Riverdale – Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six: The Golden Age of Television

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

With the arrests of Clifford (Barclay Hope) and Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) Blossom, there appears to be a reshuffling of Riverdale. The students have begun to improve their environment and with Principal Featherhead (William MacDonald) leaving due to his ties to the Blossoms there is now an opening for Principal at Riverdale High School. And having Alice Cooper (Madchen Amick) as the PTA President, a county-wide search has begun.

After the news of Ethel’s (Shannon Purser) parentage was revealed, the Cooper residence has also been shaken up…but not quite. Deciding to keep up appearances, both Alice and Hal (Lochlyn Munro) have agreed to keep the Cooper family under one roof…with Hal taking up residence in the basement. This confuses Betty (Lili Reinhart), who confronts her mother about not leaving her father. Alice admits that she has never known a life where she has been alone.

As Clifford and Penelope are now behind bars, Nana Rose (Barbara Wallace) has taken up as the caretaker for Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Julian (Nicholas Barasch) at Thornhill. Seeking to bring honor back to the Blossom name, Nana Rose wants to see some serious changes made over the family business and dealings. And for Cheryl, she is ready to move forward by reclaiming her throne as head of The Vixens.

During school the group discusses who will replace Featherhead as Principal of Riverdale High. Toni (Vanessa Morgan) may have a suggestion, but appeals to Betty to have an audience with Alice for her candidate. Jughead (Cole Sprouse) realizes that Dr. Werthers (Malcolm Stewart) may have designs for that position and goes to stop him….only to find that he is leaving for Washington D.C. to continue advocating against comic books. But before Dr. Werthers leaves he reminds Jughead that the tribunal will still exist and hands him the latest rejection letter to his comic called “The Comet.”

Later Jughead shows Veronica (Camila Mendes) the rejection letter and she is confused. “The Comet” is by far one of the greatest stories that Jughead has submitted and he admits that Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) told him about the story from W.E.B. DuBois. More than likely the reason that “The Comet” was rejected was for the depiction of an interracial couple. While Jughead knows that he still needs to tell Fieldstone (Garry Chalk) the bad news, he gives Veronica the idea to potentially turn “The Comet” into a movie.

As Reggie (Charles Melton) and Archie (KJ Apa) hang out on by the basketball hoop, Archie shares how reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac has inspired him to travel and become a vagabond writer. When Reggie asks how he will achieve this goal without his mother Mary finding out, Archie explains that he has plans to travel during the summer. This way, he can finally achieve the writing experience that he longs for.

Betty and Toni speak with Alice about Toni’s suggestion for Principal, a former educator that had to become a cab driver after the black schools were shut down. While Alice is reluctant at first, Betty convinces her to present their recommendation to the PTA and not back down. With Alice’s back, Waldo Weatherbee (Peter Bryant) becomes the new principal of Riverdale High School…much to Evelyn’s chagrin. And as a first order of business, Archie meets with Weatherbee to make sure that Mrs. Thornton (Frances Flanagan) gets her job back.

During her great comeback Cheryl challenges Evelyn to a dance-off.something that Evelyn (Zoé de Grand’Maison) would prefer to back out of doing. When it is clear that Cheryl has bested Evelyn and expects her to show her best, Evelyn storms out of the gym and leaves Cheryl to reclaim her throne. But before she does Cheryl admits to her Vixens that she is dating Toni and anyone that does not approve of that will have to leave. Fortunately, everyone is on board with accepting her choice.

Jughead finally shows Fieldstone the rejection letter from Werthers, who is incensed that another comic has been denied the seal of approval. No longer wanting to bow down to the tribunal, Fieldstone is prepared to print anyway and asks Jughead for one final favor: to write the final editorial for Pep Comics. With the tribunal having such a stranglehold on the comic book market, Pep Comics has no choice but to close.

Meanwhile, Betty is finding success in her writing when she goes to pick up the first copy of her book from the post office. When the Post Mistress (Teana-Marie Smith) believes that her parents should be so proud of her accomplishment, Betty decides to ask Alice if she would read her book. While reluctant at first, Alice does read the book and wakes Betty up in the middle of the night to tearfully tell her that she feels she knows her own daughter even better. In another heart to heart Betty continues to encourage Alice to finally pursue her dreams.

Going to visit his father Tom (Martin Cummins), we see Kevin (Casey Cott) drop off some dinner from the diner to him. His father is surprised but grateful to see him. However, Kevin sees Frank (Ryan Robbins) emerge from his father’s bathroom and is confused when he learns that Frank has been staying with his dad.

With Mrs. Thornton finally back at Riverdale, Archie feels he is on Cloud Nine. However, when he gets home from school he is faced with a somber Reggie. The dates for basketball camp have been changed and now coincide with the annual sweet corn harvest at the Mantle farm. The harvest is the main stream of revenue for the farm. Archie refuses to let Reggie miss basketball camp and amends his summer plans to take Reggie’s place for the harvest. Besides, Archie can write from those experiences as well.

Taking Jughead’s advice, Veronica approaches Clay (Karl Walcott) with an idea: she wants him to write and direct an adaptation of “The Comet” by W.E.B. DuBois. Clay admits that he has been tinkering with his own adaptation already and would love to work on it. Veronica explains that the script would have to be pristine and they both believe Sidney Poitier would be ideal to cast. Clay and Veronica strike up a partnership.

Jughead writes the final editorial, leaving Pep Comics behind for the last time. However, upon return to his train car, the present-day Tabitha is there waiting for him….with a television. Tabitha has Jughead sit down and she begins to play the story of his and his friend’s former lives in Riverdale. After the video, Jughead remembers everything that had been previously wiped from his memory. Tabitha explains that with their help the multiverse has been stabilized. Unfortunately, nobody can return to the Riverdale they once knew.

With this information, Jughead approaches his friends again about their past lives from the future and gives them the option to watch the video that he did. Archie watches first, followed by Betty and Veronica and then Cheryl, Toni, Fangs (Drew Ray Tanner), Dilton (Daniel Yang) and Reggie. Because Julian was a doll and Clay wasn’t a part of the original timeline, Julian, Kevin and Clay do not wish to watch. Yet each person that does watch is greatly affected by learning of their past.

Bringing the group together, Tabitha and Jughead ask everyone how they felt about what they watched and propose the option to either remember it or have their memory wiped clean. Veronica suggests that maybe they can only remember the good memories, something that Tabitha agrees they can do. That night at the Babylonium the group gathers in front of the television to watch all the good memories from their past in Riverdale.

In watching their first kiss again, Jughead follows a saddened Tabitha out of the theater. He learns that because there is a Tabitha in this timeline, she cannot stay with him. When Jughead questions about what they had, Tabitha explains that that timeline of their future still exists and is protected, but here it cannot exist. They share one final kiss before Tabitha departs and Jughead goes back inside.

Inside the theater Jughead admits that he has decided to remember the good and bad memories. And in a weird twist of events, Betty has as well…because you need both the positive and negative moments to learn and grow. Later, with Jughead typing away at his typewriter in Pop’s Diner, he pens the title to the final chapter of the story: Goodbye, Riverdale.