Riverdale Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Chapter Twenty-One: House of the Devil
Justin Carreiro
at
.
Updated at
.
The relationship roller coaster is back! Riverdale Season 2 Episode 8 switched off our two main couples in their on-again, off-again storylines.
It's funny how both Bughead and Varchie ended things around the same time.
You would think something was in the water in Riverdale. But, it seems more like reality finally caught up with them. It was sad to see, but it was always a possibility.
Were you happy to see FP out of jail? I was excited. I missed the snarky-yet-caring father.
His return meant that Jughead could have a somewhat normal life again. Also, it means that Jughead's focus on running the Southside Serpents will be limited going forward, and Tall Boy will finally get back in line. (Tall Boy needs to go away forever.)
Jughead being a part of the Southside Serpents has not been the strongest storyline. Being a gang member has only caused conflict for him. And it has been tiring to watch him try to fix one mistake by only causing another one, like his mess with Penny Peabody.
FP will finally take back the reins.
Though, it was admirable to see him consider giving up the life of crime for Jughead. It showed that he truly cared for his son and didn't want him to live a bad life. He was so close to making it a reality. Sure, Jughead messed it up, but he almost had it.
I guess we'll be soon finding out the deal he has with Penny Peabody...
The retirement party that Betty and Jughead had in mind was a strange idea. Of all the reasons to throw a party, retiring from a biker gang didn't make sense. They treated it like saying farewell to a 9-5 career.
While they did it to give FP his last goodbye, he was making a conscious effort to distance himself from the gang life. Pushing him back into the fold at the bar only hurt him and gave him an opportunity to reemerge as a Southside Serpent.
On the plus side, however, we got to see Alice Cooper in her leather jacket. That...was...perfection!
Jughead: Wow, Betty...Mrs. Cooper. You look incredible.
Alice: Tell me about it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince this one to dress appropriately. Tall Guy, get me...
[She snaps]
Tall Guy: Tequila, straight up, hold the worm.
Betty was not thinking clearly when she did the serpent dance. She didn't need to join the gang to make sure Jughead was alright. There were other options available to her.
The smarter option would've been to ask Toni to keep an eye on Jughead. When she went up to Toni at the bar, I fully expected her to call in a favor.
Her deciding she wanted to join the Serpents didn't make sense. She wants Jughead out of the gang life, so she joins it to watch him? The logic seemed inconsistent with everything we learned about Betty before Riverdale Season 2 Episode 8.
Finding out the truth of 'The Riverdale Reaper' helped to eliminate a suspect from The Black Hood possibilities. Was the janitor on your list?
The janitor was high on my list of suspects. He had all the makings of being the killer, and him being located at the school tied to the clue of Betty recognizing him. The majority of the facts made sense in the long-run.
I had secretly hoped Archie and Veronica exploring the case would've led to the big reveal. This closed case from the past tying to the attacks in the future weaved an interesting web of mystery.
Though, the janitor also had the qualities of a perfect red-herring. He kept being teased too much to the point that we were clearly meant to notice him. We all fell into the same trap.
Whoever The Black Hood is better lead to a great ending. We've eliminated a lot of good suspects so far in Riverdale Season 2. We need this killer to have a grand moment that will leave our jaws on the floor.
Veronica: What was he doing here?
Hermione: The shadow of The Black Hood has finally landed on our home. We received a letter.
Veronica: What? What did it say?!
Hiram: The usual, that we’ll be targeted and punished for our sinful ways.
Veronica: Well, don’t let it ruin your day.
Hermione: According to Keller, apparently dozens of other households have received the exact same letter.
Veronica: Well, I don’t know about those other people, but we’re actually sinners.
Cheryl is clearly in love (or possessive) of Josie. All of the signs pointed to her having some type of an obsession.
After the events of Riverdale Season 2 Episode 7, Cheryl's motivation for torturing Josie was left up in the air. The same could still be said this time around as no answers were revealed. However, we saw a little bit more of Cheryl's actions with her friend up close to make a guess.
The back rub, the compliments/insults, and the frustration are classic signs of being infatuated. Either she has a crush on Josie, or she's possessive of her friend because Josie saved her life after being nearly raped by Nick. I'm leaning more towards the former.
I can't wait until Josie confronts her about it.
Did Archie and Veronica overreact with the whole 'I love you' deal?
It almost seemed like they were treating it like the plague. No one wanted to acknowledge the words, and it only made it uncomfortable for them when they were in the room together. Their scenes whenever it came up were cringe-worthy.
Sure, they're teenagers, but both have known each other for a while now, and they've been mature enough up until this point. I found it hard to believe that Veronica, who seemed like a reasonable and logical person, acted like this was new territory. It didn't fit her character structure at all.
And especially with both Archie and Veronica bringing it up with their parents. Why would they go to their parents first? Archie asking Fred could be a possibility, but Veronica going to Hiram or Hermione for dating advice?!
I don't buy it. She would go to Betty first for something this uncomfortable. It didn't make sense.
Archie: Ronnie! What I said it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to say it back to me.
Veronica: But it does, and it should. And, for whatever messed up reason, Archie, whatever deep seeded issues I have, I can’t let myself go there with you. Sorry. I’m so sorry.
[She gets in the car and leaves]
The only benefits of their 'I love you' storyline were the investigation scenes and the cover song. (Seriously, these actors are talented! We need an episode where they form a band together.)
I'm not surprised that Archie and Veronica called it quits. Trouble had been brewing ever since Riverdale Season 2 Episode 1 when The Black Hood first attacked. Their relationship had been nothing but a roller coaster.
In hindsight, there were a lot of highs and a lot of lows. 'Varchie' surviving this long might be an actual miracle.
Though, Archie is still the worst when it comes to his love life. All I could do was shake my head when the ending quote foreshadowed him liking Betty. I mean...it was barely five minutes after things ended with Veronica! Was there no mourning period?
Betty: How many times, Jug? How many times are we gonna push each other away?
[She tears up]
Jughead: Until it sticks. That was my dad’s one chance of going straight and I wrecked it! I’m not going to destroy you too.
Betty: Just tell me what happened, Jug. Jug!
[She whispers]
Betty: Don’t leave, please.
Jughead: Go home.
[He walks away]
The Bughead breakup was hard to watch. After everything those two have gone through, especially with Betty trying to protect Jughead from The Black Hood, to see it end like that was bittersweet.
I understand Jughead's reasoning.
Betty doing the serpent dance was completely out of character for her, and while she did it for a concerned reason, she DID join a gang and strip in front of people. We can't ignore that Betty Cooper, the perfect girl next door, did these things. He didn't want to keep bringing her down.
However, I don't like how Jughead continues to act like a martyr.
He made the bad decisions that affected FP, not Betty. His girlfriend only tried to help him; this wasn't the first time he's lashed out at her for doing something, like throw his birthday party on Riverdale Season 1 Episode 10. As much as it's sad to say, maybe Betty is better off without Jughead.
What did you think of "Chapter Twenty-One: House of the Devil"? Are the couples officially over? Will Penny come to collect her debt from FP? Will Josie confront Cheryl about her attitude?
If you missed the latest episode of Riverdale, you can watch Riverdale online via TV Fanatic. Come back here and let us know what you think.
Justin Carreiro was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
