Riverdale. It's currently one of the most talked about teen dramas on TV, but not always for good reasons. While the actors are amazing and the storylines are somewhat great, nothing, and I mean nothing, is connecting, especially in season three. I decided to do an experiment and compare the 3B trailer (episode 3x09) to the actual episode to see if the Riverdale writers and producers could match those up. Let's see what happens.
1. We start with Archie walking through the woods.
If you saw episode 3x08, you know that Archie ran away from Riverdale in order to escape from Hiram Lodge. In this episode, we find out that Archie is staying in a cabin in the middle of the woods in exchange for clearing some trails. Oh, and Vegas is alive and keeping him company.
2. Then, we see Betty shining a flashlight on an eerie-looking door.
When I first watched the trailer, I thought that the door looked like one that it was part of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, Alas, I was right. Towards the end of the episode, Betty runs to the Sisters' building looking for the sisters themselves, and she indeed finds them, even though they are dead and sacrificed themselves to none other than the Gargoyle King.
3. After that, we see Veronica looking high-key mad...
Honestly, Veronica gets mad a lot in this episode, and every time she is, the problem revolved around her father Hiram, just like everyone's problems in Riverdale.
4. And Jughead with a similar expression.
When Jughead returns to his serpents, he finds out that three of them have been involved in criminal activities and is shocked when Cheryl and Toni try to "defend" themselves. Clearly, he wasn't happy.
5. Cheryl and Betty are then seated at a booth in Pop's discussing who knows what.
Now that I'm thinking about it (and rewatched the episode), this scene wasn't in this episode, but it's great to see Cheryl and Betty working together again and I'm excited to see the scene in a future episode (unless they cut it, which Riverdale has a habit of doing).
6. Finally, we get a well-deserved Vughead scene (or so we thought).
In the trailer, Veronica tells Jughead that she has a job for him. In the episode, we find out that she is paying her father protection money against his own gang but then talks to Jughead about it who suggests that she hire the Serpents for protection so that they can have jobs and she can stop paying Hiram money. This turns out to be a wonderful idea on both ends.
7. After that is a bunch of nano-second frames of Betty, Josie, and Cheryl.
All three of these boss-ass females are prevalent in this episode and have to deal with their own problems.
8. Archie is then pointing a gun at Hiram (not complaining about this honestly).
Again, another scene that doesn't take place in this episode, but I am excited to see it coming up in a future episode.
9. The next couple stills are random, but we do spot two of our favorite couples: Bughead and Choni.
After how many episodes of waiting for cute Bughead and Choni scenes, we finally got some! Betty and Jughead were sleeping together while taking care of the other children that escaped from the Sisters, and Toni and Cheryl have some intimate moments after robbing a bunch of other rich people's houses (if you couldn't tell, they were two of the Serpent criminals).
10. The writers then decide to throw in about three seconds of frames that, not shockingly, were not in this episode!
Two words: Thanks Roberto!
11. The next frame that is actually in the episode is Cheryl in a creepy mask stealing a bejeweled egg.
As I mentioned above, Cheryl and Toni decide to rob a bunch of houses, claiming to "steal from the rich to give to mwah's." One of the houses they decide to rob is the Lodge house, where Cheryl proceeds to steal Hermoine's precious egg. She does get it back eventually, but not in one piece.
12. Then, another two frames that aren't in the episode until we get to a showdown between Archie, Hiram, and a knife.
Throughout the whole episode, Archie is battling his inner demons while playing G&G, and one of his demons is Hiram Lodge. Archie goes back in time to when he showed up at the Lodge's in season two with a knife and threatened Hiram, only to be arrested in the season two finale. This time, however, he stabs Hiram. Of course, it is only in his hallucination state and Hiram is still very much alive (unfortunately).
13. Josie is then singing her heart out and looking gorgeous as ever.
Josie is the lead singer at Veronica's speakeasy and sings multiple songs throughout the episode (and also gets jumped once by Hiram's gang).
14. After that is another Choni scene, and then Reggie is captured by two members of Hiram's gargoyle gang.
In the first five minutes of the episode, Reggie is on a beer delivery when he runs over a trap and blows a tire, When he gets out to investigate, two gang members run out, grab him, and beat him up. It happens again later in the episode, but this time, Reggie brought the Serpents along and was unharmed (and also scared off the gang members).
15. A couple more frames of scenes not in the episode until we see Archie freaking out, a wall with blood writing on it, and Josie freaking out.
At the beginning of the episode, Archie gets attacked by a grizzly bear (which results in him apparently dying at the end of the episode, but we know that isn't the case). Josie gets jumped by a member of Hiram's gang on her way home but is unharmed besides being spooked. Finally, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, who were going to be on trial soon, had their bail posted and escaped from jail, but not before writing "We Go to Join Thee" on their cell wall. This leads to Betty's discovery I mentioned early.
16. The trailer ends with one final frame of a cut scene and then Veronica and Reggie getting ready for an intimate moment (#Veggiestan).
The episode and trailer both end with Veronica and Reggie kissing, and I might I add that it is a passionate kiss where you can see the sexual tension and intimacy increasing every second.
So, after watching the episode twice and the trailer multiple times, only a good 12 seconds of the trailer was shown in the episode and only about 12 scenes in the episode connected with each other. As confusing as season three is, I cannot stop watching because I need to see how all the plots intertwine. I believe that this is where Riverdale gains its returning audience, not because of their fantastic plots. I love Riverdale and always will, but I'm hoping that the writers bring back the season one flow soon while keeping the season three drama.
