Chapter Four
The Last Picture Show
It has now been a week since the murder of Jason Blossom and you’d be excused to think this small town has more drama than a Spanish Novella. If you think you’vegot the characters down packed, the writers of Riverdale just go ahead and flip their world to keep you on your toes. This week we delve into the backstory of Jughead Jones, but only just enough to keep him secretive yet bring you closer. We not only find out Jughead hasn’t been living with his family, he’s been living in the projection booth of the local Drive-In. This explains why he’s always at the diner but never seems to eat anything there. We also find out that his Dad, FP Jonesis the leader of the South Side Serpents biker gang, which just about everyone in town is afraid of.
We only find this out because Veronica’s mother Hermione Lodge has purchased the local Drive-In to develop the land. This little plan however was hatched from the prison cell of Veronica’s father and executed by Hermione. But to help get a great deal on the land the South Side Serpent biker gang was hired to hang around the Drive-In to bring the price down, of which they were successful. And the gang member doing the deal with Hermione was Jughead’s father FP Jones. Who seems to be sticking in his boot when he demands more money from Hermione even after the deal is done. Fair to say FP will be making an appearance in the coming episodes.
Continue in the small town drama and we come back to the saga of the teacher student relationship between Archie and Miss Grundy. The amount of people that know about the relationship has grown considerably with Betty and Veronica now lecturing Archie to give it up, which Betty does successfully. So Archie breaks it off with Miss Grundy, but it would have happened anyway because Betty’s mum Alice Cooper found Betty’s diary with all the details. Those details also included how Miss Grundy isn’t her real name and that she was also giving private music lessons to Jason Blossom. So Alice forces Miss Grundy to pack up and leave over night. Which is also a shame because Archie’s Dad, Fred Andrews was starting to take a liking towards her.
The chapter closes with a parent’s lecture or caring words for Betty, Veronica, Archie and Jughead. Each parent offering something different than each other, but all in their own way trying to be the best parent they can. Even if being the best parent means overprotecting, opening up and being honest, offering a shoulder to cry on or leaving them to their own devices.
Veronica’s mum Hermione explains the life they once lived with store accounts and all the creature comforts wasn’t easy. And if they are to have that again she needs to do the things she does with her Dad, which means making dodgy business deals. While Veronica feels it’s wrong, she also uderstands that the life she enjoys wont be possible with out it. You can tell there is an enormous amount of trust between these two.
Unlike Veronica and her mother’s relationship built on trust and being open, Betty and her mother Alice’s relationship is more about control and the fight for independence. While Betty understands her mother’s over protection and control, she desperately tries to show Alice that she isn’t Polly. Alice can’t control her life and you can see Betty use all she has to push her away as she desperately tries to keep her life how she wants it.
Then we have the boys and after the horrible ordeal of his first broken heart,
Archie is greatly upset by the saga. Despite having already let Miss Grundy go, being forced to say goodbye as well cut even deeper. You could tell Archie was lost with this heart breaking news, another female in his life gone leaving it to just him and his Dad, Fred. While Fred says, “It’s wasn’t you’re fault”, Archie breaks down and has a good old sob on his dads shoulder.
Which brings us to the last troubled child, Judhead. While it wasn’t already made obvious that he was living in the drive-in projection booth, we also didn’t know that FP Jones was his father. As Jughead packed his bag and spray-painted the side of the projection booth with his name and signature crown, his Dad asked him where move, to which he replied “I’ll figure it out Dad. I always do”.
This was an interesting episode as some of the stories are starting to get closed. But as one story ends another opens up. We are still no closer to finding out who killed Jason Blossom, but we do know the Sheriff is getting closer as his house was invaded and his work on the case destroyed. But while all the drama is going on and you’re still addicted to the show, you will close this chapter with nothing more than thinking about what you will eat for dinner.
Review by Jay Cook
