Riverdale: The Cooper Family Faces A Frosty Reunion
There’s more to the Cooper family than we may have known. The Coopers have always dealt with drama and Polly’s return is just a reminder of how difficult things can be between family members. Reminiscent of season one, Polly is separated from Betty and their parents. However, this time, the storyline approach is different.
Originally, Alice and Hal had sent Polly to the ‘Sisters of Quiet Mercy’ to hide her teenage pregnancy. By choosing not to tell the exact same storyline again, Riverdale finds another way to keep Polly estranged from her parents. This time, the 1950s Polly counterpart is a Broadway hopeful turned successful Burlesque performer.
Although Polly finds love, passion, and respect in her work, her parents could not further separate themselves from her. Alice’s obsession with staying on top of Betty because of Polly’s actions play out similarly to how they did the first time for the Cooper family. Betty’s decision to choose Polly over Alice is not surprising, especially considering all of the strife that Betty and Alice have faced in season seven, not including the rest of the series’ worth of disagreements that neither can remember.
While Polly Cooper’s return does not do much for the show as a whole, it is a nice way to recall memories of the past. We see Betty watching her sister perform which encourages her to be intrigued by new possibilities about who she could be in the future.
Although Alice and Polly never cross paths, all three Cooper women still deal with the emotional ramifications of Polly being back in town. Betty and Alice turning on each other, brought about by Betty’s dislike for how Alice has allowed Polly to become estranged, could be the tease that fans can interpret as Alice finally coming around if she was anyone else.
However, in multiple timelines and counterparts, Alice Cooper has repeatedly proven that she is not to be trusted, and will treat her children horribly if given the opportunity. She has never learned, and it seems that the 1950s portrayal of the character is following the same mistakes of those that Alice had in the present day.
Otherwise, as Jughead goes to Veronica for advice, we see that Riverdale finally finds a way to blend Jughead’s isolated comic book plot into the rest of the show.
Although Jughead’s continued desire to allow Pep Comics to avoid censorship has hit a roadblock, perhaps he and Veronica may be revisiting an old flame.
In more recent episodes, Riverdale has been teasing a romantic connection between Veronica and Betty, but with Veronica and Jughead’s conversation leading them back together, is Betty and Veronica’s connection about to get disregarded or is Riverdale about to introduce another love triangle?
What did you think of how the show handled the reunion? Keep up with Culturess for more Riverdale news and coverage.