| “ | For years, Riverdale had prided itself as being the Town with Pep. Safe, innocent, utopian. But after recent events... there was no denying the darkness that churned beneath Riverdale. The inequality, the prejudice, the fearmongering. It had been bubbling to the surface, and very nearly exploded. Now, a re-shuffling was happening. Now, some new way of thinking, of being was required. Principal Featherhead was stepping down from his cherished post. The official story was "for personal reasons". But word from the bird was that he'd been identified by an anonymous accuser as an accessory to Mayor Blossom's Soviet shenanigans. | ” |
— Jughead
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"Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Six: The Golden Age of Television" is the nineteenth episode of the seventh season of Riverdale and the one hundredth and thirty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on August 16, 2023.
Synopsis[]
BENDING TOWARDS JUSTICE – As the town's past secrets start to bubble to the surface, Jughead and the gang are forced to make a difficult decision that will change each of their lives forever.[1]
Plot[]
In the wake of Clifford Blossom's arrest, Mr. Featherhead steps down as principal of Riverdale High due to personal reasons, though it's alleged he was identified by an anonymous accuser as accessory to Mayor Blossom's Soviet shenanigans.
Alice and Hal report on RIVW that the PTA is initiating a county-wide search for a new principal. Meanwhile, back at home, Alice and Hal have decided to continue living under the same roof, but with Hal sleeping in the basement bedroom.
After breakfast, Betty asks her mom why she didn't leave her dad after he cheated on her. Alice explains that she didn't want to break up their family over his indiscretions; she didn't want Betty and Polly to grow up without a father. Betty questions why she doesn't divorce him now. Unfortunately, Alice's life is so intertwined with his, she's not sure what she would do. She doesn't own the station and can't even open a bank account for herself. In truth, Alice fears of being alone and has never been alone a day in her life. She lived at her parents' house until she married Hal.
At Thornhill, Nana Rose steps up as primary parental figure for Cheryl and Julian now that Clifford and Penelope have been arrested. It's up to them to ensure that the Blossoms rise from the ashes. Cheryl concurs and already knows what her first order of business will be.
With Featherhead gone, Archie and the gang discuss who will be the new principal. Toni knows the perfect candidate, but they would need the full support of the PTA to push it. With Alice as President of the PTA, Toni to concerned that she may interfere, but Betty insist that she's changed and suggests they give her another chance.
Jughead enters Dr. Werthers' office to find him packing up his belonging, headed to Washington to serve on the President's subcommittee, looking into the causes of juvenile delinquency, specifically its links to comic books and subversive forms of popular culture. However, his tribunal will still be doing the important work of regulating comic books. As a matter of fact, he gives Jughead their rejection response to the latest issue of Pep Comics.
Archie informs Reggie how Mrs. Grundy instructed them to read On the Road by King of the Beats, Jack Kerouac. It brought everything into focus for Archie, who plans to hit the rails this summer and be a vagabond writer. Reggie's in full support, though he wonders what Archie's mom will say, not that Archie is concerned.
Jughead shares with Veronica how Wethers rejected Zip Comics number 42 because of their last story in the issue, The Comet, which is based off of a W.E.B Du Bois story that Tabitha clued Jughead in on when she was in town. The problem is that the story is about a black man and white woman who fall in love. Veronica's first thought when she read it was, "This would make for a fantabulous movie," to which Jughead replies that he has the contact information for Du Bois' representatives should Veronica actually seek to follow up on such a thought.
Betty and Toni approach Alice for help, explaining that this is her chance to do the right thing and make up for sitting on her hands when Betty asked her to report on Emmett Till. When Riverdale High integrated, three of the black schools shut down and dozens of great teachers were kicked to the curb. Toni knows of a great educator who she believes would be the perfect fit for principal but has been driving a cab the last year.
With Alice's help and Toni's recommendation, Waldo Weatherbee is employed as the new principal of Riverdale High. During his induction, he explains that he's there for every student and that the challenges that face them are enormous and systemic. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, he remarks. So he challenges them all to be kind and decent.
Archie introduces himself to Principal Weatherbee and asks about how Mrs. Thornton, who was fired after being falsely accused of being a communist. Weatherbee knows her very well and agrees to look into her termination.
Cheryl enters Vixens practice and reveals to Evelyn that she's launching a coup to take back her Vixens, starting by challenging Evelyn to a dance-off. Evelyn refuses her challenge, but Cheryl informs her that it's not an option and proceeds to dance in front of the Vixens, receiving much applause and praise. When it comes time for Evelyn to dance, she instead screams and runs out of the gym. Today marks a new era for the Vixens, Cheryl declares. Leader once more, Cheryl reveals that she's going steady with Toni, and if anyone has a problem with that, they're more than welcome to leave with Evelyn. Not only are they in full support, but there are a couple of girls on the squad who are going steady with each other as well.
Jughead reveals to Mr. Fieldstone that The Comet was rejected by the tribunal because they didn't want to see a black man and a white woman together. That said, they have no choice but to publish the issue without the seal and hope for the best. Unfortunately, this is the end of Pep Comics as far as Mr. Fieldstone is concerned. This is the best comic he's ever put together, and the tribunal couldn't care less. So he'd prefer if The Comet was Pep Comics' swan song. In the meantime, he asks Jughead to write the last editorial, their eulogy for the final issue of Pep Comics.
Betty receives the first copy of her book, The Teenage Mystique, a hardcover with her featured in lingerie on the front.
Kevin visits his dad at his hotel room. To his surprise, Archie's Uncle Frank exits the bathroom, claiming that the hotel shower is on the fritz and that Tom let him use his, though Kevin isn't convinced and leaves abruptly.
Betty comes downstairs from her room and shows Alice the book she wrote, hoping her mother would be proud of her, or at least willing to read it in order to get to know Betty better, though she's skeptical given that Betty's on the cover in undergarments. Still, Betty leaves the book on the table.
Archie expresses to Mrs. Thornton that he's happy to have her back. Before her departure, Geraldine shared some of Archie's poems, and she's hopeful Archie intends to continue writing, which he does. This summer, he plans to hit the rails like all the best writers do, in hopes of getting a juicy poem out of the experience.
Veronica approaches Clay in the lounge and asks if he's ever read the story The Comet, which he has. She figured as much and asks him to write and direct an adaptation as a major motion picture. Thanks to Jughead, Veronica connected with Du Bois' agents, and it turns out, the movie rights have been languishing for years, so she snatched them up, suspecting Clay would be passionate about the project. It will be an uphill battle, but there are things they can do, like getting the right star attached, such as Sidney Poitier. She can hopefully get to him through her connection with Josie. But if they're going to attach such a big star, Clay's adaptation needs to be undeniable. Veronica thinking a premiere at Cannes in the next four to five years. Clay is thrilled and hugs Veronica.
Archie returns home to find Reggie pouting on the steps. He just got the information packet from Camp Evans, the basketball camp, which has flip-flopped the dates, and now it's right in the middle of their annual corn harvest back on the farm. The corn they harvest for this single month supports their farm for the rest of the year, meaning Reggie can't miss it and will have to give up his plans of going to basketball camp. Archie refuses to allow Reggie to miss his opportunity and offers to fill in for him on the farm, free of charge. Reggie refuses to allow Archie to make that sacrifice, but Archie insists. Besides, the opportunity to work with his hands and give back to the earth is exactly the experience he needs.
Betty awakens to find her mother sitting at the edge of her bed, crying. She's read Betty's book and is speechless. Through reading it, she got to know Betty a lot better, as well as the thoughts, fears, struggles, and aspirations of so many other young women. Alice now thinks of herself and how her biggest dream was being Miss Riverdale, but Betty recalls her mother telling her about her dream to be a stewardess and travel across the world and meet fascinating people. Alice says the dream was silly, but Betty insists that it's not too late for her to be happy and begs her to believe this, as she hugs her mother.
Jughead, Mr. Fieldstone, and Pep Comics publish their final issue, an adaptation of The Comet, without the comic book codes seal of approval. Most likely, that means this issue will end up in a landfill or bonfire. But they refuse to kneel to the un-American censorship that was specifically drafted to silence stories such as The Comet. Hopefully, it will reach its audience nonetheless and make the consumers think and feel a little less alone.
After leaving Pep Comics' office for the final time, Jughead returns to his train car, where Angel Tabitha awaits. She reveals that she's not the Tabitha of this time period and helps him remember their original timeline and all the memories he had forgotten. She's been trying to untangle the various timelines that had gotten jumbled. In the meantime, the gang have started to reshape this new timeline into something better. Much like them, Tabitha was successful as well. After much trial and error, she realized that it would be impossible to untangle and pull apart all the various timelines, so instead, she wove them all into a single timeline, the 1955 timeline. And she used all of the energy from all the other timelines to stabilize it. But now that it's stable, she can't move anyone through time, back to 2023, meaning they're stuck in 1955. But she can still show Archie and the gang the truth about their actual lives through a TV and let them decide if they want to keep their memories or not.
Jughead convenes with Archie and the gang at Riverdale High, where he tells them about the future and how they can't go back to their previous lives but they can remember them if they chose to do so, and then decide if they want to keep those memories or forget them. If they're interested, he tells the gang to come find him.
Archie drew the short straw amongst the gang and is the first to take Jughead up on his offer. So Jughead takes him down to the bunker and plays the story of Riverdale for Archie, resulting in him regaining his memories.
Having regained his memory, Archie and Jughead head to Pop's, where Archie is in disbelief about all the adventures and forgotten memories, such as going to war and the time he spent with his dad. Archie isn't sure what he's going to tell the others, but he is glad to have gotten the chance to see his dad again.
Betty and Veronica are next to take Jughead up on his offer to regain their memories. They find him at Pop's, and he takes them down to the bunker, where they regain their memories as well. Afterward, they reconvene with Jughead at the diner, where Betty is saddened by how much darkness was in that world, specifically her own family, in which her father was a killer and her sister was murdered and later resurrected. She also recounts how she and Jughead were together. Veronica, on the other hand, was with Archie, though she's stuck on the fact that she killed her husband and father.
Betty and Veronica spread the word of their experience, which leads to Cheryl, Toni, Fangs, Reggie, Clay, and Dilton seeking to regain their memories as well. They meet with Jughead in the bunker, where he asks about Kevin and Julian's absence. Kevin decided not to come after learning that Clay wasn't in any of the stories, and Julian opted out when he found out he was just a doll in their other life.
Angel Tabitha convenes with Archie and the gang at the school now that they all know what their lives were like before Bailey's Comet, in 2023. The question is, do they want to carry this knowledge with them for the rest of their lives or forget. Along those lines, Veronica ask if they can only remember the good memories, which Tabitha reveals she can make happen by only resharing the good memories. And so, Tabitha wipes their minds of their 2023 memories and takes them to the Babylonium, where she plays the good memories of their lives on the big screen. Tabitha makes her exit after a memory of her and Jughead plays on screen. He follows her outside and asks her to stay, but she can't, as 1955 already has its own version of Tabitha, who settles in Chicago and goes to business and law school while also being a civil rights advocate for the rest of her life. Though she and Jughead don't end up together. To Jughead, that's even more reason for Angel Tabitha to stay, so they can build a life together, but she can't. She reminds Jughead of their epic date, where they had a family and grew old together. That time bubble still exists and is still protecting them and what they have, but from this point here, there is only one path forward, which is a good thing, Tabitha insists. Jughead relents and kisses Tabitha goodbye, who is gone by the time he opens his eyes. Unlike the rest of the gang, whose memories had been edited for maximum joy by only including the good ones, Jughead and Betty chose to remember the dark times as well. She, like Jughead, understood that they are made up of moments of both joy and pain, happiness and suffering, darkness and light.
While in a booth at Pops, Jughead chronicles their latest experience with Angel Tabitha and refers to the final chapter of their epic saga as "Goodbye, Riverdale."
Cast[]
Starring[]
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Special Guest Star[]Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- Before Jughead shows Reggie, Dilton, Fangs, Cheryl, and Toni their old lives, he says that some of them may not recognize themselves. The scene then immediately cuts to Reggie and Dilton, meta-commenting on the fact that these roles were recast during the show's run. Additionally, Reggie scowls at footage of "himself" (played by Ross Butler) kissing Veronica.
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Screencaps[]
