Chapter One: The River's Edge

"Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance, it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world; safe, decent, innocent. Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath. The name of our town is Riverdale."

- Jughead Jones

"Chapter One: The River's Edge" is the first episode of the first season of Riverdale. It was first screened at San Diego Comic-Con, and premiered on January 26, 2017.

Synopsis
SERIES PREMIERE — As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom. Archie Andrews is still the all-American teen, but the summer's events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music — not follow in his dad, Fred's, footsteps — despite his forbidden relationship with Riverdale's young music teacher, Ms. Grundy. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Archie must look for a new music mentor and turns to Josie McCoy but she is focused solely on her band, Josie and the Pussycats. Weighing heavily on his mind is also his fractured friendship with budding writer Jughead Jones. Meanwhile, girl-next-door Betty Cooper is anxious to see her crush Archie after being away all summer on a writing internship, but she's not quite ready to reveal her true feelings to him. And Betty's nerves, which are hardly soothed by her overbearing mother Alice, aren't the only thing holding her back. When a new student, Veronica Lodge, arrives in town from New York with her mother Hermione, there's an undeniable spark between her and Archie, but Veronica doesn't want to risk her new friendship with Betty. And then there's Cheryl Blossom, Riverdale's Queen Bee, who is happy to stir up trouble amongst the others even though she’s keeping a few secrets of her own.

Plot
SPOILERS AHEAD The episode unfolds with a narration by Jughead Jones, describing the hidden shadows beneath Riverdale's idyllic exterior. He recounts the tragic events of the past summer, the fateful morning of July 4th, in which a boating trip was undertaken by the Blossom twins, Cheryl and Jason Blossom, mysteriously led to the latter's death, initially believed to be caused by drowning. As the original story went, just after dawn, on the 4th of July, Jason Blossom and his twin sister, Cheryl, drove out to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride. However, the trip ended disastrously, with Jason supposedly drowning as he attempted to retrieve Cheryl's glove that had fallen into the water. Cheryl was found by Dilton Doiley and his scouts, soaking wet, and crying her eyes out by the river's edge. Law enforcement dragged the river for Jason's body, but it was never recovered. By the river's shore Hal and Alice Cooper stands among others. Alice expresses joy in Jason's demise, may he burn in hell, she said. Meanwhile, the local authorities bring Penelope and Clifford Blossom back to the shores of Sweetwater River upon retrieving their daughter Cheryl, just after the mysterious drowning of their son, Jason. One week later, the Blossom family buried an empty casket, and Jason's death was ruled an accident.

On the last day of summer vacation, Veronica, and Hermione Lodge arrive in Riverdale, pulling up just outside the Pembrooke. They briefly gaze upon the building though judging by their reactions, it doesn't seem to compare to the life of luxury they are accustomed to. Hermione reminded her daughter that while it may be small, the apartment is of top quality. Not to mention that its the only piece of property in her name, and not her husband's. Upon entering the building, they are greeted by the doorman, Smithers, who welcomes Hermione back home as they exchange pleasantries. With a constant craving for one of Pop Tate's cheeseburgers, she and Veronica head down to the shoppe soon thereafter.

At the Cooper house, Betty gets dressed for an evening out at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe with her best friend, Archie after being apart for the entire summer. She is both nervous and excited. Kevin reminds Betty that whiles nerves are acceptable, she must follow through on revealing her true feelings towards Archie. Kevin knows that Betty likes Archie, and he suspects that Archie like her as well, however, according to Kevin, Archie has to be told what he wants, like most millennial straight guys. Kevin looks out Betty's window to the sight of Archie getting dressed in his room, just one house over. Apparently, Archie matured over the summer, growing more attractive and muscular. This is by all account a game changer, proving Betty with even more incentive to purse Archie.

Several months have passed since then, and the teenagers of Riverdale are preparing to start a new school year. Best friends Archie and Betty meet at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe after a summer apart, and Archie tells her about his newfound desire to pursue music as a career. Betty, who harbors more than just platonic feelings for Archie, is on the brink of confessing her love for him when they are distracted by the arrival of a new girl in town — Veronica Lodge. Veronica and her mother Hermione Lodge have come to Riverdale from New York to escape the scandal of her father's arrest for fraud and embezzlement. Archie is immediately intrigued by this new arrival, who will be starting at Riverdale High School the next day, and Betty, noticing this, stays silent about her feelings.

At school the next day, Betty shows Veronica around and introduces her to Kevin Keller. When she expresses an interest in Archie, they explain to her that Betty has feelings for him, and she encourages her to ask him to the back-to-school dance. Betty is unable to muster the courage, however, and asks him to accompany her and Veronica as friends. He accepts. Unbeknownst to them, Archie is distracted by his music teacher, Ms. Grundy, with whom he secretly had an affair over the summer. During one of their early morning rendezvous, they were interrupted by the sound of a gunshot firing and later learned that Jason Blossom had mysteriously died. They did not share what they heard with anyone as they were concerned about their relationship being discovered. Despite their relationship now being broken up, Archie attempts to persuade Ms. Grundy to tutor him in music, having already approached (and been rejected by) Josie and the Pussycats. She is reluctant and tries to put distance between them.

Veronica's arrival at Riverdale High does not generate as much interest as she had expected due to the lingering shadow cast by Jason's death, which Cheryl ensures nobody forgets. Betty and Veronica try out for cheerleading together, and though Cheryl allows Veronica on the River Vixens, she refuses to let Betty in, bringing up her sister's disastrous relationship with Jason. Veronica stands up for her and declares she will not join without Betty, even kissing her to make an impact. Cheryl is forced to relent. When Betty asks why she is being so kind to her, Veronica reveals that she used to be like Cheryl and is trying to change her ways.

Meanwhile, at football tryouts, Archie is given Jason's old spot on the varsity squad, Riverdale Bulldogs, but is reluctant to take it, telling Coach Clayton his father wants him to work at his construction company. When Archie returns home, however, he discovers that his coach had called his father, who is dismayed that Archie had lied about having to work at the company. Archie confesses that he really wants study music, and Fred tells him to be sure what he wants.

Archie, Betty and Veronica attend the dance together, and Veronica attempts to set up an opportunity for Betty to declare her love. Veronica leaves Betty and Archie to their own devices as she dances with Kevin nearby, encouraging Betty to make a move. Archie leaves Betty for a second, when he sees Grundy, and walks over to a Grundy sitting alone by the food stand. He begs Ms. Grundy to tutor him once more, and when he reiterates his promise to stay silent about the gunshot, she eventually relents. Cheryl takes the stage in her expensive red dress, as she silences the crowd of students. As honorary chair-person, she introduces the evening's main entertainment, Josie and the Pussycats.

As Archie joins Betty once again, they go onto the dance floor, swaying to the song, "All through the Night", a cover by the pussycats. As Betty looks across the dance floor, she notices Kevin and Veronica nudging her to tell Archie about her feelings. Just then, Betty finally works the courage to confess her feelings to Archie. Unfortunately for Betty, Archie seems unenthusiastic at the confession of her feelings toward him and can not see such a future for them.

At the after-party, hosted by Cheryl, the same night, Cheryl conspires to worsen the situation. She uses a game of Spin the Bottle to force Archie and Veronica to play Seven Minutes in Heaven together, knowing it will upset Betty. Though they try to fight their attraction for each other out of respect for Betty, they end up kissing. When they return to the party, Cheryl gleefully informs them that Betty has fled, and Archie goes after her.

Veronica goes home and finds her mother perched on the sofa sipping on white wine while surfing the internet. She lays her head on her mother's lap as she tells her she is super tired. Archie sets out to find Betty, stopping by Pop's. He sees Jughead on his laptop in one of the booths and asks to sit down. Curious, Archie asks what Jughead is working on, to which Jughead just replies that he is working on his novel about that summer and Jason Blossom. After an awkward encounter with his former friend Jughead at Pop Tate's, he finds Betty at her house. She walks down the narrow path toward him in tears as she asks him if he loves her. Archie explains that he of course he does, but he can't offer what she wants as he isn't good enough for her.

Not everyone leaves the party in a state of despair. Kevin heads to the river for a liaison with closeted jock, Moose Mason, but their revelry grinds to halt when they stumble upon a horrifying sight: Jason Blossom's washed up corpse, complete with a bullet hole in his head. The next morning, the town gather at the Sweetwater River to witness as they drag Jason's body off the shore. A police investigation opens up as the mystery of who killed Jason Blossom begins.

Starring

 * KJ Apa as Archie Andrews
 * Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper
 * Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge
 * Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones
 * Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge
 * Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom
 * Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy
 * Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper
 * Luke Perry as Fred Andrews

Guest starring

 * Ross Butler as Reggie Mantle
 * Casey Cott as Kevin Keller
 * Sarah Habel as Geraldine Grundy
 * Lochlyn Munro as Hal Cooper
 * Asha Bromfield as Melody Valentine
 * Hayley Law as Valerie Brown

Co-starring

 * Nathalie Boltt as Penelope Blossom
 * Daniel Desveaux as Detective
 * Barclay Hope as Cliff Blossom
 * Cody Kearsley as Moose Mason
 * Colin Lawrence as Coach Clayton
 * Tom McBeath as Smithers
 * Caitlin Mitchell-Markovitch as Ginger Lopez
 * Sean Quan as Boy Scout
 * Olivia Ryan Stern as Tina Patel
 * Alvin Sanders as Pop Tate
 * Trevor Stines as Jason Blossom
 * Daniel Yang as Dilton Doiley

Soundtrack

 * "Tell Me"
 * "Fear Nothing"
 * "The Song That Everyone Sings"
 * "Number One"
 * "All Through the Night"

Quotes
"By morning, everyone would be talking, texting, and posting about it. We'd all be feeling it. But the world around us had changed. Maybe forever. The Riverdale wasn't the same town as before. That is was a town of shadows and secrets now. On Monday, the autopsy on Jason's body would take place. And on Tuesday, halfway through fifth period, the first arrest would be made."

- Jughead in narration

Trivia

 * This is the first episode of the series.
 * Hiram Lodge is mentioned for the first time.
 * The episode concludes with a dedication to producer JB Moranville, who died three months prior to the premiere.
 * "The River's Edge" is named after the 1957 film.
 * This episode marks the first kisses Betty and Veronica as well as Archie and Veronica.
 * In the episode, Veronica references "Blue Jasmine" which is a 2013 film directed by Woody Allen. In the film, Cate Blanchett portrays the character Jasmine, a wealthy Manhattan socialite that falls on hard times and has to move in with her working class sister. Notably, Jasmine's husband is arrested for fraud as well.
 * "In Cold Blood" is a journalistic novel by Truman Capote detailing the murder of a farmer's family in Kansas.
 * Ansel Elgort is an American Actor best known for his part as Augustus Waters in "The Fault in our Stars". He also has a music career under the name Ansolo, his most notable hit being the single "Thief".

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Episode Guide
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