Riverdale – Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four: Dirty Dancing

After being caught by Hal (Lochlyn Munro), Betty’s (Lili Reinhart) mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) spreads the news of her and Archie’s (KJ Apa) peep show. Meanwhile at Archie’s house, Uncle Frank (Ryan Robbins) advises Archie to steer clear of Betty for the meantime. As punishment for the scandal, Alice recruits Betty to participate in their afternoon dance show, Riverdale Bandstand. Unfortunately for Veronica (Camila Mendes), she is also not spared by the punishment. Alice decided to also call her parents and inform them of her part in helping Betty. Upset by her actions, Hiram (Mark Consuelos) and Hermione (Marisol Nichols) decide to cut off Veronica’s allowance and make her work an after-school job at the Babylonium movie theater.  

Snooping in his son’s room and finding a bodybuilding magazine, Tom Keller (Martin Cummins) decides to take matters into his own hands and pushes Kevin (Casey Cott) to join the basketball team. Not liking how Kevin broke up with his girlfriend and started hanging out with other men, Tom believes that having Kevin join in a sport to make him a more regular guy will help cure him of his curious proclivities. However, that also means Kevin receiving more ridicule from none other than Julian Blossom (Nicholas Barasch).  

Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) comic has sparked outrage among Dr. Werthers (Malcolm Stewart) and Principal Featherhead (William MacDonald). In return, Jughead is given the ultimatum: stop writing horrific comic books or he will be expelled. Ultimately, Jughead decides to drop out of Riverdale and continue writing comics. When Brad Rayberry (Christopher Shyer) pops into Pep and sees Jughead there, he decides to take Jughead out to Pop’s and get to the bottom of this. Once Jughead explains the situation, Rayberry helps him to unravel the “Gordian Knot” by figuring out how they can appeal to Werthers and Featherhead. 

As Archie decides to start befriending Kevin and find out why he joined basketball, Julian throws a wrench into the plan. During regular locker room talk, Julian congratulates another teammate on going “all the way” and tries to figure out who will be next. Deciding that Kevin will be the next on the team to lose his virginity, Julian casually mentions that Kevin should give his first Twyla Twyst (Alaina Huffman) a call. Seeing that this upsets Kevin, Archie tries to talk to him and find out what has Kevin so rattled about being with a woman.  

Starting at her new job, Veronica comes to love the beauty of the Babylonium theater and its staff: owner Mr. Lemly (Tim Beckmann) and Clay Walker (Karl Walcott). During the preparation of the theater for patrons, Veronica learns that Clay wants to become a filmmaker and this sparks her own interest and desire for involvement in entertainment. Seeing that the Babylonium holds little appeal in the age of the Starlight Drive-In and television, Veronica pitches an idea to run a commercial to air during Riverdale Bandstand. Lemly loves the idea and encourages it. However, Veronica later comes to learn after creating the commercial that Lemly has to sell the Babylonium and the potential new owners are none other than her parents…hoping to turn the cinema into a parking lot.  

On her parent’s show, Betty finds that she is less than enthused to be dancing for an audience. While Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) tries to push her into being more animated for the camera, Betty sticks to her resting boredom face. She is later approached by a fellow dancer named Troy (Gage Marsh) and he asks her to dance since his partner is out. Betty accepts but quickly comes to realize that Troy is much more interested in getting to know her intimately since her scandal. Troy attempt to cop a feel and Betty takes matters into her own hands by slapping the boy on camera. This upsets Alice and she lectures Betty about her choices rather than siding with her decision to defend herself. Because of this indiscretion, Betty is now relegated to the audience instead of on-camera.  

Jughead goes to Rayberry’s apartment for another talk and Rayberry has a plan to help Jughead: he encourages him to keep writing but to “muddy the waters” by writing a rather innocuous comic called “Super Duck” while writing his horror comics under a pseudonym. Jughead and Rayberry approach Werthers and Featherhead with their ploy and at first it doesn’t seem to work. However, Rayberry decides to threaten legal action if Jughead cannot write and the men come to an agreement. Jughead can write “Super Duck”….even though he will also write his horror comics in secret. Later as they celebrate, Rayberry tells Jughead that he has inspired him to re-read his novel and possibly publish it. Jughead is pleased to hear this. 

While Kevin is on his date with Twyla, Betty runs into Archie at Pop’s. Realizing that he is so confused by Kevin’s actions, Archie asks Betty about her relationship with her ex. The conversation eventually leads to Archie telling Betty about Kevin’s current whereabouts….a fact that angers Betty and she tells Archie that he needs to get Kevin out of there immediately. When Archie goes to save Kevin, he finds his friend in tears and Twyla nonchalantly explaining what happened. Archie gets Kevin out of there and says that he will help him lie to the team that he scored with Twyla.  

However the next day, Tom lets Kevin know that he is aware of what happened with Twyla….because he was the one who persuaded Julian to bring her up. At Archie’s house, Uncle Frank explains to Archie that Kevin has been pulled from basketball. To Archie, it is clear that his Uncle Frank has a distaste for Kevin’s lifestyle and after a conversation with Betty….he decides to be friends with him. Approaching Kevin and Clay, Archie asks to “break bread” with them at lunchtime and discuss movies, music, art, and literature. The boys agree and Kevin seems happy at the prospect of having Archie on his side. 

Upset by the actions of her parents, Veronica realizes that there is an original Edward Hopper painting in the Pembrook. Using that painting, she offers Lemly the painting in exchange for her buying the Babylonium. While Lemly is still reluctant given the deal he has with her parents, he agrees to sell the theater to Veronica instead. Later on, Veronica asks Smithers to send her parents a telegram letting them know she is now the owner of the Babylonium. 

After a conversation with Archie over the way their parents treat them, Betty decides to take matters into her own hands on television. While sitting on the sidelines watching her friends and classmates dance, Alice and Hal announce the introduction of a new dance: the twirl. During the twirl, Betty gets up and decides to take center stage to show the group how it’s done. However, Betty takes her twirl a little further and shows off her red panties. Horrified by her actions, Alice cuts the camera and later tells Betty she is off the show. Betty has succeeded in getting off of the show, but is approached the next day at school by Dr. Werthers. Called by Alice, Werthers tries to curb Betty’s rebellious behavior by making her believe she is troubled.  

With the focus on Betty, Jughead finds time to write in peace once again. All seems well in Riverdale….but not for long. Because as Rayberry sits and re-reads his novel, there’s a knock at the door. Even though it’s late, Rayberry answers and comes face to face with the milkman.