Riverdale 2x18 "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember" Episode Review
Being a fan of Musical Episodes and a random night free, my brother and I decided to watch this particular episode of Riverdale. It was also the latest episode, so I might get some things in this review wrong because I have only watched the first season and the first episode of the second season. I don't know how much information I needed to prepare for this episode, but I followed what happened pretty okay.
If I get anything wrong or miss something, most likely I will, let me know in the comments.
Spoilers ahead:
The Riverdale cast decided to do Carrie: The Musical for some reason, and one of the main characters is the director. I believe his name is Kevin. They kicked off with a musical number and Archie shirtless. The show has not changed much since I last checked in, the boy still likes doing shirtless push ups.
Everyone sings a song, and their voices aren't bad to listen to, except Archie. I cringed and laughed at how horrible he was doing. Which surprises me because he was trying to become a musician during the first season. Is that still a career he's considering? Because I think he needs to figure something else out.
Archie can't dance either. He is terribly bad to the point it was distracting. Betty and Veronica were belting out a musical number, which was actually going quite fine, until Archie joined with his ridiculous dance moves that made him look like a deranged chicken, and ruined the whole thing.
Please stop! If you don't believe me, look at the musical number below and check out Archie trying his best to dance it out. I mean, you can even tell in the thumbnail it's gonna make you cringe.
Moving along here, the first meeting of the musical gets really weird when Jughead starts recording things for the documentary. Betty's mother, Alice Cooper, got cast in a high school musical production. Why is an adult working with high students? I don't think that should be allowed, but no one cares except Betty.
Now this character made his return, Chuck. This is where my first season knowledge began to shine. He hasn't been seen most likely since the first season, so I'm caught up to speed on why Veronica and Betty hate him. He told everyone he hooked up with Veronica when they didn't, and the girls got pay back on him in a hot tub.
His redemption arc, or rather "reformed image", is taken care of quickly. After a few rehearsal numbers, everyone forgives him, and he is well-liked. I found that awkward because he was a serious jerk face in first season, but alright. They didn't even give a reason why he wanted to change his evil ways. OR maybe they did earlier and I missed? No idea.
Betty and Veronica are fighting about some secret she kept from her. Their anger at each other is evident and they almost fight. Archie tries to play middle man between them, but Betty tells him to stay out, and that he should be angry too. Yeah Archie get with the program gosh!
The girls make up though through the power of song. I think they were singing a love song because strong vibes went out between them. Riverdale missed out on putting those two together in my opinion.
Jughead plays virtually no role other than cameraman and films everything. He also occasionally talked to Kevin about the Black Hood notes they keep getting about recasting Cheryl. She is set to play the lead role Carrie.
After Cheryl's beautiful solo number on why she is the best to play Carrie, a sandbag falls and almost kills her. The Black Hood did this to give everyone a warning about his threats.
I thought the Black Hood died. I read up that he was some random janitor, but I guess the real one tricked them all. Good because Black Hood being a random janitor is not a good reveal. I didn't like reading how all the build up was for some character we barely knew. Then again, there could be more than one Black Hood. Similar to the A-Team from Pretty Little Liars?
Cheryl is furious when she is forced to step down because her mother won't sign a permission slip. She continues to slay in this episode. I enjoyed her character when I watched the first season, and it seems like she's improved immensely during the second season run. Or maybe I just caught her on a good-ish episode.
Also in a duet between Cheryl and Josie, the two of them made amends through the power of song. After they performed, Cheryl apologized and Josie forgave her. A musical number fixing friendships is magical indeed. And weird.
Tired of being controlled by her mother, Cheryl goes full-on Carrie and confronts her mother. She covered herself in blood--whose blood is undetermined--and demands emancipation. She also wants to stay in the house with Nana. I don't know when this Nana character factored in, but she stays too. I freaked out yet loved every minute of this craziness.
The night of the musical approaches. Every student has their own dressing room. What exactly is the budget for this high school musical? Everyone is getting the A-star special treatment. Even the doors have their names on it. Riverdale must be filled with a lot of rich people.
During opening night, something really dark happens. They recast the role of Carrie like Black Hood wanted, but he still murdered some girl named Midge on stage. I think she was important because everyone panics and runs out. Alice screams out in horror. The Black Hood has officially returned.
Other stuff happened too, but I'm not sure what to make of it without the additional context.
Archie and his dad are fighting once Fred finds out Veronica's father bought his son a car. And Hiram rubbed it in Fred's face. The parents on this show are still dicks. I hate them so much. This is my first look at Veronica's father too, and he seems like an awful man. Archie does not take this well and decides to return the car, wanting to make amends with his father. I always enjoyed Fred as a character. He's the good parent, unlike the other ones.
Some classic detective work from Betty and Jughead happened too. I see they continued this trend from the first season. They try to discover who Black Hood is or the one sending the messages about recasting Cheryl or else the sandbag won't miss this time. They think it's Ethel and try to record a confession. WTF is this? Of course she denies them and spots Jughead filming through the window.
Betty's father returned. I guess he left because he made his return and wants to get back together with Alice. Despite not being Chic's biological father. Betty has a half-brother. But now she's hooking up with Jughead's father based on their conversations at Pop's. The guy spots Hank and Alice together at the musical, and leaves heartbroken. Okay... I think Alice and him are over.
Pretty sure that covers what happened on Riverdale. Reviewing out of context, I'd say the episode had some nice musical numbers, the murder threw me off, but Cheryl stood out for me as the best character. She knows what's she doing, and her small moments with Toni helped a lot. They are a good couple.
Comment if I got anything wrong or you want to discuss the latest episode. More than happy to discuss this show.