in the woods-remember when Kevin was making out with guys in the woods while the Black Hood was still on the loose?
15) Betty has the Serpents rescue her.
Having gone to the bank to retrieve the $10,000 that's been asked for, Betty alerts the Serpents about what's going on, which is just as well, as one of the men who previously assaulted Chic has turned up too, and is threatening Alice. The Serpents break down the front door and threaten the people blackmailing the Coopers. The Serpents all draw their knives-even Jughead.
16) Alice kicks Chic out after putting the family in danger twice.
Tearful, Alice tells her son he has to leave, since he put her family in mortal danger on two occasions. He agrees, and it's clear that Alice is finally waking up to Chic's dangerous behavior.
17) Archie misses his dad's campaign launch.
Having promised to attend, Archie misses the launch of his dad's campaign, and his parents are clearly devastated.
18) Toni breaks Cheryl out, and kisses her, too.
The nuns make chase, but having accessed the building via Kevin's secret tunnel in the woods, Toni and Veronica find Cheryl and save her. When Toni bursts into the room, Cheryl kisses her in front of everyone there, which is particularly apt, seeing as they're being made to watch a gay conversion movie about sexual deviance.
19) The Dark Circle is back.
Archie and his friends put their balaclavas back on to threaten the mob families, blowing up their car in the process.
20) Alice makes peace with the Serpents.
Alice announces that she will stop debasing the South Side. She turns up at FP's wearing her dark Serpent lipstick. He takes his chewing gum out, which is surely a sign they're about to hook up.
21) The Lodges buy Archie an extravagant car to thank him.
The Lodges continue to buy Archie's loyalty, this time with a vintage car.
22) The musical episode is coming!
Back at Riverdale High, Cheryl announces that there's something she has to do. She reveals, "I'm obviously Riverdale High's Carrie White. And this school is going to burn." Cue the music.
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