Riverdale – Chapter Seventy-Two: To Die For

By: Courtney Groom

Betty (Lili Reinhart), Alice (Madchen Amick), FP (Skeet Ulrich) and Jellybean (Trinity Likins) are all sitting around the table at Betty’s when the phone rings. Betty answers it, crying after hanging up. She tells Alice that was the admissions office at Yale. The camera then turns into an old-style documentary with Alice asking her what they said and Betty stating they were telling her about a spot that recently opened in their class of 2024. After second review of Betty’s application, they wanted her to fill it – meaning Jughead’s spot.

As Betty is clearing out Jughead’s things at Stonewall, Bret (Sean Depner) stands in the doorway telling her to save her tears as no one’s watching. Betty got her wish, Jughead isn’t going to Yale. It’ll just be the two of them in New Haven.

Alice is at the police station to interview FP for the documentary about the investigation. He says a couple nights ago a body was found in the woods in a ravine that was positively ID’d as Jughead. The autopsy that Dr. Curdle Jr. conducted declared the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. FP says he has a new lead and he’s just waiting on a warrant so he can act on it.

Bret stops Donna (Sarah Desjardins) in the hallway at Stonewall telling her Jughead’s dad is in her room. When Donna gets there she notes to FP that he can’t be in there, but he says her headmaster and a warrant say otherwise. FP explains his office got an anonymous tip that Donna has something personal that belonged to Jughead. Donna assures FP she has nothing of Jughead’s, but FP finds a tiepin that has his initials on it. She tells FP when Jughead was expelled he threw his tiepin in their faces. She guesses she forgot she had it. She tells FP the night of the party that she and Bret decided to sneak into the woods to do what teenagers do until they saw Betty holding a rock, standing over Jughead. But she wasn’t alone — she was with Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Archie (KJ Apa). FP asks if there’s anyone who can back up the story and Donna says Bret can as he was with her the whole time.

FP interrupts a class at Riverdale High telling Archie, Betty and Veronica they are under arrest for the cold-blooded murder of his son. As they’re being escorted through the hallways, handcuffed, Betty says this was their move – the Stonies. They knew they would do this; Veronica hopes she’s right. Betty assures her everything’s fine as this is where they start tripping up.

FP interrogates the three kids separately. Hiram (Mark Consuelos) tells him Veronica had nothing to do with the mess while Mary (Molly Ringwald) keeps telling Archie he doesn’t have to answer the question and as his lawyer she is required to make sure that her client is aware of his rights. FP gives Alice only a few moments with Betty alone with the security cameras off. Alice says she knows Betty did it, not on purpose and not premeditated but she knows what it’s like to be driven by rage and desire. Sometimes things can just get out of hand. Betty says she didn’t do it and that the Stonies did. Alice tells her FP has the proof and she was expecting something like this, but Alice can’t help Betty unless she tells her the truth. FP comes in saying forensics on the rock came back and the blood was fake. Betty, Archie and Veronica are free to go.

Donna calls Betty at three in the morning while she’s asleep telling her she’s figured it all out. She says she heard about the rock with the fake blood and she got too confident. This means Betty must be working with FP. She says he wouldn’t unless Jughead isn’t really dead. Betty tells her she saw the body as she and Bret burst into the morgue. Donna saw a body, but she never looked at Jughead’s cold, dead eyes. Betty can’t believe what Donna is saying and Donna says it’s what she would’ve done everything to make the lies seem real in order to buy herself more time to outwit her enemies. Now Betty is keeping Jughead tucked away while she desperately searches for proof that would tie them to attempted murder.

As everyone is gathering for Jughead’s funeral Bret, Donna and a few other Stonies enter the house. Betty tells Sweet Pea (Jordan Connor), who has the urge to throw them out, that FP said they could come in. Donna notices a closed casket and says it seems a bit suspicious. Betty tells her the funeral home didn’t even want them to have the casket there, but it’s Serpent tradition. FP starts a eulogy about Jughead and isn’t able to continue so he walks away. Then, Betty goes up and reads a passage from one of Jughead’s favorite Sherlock Holmes short stories. Afterwards, Donna tells Jellybean she must really miss her brother, asking her when the last time she saw him. She states that he’s not really dead. Betty interrupts her and Donna says they both know this is all an act. Betty tells her she’s done with her and starts to throw her out, but not before Donna tells Bret to “do it.” Bret is about to open the casket when Sweet Pea stops him. Archie also comes up to them. Betty says he’s not worth it and he’s leaving anyway.

Kevin (Casey Cott) comes into the Blue and Gold and asks Betty if it’s true that Jughead is alive. Betty says that’s insane and cruel. Kevin says he’s sorry, but it’s what people are saying. Alice is interviewing Kevin and asks him why he thinks the stories about Jughead faking his death is gaining so much traction and he thinks it’s because they just want to believe that it’s true. He remembers in freshman year they were assigned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to read and, although he barely knew Jughead at the time, he remembers he was obsessed with the book, especially the chapter in which Tom fakes his own death to see how other people of his hometown would react to his passing.

Archie meets Betty at Pop’s and she tells him she doesn’t think she can do this anymore. She keeps waiting for Jughead to come back but he doesn’t and he won’t — she doesn’t know how she’s supposed to keep going. Archie tells her they’ll get through this together. Betty explains these crazy rumors about Jughead still being alive are just making it so much more painful. Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) is overhearing in a booth near them and the next day at school she has helped set up a memorial in front of Jughead’s locker with candles and pictures. Betty walks away and Archie follows her to the music room asking if she wants to talk about it. Betty says she feels so alone and Archie tells her she’s not as e knows how hard it is. Suddenly, the two of them kiss. Cheryl is outside the classroom taking pictures. She sends them to Toni (Vanessa Morgan), Kevin and Reggie (Charles Melton).

Cheryl finds Veronica in the restroom, telling her to prepare herself for devastation. Cheryl shows her the picture of Archie and Betty kissing. Veronica storms into the lounge, wondering how Archie could do this to her. She blames Archie for taking advantage of Betty when she’s grieving and at her most vulnerable. She tells Betty she doesn’t blame her, but Betty explains that she’s the one who started it. She kissed Archie. Veronica tells them to burn in hell and leaves.

Betty admits to Alice, who is interviewing her for the documentary, that Donna has been following her. She was convinced that Betty has been sneaking around, which was true. She’d been visiting Dilton’s bunker. It became a nightly ritual — first she’d stop at Pop’s for dinner and then she’d head to the woods alone. Donna watches Betty as she goes into the bunker, following her in. Donna spots Archie and Betty and she keeps looking around for any sign of Jughead. Back at the interview Betty tells Alice she needs to tell her something before she hears it from someone else, off the record.

Archie and Veronica are in bed together. Veronica says their little gambit worked. Archie says between the look on Donna’s face at the bunker and Veronica’s performance in the student lounge … now and forever Archie tells Veronica she is the only girl for him. In the bunker Betty says even by their standards this was a pretty crazy week. Jughead(Cole Sprouse) — yes, Jughead — says pretending to be dead is one thing, but hiding under a cot in the bunker while Betty makes out with Archie just to convince a bunch of evil preppies that he did die definitely cracks the Top 10. Betty tells him it worked and now Donna will start doubting herself and gives Jughead a brand-new beanie that she has knit. He asks Betty if she’s sure telling her mom was a good idea and Betty says considering Charles, FP, Jellybean, Dr. Curdle Jr. and Mrs. Andrews are all in on it, it felt like the prudent thing to do.

Alice interviews Betty, Archie and Veronica wondering why they went to such extraordinary lengths to convince the preppies and pretty much the whole town of Riverdale that Jughead was dead. Betty says it was because they were trying to pin the murder on her. If they knew Jughead was still alive they would circle the wagons and lock down tight. They were, and still are, locked in a battle of psychological warfare with the Stonies and now soon they will all start to crack and the truth will come out.

Just as Betty has suspected, Donna tries to convince Bret that Jughead is indeed still alive. She has proof — when she followed Betty to the bunker and found her with Archie she had Pop’s takeout and there were three milkshakes. Donna is certain Jughead heard her sneaking down the ladder and hid so he wouldn’t get caught. Bret tells her to take the win as Jughead is dead and they killed him. Betty has obviously moved on so it’s time Donna do the same. Donna says they still have a job to finish and if Bret ever undermines her again he will go the way of Jonathan.

Jughead, Betty, Archie and Veronica are all in the bunker and Veronica tells them Hermosa (Mishel Prada) put her PI skills to good use and did some digging on the Stonies. She gives Jughead and Betty a file of who Donna really is. Jughead says this is the final piece of the puzzle that they needed. He thinks he knows how to take down the Stonies once and for all.