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Riverdale Ep. 106 Recap & Review - 'Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!'

Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW

Asylums, daddy issues, conspiracies, OH MY!

Take away the hot for teacher taboo and the excessive shirtless (sometimes pantsless) scenes and what do you have? Archie Andrews, the handsome idiot. The doofus, even. That ginger who can play guitar good. But instead of making him kind of infuriating to watch, he manages to become a little more entertaining.

It’s all the same fluff we’ve seen in previous episodes, sans faux-Grundy — Archie wants to perform an original song at the school variety show (is that supposed to be a more positive term than talent show?). Archie has stage fright and needs a Pussycat to help him out again. Archie has trouble picking up on social cues. We all kind of knew he was a big doof from the start, but we weren’t sure if the show was aware of what we were witnessing. Turns out it does. There’s a moment during lunch where Archie offers to help in Betty and Jughead’s investigation, but they shut it down pretty quickly. If Jughead asserted any more of a tone in his voice, it’d almost sound like they were patronizing him. “No thanks, pal. You just keep being you and have fun at the talent show,” is what it sounded like to me. Thankfully, good ol’ Juggy made up a perfect excuse, calling his and Betty’s outing a “stealth operation.” Any more than two people would just rouse attention.

Come to think of it, there are a lot more instances “Chapter Six” shows how dumb Archie is now that he’s not preoccupied with Grundy drama:

  • Archie literally just does what he thinks is okay for him. He agrees in letting Veronica join him on stage at the variety show, turning his solo act into a duet. But as soon as Valerie quits the Pussycats and joins Archie, Archie doesn’t even think to tell Veronica until she shows up for rehearsal. When the moment does arrive, he still thought it’d be okay to sing with Val instead of Veronica because the latter was just doing it to make him feel better, right? Oh, Archie-kins. You sweet summer child…. No. It’s still not okay.
  • I know Archie means well, and wants his dad to be happy again, but you don’t go throwing “but your dad’s in jail” at Veronica’s face for any reason! Especially over the fact that Fred and Hermione are seeing each other while both are still technically married. [imagine me clapping to emphasize these words]
  • Archie’s surprised that Josie is short for Josephine. [facepalm]
  • I’ll give him not knowing who Josephine Baker is. I had to do a quick Google search myself. However it did cost him points in front of Josie’s father, who also happens to be a scholar of Jazz music.
  • I can forgive Josephine Baker, but I can NOT overlook his ignorance of who Bob Dylan is. [rolls up newspaper and smacks Archie on the nose]
  • What does this kid know about music, anyway?

Despite all of Archie’s shortcomings, Riverdale proves that it can put him front and center and make the whole teen drama feel more entertaining than it should be. Through him we also get to see more of Josie and the Pussycats. Little by little, Josie becomes less of a brat and more of a strong yet vulnerable girl whose parents have very specific expectations for her. Josie’s mother is only interested in the success of her daughter, not the band, by any means necessary. When Josie tells Sierra (aka Mayor MacCoy) that Valerie quit the band, she just shrugs and tells her to just get another skinny and beautiful woman of color. Just…not someone who’s skinnier and more beautiful than Josie. She also tells her daughter to “remember our brand.” Note that Sierra is very much putting herself into the Josie’s band like a typical stage mother would. I’m not saying this is how Beyonce’s parents were during the days of Destiny’s Child, but…well, weren’t they?

And then there’s Josie’s father, who seems extremely hard to please. He wants the band to have more of a jazzy sound. Hell, I think he’d even settle for rock. Anything that isn’t remotely pop, like he’s saying they are right now. He’s actually so dissatisfied with the current state of Josie and the Pussycats, that he leaves during their performance. Josie sees this and waits until after the show to cry her frustrations in the bathroom.

Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW

Now on to the meat of the episode. Betty needs to talk to her sister Polly, but they need to find where she’s being kept first. Betty invites Jughead to breakfast at her house. Jughead distracts her mother by helping him search for the bathroom while Betty looks through her mother’s checkbook. Very clever, Nancy Drew. Follow the money.

Polly is being kept in The Sisters of Quiet Mercy: Home For Troubled Youth. And it’s run by nuns. In short, it kind of looks like a modern interpretation of a sanatorium. At least, that’s how the Coopers are using it….

Betty’s meeting with her sister Polly finally puts a few things into perspective. Polly and Jason were in love. When the Blossoms found out about their relationship, they forced Jason to break up with her. Then Polly tells him that she’s pregnant and Jason was immediately started preparations to elope and start a family of his own. That explains the running away and selling everything under the sun, including drugs. On the morning of July 4th, the young couple were supposed to meet on the other side of Sweetwater River, but Mr. and Mrs. Cooper intercepted Polly before she could even leave the house and carted her away to The Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

Even worse (yes, it gets worse) is that Polly was told that Betty never wanted to see her again, and she was never told about Jason’s death. Everything Betty was told about the events leading up to Polly’s incarceration — the suicide attempt, the drugs and alcohol, the depression — never happened. But crazy isn’t exactly off the table for Polly. She clearly isn’t all there anymore, for whatever reason. I doubt she’s being heavily medicated in part due to her pregnancy, but that doesn’t mean her mind has been affected in other ways. Betty telling her that Jason is actually dead certainly isn’t going to help things from here on.

To confirm Polly was actually telling the truth (and that their parents are dirty liars), Jughead and Betty search for Jason’s car. They do (full of drugs), and we immediately get the distinct feeling that some intense shit is about to happen. The two rush to retrieve Sheriff Keller, but not before taking pics of the car’s existence first (smart smart smart). When Keller arrives on the scene, the car is already set ablaze, destroying all the evidence inside.

When Betty and Jughead return to get Polly, they find that her room empty and the window smashed from the inside. The two don’t get a chance to point it out before the episode ends, but there is a significant amount of blood on the broken pieces. Did she escape or did she jump off and commit suicide? I guess we’ll find out next week.

Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW

In the middle of all this chaos, Veronica’s story emerges as she comes into conflict not only with Archie, but with her mother as well. She doesn’t like the idea of Fred courting Hermione as though neither of them are married. Archie’s cool with it because he loves his dad and he knows his mother isn’t going to come back any time soon. Veronica, however, still holds out hope that her father will get out of prison and they can resume their happy family life as though nothing ever happened. Her sentimental wish is understandable, but Veronica fails to see (or continues to ignore) the red flags concerning her father. We already Hiram is willing to put his wife in the crosshairs of his own shady dealings, but is he willing to do the same with his daughter? Signs point to a strong “maybe” when we discover that he’s made Veronica a legal officer of Lodge Industries.

I suppose it’s good sense if you expect to keep an entire company from collapsing, but how much do you wanna bet that he’s just saving Veronica to be his next patsy when things go sideways again? And we still don’t know what Hiram plans to do with the lot that once house the drive-in theater (and Jughead). Whatever it is, Veronica’s name is officially on the construction contract by way of Hermione forging her name — all so Fred’s company can get the contract and save his business.

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

  • Veronica and Josie bond over their daddy issues.
  • It was probably for one night only, but Veronica got to perform with the Pussycats. She’s good.
  • I’m still not digging this version of the Pussycats’ sound. I’m just too stuck in preference for a punkier, rock and roll girl group. See: [easyazon_link identifier=”B000IKQMPE” locale=”US” tag=”legoflei07-20″]Josie and the Pussycats (2001)[/easyazon_link].
  • Alice Cooper’s half-crazed laugh crying was unsettling. I almost thought she was going to confess she killed Jason…and then go full Mommy Dearest on Betty.
  • Kevin: “That was Josie and The Pussycats! Long tails and ears for hats.” THANK YOU! I had spent all evening trying to figure out their catch phrase.
  • Jughead and Betty kiss!!! Betty didn’t even look offended or surprised.
  • WHERE IS JUGHEAD SLEEPING?!

About author View all posts

Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.