Riverdale is trying to make Jingle Jangle happen and here’s what you need to know

Riverdale introduced audiences to ‘jingle jangle’ in this week’s episode, but it hasn’t always been the insidious drug last night’s episode suggests.

It often feels like Riverdale is trying to pull a fast one on fans. This week’s episode is no different, offering up jingle jangle as (one of) the big bads of this season. Writers are weaving a complicated, anachronistic web of plot twists already. This latest drug stuff is just another way for them to wink at their origins.

Part of what we love about the Riverdale series is its presence in a time and place that doesn’t really exist anywhere. It plucks us directly out of the present with its retro-costuming and vintage cars, and then slings us directly back into the now with a Pussycats’ cover of “Milkshake.”

A fan could get whiplash trying to keep up with the when and where of it all.

Lucky for us, Riverdale has become pretty adept at bridging the then and now with pulpy camp and gritty reimagining. It seems jingle jangle is another way for them to update an Archie comics staple. “Jingle Jangle” is actually a single from the fictional band The Archies. It comes straight from the ’60s Archie universe, and it hit the Billboard top 10 in 1969.

Originally broadcast on “The Archie Comedy Hour” in 1969 on CBS on Saturday mornings, this music segment would later be shown in the 1970 CBS prime time special “The Archie Sugar, Sugar / Jingle Jangle Show.”

These days, jingle jangle is a dangerous upper, packaged like a Pixie Stick. Lunk-headed high school kids peddle the stuff to well-meaning oafs. Also, it may or may not cause them to get murdered in their car while they’re making out. RIP Moose and Midge.

The introduction of this throw-back idea isn’t just for campy fun, although sometimes the pulp is so thick with this show I have to pick it out of my teeth. It looks like this drug might have something to do with the Black Hood — which is what we’re calling the killer these days. Which also ultimately means Archie.

Archie is convinced the Black Hood is targeting folks close to him (although that is yet to be substantiated), and he is a drug addict and gun-owner in the making. This could mean that the murders are somehow linked to the drug. Archie is the common denominator in all this criminal activity. This new superhero, “I’ve got to save everyone all by myself” mentality is already wearing thin. I knew this new Archie wouldn’t last.

On the other hand, it looks like Dark Betty is going to stick around for a while. Let’s see what happens when she realizes her bestie, Archie, is all hopped up and wielding a piece. I predict she fully tips over into the dark side.

Riverdale is totally breadcrumbing us with jingle jangle business, and I know it won’t be long before it comes full circle. After Sherriff Keller briefly mentioned it last episode, and Cole Sprouse tweeted a link to the original song, I wonder if they’re trying to drop hints at us. (Duh, of course they are. This is Riverdale, after all.)

Related Story: The Internet has feelings about the Riverdale premiere

Do you guys have any jingle jangle/Black Hood/Archie the Avenger theories? I’m all ears.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.