Riverdale gives up the Black Hood’s identity, opening a floodgate of brutality

Riverdale unloads a few revelations, some that we already suspected, and others we never could have guessed including the Black Hood’s identity.

Warning: This review contains MAJOR spoilers for “Chapter Thirty-Two: Prisoners.” Proceed with caution.

In an episode so pulpy I was picking it out of my teeth, Riverdale delivered some much needed forward movement in the Black Hood’s identity and surrounding mystery, all the while revealing just how depraved its residents can be.

I don’t think any of us thought the dumb janitor, Svenson, was the actual Black Hood. Riverdale packed it away for the last dozen episodes, so we kinda stopped caring.

Until we did again.

The Black Hood’s bloody resurgence at the end of the Carrie episode coincides neatly with Hal’s return to the main storylines. It’s a clever trick making Chic the red herring of it all. It’s even juicier to have that subterfuge dismantled at Betty’s hand.

I’ll get to Chic in a second, but for the moment, let’s concentrate on Betty and her realization that her dad is the Black Hood. I swear I saw this coming. Yet, I was a little too afraid to say my theory out loud. Given Hal’s complete worthlessness and unnecessary presence, I wasn’t sure he had it in him.  The revelation is a tidy way to do away with the nonsense that is the Coopers’ marriage, and a brilliant way to push Betty all the way to the dark side.

If nobody else is saying it, let me say it here: “Prisoners” was dark. Perhaps not in carnage or bloodshed, but in its psychological and emotional underpinnings. Think about what Betty did. She collaborated with a serial killer — her dad, no less — to orchestrate the murder of a man she held and tortured in her basement. That’s tough stuff, Riverheads.

Every character on this show went careening off the cliff in one way or another, revealing their tendencies toward the atrocious. While Betty is plotting her pretend brother’s execution, Jughead is in the basement roughing him up, Goodfellas style. I swear if I saw one more shot of bloody teeth last night…

Ironically enough, ex-con and resident Serpent F.P. is the one that pulls him back from the edge. He tells him, from experience, “he doesn’t want him anywhere near that.” We can assume the “that” in the sentence is homicide. Riverdale is just making everybody murderers these days.

Even Archie gets in on the “making my bones” game. Which, let’s admit how campy and wonderful the use of that line is. (I love you, Riverdale writers). Admittedly, if anybody deserves it, it’s the wholly disgusting Nick St. Clair. We thought we’d seen the last of him after Archie taught him a lesson about being a date rapist. But like so many other things Archie does terribly, he botched it.  Nick is back with a vengeance.

In line with the theme and title of the episode, Archie is also held for ransom, getting his face worked over by Nick. (He’s a lot butchier than I remember, right?) He and his goons get the better of a restrained Archie. This is all some scheme to get Veronica in bed. I guess the boatload of money she swiped from her dad’s safe wasn’t enough for him.

Of course, Archie makes incompetent work of “saving” Veronica. By the time he gets there, she’s already dispensed with Nick — with a little taste of his own roofie. Archie is standing around, with his mouth open,  asking what they should do now. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Veronica is the brains of the operation, and Archie is just the brawn. Well played, Riverdale, subverting tropes and whatnot.

The writers continuously try to sell Archie as a round character, with layers dimensions and stuff. Their latest attempt has Archie plotting Nick St. Clair’s murder with Hiram. Do we really think Archie has the chutzpah to actually follow through with that? Unclear.

Cheryl, on the other hand, totally has it in her to do the dirty work. She’s sworn to avenge Midge’s death (although their friendship is conveniently upgraded after her death) invoking the power of the Furies. Be scared, Riverdale. She starts with Sheriff Keller, and her scathing editorial in the Blue and Gold leads to his resignation. Maybe. If I know Cheryl Blossom (and I like to think I do) this is only the tip of the iceberg. Anybody who would send a pig heart to a crush has bigger, darker, scarier things in them.

Lastly, I must get around to the Chic situation. This was the big secret that everyone saw coming. Is there really any Riverdale fans out there that didn’t think F.P. was the father of Alice’s high school baby? Nobody is clutching their pearls over this bit of news. It is a nice touch to have Charles (the real baby’s name) die at the hands of Chic (the fake baby’s name) though.

Chic’s creepiness has been so heavy-handed throughout that it figures he’d be a brother-killer. However, I’m not sure I can muster enough give-a-crap to get invested in him and this story. The more delicious fall out is that it is absolutely going to drive Alice and F.P. together. That’s end game for me.

As Riverdale charges toward its second season finale, it’s ramping up the tension and going full tilt with the ugly. You won’t hear me complain. The show is finally back to being the perfect mix of camp, grit, and melodramatic ennui. Yay for us, Riverheads!

Related Story: Riverdale and Carrie: The Musical are a glorious match made in the most wonderful hell

Catch up on Riverdale on the CW app and website, and then head back here for our post-Riverdale rehash and confab.