The stakes were high and this week’s drama is what many Riverdale fans have been waiting for all season. Last time on Riverdale, we saw a street race between the Serpents and the Ghoulies, discovered the tale of the Sugar Man, and Nick suffered some serious repercussions for his actions.
The episode kicks off with a type of news announcement with scrolling text and a voice-over telling us about three twisted tales connected to the Black Hood. The Hood has left a letter at Pop’s who says the Riverdale residents must not “sin” for the next 48 hours. If they show him they’re pure of heart, his work ends.
Betty and Jughead wake up with Betty wondering how the Black Hood managed to kill Mr. Phillips when Jughead receives a call from Penny Peabody who’s ready to cash in her favour.
Jughead meets with Penny, who says FP has had an unfortunate incident with the Ghoulies and he’s now in the infirmary. Essentially, she believes they need to get him out, and fast. With only $18 to Jughead’s name, Penny proposes a trade where Jughead will do a one-time delivery to Greendale—that brings us to our first tale: Archie and Jughead.
Archie owes Jughead after calling Sheriff Keller, so Jughead asks for help and to borrow Fred’s truck. They pick up the crate and on the drive to Greendale, Archie shares a dream of his where Jughead and Archie live in the East Village while Betty and Veronica live on Park Avenue.
Along their way, they get a flat tyre and with no spare, they don’t want to drag Betty into their problems but they’re find with dragging Kevin into it. Before Archie calls, a stranger pulls up to offer one of them and the crate a ride to Greendale. They load the crate into the truck, which already has a creepy tarp in it while Jughead gets in and leaves Archie behind.
While travelling to Greendale, the radio mentions a group of people who believe the Black Hood is doing God’s work before the stranger brings up the Riverdale Reaper. He explains that years ago, the Reaper killed an entire family, but nobody knows what happened to him so he could still be around and now be the Black Hood.
Archie meets up with Jughead when he’s abandoned at a cafe, and seeing how it is 11:52 already, they’ve only got eight minutes to get the crate to Greendale. They get to the drop off and Jughead is told he’s the new delivery guy now that the Serpents are taking over for the Ghoulies.
After it’s all over, Jughead visits his father, who is actually fine. It appears Penny has tricked him and now she’s got security footage of Archie and Jughead with the crate, so Jughead has to keep delivering or she will turn him in. It also turns out FP owes Penny a debt and now she’s making Jughead pay.
Next up is Josie.
Josie is staying late at the school to rehearse as after Josie helped Cheryl with Nick, Cheryl got in touch with a music producer friend who offered Josie studio time, but only her—no pussycats. Mayor McCoy isn’t happy her daughter is staying out late, so Josie is given a curfew to keep her safe but unfortunately she’s already receiving strange gifts and messages. She assumes it to be Chuck Clayton as he tries to ask her out, but she turns him down after everything he’s done.
She later has a run-in with the Pussycats who received a note about Josie’s solo career, and they’re angry at her. This leads to Josie accepting a ride home from Chuck. They stop at Pop’s and Chuck convinces he’s changing because he goes to church and art classes, and the two dance in the middle of Pop’s. Mayor McCoy interrupts as she’s been worried about Josie, and she later explains she’s been receiving death threats and in the last letter, it was directed at Josie.
The next day, Josie receives a package with a drawing, creepy message, and a pig’s heart. They then go and accuse Chuck, who’s taken to the principal’s office and later, Sheriff Keller says Chuck will stay away, even though there’s no evidence.
That night, Josie dreams of the Black Hood killing her and wakes up to terrible throat pain. The camera then cuts to Cheryl drawing her and Josie, which is the same style as the one Josie received—so Cheryl must be behind all of this.
Lastly, it’s Betty and Veronica.
After her morning with Jughead, Kevin confides in her that his father isn’t eating or sleeping and leaves the house at strange hours in the night. Betty deduces Sheriff Keller is the Black Hood, but Veronica thinks he’s having an affair. The pair decide to investigate, so Veronica goes to Kevin’s for a sleepover while Betty talks to Sheriff Keller about the Black Hood got into the station to kill Mr Phillips. Apparently, there was forced entry and the overnight deputy fell asleep, so she walks away with nothing.
Veronica is a little more successful when she heads to the basement to discover Sheriff Keller…. is absolutely ripped. Pumping weights, he stops to ask what she’s up to and claims the fridge upstairs was empty. She asks questions about Mrs Keller and how he’s handling all the Black Hood stress, but she doesn’t get anywhere as Kevin interrupts. However, at 4am, she sees Keller get in his car and leave.
Betty and Veronica touch base, and Betty decides it’s her turn to search the Keller’s house. Using a bobby pin to pick the lock leading to Sheriff Keller’s office, she finds a black hood just as Sheriff Keller finds her. He calls Mr Cooper and explains the hood is the one he took from Archie’s locker and provides his log book, which shows alibis for each attack.
But alas, Betty and Veronica follow Keller on one of his late-night trips, which leads to a motel where he is seen kissing Mayor McCoy. At Pop’s, both Betty and Veronica agree to keep the secret of Keller’s affair from Kevin.
All the timelines come together when Josie, Cheryl, Archie and Jughead are at Pop’s, when Pop gets a phone call. It’s the Black Hood who informs Pop that they’ve all failed his test. Pop tells them, “The reckoning is upon us.”
Final Thoughts?
This episode was great. I loved the high stakes and drama that Riverdale has promised us. Also, if the Black Hood says that he’s going to kill someone, he should kill someone that will shock everyone, so people get their act together.
What did you think of ‘Tales from the Darkside’? Did you like the high stakes and drama? What about the three separate storylines? Sound off in the comments below!
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