Riverdale Recap: 02×21 Judgment Night
Judgment night is upon us in Riverdale. The biggest question is who will be the executioner.
Last episode left us with Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) opening the door to none other than the Black Hood. So with the start of this episode, we have no clue if she was going to meet her maker. Little did we know that not only does Cheryl have a funeral cape, but she is also a red cape wearing archer! Chasing her out of the house, the Black Hood comes face to face with Bad-Ass Red Riding Hood. Luckily, Cheryl was able to save herself, getting a pretty good shot into his right shoulder. Cheryl gives Betty (Lili Reinhart) a heads up about the shot in case the Black Hood shows up at the house.
Shots Fired
While Cheryl was dealing with her own brand of bad, the town is in upheaval. If you remember from the previous episode, with Hiram (Mark Consuelos) pulling Reggie’s strings, Reggie (Charles Melton) goes to the jail upon Fangs (Drew Ray Tanner) release with a gun. Now we know that Archie (K.J. Apa) was able to stop him before he pulled off the shot, but he wasn’t the only one wanting revenge. Midge’s mom also believed that Fangs was responsible for her death. However, since there is such bad blood between the Serpents and the rest of Riverdale, Southside won’t stop until they get Reggie.
Archie, Kevin (Casey Cott) and Moose go looking for Reggie and end up at Riverdale High, but the Serpents have already made their way there. After a drawn out stare down, the boys end up finding Reggie hiding at Pops Diner. Archie is able to convince Jughead to have the Serpents back down. After finding out that Veronica (Camila Mendes) was able to find the real shooter, Midge’s mother, and turn her into the Sheriff, the boys thought that they were finally safe from the rioting. That is until the headlights start beaming in the diner. With the Serpents with Jughead who could be outside the diner?
In rolls the Ghoulies! And who else would be leading them…Penny Peabody (Brit Morgan)! However, there’s an unseen force at the helm: Hiram Lodge. There’s nothing good that can come of this!
Lodge Affairs
As Hiram is working his way through the depths of hell to cause as much drama as possible, Hermione has put out a $1 million bounty on the Black Hoods head. But where did this money come from? Well Veronica thinks it’s the ransom money she got from the St. Clair’s. So she does what she is best at and starts snooping to see what is going on. I don’t think she realized she was going to stumble upon some damning evidence not only against her mother but also her rivalry for Mayor, Fred Andrews. It seems as though they had a pretty steamy affair. And what puts the nail in the coffin: there was already an article ready to go in the paper showing how Mr. Andrews was NOT the family man he tried to make himself out to be.
So, back to the action at Pops Diner! Whips and Chains and Emos around, Pops shows Archie how to make a molotov cocktail to throw into the crowd to try to disperse the rioters. Just as it starts to escalate, in rolls the Hot Dad crew of FP (Skeet Ulrich), Sheriff Keller and Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) with shotguns.
While Hiram is getting his pants in a twist when he hears about the Hot Dad’s stopping the riot, he doesn’t realize that the home front has also become a war zone. Veronica confronts Hermione with her findings of the affair. While they are arguing, in comes Small Fry Poutine, or Papa Poutine’s mourning son. Seeking vengeance for his father’s death, he doesn’t realize that Hermione can play with the big guys. Let’s just say Small Fry is now resting in the oil pits of hell with his Papa.
Black Hood Revealed
Ton of action so far right! Well, now back to the Black Hood. Now I’ve said since day one of the Black Hood saga that it was Hal Cooper (Lochlyn Munro). Now I’m gloating at all the people that didn’t believe me. Anyway, Hal shows up at the Cooper house after discharging himself from the hospital, and killing another person mind you. He calls Betty and tells her she needs to get home, with the threatening undertone that her mother was there. When Betty arrives, Hal wants Alice (Mädchen Amick) and Betty to sit and watch old home movies. After watching Hal as a child, he admits to them that Grand Pappy Cooper wasn’t murdered by a Blossom, he was actually the killer. He then took on a new identity to start over. After revealing his dark side, he wants Betty to tell Alice who he really is. Of course Alice being Alice, she goads him on, telling him the can’t do anything right. I don’t think she expected the lunge that came next and the gasping for air as he tries to strangle her. Betty comes through for her mom with a shovel and bashes Hal in the back of the head!
As this is going down, Archie and Fred are at home finally. But it can’t stay drama free forever, cause in comes another gun wielding idiot. At least this time Fred is wearing a bullet proof vest! But Archie, having to save, the day takes off to try to catch him. Having no luck, he runs into Betty as Hal is being arrested. They realize that it can’t be the same person. So if the Black Hood didn’t try to shoot Fred, who did?
Serpent Showdown
Now back to the climatic scene of the night: The showdown with the Ghoulies and Penny. Now before any of this happened, let’s not forget (which I did earlier) that Jughead has already dealt with Penny this episode. He received a call earlier in the day from her. Penny and the Ghoulies had taken Toni hostage. Jughead and Cheryl managed to secure her release. But before they leave, Penny tells them the Serpents either leave Southside or there will be brawl at dawn. So back to the climax: FP and the Serpents are having a meeting to see if they should go to war. Jughead is trying to talk them out of it since they are outnumbered. WIth no luck, he calls the one person that can put a stop to it: Hiram. Not really sure what happee=ned on that call, but the next thing you know, Jug is calling Betty telling her he will always love her. Then we see him walking in on Penny and sacrificing himself to them for the Serpents. As Betty lets FP know of the message, they roll up on Penny and realize what has happened. FP finds Jug in the woods, beaten to a pulp, with Penny’s revenge exacted on him, the removal of his tattoo.
So, wow, that was a lot for one episode. Where will it leave us for Wednesday’s finale? Is Jughead dead? Who will win the Mayoral race? What will become of the Lodges with the lies and deceit?
