Sometimes the best way to solve all of a crazy town’s problems is to simply speak it out. And in a lot of ways, that’s all Riverdale was this week: An episode in which people discuss their problems. We had what was effectively a number of mini-bottle occurrences thanks to a dense fog that cut off power and kept people indoors. But first, let me give Jughead a chance to establish the tone with the episode’s first line: “The weather forecasts were bleak. But we were dealing with a more ominous prognosis: the apocalypse.” Nobody loves drama like Jughead Jones, and I mean nobody.
In the Fog – RIVERDALE Season 6 Episode 12 Photos RIVERDALE IS COVERED IN FOG — Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) formulate a plan to overthrow the present town council and install their own after discovering what Percival (guest actor Chris O’Shea) has planned for the community. When Percival learns of their secret gathering, he and Alice (Mädchen Amick) manipulate a looming weather event to frighten the community into remaining put…while they carry out the next phase in Percival’s ultimate plan.
In order to bring down Percival, our four superheroes decide to enlist the help of the community and conduct a coup against the town council. When Percival learns of their plot, he convinces Alice to declare a state of emergency in the town. According to reports, an extremely convenient fog is rolling into town tonight, and it’s being compared to the Great Fog of 1922, which you’ve almost certainly heard of. As a result, the town council imposes a curfew to keep everyone safe, thus trapping everyone wherever they are when the fog rolls in.
Betty and Archie are a couple.
Betty decides to use the backdoor to get to Archie’s house after discovering a creeper in her front yard. They then decide to have sex instead of letting Archie figure out who is monitoring her! Because nothing puts these people in a better mood than the possibility of being watched by a creeper!
Betty and Archie then take their alone time to conduct the “what are we” debate, which I had strangely assumed they’d already had. Betty is glad when Archie swears he isn’t seeing anyone else because her period is late. She seemed to have stopped using birth control while being held captive in a well for two weeks.
Archie ultimately asks Betty how she got out of TBK, bringing up that traumatic moment. And it’s hardly the epic escape you would have hoped for! After a few weeks together, it appears that TBK decided that he and Betty were kindred souls, and he gave her the opportunity to prove it. He’d either kill her or she’d dismember a body for him. (There would be a lot wrong with that “option” if this were an actual experiment.) Betty obviously dissected the body in order to survive. As a result, TBK let her go, claiming that the world would be a more interesting place if she were there.
And although that’s all well and good, can we just talk about how ripped TBK is?! When I saw the guy in a tight tank top, I cracked out because, of course, our serial killers must be ripped!
Betty is now concerned that she has been “psychically dismembered,” which I can’t believe Lili Reinhart said with a straight face. But don’t fear, Archie is there to tell Betty what every woman wants to hear: “You haven’t been dismembered.”
Archie immediately shifts the focus of the talk to why he continues to live in Riverdale, despite the fact that it is clearly a cursed town. What is the solution? Because he wants to have a family here, and when a town is cursed, the only reason to stay is to expose children to the curse. Whatever the case may be, it’s all leading up to the pregnancy test. Archie then pulls a Luke Danes and assures Betty that he’s “all in” no matter what.
Betty and Archie glance at the pregnancy test at the end of the episode, but we don’t see the results. Although, based on their expressions, I’m concerned that it indicates she’s having a TBK because they appear to be terrified.
“Chapter One Hundred and Seven: In The Fog” from Riverdale Cheryl Blossom is played by Madelaine Petsch. On ‘Riverdale,’ Madelaine Petsch | Credit: Michael Courtney/The CW
Kevin and Moose/Fangs and Tony
Yes, you read that right: Moose has returned! But that’ll come later.
Toni asks Kevin to dinner at the opening of the episode so that they can try to work out their custody issues without having to go to court. When Kevin mentions that he doesn’t want to raise Anthony in the Serpent life, Toni reminds him that she has dirt on him as well: especially, that he enjoys putting himself in dangerous sexual situations. Kevin agrees to dinner after that.
He never makes it because of the fog. Instead, he’s stuck in high school with Moose, the new PE teacher! When the Lonely Highway was shut down, it appears that Moose was fired from his work, and he now lives with his father, who is out of jail. We then see a flashback to when Moose’s father, as the Gargoyle King, interrupted Kevin and Moose’s first date, which somehow leads to them rekindling their love. (Kevin also has nightmares about the Gargoyle King as a result of this.)
Toni had to talk down an enraged Fangs after Kevin texts him that he won’t be able to make it over. She persuades him that they must maintain a nice relationship with Kevin for Anthony’s sake. However, when Kevin calls Fangs the next morning to indicate he’d want to talk, Fangs declines. Fangs is looking forward to heading to court after one cloudy night.
Reggie and Veronica are a couple.
Oh my goodness, these two. When they’re stuck at the casino because of the fog, they do what they do best: play strip poker and end up sleeping together. It looks like they’re going to get back together for about five minutes. They’re even referred to as a “excellent match” by Veronica.
Things take a turn when Reggie urges her to get rid of the Hiram painting. Reggie feels like a consolation prize, and we’re now talking about Archie again. He then asks Veronica who she would like to live in New York with her in her ideal world, and she… doesn’t respond correctly. They subsequently conclude that they’re a good fit despite the fact that they’re not. Confused? Cool. Regardless, they break up, and Veronica removes the eerie painting from the wall.
Penelope and Cheryl
Penelope is become a nun! I’ll say it again: Penelope is a nun!
Penelope’s travels appear to have led her to the Himalayas, where the Sisters of Quiet Mercy’s first convent is located. Penelope was embraced in all her serial killer glory, and she’s now just one promise away from truly dedicating herself to Christ. But first, she needs to finish up with her daughter’s unfinished business.
When Cheryl finds her mother looking at the Julian doll — which now houses Abigail — she knocks her out with a candlestick, as if this were a game of Clue. Then she utilizes her new witchy abilities to elevate her mother’s body temperature to dangerously high levels. Perhaps Penelope is simply sweating because it’s so hot in there, judging by the number of candles in the room.
Penelope exposes her surprise before Cheryl may physically boil her mum to death: Heather’s letters. Heather was Cheryl’s best friend (and crush) from junior high, and when Penelope caught Cheryl and Heather “together,” she banned her. Heather then moved away and Cheryl thought she forgot about her. But it turns out that she wrote her! She wrote her 365 letters! She wrote her every day for a year! Just kidding. But she did write her a lot of letters.
Cheryl then sobs her way through her letters as Penelope asks one final time for her daughter’s forgiveness. (TBD on whether she grants it.)
Tabitha and Jughead
Jughead starts the episode by asking Tabitha if she can go back in time and stop the bomb from going off so that he never loses his hearing, but she explains that it’s a fixed point in time and she can’t change it. She then gets mad when Jug reads her mind but it’s… literally the only way he can hear?
When the power goes out at Pop’s, Jughead starts working on getting the generator going, and Tabitha sends a call out on the radio to let people know that Pop’s is open to all. “Look for the light,” she tells everyone, despite the fact that the fog is crazy dense.
The next morning, just after the reveal that the town council met during the fog and elected Percival mayor, Tabitha comes clean: She tells Jughead that she could stop the bomb. But if she does that, they can’t defeat Percival. She explains that she’s seen 1,384 different scenarios play out, and only twice do they beat Percival. (Okay, Doctor Strange.)
Tabitha says that Jug’s ability is key to defeating Percival, because it’s the closest to Percival’s and therefore, the biggest threat. And there’s something else: Jughead dies in every scenario. But hey, it’s not the first time the guy’s been destined to die.
So if you’re keeping track, Jughead is Iron Man, Percival is Thanos, and we’re building to a battle. I think. I’m not entirely sure.
