Will Betty ever truly be rid of her shadow self?

Riverdale Season 4 Episode 9 zeroed in on the teenager's villainous side, and it was all thanks to some scheming from Evelyn Evernever.

On a more serious note, can some just kill Evelyn already? The sooner the farm storyline concludes, the better.

Every single time we move away from it, it rears its ugly head again. It's tiring, but what was more frustrating was Evelyn calling Polly and Alice and saying "tangerine, tangerine, tangerine" through the phone to turn them into complete and utter psychopaths.

Riverdale is dark, absurd, and highly addictive. Shows pull tricks sometimes to keep fans guessing, but could you imagine the uproar if Betty was the one to murder Jughead?

The Bughead fanbase is very vocal, and they probably make up the majority of the fans of Riverdale, so the backlash would be loud and far-reaching.

Still, this is a show that has had floating babies, serial killers, and everything in between, so anything is possible.

FP: Hey, wake up, Red.
Archie: Mr. Jones? What are you doing here?
FP: Investigating a vigilante. Now, be honest with me. Is that you?
Archie: Yeah, it is. Not going to arrest me, are you?
FP: I should. What the hell do you think you're doing?
Archie: Helping. People are scared to call you, or the cops, so I set up a hotline.
FP: What happens if you get hurt -- or worse.
Archie: People die on the side of the road changing tires, Mr. Jones. At least I die with a shred of honor.
FP: What a load of smug BS. You think that's going to comfort your mom?

Permalink: What a load of smug BS. You think that's going to comfort your mom?

Betty revisiting the memory of murdering Caramel and changing it felt like a stretch, but we'll just put that down to Riverdale logic. The most concerning thing here is how calm she, her mother, and brother were about everything.

Polly is the one locked up, yet she was probably ruled overdramatic by her family. Ahead of the telephone calls from Shankshaw prison, it crossed my mind that someone could be manipulating the footage of Polly trying to disfigure the nurse.

The Farm being the true masterminds threw me for a loop, but there is such a thing as too many twists in one tale. The Farm needs to disappear.

I'm not saying the show would be better for it, but it would at least give viewers some semblance of progression.

The storyline should not have been dragged into Riverdale Season 4. It felt like a one-season mystery in a similar vein to the Jason Blossom murder of Riverdale Season 1.

Going forward, it's being left open to interpretation whether Betty managed to get rid of the darkness within her by changing the narrative, and it's difficult to care about it.

Still, we don't even know if Jughead is really dead. We might be in for a surprise twin being added into the mix, possibly a brother who has been living with the grandfather in the abandoned bus.

It's difficult to speculate with this type of show that jumps from extreme to extreme without a second thought.

What we do know is that Jughead has been initiated into a secret society. The moment the school was introduced, it gave major secret society vibes, so I would have appreciated a fresher approach to things.

Haven't the producers ever heard of subverting expectations?

There is the question of where his grandfather disappeared to. This seems like something Mr. Dupont will have spear-headed, especially because Jughead knows the truth about the novels.

A big possibility is that Jughead only won the contract to stop him from digging into the whereabouts of his grandfather. The last thing Mr. Dupont wants is for his credibility in the gutter. It would ruin his reputation and his career.

FP: Why aren't you focused on the center, protecting these kids?
Archie: I am, but trouble shows up here just about every other day, starting with the Dickinsons, who are still out there, by the way.

Permalink: I am, but trouble shows up here just about every other day, starting with the Dickinsons, who...

Now that the narrative is four weeks away from Jughead's supposed death, things will probably kick into high gear when Riverdale Season 4 resumes. We need concrete answers, not beating around the bush for episodes on end.

Hopefully, the addition of Fred's brother will bring Archie back down to the ground. The teenager is unhinged and making terrible decisions. He needs some guidance, or he runs the risk of falling off the deep end.

The nice thing about this plot is that he realized that, as much as he wants to be like his father, he's failing miserably. Fred would never think with his fists.

Fred was smart enough to pick his battles wisely. The same cannot be said for Archie, but it was nice that FP wanted to help the kid get rid of Dodger's family, once and for all.

It was inevitable someone would be caught in the crossfire, however. Every single time Archie celebrates a win, something else happens.

There was no question about FP surviving, thanks to the flashforwards, which have revealed he is alive in the future storyline.

For that reason alone, someone else should have been shot to raise the stakes.

Archie going back to fight Dodger on his own came out of rage. Dodger and Darla were cowards by firing a parting shot, but did they really think they would get out of town by shooting the Sheriff?

The only positive from Archie roughing Dodger up is that the kids now know Archie is not a man of his word. He needs to practice what he preaches if he wants to regain trust with them.

That will be a long and winding road, but hopefully his uncle will guide him through it.

Then there's Veronica, who clearly hasn't learned that her father always has the last laugh. It's rare for him not to have contingency plans, but she threw a literal bomb at him by bringing his mother to town.

Granted, the gloves are off now that the grandmother is ready to yell at her son for his actions, but at least Veronica managed to turn lemons into lemonade with the Colombia interview.

The father and daughter's feuding is reaching crazy heights, and it's about time they waved the white flag and agreed to put up with each other for Hermione's sake.

Maybe Veronica will leave the fight behind when she leaves for college, but something tells me she would attend Riverdale Community College just to spite him.

As for Cheryl, did anyone else cheer when she finally gave her brother back to the Sweetwater River?

Her chat with the therapist on Riverdale Season 4 Episode 8 definitely allowed her to make that step to say goodbye ... for good.

Having her mother locked up in the bunker and stand trial was another WTF moment, but at least Penelope is partly paying for her crimes.

"Tangerine" featured a lot of twists and turns, to the point you would be forgiven for thinking this was a season finale instead of a fall finale.

Still, too much happened. It's almost like the producers think the Riverdale audience is fickle and won't tune in live if there aren't 542 plot twists in one episode.

What did you think of Betty supposedly getting rid of the darkness within her? Are you tired of Archie not thinking plans through? What did you think of Cheryl's goodbye to her brother?

Hit the comments below.

Remember you can watch Riverdale online right here via TV Fanatic.