Riverdale – Chapter One Hundred Eighteen: Don’t Worry Darling

As the sounds of “Rock Around The Clock” pipe through the jukebox at Pop’s Diner, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is typing away at his typewriter….seemingly the only person in 1955 that still remembers their old life in Riverdale. Two days since the comet struck, everything has changed. Jughead lives in an abandoned train car with his trusty dog Hot Dog. Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Kevin (Casey Cott) are dating. Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and her twin brother Julian (Nicholas Barasch) Blossom rule the school. Archie (KJ Apa) is still the all-American jock that lives next to the “girl next door,” his friend Betty. While Jughead is glad to see them all, he really misses his girlfriend, Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook). But that changes as a bus coming from Mississippi rolls in from the Emmett Till trial, bringing back Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), Tabitha, and Clay Walker (Karl Walcott). 

While Emmett Till is the talk amongst the black community, everyone is also reeling over the death of James Dean. For Archie, the death of James Dean has sent his mother Mary (Molly Ringwald) into a bit of a downward spiral. One morning when Archie goes to head off to school, Mary stops him and demands the keys to his car so that he can’t get hurt. With no other choice, Archie is forced to take his bike to school. 

With the return of Toni to Riverdale High, she also brings an article to Betty for submission into the Blue & Gold: an in-depth account about the story of Emmett Till. While Betty believes that the article should be published by their paper, it is contingent on the approval of Principal Featherhead (William MacDonald). Despite knowing Featherhead’s answer, Betty pushes forward and requests the meeting.  

But one more piece of gossip rolls into town when Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) finally arrives at Riverdale High. With her parents Hiram (Mark Consuelos) and Hermione (Marisol Nichols) the stars of “Oh Mija!” in Hollywood, Veronica tells the class that she is merely taking a break from Hollywood before starring in “Our Town” and staying with her aunt and uncle at the Pembrook. While Archie is smitten, Cheryl is annoyed and jealous of the attention that Veronica is getting. 

At lunch, the tension between Cheryl and Veronica intensifies when Veronica decides to sit with the group. There, the group asks her about James Dean and Veronica is candid about Dean’s sexual proclivities. Taking offense to Dean potentially playing for both teams, Cheryl gets heated and leaves. But the rivalry between Archie and Julian for Veronica’s attention is just beginning, especially when Julian beats Archie to asking Veronica if she needs a ride home. 

In Featherhead’s office, the verdict of Toni’s article being published is met with a resounding no by Featherhead. While the death of Till is relevant to the black community of Riverdale, it is clear that Featherhead does not believe that the subject matter is proper….even if Riverdale became one of the first integrated schools. With the support of Superintendent Werthers (Malcolm Stewart) backing him, Featherhead dismisses the request. However, Betty still is not ready to give up, even trying to pitch the article to her father Hal (Lochlan Munro) and mother Alice (Madchen Amick). Fearing that they will lose their sponsorship, they too refuse to read the article on air.  

After hearing his science teacher talk about the purchase of a new telescope to see Bailey’s Comet in two years, Jughead knows he needs to find a way to remind his friends about their present lives. Remembering the time capsule that they buried, Jughead goes to check if it’s still there…and it is! But as Jughead opens the capsule to pull together the evidence, a figure watches him from the shadows. 

Knowing that he needs to break his mother’s rules in order to impress Veronica, Archie fixes up his car with a reluctant Jughead listening to him drone on and on about the feisty brunette. Successful in sneaking out his car, Archie gets to school and greets Veronica with the offer of a ride at the end of the day. She accepts, but then they are both interrupted by Jughead calling an emergency meeting. 

Inside the Blue & Gold office, Jughead shows his friends the relics left behind from their time capsule. Unfortunately, everyone is confused by the contents of the capsule and ask Jughead to tell them more about the future. Unfortunately, as Jughead keeps talking about the crazy way that they need to recreate the bomb sequence to reverse their situation, Archie intervenes and tells Jughead to cool it with the theories before they commit him. 

Still torn up about their attempts to broach the Emmett Till subject, Toni recalls that Emmett’s mother wanted everyone to see what they did to her son. With graphic pictures available for viewing, Betty asks Toni for those pictures so she can understand the severity of the situation. 

At the Blossom residence, Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) comes in to hand Cheryl one of her Hollywood rags to read. Once she sees  Natalie Wood has the lead role in “Our Town,” she heads to Pop’s to confront Veronica. With Archie and Veronica having a lovely time together on their Pop’s date, Cheryl comes in and accuses Veronica of lying about her reason for being in Riverdale. When Archie asks her about it later, Veronica breaks down and admits that she is staying at her parent’s residence alone at the Pembrook after being sent away for lashing out.  

Upon returning from his date with Veronica, Archie is confronted by his mother, for taking out his car without her permission. Archie apologizes and convinces his mom that he will be safe by having Betty fix the car so it doesn’t go too fast. Tearfully, Mary agrees and lets Archie keep his car. 

Alone at the Pembrook, Veronica sees “Oh Mija!” come on the air and then receives a phone call from Hermione. The call is anything but a regular check in when Hermione grills Veronica for bringing a boy home to the apartment. Convincing her mother that Archie is just a friend, Veronica also tries to inquire when she can come home. Hermione deflects from the answer and manages to cut the call short. 

When Toni finally hands over the pictures of Emmett Till’s funeral to Betty, she realizes that the conversation must start. Instead of an article, Toni proposes reading a poem over the morning announcements. Now all they need is Cheryl’s help. 

Deciding to join her parents on the road in the fight for civil rights, Tabitha approaches Jughead for a favor. In order to stay caught up on schoolwork, Tabitha asks Jughead to help her out. He agrees, fumbling over his words. Tabitha thanks him and then heads out to help Betty and Toni execute their grand plan. With Cheryl on board, Tabitha fakes a stomachache that sends Featherhead and secretary Doris Bell (Marion Eisman) out to take care of her. With everyone out of the office, Cheryl gets Toni her airtime to read Mississippi- 1955 by Langston Hughes. While Toni, Cheryl, Betty, and Tabitha are reprimanded for their actions, the poem later opens a dialogue in the class to talk about Emmett Till.  

Later on after school, Veronica realizes that between Julian and Archie, she can’t fall back into old patterns. While realizing that she shouldn’t rely on any man, Veronica decides that she doesn’t want to be reliant on any man and decides to walk home. In her wake, Julian and Archie look at each other in confusion. 

That night in Pop’s, Jughead is visited by none other than his Tabitha from Riverdale. Glad to see her, Jughead wonders how they will all get out of there. Unfortunately, Tabitha explains that since Cheryl was unable to stop the comet, she used her powers to send everyone back to 1955 while she untangles the knots of their parallel universes. Knowing that Jughead’s knowledge of the present may compromise their ability to return to the future, Tabitha kisses Jughead to erase his memory and leaves him with these words before his memory is completely gone: bend towards justice. With his memory completely gone, Jughead notices a knit beanie sitting on his table…it is his beanie that was absent from the time capsule.