Well that was an intense episode of television.

It was to be expected, of course. From the beginning, Riverdale has been the type of show to go full speed ahead, no matter what. Ms. Grundy is perhaps the one notable exception, but that character and storyline were also the necessary exception. Riverdale has gone full tilt since Chapter One, so there was never any reason to expect the penultimate episode of the seasonwith the promise of the reveal of Jason Blossoms murdererwould be any different. Still, the very fact that Riverdale actually delivered on that promise to reveal the killer (without any strings attached) is a big deal. Because while it might sound like delivering on said promise is actually expected, shows like Pretty Little Liars and The Killing giving television mystery fans plenty of reason to be skeptical about such things.

Also, how amazing is it that Riverdale use The CWs event of the week structure to unveil a murderer?

But even before we get to the answer of who really murdered Jason Blossom, Chapter Twelve: Anatomy Of A Murder spends a good portion of its time asking why F.P. Jones would take the fall for Jasons death. What should be a relatively easy case to fightdue to a planted gun and F.P.s contingency planturns very quickly as F.P. takes the fall for Jasons murder. And while his story adds up, it also does so with declarations that the audience knows to be absolutely false, like the mention of the Sheriffs missing files (which wed already known Hal Cooper stole). Plus, we already know the gun was planted in his trailer. So F.P.s motivation obviously has to be that of a man protecting another person, and while I simply assumed he was being paid off to take the fall, it turns out that the actual killer threatened Jugheads life. F.P. and Jughead have obviously had a rocky relationship, but Riverdale has done a pretty good job of showing just how much they both love each other, even through all the bad times and this episode is the absolute worst time, as evidenced by the scene where F.P. coldly tells Jughead that hes a murderer and to never come see him again.

The thing is, despite the reveal that F.P. isnt a murderer, it still turns out he was responsible for the freezing and dumping of the body, as well as the torching of Jasons car, as assumedso hes still got quite a few reasons to be locked up for a long time. As for the actual murderer, that would be Clifford Blossom, with the help of his many guns. However, the reason why he killed Jason is still very much up in the air (and possibly now in the grave with him). But it needs to be said: Long before we even get to the truth about Clifford Blossom, the episode is already aces.

For starters, Chapter Twelve is easily Archies best episode and a long time coming. Hell, Archie is the one who puts two and two together to get to the bus station to look for Jughead, which is unbelievable thinking coming from him. A large part of why this episode works for Archie is that, like last week, Archies motivation and involvement in this investigation are 100% fueled by his desire to help Jughead out. Only this time, he doesnt have to betray the guy in the process. After the way this series began, Id say Archie has made good on his promise to make things up to Jughead, even if there werent a lot of hamburgers along the way. (Though, at this point, Archie is actually making up for the combination of blowing up Jugheads spot about his dad being a Serpent and Jugheads birthday party.) Id argue that the best way to look at how Archie is right now is to look at how Bettys been the entire season. Besides her friendship with Veronica, part of what made the Betty character so magnetic from the very beginning was how fiercely committed to the truth and goodness she was, while also fighting to show people she wasnt as perfect as everyone assumed or expected. Archie Andrews is far from perfect, whether its the comics or this showbut hes at his best when hes committed to that same standard of truth and goodness. While its easy to laugh at Archie when he says that Jugheads new school situation isnt fair (welcome to the world, kid), its at least a good sign that this kid truly does care about whats right and wrong. Its a big part of why the Ms. Grundy plot was such a misstep: It heavily relied on Archie not caring about what was wrong and what was right. And had test audiences not hated it so much, that version of Archie wouldve existed even longer. While Riverdale got it right from the beginning with Archie in the sense that hes just an average teenager who struggles to do the right thing, that relationship was just wrong on so many levels. It made it impossible to root for him in his struggles. Then it ended, and we were still stuck with the music of Archie But at least we can always have fun at those stories expense.

That doesnt mean Archie is no longer the slowest member of the Riverdale Scooby Gang though. He may be at the top of his game in this episode, but he still suggests early on that he, Veronica, and Betty all tell their parents whats going on. At this (awful, as it turns out) suggestion, Betty Cooper legitimately makes the greatest WTF? Why are you the way that you are? face in the history of moving pictures:

Speaking of Betty, this episode is a showcase for the character and her aforementioned commitment to truth and goodness, as she is the one personthrough all the roadblocks and supposed evidencewho never lets up on finding out who the real killer is and proving that F.P. is innocent. She also has a superb moment against Penelope Blossom, a character whos also at the top of her abusive game this episode:

Penelope: You made a grave error, little girl. Betty: No, I dont think so. And Im not going to stop until I prove it.

The confidence in that responseits another one of those moments where you see just how much Betty is her mothers daughter, and despite its brevity, its also standout moment for Lili Reinhart. Its a moment that reminds the aware and informs the unaware that Betty Cooper is the hero of this story, and what a capable hero she is. On the one hand, I suppose Reinhart will technically always be a highlight on this show simply because of her stance on Archie being the original fuckboy; but Betty remains a consistent highlight because of just how dedicated she is to the truth, her friends, her family, and to Jughead. As Kevin says, Nancy Drew strikes again, and you know what? If theres anyone on Riverdale Id want on my team when the world comes crashing down, its Betty Cooper. Betty Cooper is a role model.

Bettys confrontation with Penelope is also a moment from the single greatest scene of this episode and possibly Riverdales entirety: The Coopers bulldozing their way into Thornhill in the middle of the night, with Alice Cooper having absolutely no qualms about shouting incest to anyone who will listen and the Blossom parents having even fewer qualms about incest at all. I suppose it all shouldve been less of a shock in a way, considering how both families say grandpappy as if thats the standard nomenclature. But once Hal reveals to Alice and Betty that this Hatfields and McCoys feud theyve supposedly been living is actually an extended family version of Family Feud, Riverdale goes on to achieve heights once only imagined in the context of those darn Blossom twins. Thanks to almost everything Cheryl says and does, incest has been a popular Riverdale topic of conversation, but the fact that the show not only makes it a reality but also makes it between its own version of Romeo and (pregnant, with twins) Juliet is truly inspired in how twisted it is. After all this time comparing Riverdale to Veronica Marsincluding the concept of Polly and Jason as this series Veronica and Duncan in terms of their break-upRiverdale actually goes that extra step further and makes the threat of incest a reality. This also means that Cheryl, a character who can barely be discussed by the audience without at least a passing mention to her feelings for her brother, was screwed
out of incest. But Jason wasnt. The fact that Clifford Blossom only draws the line at brother/sister incest is basically a personal attack on Cheryl, but its also the type of faux boundary that shows you just how surreal and over-the-top the scene is. Its everything you want in a non-dining Blossom scene and more, and its here in the penultimate episode of the season.

Archie purists probably hate the reveal, but when it comes to Riverdale, its pretty much what the series promised in a way. Its sick, its twisted, and its farther than anyone could have possibly imagined or expected theyd actually go. Long live The CW. Also, as I mentioned Pretty Little Liars before, that shows own final A reveal somehow managed to gloss over what it pretty much treated as minor incest between brother (also a Jason) and sister (knowingly engaging in this relationship). So with that context, theres clearly a right and wrong way to approach this type of story.

All of this sends Cheryl into an infantile fugue state for the rest of the episode, as she tries to get the truth from her mommy and daddy, only to either be jerked around to a barn full of sticky, dark, dirty truth in syrup form or receive news that her father murdered her beloved J.J. Cheryl is absolutely out of it for this entire episode, no longer even gaining strength from all the attention she gets from people congratulating her on her brothers alleged killer being caught. Yet shes still a highlight of this episode as she attempts to navigate her familys secrets through the syrupy haze that is her state of mind. Its as though shes in a dreamlike state as the rest of the world goes on and on, and she doesnt even snap out of it as she points Sheriff Keller to her fathers location in the barn. This is the episode that made me realize just how fascinating of a choice it is that Cheryl really has no part in solving the mystery of her brothers murder. At all. Sure, she begrudgingly helped when it came to the playbook, but that was very small potatoes compared to this. So maybe deep down she realized someone in her family killed Jason, because her lack of involvement doesnt exactly line-up with someone who, at the beginning of the series, promised to lead the charge in finding Jasons killer and bringing them to justice. All talk, Cheryl Bombshell. All talk.

And Cheryl isnt just detached from the investigation; shes the complete opposite of Betty in this episode, to the point where they might just be different sides of the same coin. One might think that better describes Cheryl and the also proactive Veronica, but Riverdale has made it clear that those two are pretty much the same side of the same coin. Only, where Cheryl confronts her father in personwith the dead inside line, You did a bad thing, daddy. And now everyone knows.Veronica chooses instead to slander her fathers name around town, hoping it sticks. Betty and Cheryl both want the truth to be revealed, but while Betty knocks down doors to find it, Cheryl does all of it behind closed doors. And while Betty does it with all the energy in the world, Cheryls regular zest for life and mayhem just up and disappears within the walls of Thornhill.

With Veronica literally entering scenes demanding her father be responsible for murder and Kevins inability to realize his gang member boyfriend is a criminal even pre-clean-up reveal, this is certainly an episode that requires the mantra, Theyre just teens. Theyre just teens. Luckily, this is such a strong episode that teenage nature really cant bring it down. But trust me, the Kevin stuff here really tries. However, I wont mark this episode down because of the Kevin/Joaquin of it all, because its really the result of an overall problem with their story and not a problem that is unique to Chapter Twelve. In fact, this episode does the best it possibly can to salvage this relationship, even though it doesnt address the fact that Joaquin was put with Kevin as an assignment (though Kevin appears to get it when he says he really doesnt know Joaquin). At the same time, Kevins continued refusal to believe that Joaquin would have ulterior motives and be following the orders of his gang member boss, plus Kevins newfound realization that Joaquins a criminal (despite said gang affiliation being known from the start), is as frustrating as a typical Archie plot.

Honestly, the fact that Joaquins bus out of town is heading toward to San Junipero singlehandedly saves their plot. Thats even after Joaquin sends off with the line, Im gonna miss you, preppy, which reads of something that would have been perfect for an actual storyline where the audience got to see the beginning, middle, and end of their pairing. Its a line that feels like part of a story that doesnt exist, either because of deleted scenes or just because it was never written. As I wrote last week, hopefully Casey Cott is upgraded to series regular next season and then allowed to have full stories. Though, in the case of a series regular who has been M.I.A. lately (barring the bit of Pussycats from last weeks opening), Josies story for this season apparently ended with her terrible father... Which, while unfortunate, is at least a rather complete conclusion to a plot that has absolutely nothing to do with the major mystery.

But when it comes to real full stories, this episode tells us something we shouldve known all along, as Archies true purpose on Riverdale is revealed: to wear Jason Blossoms hand-me-downs and spark either eureka moments or strange face-stroking moments. What that means for the season finale, well have to wait and see.

Go to the A.V. Club homepage

View original post here:
"Chapter Twelve: Anatomy Of A Murder" - A.V. Club