Liam Hoofe reviews the eleventh episode of Riverdale season 2…
Pickens Day, the annual Riverdale holiday, is upon us this week and the show continues to spin its many plates during the events, with varying degrees of success.
Archie, the show’s lovable and unintentional doofus eats up a considerable amount of the show’s runtime once again this week. His feud with Hiram Lodge, his girlfriend’s father who he also happens to be snitching on, this week found its way into, oddly enough, wrestling. Turns out Hiram was quite the old expert at the graps back in the day and so, in an attempt to get closer to Hiram, Archie decides to don a leotard and get down and dirty. Except, like most things, Archie isn’t all that good in the squared circle and Hiram uses it as an opportunity to humiliate him publicly. Archie, not one to be beaten, rallies back and overcomes Reggie, here playing the role that would have been filled by a Russian in a 198o’s sports film, to win Hiram’s approval, for now. There were plenty of amusing back and forths between the pair here and while Hiram is so much more enjoyable to watch than Archie, it certainly beats our red-headed hero standing in a room full of topless men wearing a gimp mask.
Hiram has grown a lot as a character in the last few episodes and the ending of the show, which saw take Archie on as an intern – presents the possibility that Hiram may just be out to set-up the easily fooled Archie.
Pickens Day itself, or more specifically, the history of Riverdale, was the episode’s other main storyline here. Jughead, being the social justice warrior that he is, discovered that the land on which Pickens Day is celebrated on was actually brutally stolen from the Serpents and decides to rally the group for a non-violent protest at the event itself. The storyline wasn’t all that interesting, and Jughead is becoming more and more whiney with each episode but the seeds were planted for a feud between Jughead and Hiram at the end, which could be quite interesting. It also played into the storyline of an impending civil war between the town – a storyline that could be the focus of the season as it heads into the final third. What was also interesting about this, was watching Hiram cleverly undermine the protest and win the crowd back to his way of thinking. Could we see Hiram try to take the mayor’s office later in the show at some point?
Finally, there was the Coopers. Kevin, who was given a good amount of this time episode, informed Betty that he recognised her brother, Chic, from online webcam shows, leading to Betty confronting her brother about his past. Initially reluctant, Chic finally agreed to become a master of the dark arts and teach Betty the ways of the dark side at the end of the episode after some bonding over scars. Al, Chic and Betty’s father, however, was not too happy about his son’s return and continued to create conflict in the household. There is something fishy about Chic’s past, something I believe will tie him into The Black Hood storyline. Al then ended up going home with Penelope Blossom in a move that can only mean trouble for him.
‘The Wrestler’ was a solid episode of Riverdale, one that kept things ticking over nicely and managed to continue several of the show’s main storylines. Archie gets more and more ridiculous by the week but Hiram Lodge has grown into a great character. There is still very little to Cheryl to do, sadly, but on the whole, Riverdale season 2 still makes for ridiculously fun viewing.
Liam Hoofe – @liamhoofe
