Riverdale season 4 episode 10 review: Happy Spirit Week!
After a long midseason hiatus, Riverdale returns in a middling episode where Jughead shines as the glue that holds everyone together.
When we last saw Archie and the Riverdale gang, they were leaning further into bad choices and wandering deeper into dangerous territory. This week’s episode focuses on Spirit Week and the state football game between Riverdale High and Stonewall Prep. Ultimately, though, there’s not a lot going on.
In fact, did anything actually happen this week? The results are inconclusive.
As Riverdale keeps reminding us, we’re nearing the end of the core four’s senior year (which is insane to believe considering that they are rarely in school and are already so independent and adult. Veronica is selling rum, for goodness sake!).
And this week focuses on Jughead lucking into an interview with Yale via the Quill and Skull Society. While he feels guilty at first since he didn’t even apply (and it was Betty’s dream school that she was rejected from), Jughead ultimately owns up to the privilege.
From week to week, Jughead’s storyline remains the most fascinating (in large part due to the charisma and charm of Cole Sprouse) as the writers explore the conflict of what happens when a person who’s lived in poverty their entire life finally begins to get a glimpse of elitism.
Part of this is built into his character. Teenage boy fights are a trope on Riverdale, and no matter what, Jughead is always caught up in them based on tribalism and class. This week, it’s the Riverdale Bulldogs vs. the Stonewall Stallions with Jughead firmly in the middle.
His role as peacemaker is part of what makes him such a likable character, but also such an easy puzzle piece to place into different worlds that shouldn’t make sense.
The other A-story this week, in my opinion, was the off-screen conflict between Mary and Frank, Archie’s uncle. Fred Andrews’s long lost brother showed up to pay his respects (belatedly) but has long outstayed his welcome.
There is a lot of story and discord to mine here, but we never even see Mary and Frank onscreen together. Hopefully, Fred’s surviving loved ones will come together sooner rather than later to hash everything out, making for some very good drama.
There are a lot of other things going on this week, but ultimately, everything fell flat. Veronica and Hiram continue their same, never-ending conflict and the repeat is getting old. We all know he’s always going to out maneuver her and she’ll try to one-up him. By the time she comes up with a new rum recipe (using the Blossom maple syrup) at the end of the episode, we already know the success won’t last.
Similarly, Cheryl’s antics have mostly been played for laughs this season, despite all of the trauma she’s been through. When the new Vixens coach, Miss Appleyard, shows up and Cheryl loses it, it’s not a surprise, nor does it bring anything new to the show.
Well, it does give us another musical number as Cheryl rebuffs the “cheers-only” policy and leads the Vixens to perform “Cherry Bomb” during the football game (with a jarring lip synch).
And, of course, Betty is tasked with writing a fluff piece about the state championship game which turns into a deep, investigative piece about Stonewall Prep’s alleged abuse of competitors. Drawing her ire is their team captain, Bret, who is just now forming an uneasy alliance with Jughead thanks to his cemented membership in the Quill and Skulls Society.
I’m mostly frustrated because a lot of mysteries have been hinted at this season without any sort of progress. We have the videotapes, Chic and Charles, and, of course, the Spring Break murder mystery surrounding Jughead.
Riverdale can sometimes lose sight of the forest for the trees, but I’m far more intrigued in all of this than what we got this week.
All that being said, the episode ends on a “one month later” flash forward as Betty looks through a a box of Jughead’s things in his empty room at Stonewall, holding a framed picture. Bret comes in and tells her, “You got your wish, ponytail,” further hinting that Betty is the killer…
dark. Next. Riverdale has high hopes for its high school students