Page 7 - Riverdale Roundup Ch. 103: Dreamscape Nightmare

Episode Date: April 9, 2022

Guess who's back, back again? MJ's back and you better get out your reversal candles, because it's time for Riverdale Roundup! Support us on our Patreon page and get weekly bonus Patreon-exclusive content! Patreon.com/Page7Podcast Intro song by Green Dreams Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Page 7 ad-free.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Have you been dying to see us live? Then get psyched about the last podcast network, Country Jamboree, at the Rhyman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on June 18th. Jackie, we're not at the Country Bear Jamboree, but I am grinning like a possum, eating a sweet tater. Because we'll have all your favorite LPN family out and performing live, including last podcasts on the left, page seven,

Wizard and the Bruiser, No Dogs in Space, Brider Side, fraudsters, someplace underneath. The story must be told, and more. Tickets will be available on April 8th. Again, that's the Rhyman Auditorium on June 18th in Nashville, Tennessee. The last podcast network, Country Jamboree! Jay, welcome back to Riverdale. Back again. Guess who's back?

B, B, B, B, J's back. Well, now you're going to have to get a haircut. And I, you know what? I think that you could rock an M&M circa, that song haircut. Yeah, one of my self-care treats, hopefully in the next few weeks, is going to be to get a haircut. So maybe I'll ask for the M&M circa. What was the year that was? Who knows at this point in the before times is what we referred to it.

I guess it'll be BP. And are we going to start calling it BP? But no, we're not here to talk about the pandemic. We're here. I mean, but it is an equal. amount of love watching a dumpster fire, it is Riverdale Roundup. Now, MJ, you haven't been around in a while, and I understand you have other things. Sometimes more important things than watching Riverdale, which, oh, I guess there might be a

couple of things that might overpower the need to watch Riverdale. But now that you're back, what do you think about the superpowers? Yeah, man, never before has a show just translated. formed its role in my life so much over the course of five years. Like truly went from being like, I can't wait to watch Riverdale to now being like, somehow my like life depends on this. Like I need to somehow find that I have to like cram for a Riverdale because I'm behind. I'm trying to catch up.

I love you to cram for Riverdale. What a world we live in. I had to cramp Riverdale and I'm going to be full disclosure to listeners. I failed the cram. If this was a test about Riverdale and the first three. episodes of season six, I would be trying to coast on my existing knowledge. I have done a lot of reading of recaps. I have done as much watching of episodes as I can. But just like a test, you should not wait to watch all the Riverdale's in one night because you'll want to die.

And so instead, you're left just being like, okay, Jughead can read minds, but he can't hear. All right. Sure. I'll take it. Somehow, somehow that works even though reading my even though what we think is not always we don't always rehearse exactly what we're about to say in our mind right before we say it but that's how jughead is getting by without people knowing that he can't hear so there's that the explosion happened i don't know i'm like i guess i'm just down for the ride i was pleasantly honestly my biggest takeaway from this episode episode three of season six and perhaps my biggest takeaway to a fault because i'm not as ready prepared to talk about the superpowers. I'm so impressed with Archie's politics on homelessness. And I want to say thank you, Archie. Thank you, Archie, even though I will say, where's you going to get that money?

And then them batting themselves in the back because they made two, which is, I'm not saying that that's not a, you know, it is a valiant effort. However, there's a lot of people. I would dare say that there's the amount of people on Sketch Alley, as there are that live inside of Riverdale, that maybe they'd want to. to work to help their people.

Yeah, I mean, right. It's great that as we are coming into season six, Riverdale is essentially, I mean, it's been not a town, hence town, not town, for at least a season now. It's a shell of a town. It's been a shell of a town. But now, just as we opened with this episode with this very critical letter published in Jughead's newspaper that I guess Jughead is the end of the newspaper.

He is now the head of the newspaper, yep. Which I guess that's also. The unbiased newspaper. MJ. And I was about to say that's new, but is it because he's always been the editor of a newspaper? It was just the high school newspaper before, which also functioned as the whole town's newspaper. So it's really fine that he's the editor of the newspaper again. But this editorial, we open with this editorial, this editorial, the scathing editorial, saying there's a homeless encampment on every corner. And my first reaction was, wow, Riverdale Topical, ripped from the headlines. Lots of talk about the increase in homelessness in our cities. United States right now. Lots of horridic talk about it.

And once again, that's why I was so pleased with Archie, fighting for dignity for people who are street homeless. And, but the town really is more of, sketch alley appears to be the primary feature of town now, like aside from the four to eight characters that we know, I think that's the only community left. And you think about it, what was going to happen with all of the roving horrid? of orphan boys that now that they're going to inevitably grow up and then just go live on Sketch Alley.

That's true. There have always been a lot of abandoned people living in Riverdale. Yeah. So I'm going to say once they, you know, gutted the gym orphanage. Right. Where were they going to live? Remember when all the orphans were living underneath the boxing? You're right.

Yeah. There's been a lot of different makeshift shelters over the years. And now we are seven years later. So probably Sketch Alley really is the same people who've just been existing. Riverdale without homes for a decade now. Riverdale. And now they finally are going to do something about it. Thanks to Archie Andrews. Thanks, Archie Andrews.

But also, I guess thanks to old magic himself. Jeff has been referring to him as Witch Hunter General. Percival Pickens, because I don't know if you picked up what they were putting down, but Percival Pickens is generations deep of Riverdale. He had left Riverdale and now is back. but he used to be the bad guy in Riverdale back in the days of Abigail Blossom, who is also currently inhabiting Cheryl Blossom's body. But we don't need to get there just yet.

That's helpful, though. Try to peace because what I said to Jeff last night as we watched it. I was like, man, I know that MJ is trying to cram all these episodes. And I can't imagine jumping in to this episode after, like, because so much, they have crammed so much in the last two episodes, it was like, how are you possibly going to understand? What is going on right now? Luckily, unlike a test, your comprehension level for Riverdale really just needs to be at about 60% at any time.

Yeah. You know, so thankfully, it's like, I don't need to, like, draw like a genogram of, like, the Abigail Blossom family tree from the 70s or anything. Like, so I was like, okay, I think I get it. Like, you know, you'd be surprised. You could miss two, you know, plot heavy, history, heavy episodes of Riverdale and then jump into the third and be like, okay, I think I get it. That's a ghost of a bad guy and that's the ghost of Abigail and she's inhabiting Cheryl. Cheryl's stuck in a dreamscape and there's superpowers now.

All right, I think I'm caught up. Yeah, but I mean, that is the gist of things. It is weird because this episode, though, because it was so houseless plot, heavy that didn't make like the last two episodes barely had any actual plot it was just them and their superpowers was like I guess this is what Riverdale is now okay so it's why it was also so weird of like oh oh we are having a plot okay yeah let's let's throw a plot in here this episode sounds good to me so so I know I know a lot of Riverdale Roundup listeners don't watch but do religiously listen I know some Riverdale Roundup listeners

listeners religiously watch. And so I'm wondering if for my benefit, perhaps the benefit of some listeners who are not truly immersed in the in the multiverse of Riverdale right now, if you could just give the broadest of overviews of how superpowers have manifested in Riverdale in terms of each of our like four principles. Explosion. The explosion. Explosion happened and anyone, oh my God, MJ, because you did get to miss and which something I imagine some of the summaries did not really encapsulate properly. They are the only ones that have these superpowers because they were the ones that were closest to the explosion.

We still don't know how the explosion happened. They claim that it was the goolies working under Hiram Lodge. Also last episode, Veronica had Hiram murdered. Wow. Whole funeral and everything. Funeral for daddy, doing the whole thing. She was the one that had him killed. However, you know my thing.

theories on this, never saw the body. I was going to say. Didn't see it happen. Do we think he's really dead? I don't think that he is dead. Okay. Jeff vehemently disagrees with me. Really?

I do not think that he is dead. But I digress. Hiram set up the explosion with the goolies. And then they discovered afterwards that there's no way that they could have survived. It literally exploded the house. And so the last couple episodes, Archie has been like, rebuilding his mom's house. Okay.

And one of the, oh my God, there was so much. One of the construction workers is possibly TBK. Ah, because I know TBK's back and Betty's on the run. Yes, Betty's on the run until the end of this episode, which we'll get into in a second. And now they have superpowers, but who also has the superpowers? Bingo the dog who is in the house. And at one point in one of the episodes, TBK takes and kidnaps Archie and is about to torture him slowly. And who comes to save the day, bingo the dog.

Yes. And he jumps up and he jumps at TBK and pushes him through the wall and off of the second story of the house. Great. Because the dog also has superpowers now. I am mad that they didn't include. If I wrote in a dog that had superpowers, I would have it in every single scene. I would make it take over the entire season because why the fuck not? Yeah, I, you know, there's no better place to go from last season, which was like, let's do some actual cool shit about like witchy stuff and the supernatural to now just being like, uh, the dog has superpowers too.

Fine, whatever. You know, I think that's, I think that's a great way to heighten because it's Riverdale's trap. The trap of Riverdale is you can only heighten so high before needing to just break through the. the fucking universe into another realm to keep heightening. Yes. We are now like, we're now in like our fourth or fifth universe in Riverdale. So then now Percival Pickens, he tried to, he walked, he showed up on the scene of Riverdale because he just walked into Alice Cooper's home.

And not, it wasn't Alice's home. It was, um, it's Archie's home. Okay. And was like, I want to buy this house. Just a stranger walking into a home that he doesn't know. and Arch's like, no, man, he says to this house. And so if at some point he buys the house with his mother, who cares? Archie owns the house now, but personal Pickens tried to come in and buy it.

Personal Pickens is obviously the new big bad. He's related to General Pickens, who was one of the big bads back in the days of your. And I am assuming that they are going to be tying in, I'm going to guess. I'm going to throw spaghetti at the wall here. Now that Abigail Blossom is back on the scene trying to champion her old self and go after the people that had wronged her in the town before, I'm going to assume that the other characters ghosts are going to inhabit their body at some point. Yes. Yes, please.

Isn't this what we've been hoping for the whole time since season five, since the end of season four when they set that up? Yes, and also general, like, there's no way that Percival Pickens is not going to, like, have a big standoff with Abigail slash Cheryl Blossom at some point. Because Cheryl Blossom, who is not dead, lives inside of the dreamscape nightmare that Abigail Blossom created for her to keep her in a mental prison. That's kind of fun. I like this. Dreamscape nightmare. Come on, aren't we all? Genuinely, very scary.

L'LB blossom in the dreamscape nightmare. We'll get to the dreamscape nightmare. So that's what happened with Disclosure. That's how they have superpowers. Uh-huh. There was a whole very devastating episode where Jughead just was trying to cope with the loss of losing his hearing. Mm-hmm.

And it was more just about that. And you don't find out until the end of the episode that he can actually read people's minds. Uh-huh. So Betty and Archie have the superpowers. Jughead has the superpowers. The dog. Does Veronica have any superpowers? No, she's just Veronica.

She just runs the casino. She doesn't seem like she has any superpower. She seems like she's the same old bitch. She's always been. She just killed her father. And then she went in this episode so fast when she was like, you know what? I'm not going to be like daddy. I'm going to make the casino be a real casino.

It's not going to be a scam casino. It's going to be a real casino. And the town's going to be proud of it. And then the second Alice Cooper said, yeah, but maybe you shouldn't be the head of the casino anymore because of your family and everything. She's like, never mind. Daddy, your soul lives on me. Daddy, we're going to scam and scam and scam. I also like that she's like, I'll hang the portrait of the evil man in the casino.

Like, as, you know, that will be the central feature of my life is a portrait of the man I'm trying to not become. It's such a strange choice, such a Veronica choice, because she's a daddy's girl. But it would be like hanging a portrait. I'm not comparing Hiram Lodge to Hitler. But imagine, like, hanging a portrait of Hitler to be. in the terms of Riverdale. I have this portrait of Hitler in my office to remind me to never be like Hitler. You'd be like, what if you just took, what if you had a portrait of somebody that was good?

But she'll, this is the thing. Veronica's always going to be like her daddy. She can't get rid of him. I just imagine if you had that picture, you're going to be like, look, we high-hile to each other. And we're like, MJ, this isn't a good look. Be like, no, no, no, it's because I'm not like Hitler that I have a Hitler. Oh, you're not like Hitler. Oh, no, no, no, I get it.

until you immediately call upon your new cousin, Eraldo, who is a killer. Because Eraldo had come and killed... After Veronica killed Daddy. Who was her... Hermosa found out and was like, I'm going to kill you now. And sent the same killer that Veronica is sent to go kill Daddy

to come and kill her. But then Eraldo... came in the cousin. She didn't know that he was a killer, killed him before he could kill Veronica. So now, Errardo is a part of the family. And so that's why she called him on Eraldo during this episode. I just love how she says Eraldo every time,

where I'm like, okay, all right, Veronica. My mom also goes, Musa del. So I guess, you know, to each their own. Right. And because, like, not 20 minutes after Veronica, decides to come to be clean and to run her casino like a family business. I love that she's like family friendly, like Atlantic City, which like I don't think that's really how people talk about Atlantic City.

And no one says that I'm about Atlantic City. No one's like, I mean, there's the Jersey Shore. Yeah. Yeah. You can drop your kids there. But like certainly in New York City people talk about Atlantic City as like the trashy adult place to get away to that is close. You know, like...

Great buffets. Yeah, you just drink all day and eat the buffets. But not after, not long after she decides to keep it clean, they find a man hanging in the casino and instinctively react by, you know, needing, compulsively needing to cover it up, which is another thing I love about Riverdale, that there's like no, there's no expectation that anybody would abide by either the law or just like the obvious. correct thing to do. There's always, like, it is a universe where if you can make a terrible choice that for no reason it's needlessly complicated and extremely illegal and will make

everything worse, that is the choice that will be made. And that's something I do appreciate. Yes, completely. Don't, don't, why would you call the authorities about the man hanging in your casino? No. No, that would be that's, and I also liked it when Veronica and Reggie walked in on the man that had hung himself, they acted as, like, they act the same way I do. I, do when like I lived with cats and I would walk into the cats had knocked something over and like oh all right

they didn't even really flip like they didn't even react that big to a man having killed himself inside of the casino no it was like a spill they were just like oh how are they deal of this not like not like an emotional trauma but again the characters

in Riverdale have experienced so much death that perhaps a man hanging himself inside their casino is really just another inconvenience. Yes, it really is for them. And I understand. It's hard out there when you're trying not to scam. But all I can immediately think of was like, have the casino take their scam money and then

you can make the tiny homes for the houseless. Right. There you go. Done. Yeah. Riverdale, um, hello. Just call me on the phone. I know the answer.

Use your scam money for good. And then everyone would be like, oh, but the scam money's for good. Also, did you see how? fast. I immediately aligned Percival Pickens, because you saw Percival Pickens starting to get into Alice Cooper's mind. And I was like, get out of there

because this, it reminds me of Percival Pickens is all about like making Riverdale the greatest city and trying to clean up Riverdale. Is that not what Hal Cooper also was doing via murder? It is. It is strange

that it's not a surprise. But it is weird to, since our job here is to unpack the themes on Riverdale, that a theme persistently in the Riverdale universe is, this is like a bad, dirty town that needs to be cleaned up. And there's every season, basically, somebody else is trying to fix Riverdale, usually with murderer. Last, you know, two seasons ago, Archie was trying to fix Riverdale with, you know, because he had his, like, daddy, savior complex thing. But yeah, there's always, there's this, this is once again one of the three plot lines that Riverdale has. We are just back to it, you know?

That was almost why I was like less confused as I should be last night watching this episode because I was like, oh, I know this story. Riverdale's bad and we have to clean it up. Yes, this is like the beginning of every season of freedom. But now it's via mind control. Now it's by mind control. And thankfully, our hero Jughead. And you know, I know that we have our issues with Cole Spouse, but I'm always. always thankful for a Jughead heavy Riverdale episode. I think that that is what you got to do. Yeah. He's just he's just the only character who's ever even tried to be written with any depth whatsoever. So except for Betty, maybe I would put Betty in that camp. But like I really feel safe in the hands of Jughead coming through. And since Jughead can read everyone's minds, he's going to be the one who can foil personal. Yes. And I will say, I didn't realize how much I missed Betty until this episode.

Yeah. Bring Betty back. Yeah. Betty is because you're right. They do, I feel that like their characters are better written than the other characters. No question. I'm sorry. Veronica is a terrible character. And Archie is a terrible.

I mean, I liked Archie in this episode because he happened to be miraculously saying something good about homeless people. But Archie is just like, I got to do good. And Veronica's just like, I have got to do bad. And like that's the essence. of each of their characters.

But that's what's fun. It's that they are the cartoonish sides of good and bad. And then there's the ones in the middle that, like, actually have a brain and have a heart. Yeah, there's Betty. Betty. Betty can be good and bad. That's why she's complicated. Oh, bad Betty.

Oh, baddy. Yeah. I, um, how about, how'd you feel about Kevin getting bashing the face with a half? It was alarming. Again, with a Riverdale, you're just like, I'm having a good time. I'm watching Riverdale. Oh, dear God, you just hit Kevin in the head with a hammer. That was traumatizing to watch.

Because this is the whole thing, right? This whole episode was just Percival Pickens showing that he can do mind control and that he can get exactly what he wants done by not killing anybody, which I actually kind of enjoy. Yeah, that's nice. So what did he do? He went into the brain of one of the houseless people, and he decided to attack Kevin to show that the houseless people are evil

and they must be driven out of Riverdale, which in the end, he ended up having done because he had gotten into the mind of one of the people, and then he hit Kevin in the head with a hammer as they were trying to build tiny homes for the houseless. Yeah, it really was, it did take me out of the world a little bit because the, like, Percival's anti-homeless rhetoric, like, is actually like... A problem in what is actually a part of our problem.

Yeah, exactly. Like, like, it was actually pretty realistic and pretty familiar. Like, you can't have a good town unless you, like, keep up, you know, clean up these encampments. And, you know, these are like, if they, if these people, like, deserved dignity, they would like get their lives to get. Like, it was actually, even though he's like, I'm a ghost from the 1700s. Like, he was also just like, actually pretty realistically putting forward all the anti-homeless talking points that you are hearing a lot right now, like in New York City and I think also L.A. And so I was like, so. So it was like a weird choice for Riverdale to be like, we're actually taking on like a extremely like serious political issue in this episode, but also like via like the bodies of ghosts from the 1700s. And so that's why. And I do, I appreciate that you now just refer to him as a ghost. I think he's got to be a ghost, right?

He has to be, isn't he? Or whatever Abigail, I mean, I guess what do you call a spirit? inhabiting a spirit from a possession i think that's what it is maybe he is not personal pickens uh-huh maybe he is or like maybe that's his name but maybe he is possessed by the ghost of his relative uh-huh yeah something's probably possessed whatever whatever's going on with cheryl and abigail seems to be you know we're in a we're in a we're in a it's the present day but also it's the 1700s war still playing out situation right yes see and And before you had brought up Archie, I forgot to mention that, I don't know if you picked this up in what you had read.

But Archie immediately, because there was a gang war that was about to start between the gooies and the serpents, and Archie went over with his superpowers and just, I think, murdered a bunch of goolies. Because he went over and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm going to teach you what happens to Biverdale. And then he got back to the boxing gym with just covered in. And I was like, did he kill all those people? Did he just like go and kill a bunch of the goleys? Because that's a lot. But anyway, sorry, not this episode.

I just needed you to know that backstory of where Archie's vigilante-turned-superhero plotline is going. But that's also good. I like vigilante, Archie, you know? Yeah. Like I miss vigilante when he was going out in the night and killing people for, you know, his... So this is... All values. Yeah.

And I think that this is all going to come to a head into a big mind superhero fight, right? Gotta be. So, like, based on this episode, I guess, you know, last season with the, with the, like, cool, experimental, witchy, spiritual stuff they were doing, I was like, I don't know where this is going, but I love it. And I'm curious to hear your thoughts on either where you think this is going. And B, do you, like, how do you feel about the new superhero world we have now found ourselves in? Because I enjoyed last night's episode.

But I also missed last season. Yes, I've been enjoying the episodes. And I think that they're actually in a going to fun place because I don't think that the superpowers are going to be here to stay. I think I would be more upset if the superpowers were going to be here to stay. Because I don't want this to be just another superhero show on ZW. Right. But what I do think, which you missed and I think that I love. that they just straight up said it.

Britta, I think in the first episode back, was just like, Mr. Cheryl, are you saying that magic is real and that magic exists? And Cheryl's like, yes, magic exists here. Like, essentially just straight up was like, yes, we've opened up a portal.

So I'm going to say that some sort of time continuing, has, like, continue has open. Like, they opened up something in that explosion that is making all this supernatural stuff happen. I don't know if that means that they are going to end up closing it and then maybe the superpowers go away, but the magic stays.

I feel like it's going to be something like that that they're going to fix because Percival Pickens showed up into town right after the explosion. So this is, it's got to be some sort of is an interdimensional thing? I don't know. Uh-huh. Right. And has there been any integration of season five with, because I know that now timeline-wise the end of season four was the explosion, right?

And then we had season five where like every episode, somebody important, died. And we had all sorts of time travel and spirits and, you know, and shit like that. And we like learn more about the world of Abigail. And now we're back in like normal time, but with magic. So have we, has there been an explosion? Something I could not get from recaps is like,

has there been an explicit like integration of what, all happened with the last season, which was, again, probably our favorite season with where we are now? Or do we not know? No. No. It was, that was, so that was the alternate dimension. So we already know that we were in an alternate dimension in River Vale. And now they're back to reality. Okay. But I do, I think that like all of this is coming because of whatever chasm happened in time to cause River Vale. Sure. So, but no, they have not explicitly said any of it. We're kind of just all, I think, strapped in and are just being taken on a ride right now because I think that the magic isn't going anywhere because of, it's so much fun.

And Cheryl Blossom being cast as two different people, although exactly the same, is very funny to me. And I think that it is worth it. I'm trying to think through anything. Because, like, I mean, Britta still lives apart. Like, it really was seamless with where they were at the end of the, before it became Rivervale. Right, right. So there was no, like, Archie was in a coma, and that's what that was, like, a kind of explainer of why Rivervale happened. Well, he just went right into the superpowers because there was no way that they could have survived.

And it's because Archie held, like, covered. Betty. Of course he did. And he was like, yeah, so that's how I saved her. They're like, there's no way. The houses exploded. How did you do it? And it was because he was so strong, which still doesn't exactly make sense.

But, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we never even really got into, no, there was no time. He's like skated right past it. Got you. Okay. But we didn't even talk about Cheryl yet and what's going on with Cheryl. Please. So Nana Rose got bad girl again and essentially was like, I like you better.

when you were Abigail and banished, did a ritual and banished Cheryl away and allowed Abigail Blossom to take over her body again. But this was because, oh, I forgot. It was because Abigail Blossom's ghost was inhabiting Britta. Okay. That's what happened. Because Britta, the ward of mistress Cheryl, because Cheryl was trying to reverse the curse that they had. set out during River Vale. So this is where it does actually kind of overlap here.

Oh. So that part did happen. Uh-huh. Because the portal or whatever had been opened. Okay. So Cheryl knew that. And so Cheryl got out her reversal candles and put out her like, like little doll versions of each of the characters and put that next to the reversal candles.

But in the middle of the night, she was pissed off because that's why Nana Rose is pissed off. I started, sometimes I've got to talk it back through to remember what Shannaroos happened. It's very helpful for me and probably the listeners as well. So she was upset because the candles kept blowing out. And how is the reversal of the curse going to happen if the candles keep getting blown out? Uh-huh. So she had, so she stayed up in the middle of the night to find out like Nana Roe's, Rose, she kept being like Nana Rose, you keep doing this.

So she took Nana Rose and she locked her away in some sort of room inside of Thorneill. I love the-I-on-the-lawful. I love the elder abuse of Nana Rose. This repeated, repeatedly doing offensive things to an old woman on this show. I will say she was the one that took Cheryl away and put Abigail. So I don't think that she's necessarily innocent. And so it wasn't her. It was really Britta, who was being an.

inhabited by Abigail Blossom's ghost because Abigail Blossom didn't want to reverse the curse. She wants, so that, did I not realize that? Is it, are the superpowers because they're cursed? And that's why the superpowers, like, also have a wish master vibe where it's like, you have it. It's Budwada, you know, it's like, right, a monkey's paw situation. Yes. Yes. Right, because there has been very little integration between the Cheryl Abigail, um, you know,

you know, avenge my, my 17-100. Until she tried to bang Tomasina, aka Titi. Right, right. And she's pissed off because Tomasina, aka Titi, is with Fangs, aka Fenn, who was the guy that killed her back in the... Yeah, I know, I keep saying, 1700s. It might have been 16. Who knows?

Jeff laughed when I said, and he's like, 1700, Jack. And I was like, I don't know. before, before now. During the Revolutionary War before? I assume they were pilgrims. I don't know. I'm not sure.

It's vaguely, it's giving me Salem Witch Trial vibes, which I guess is 1600. And you also have to remember, too, that like, what war was Archie in? You know, it's like, let's think about, like, I'm not being crazy. I have no way to know. Yeah, no, it's not our fault that the timeline makes no sense. Okay, all right, so yeah, and right, what I was going to say it was like, there's, Cheryl has always been on her own trip for the last, for the whole Rivervale.

Well, you're right, there was some integration, but certainly in this episode, there was like zero integration between Cheryl and the other plot lines. So, but that would be a cool way to connect it if the ab. And of course, because the whole thing that the way that the last season right before Rivervale ended was her being like, I have to avenge, like, you four, you know,

the ancestors of Archie and Elise Archie and Betty. and Jughead. I think Veronica, like your ancestors. But that's why it would make sense. Veronica doesn't have a superpower. Ah, yes, right. Maybe not Veronica. It was just those three who had been in Riverdale, like your ancestors wronged my ancestors. So, you know, this goes back to the... I feel so dumb. Thank you. You know what?

Thank you for asking the questions so that we could figure this out. This is less of a plot recap and more of like a college class on Riverdale where we're really exploring the theme. I feel like it is. But I think that that's what we need. Honestly, not a lot crazy happen in this episode, but a lot was leading up to it, which is why I thought it was so funny for you to jump in. I know.

How is MJ possibly going to know what the fuck is going on? But I get it. You're right. It is cyclical plots at times, at times, I will say. No, but I'll do better. I promise, dear listener, that I will know what's going on more in the future. But, yeah, I mean... This is good for me, too, because honestly, I was like, I don't...

I don't, again, I got really used to. Jeff and his, like, steel trap of a brain that remembers everything that I'm like, I don't remember. I don't know. Well, Jeff may have a steel trap, but we have a big that of feelings and memories about how five years of Riverdale has made us feel. Yes. Thank you.

And we are able to pull out the big, repeating, compulsively repeating, perhaps themes that happen at every season. And- Well, I will say, did I ever tell you that I think Jeff watched the first, like, two or three seasons of Riverdale to court me. Really? And I didn't even know he was doing it when we were just texting and he was friends like, yeah, I just decided to start watching Riverdale since you seem to like it so much. Then we'll have something to talk about it. And I was just like, you don't need to watch Riverdale. And I was like, wow. That's how you know, that is dedication.

Okay, I'll go on a date. If you can watch Riverdale for someone, I think that that means a lot. And see what should, you know, once you're married for a few years, Gideon's like, good luck. Watch your three episodes tonight. You're on your own. Oh, yeah, though. You wait. Yeah, what's that happened? Once kids happen, no, there's no fucking way.

We're ever watching this show together ever again. But, like, honestly, this reminds me of how much time we spent in the Oregon harvesting season being like, are we going to, maybe, like, thinking, like, the Riverdale writers are playing three-dimensional chess. And actually, this thing's going to tie it together, and it's all going to be brought back. And sometimes things actually are brought back in Connecticut. Sometimes they are, though. sometimes not at all. And now I think the discovery you just made about Cheryl and the curse and the superpowers is one of these, is it actually all connected or is that just a coincidence?

Could be either way. It's got to be. It's got to be. I believe. I believe. I have faith that they're going to pull something out for us. You know, I was so impressed with the Riverville season. I just can't emphasize enough how much that was such a good season.

And I'm also genuinely liking this season. I thought it was actually pretty creepy. that Cheryl is being locked in a nightmare scape where she is a child with JJ and that Penelope Blossom is definitely pulling a mommy dearest card. And also, it's like a mommy dearest card mixed with whatever happened to baby Jane because she's got the same makeup in like from the crazy woman, whatever happened to be Jane. And if you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. And it's just like, she's very scary. It's very, upsetting. Yeah. The Cheryl

plotline was absolutely my favorite part of this episode, although again, I did enjoy the Jughead stuff too, but yeah, it is like the JJ dream scape and like being stuck in this like hell of abuse with Penelope is very, very good. And like does feel like a great

escalation heightening of the existing Cheryl verse that we've that we know so well. And so I think that there's going to be a battle. There has to be battles for the body. You know, I think it's going to be hopefully it's going to be a good struggle. But then what's going to end up happening?

It's like, is it going to be that Cheryl and T.T. get back together because maybe Abigail Blossom convinces Tomasina that maybe they should be together because I'm going to say I'm here for it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm always happy to see T.T. I want to be watching them kissing. I'd like to see them be kissing, please.

Yeah. I'm sad that the art, that the Cheryl as an artist as an evil painter plot line, wasn't brought through at all because I don't know if you ever notice, this is probably just me, that in the background of Thorne Hill, you can always see her paintings and they are very weird. I should start paying more attention to that stuff. I always, when I watch,

think that the set designers on Riverdale must have a really good time. They must, but then at the same time, but the town hall is the boxing gym that is the fire department. Remember that? Remember when, oh my God, when Archie was just like wet down the fire truck and then Veronica comes in, they start making out and they're all wet. And like, where's that? Yeah, there was not enough kissing in this episode.

That's for sure. No. All of the, it is, this is a dry town now with Percival Pickens. And I, that part I am not here for. But for the rest of it, I think that they're having a lot of fun with these supernatural stuff. who knows what's going to happen. So the thing is that Betty was on the run from TBK, but it wasn't on the run

because now we know that TBK is in love with Betty. And so the last episode, and then like, oh, because he killed Glenn and then started sending her pieces of Glenn and then killed Archie. So he's trying to go. after anyone that's wronged Betty. Oh, because, oh my God, MJ,

it was like genuinely really yucky. It was because Glenn tried to sexually assault Betty. Oh, no. In the FBI room because she is now back FBI. And so she had him draw, like, she had him, like, put charges against him. Uh-huh. And then TBK came, killed him. started sending her pieces of the body.

I'm torn on this. I do like a vengeance plot line, but I also, now that we're watching Gossip Girl on Thursday nights with, for the Discord, I wish that we would stop portraying, needlessly portraying,

like sexual assault just for like mild plot thickening, you know? Yeah, and I think it's, you know, one of the reasons why I'm glad we're shipping on from the Gossip Girl world for a bit. I am okay with it. Yeah.

And I am excited. though, with TBK because Betty had to leave because she's like, he'll follow me anywhere. So I'm just going to go make a big round and try to get him away from Riverdale. What does that mean, MJ? What does that fucking mean?

Betty, don't you know that whatever you think will help will always make things worse? But then here's the thing. So TBK, I thought that the construction worker that attacked Archie, who then ended up like kidnapping Archie, I thought that he was a worker for TBK and not TBK.

Jeff thinks that he is TBK. But I still think, because it's Riverdale, it can't be Hal Cooper. But what if it's something like that? Because he's definitely being very daddy towards Betty. Uh-huh. I wish it was Hal Cooper somehow. I know that how Cooper.

is dead. I know that he is dead. But didn't Cheryl's dad have an evil brother? Like, and didn't he have a brother? Like, wasn't there something? There's definitely a blossom cousin in there that it could be for sure. Definitely. Also, can I tell you how much of the peacemaker we watched

before I realized that that fucking cop was Betty's dad? It's, yeah, it's Al Cooper. I took me until I think the last episode and then I was like, and then Gideon was the one who realized it. He was like, it's Hal Cooper. I was like, Yes.

Man, the second you said piecemaker, I just burst in my, do you really want to taste it. I've been listening to the soundtrack a lot. Sorry, this is a different show. Different show. But also the soundtrack is great. Different roundup. You should definitely check it out.

But Riverdale, man. It always comes back to Riverdale, doesn't it? It always comes back to Riverdale. Does your brain hurt? Do you think you have any other big questions about what's going on? I mean, I'm intrigued by Percival Pickens. I'm like, both, both from a plot perspective and from a meta, like, why did the writers bring this guy in? Because every season, when they bring a new person in, we're trying to think like, okay, what need are the, are, is Riverdale trying to meet right now?

And I'm now, Hiram is quote unquote dead. Right. So, so I'm kind of, I'm just like, okay, this guy, will I let, will this turn into something like, I could see it going either way, like something really. I love the history ghosty shit. But also I'm like, this guy is just like a, like annoying right now. So I'm, he's my biggest kind of question mark right now. But, but yeah, I did enjoy the episode and I am excited. And I'm fine with the superpowers.

I think it's great. Make it more magic. Right? Yeah. Let's do it, y'all. Thank you guys so much for joining us for Riverdale Roundup. And this was season six, episode eight, chapter 103, the town. I do need to say that I think, oh, what is it?

The Serpent Queen's Gambit is the name of the next episode. And I just want to say, hurrah, because that sounds great. Yeah, I like that. And I like the increase in gang stuff. I like that one other reasons that, you know, they were like, this is a bad town because of all the gangs. And I love that Archie was just like, no, man, the gangs were fine. I got no problem with that.

I think that's great. Meanwhile, Archie just went and killed a bunch of things. them, but yeah, I guess Archie, you're right. You're always good boy Archie. We will be back in the next week. Guys, I have no idea how many episodes are in this season. I know. I've been, do you say in the wrong season numbers this whole time? Because I guess Rivervale was part of season six, not season. I figured. Yeah, I figured it out. I figured it out. We're in there. We're figured. Yeah, that was the beginning of the season. Right. Right. So it's why it was all, yes. New season, not new season.

New season, not new season. Oh, Riverdale. Love you guys. Bye. Bye. This show is made possible by listeners like you. Thanks to our ad sponsors. You can support our shows by supporting them.

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