Riverdale – Chapter Seventy-Six: Killing Mr. Honey

By: Courntey Groom

As requested Betty (Lili Reinhart) drops off Riverdale High’s yearbook in Mr. Honey’s (Kerr Smith) office. However, Honey tells Betty there will be no yearbook this year because the deadline for the printers passed two days ago. Betty says she called the printing staff and they said if she gives it to them that afternoon that the yearbooks would be ready by graduation. Although true, Honey told Betty that he would need to approve every page and he will not be able to do that by the afternoon. Betty argues back saying she pulled all-nighters in order to get it complete and just because she’s two days late he’s punishing all of her classmates. Honey apologizes, but says that his decision is final.

In the student lounge Jughead (Cole Sprouse) tells everyone that he needs to write another story for his application to the University of Iowa and Betty suggests he could write a monster story about Mr. Honey, revealing that he’s refusing to publish the yearbook. Betty says Mr. Honey has been on their case since day one when he threatened them on their first day back for being late. Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) shares her cousin’s outrage and agrees that something must be done to finally stop him. But Veronica (Camila Mendes) points out that every time they make a move against him he hits them back harder. Betty jokes around saying the one thing that would stop him would be if they killed him or scared him enough to leave town. Reggie (Charles Melton) interrupts and says they could pull off a classic senior prank, the likes of which will never be forgotten.

Next we see Mr. Honey glued to his chair in this office with the phone glued to his hand. We then see him being rolled down the hallway in disgust, anger and humiliation in front of all the students.

The following morning Betty wakes up to find Jughead typing away at his computer, writing his new story for University of Iowa. Jughead says she gave him a story idea called “Killing Mr. Honey.” He gets to write something for his Iowa submission while also simultaneously working out their collective revenge fantasy against Mr. Honey. After reading the pages he left on Betty’s bedside for her she tells Jughead that it’s dark but she loves it. Betty then gets a text from Charles (Wyatt Nash) saying he wants them to meet him at his office. She goes down there alone while Jughead continues working on his story.

Betty meets Charles at his office and he tells her Mrs. Klump received a new videotape that morning. It is a recreation of her daughter, Midge (Emilija Baranac), being found dead on stage during Riverdale High’s production of Carrie: The Musical two years ago. Charles says he also found footage of the actual, horrific scene while going through videos that they confiscated from Blue Velvet. It turns out Jason Blossom’s snuff film wasn’t the only contraband that David (Kett Turton) had.

As everyone is hanging out in the student lounge Mr. Honey is heard over the speaker asking for whoever was responsible for the so-called prank to step forward, otherwise prom is cancelled. Cheryl argues saying she knew that Reggie’s juvenile antics were going to end in tragedy. She tells Reggie to turn himself in and he says no. He pranked Mr. Honey on behalf of all of them and he did not prank alone, pointing to Archie (K.J Apa) and Kevin (Casey Cott). Kevin says it doesn’t matter anyway because everyone, except Archie and Kevin, were banned from prom. Cheryl tells Kevin they were going to crash it and now there’s nothing left to crash.

As Jughead is working on his story Betty comes up to him, telling him she did some digging on Mr. Honey and it turns out this isn’t the first time he’s cancelled a prom. In fact, Mr. Honey has cancelled prom at every high school he’s worked at, for different reasons, but the end result is always the same. Betty says they should share this key information with their troops and dispatch them to the appropriate parties (their parents).

The gang and their parents walk down the halls of Riverdale High determined to get prom back. Alice (Madchen Amick) tells him that as concerned parents they are determined that he reinstates prom and re-invite the students he so rudely barred from attending. Mr. Honey says that won’t be possible as it’s his job to prepare these students to be upstanding citizens of the world and their behavior needs to reflect that. And, according to him, so far it hasn’t. Mary (Molly Ringwald) tells Honey about the case of a small-town principal cancelling prom and the parents sued him for psychological damage and won. She says she’s a very good lawyer and Hiram (Mark Consuelos) adds on that as the mayor of Riverdale he has a direct line to Governor Dooley and the Board of Education. Alice adds that RIVW has been hungry for a gripping, public interest story that would make nationwide headlines. Mr. Honey apologizes, but still says that his decision is final. Alice tells him that as President of the PTA she has a right to demand a vote. So, Mr. Honey, the parents, Nana Rose (Barbara Wallace) and Cheryl – as student body president – go to Honey’s office to discuss.

That night Riverdale High seniors and parents gather at Pop’s. Cheryl stands up on a table making the announcement that prom is officially back on and proposes a toast to generations uniting together.

As Betty reads another page from Jughead’s story Kevin comes into the lounge telling them that Mr. Honey asked him to find them. Jughead and Betty walk into Honey’s office, surprised to find Charles there as well. Mr. Honey tells them a videotape was delivered to the school. He called Charles who told him that Jughead and Betty have been helping him with his case. He thought they might want to see the footage, not only of the outside of the school but every inch of inside the school. The video goes on for hours and Mr. Honey is worried that it could be a warning or a threat. He then goes on to say he has no other option but to put the school on high alert. Additionally, despite the PTA’s wishes, he must cancel prom.

Jughead and Betty leave. Charles follows after as he grabs the tape and the three of them head into The Blue and Gold’s office. Jughead and Betty agree that this feels completely wrong. They know that their guy has moved on from simple recordings and on to recreations, but this tape feels like he’s backtracking. Jughead thinks it could be a hoax, as the general public does not know their voyeur has moved on to recreations. Betty’s following him, saying that if someone wanted to pretend to be their auteur and they didn’t have the privileged information that they do that they would have shot a video exactly like the one Mr. Honey was sent. Mr. Honey wants to cancel prom and he’s conveniently been sent a video that gives him the perfect excuse. Charles tells them that unless they have conclusive proof that the tape was made by someone other than their original guy, Mr. Honey is well within his rights to cancel prom. Jughead asks for a copy of the tape so they can review every second of it, but Betty tells him he has a story to write so she’ll watch the tape.

Betty is watching the videotape later that evening and she spots something…or someone. She rewinds the tape, pausing it on a figure and calls Charles over to review. In the reflection of the window holding the camera is Mr. Honey.

The following day Charles, Betty and Jughead arrive at Mr. Honey’s office and Betty puts the blown-up picture from the video on his desk. Mr. Honey picks up the picture and Jughead asks if it’s him holding the camera, but he doesn’t respond. Betty says they’re not suggesting he’s the one sending the videotapes around town,; however, he’s just a copycat and not a very good one. Mr. Honey says he’s been trying to protect them, but Jughead asserts the only person they need protection from is him. Mr. Honey goes on to say he was trying to help them prepare for a life outside of Riverdale, but Betty says it too late. She sent the tape to the school board, a/k/a their parents, and between them and the FBI she hopes he has a good lawyer.

Betty reads more pages from Jughead’s story until Kevin interrupts them to go to the hallway. Mr. Honey walks out of his office, holding a box with personal items, as Miss Bell (Marion Eisman) is taking down his picture in the front office. The gang is waiting for him and Veronica tells him it looks like the good guys won. Mr. Honey says that he stands by everything he’s done, including the videotape. Everything he has done is to make this school better and safer for them and their classmates.

As everyone is discussing their hatred for Mr. Honey in the student lounge, Miss Bell comes in saying that Mr. Honey is anything but psycho. Out of her fifty years working in the front office, outlasting eight principals, the best by far was Mr. Honey. Miss Bell tells them everything good that Mr. Honey has done to improve the school and help students, including the fact that no students have died under his watch. She also gives Jughead a letter. She says Mr. Honey asked her to mail it for him, but she doesn’t think she will now. She requests for him to read the letter and think about what they’ve all done. It’s a letter written by Mr. Honey to the University of Iowa.

After reading the letter Jughead rushes to Betty’s room after school, quickly changing his story so that Mr. Honey doesn’t die and that Veronica and Archie are the ones that saved him. Betty reads it wondering what made Jughead rewrite it. Jughead says he finally realized what he was saying and how he was saying it. Betty asks what the letter said, but before Jughead has a chance to reply Jellybean (Trinity Likins) comes in. She apologizes and then hands over a videotape she found on the doorstep.

Betty puts the tape on and it simply shows footage of a cabin that she doesn’t recognize, but Jughead says he does. It’s the cabin where Hermione (Marisol Nichols) killed Sheriff Minetta (Henderson Wade) and where they had their affair.

Jughead and Betty drive to the cabin and find their way inside. They find a makeshift screen and bed as well as a projector with no film in it. Betty finds a TV, a VCR and a videotape sitting perfectly on it, waiting to be played. The two watch the video which shows a perfect recreation of the gang killing Mr. Honey in Jughead’s story. They are all wearing the creepy masks seen in the last video tape.  Everyone is stabbing him over and over again before turning to look at the camera.