Riverdale – Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four: A Different Kind of Cat

After the events in the prior episode, Betty (Lili Reinhart) takes to writing in her newsletter “The Teenage Mystique.” There she opens up to her readers about the recent events that have happened in her household. But while Betty is busy with her newsletter, her friends have also been quite busy in their own endeavors.  

With one steamy kiss to reunite them, Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) are finally taking the next step in their relationship – going public. However, their newfound relationship is met with some interesting and confusing looks. However, their conversation about Veronica’s last public display dressed as a sexy witch prompts Jughead to come up with a new idea for a comic book. In Mrs. Grundy’s (Sarah Habel) class he sketches out a brunette witch. 

Archie (KJ Apa) finds himself more drawn to Mrs. Grundy as she praises him for his writing skills. But in the locker room Julian (Nicholas Barasch) gives Archie some credit after Reggie (Charles Melton) offers up an embellished version of their night with Twyla Twyst (Alaina Huffman). When word finally spreads through the school and Betty overhears about Archie’s conquest in the lounge, she goes to leave. In the hallway she bumps into Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and the reprints of her and Toni’s (Vanessa Morgan) photo session scatter on the floor.  

Cheryl is eager to get away with the photos, but Betty sits her down at a table outside to discuss them. There, Cheryl shares her secret relationship with Toni and Betty reveals herself as the writer of “The Teenage Mystique”. With everything going on, Betty wants to write a book to expand on her newsletter and enlists the help of Cheryl and Toni for a photoshoot to create the cover of her book. Cheryl is on board and her and Toni later head to the Cooper household for one sexy photoshoot. 

Inspired by his girlfriend, Jughead shows Veronica the sketch he drew and she encourages him to present it to Fieldstone (Garry Chalk). But Veronica has even bigger fish to fry, especially when Kevin (Casey Cott) and Clay (Karl Walcott) tell her that none other than Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) has arrived at the Babylonium. After performing in her first film Going Uptown, Josie is looking to test her film out on an audience. And what better place than Riverdale? Giving Veronica, Kevin and Clay the first look at the movie, Veronica is eager to have Josie premiere and test out her film at the Babylonium. However, Josie wants a tour of Riverdale first before deciding to do so. 

Eager to gain more experience Archie heads back to Twyla Twyst with flowers and the hope to spend more one-on-one time. Unfortunately for Archie, Twyla turns him down and reminds him she is not looking for anything more than a good time before taking the flowers and closing the door. The next day at school Archie then sets his sights on Mrs. Grundy and invites her to his reading at The Dark Room. And after catching wind of Josie’s upcoming performance at The Dark Room, Toni and Fangs (Drew Ray Tanner) find Veronica to see if Fangs can have a chance to showcase his talent for Ms. McCoy. 

At Pep Comics Jughead pitches his witch comic and is met with some criticism from Mr. Fieldstone. As they now have to adhere to a certain code to publish their comics, Fieldstone suggests making the witch half-human, making her blonde, more wholesome and a teenager. Jughead takes all the comments and later speaks with Veronica on the feedback. Remembering the latest Audrey Hepburn film, she suggests naming the witch Sabrina. When Jughead pitches “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” to Fieldstone he loves the idea and prepares to bring it before the board.  

After her photo shoot Betty selects her photo for Cheryl to paint, but finds herself feeling less than as she has little to no experience with sex. Cheryl tells Betty that she doesn’t need a man to feel good and provides her with some reading material to help her out. Later that night while Cheryl is at Thornhill painting Betty’s portrait, Betty finds some time alone to explore her own sexuality. 

Also that night The Dark Room hosts a special show. While Archie is up first to share his poetry, the crowd appears quite uncomfortable when they realize it is a poem about a student pining after his teacher. With Archie bombing, Josie is not convinced that Riverdale is the place for her to show her movie. Fortunately, Fangs manages to salvage the night with his performance. This prompts Josie to enlist his help for her own. After the open mic Josie agrees to showing her film at the Babylonium and make an appearance at Toni’s Black Athena meeting.  

The next morning at school Mrs. Grundy politely shuts down Archie’s advances towards her through his writing and encourages him to write about a new topic: pain. Taking her words to heart, Archie later sits down at the desk in his room and tries to find inspiration to write. Looking over at a picture of Fred (Luke Perry), Archie picks up his pen and begins to write “Ode to a Father.”

Cheryl unveils Betty’s portrait to her and Betty is pleased with how it turned out. Betty also shares that she took time for some self-exploration and had a fun night. As Betty continues to look at her painting, Cheryl reminds her how beautiful she truly is.  

At the Black Athena meeting Josie is touched by the way the students have invested in themselves as artists and creators. Their inspiration pushes Josie to tell Veronica she wants to host her movie premiere at the Babylonium. More importantly, Josie shares that she financed her film Going Uptown so that she would be able to be the star in a film. Putting all her money into this project, she asks that Veronica throw everything that she can into the premiere to help her film gain traction.  

While Fangs excitedly tells Midge (Abby Ross) about his night playing with Josie McCoy and the potential opportunity to finally make it in music, across town Jughead’s “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” comic is rejected by the board. Jughead shares his sadness over his rejection with a sympathetic Veronica. She is upset for him and understands if he doesn’t want to attend Josie’s premiere, but Jughead is determined to see Josie’s film. Pleased to hear this, Veronica presents Jughead with a suit she had made for him.  

The premiere of Going Uptown has finally arrived and Veronica has spared no expense for Ms. McCoy. With critics such as Mr. Abrams (David Bloom) in the audience, Veronica and Josie are positive that this night will be a hit. Unfortunately, during the first minute of the premiere the film splits and Kevin and Clay quickly try to fix it before the audience gets restless. An angered Veronica threatens to fire Kevin and Clay as co-workers and friends, but Josie quickly difuses the situation by coming up with a plan. When Archie and Reggie entice people back to their seats, Josie enlists the help of Fangs and puts on a performance to stall the audience while the movie gets fixed. The tactic works and the rest of the night goes off without a hitch. 

After the premiere Veronica meets with Josie upstairs in her office. Seeing Mr. Abrams off, Veronica shares with Josie a preview of Mr. Abrams’s review and how he believes “a star is born.” This news pleases Josie and she feels that she has finally made it. Josie also suggest to Veronica that she may have a career in the film business herself. 

Walking into his bedroom Archie encounters his Uncle Frank (Ryan Robbins) reading the poem about Fred. Instead of being touched, Frank is enraged by the work and feels that Archie has tarnished the memory of his father. In a fit of rage Frank rips the poem out of Archie’s notebook and crumples it up…telling him to pick another topic.