| “ | The week started like any other. Who would've guessed where I'd be by the end? | ” |
— Jughead
| ||
"Chapter Seventy: The Ides of March" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Riverdale, and the seventieth episode of the series overall.[2] It premiered on February 12, 2020.
Synopsis[]
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE — Worried about what the future may hold for him after high school, Archie seeks advice from an unlikely source -- Hiram Lodge. Meanwhile, Veronica begins to spiral after learning some devastating news about someone close to her. Finally, accusations made against Jughead leaves his future at Stonewall Prep hanging in the balance.[2]
Plot[]
Archie thanks Munroe's grandmother
Monday morning, 4:45 Am. Archie starts his day at Andrews Construction, bringing the crew coffee and donuts. He then meets Ms. Moore, Munroe’s grandmother at the community center and thanks her for watching over the gym during the day. After he got Munroe into Notre Dame, it’s the least she can do. She adds that a young man like Archie must have colleges knocking at his door.
Archie learns that he won't graduate
Archie sits down with Mr. Honey to discuss college applications. However, the application period closed months ago. Moreover, Archie’s grades for the last two years have not been good. Mr. Honey fears that he won’t be able to graduate with his class. Archie asks if he could at least walk with his friends at the graduation ceremony, but Honey won’t allow for it.
Veronica, Hiram, Hermione, and Hermosa have breakfast as a family. Veronica notices her father struggling to hold up his cup just moments before he drops it and spills it all over himself. Veronica offers to help, but he insists that he doesn't need her help.
Veronica and Archie have sex
Veronica finds Archie in the band room at school and sits on his lap and starts kissing, leading to sex in the locked music room. Afterward, Veronica tells Archie that she doesn’t want to think about the future and what will happen with the two of them when they graduate. She’d rather enjoy her last few months at Riverdale High with him.
Jughead is summoned by DuPont, who informs him that he’s been kicked out of the Quill and Skull because Betty broke into the sanctum sanctorum, which is a violation. Moreover, they’re terminating his Baxter Brothers contract for failure to deliver satisfactory material by March 15th, the Ides of March. However, it’s only Monday, and so Jughead has until Friday to produce a new novel.
Jughead asks for Betty's advice
Jughead calls Betty to inform her that he’s been kicked out of Quill and Skull and that he has five days to write a new novel. Betty arrives at Stonewall Prep to offer her assistance. Jughead tells her how Stonewall celebrates the Ides of March by throwing a big blowout in the woods. Betty suggests that he write about what’s been happening to him at Stonewall. A prep school thriller that would start with Moose’s arrival.
Hiram goes to the community center
Archie receives a surprise visit from Hiram at the community center. He’s stopped by to workout and train despite having his own gym at the Pembrooke. Hiram explains that he's looking for a real gym. He had spent too much time in suits and behind desks. Archie allows him to stay, so long as he makes the check out to Fred Andrews Community Center.
Tuesday afternoon, Jughead reads his Baxter Brother novel to DuPont, Bret, Donna, Joan, and Jonathan. However, DuPont is unimpressed, telling Jughead that "ten pages of autobiographical hokum won’t save you."
Toni and Cheryl discover there’s a high roller at La Bonne Nuit
At the Five Seasons, Cheryl and Toni discover that there’s a high roller at La Bonne Nuit that’s caught wind of the Maple Club and wields a blank check with their name on it. Cheryl asks Toni to deal with it and to look for a frosty haired woman.
That night, Toni approaches Hermosa Lodge at the bar. However, she’s disguised in a white wig under the alias Rosa Jevon. She claims to be a connoisseur of rum, whose heard rumblings of a secret rum bar. Toni agrees to talk to Cheryl about it and meet back up with Rosa tomorrow.
Archie leaves Veronica at La Bonne Nuit
Archie and Veronica dance at La Bonne Nuit. However, he has to be at the site by 5:00 AM and leaves Veronica on her own for the night despite her pleading with him to stay.
Wednesday afternoon, at Stonewall Prep, Jughead reads the next chapter of his Baxter Brother novel to DuPont, Bret, Donna, Joan, and Jonathan. Jughead looks to his classmates and tells them to admit that they’re all equally intrigued.
Archie asks for advice from Hiram
While spotting Hiram, Archie asks him about business and how difficult it is to run multiple establishments. Hiram suggests closing one down, forcing Archie to choose between his family owned business and the community center. However, Archie’s grandpa Artie founded Andrews Construction and passed it down to his dad. It’s his legacy. Hiram retorts that both businesses bare Fred’s name, so Archie will be keeping him alive no matter what.
Tom meets with Archie
Archie meets with Tom at Pop's to discuss Andrews Construction and the community center. Vic has offered to buy the company a few times. Archie doesn't like him, but his dad did. And if Archie were to sell it to him, he could use that money to pay Tom a proper salary to help run the center full-time. Tom has been hopping around from job to job since he was fired as sheriff. He’d welcome a more stable career.
Jughead's accused of plagiarism
Jughead, Bret, Donna, Joan, and Jonathan are summoned by DuPont, who reveals that Jughead’s been accused of plagiarism. Apparently, Jughead’s short story that qualified him for Yale, "On Featherless Wings," was written by another student in their seminar. Jughead presumes Bret accused him of plagiarism, but it was in fact Jonathan. He claims he wrote the story and that he had a time stamp on his computer to prove that he wrote it two months ago. However, Jughead wrote the story during the summer and has it on his old laptop to prove it. However, when Jughead goes to his room to retrieve his laptop, he finds that it's gone. Jughead returns to the seminar and reveals that someone stole it. Nonetheless, he’s going to fight these accusations until he’s proven innocent. DuPont informs him that Stonewall takes plagiarism very seriously. As such, Jughead will go before the headmaster and the disciplinary committee on Friday, on the Ides of March.
Thursday, Jughead returns home and informs Betty and his dad how he’s being framed and that DuPont wants him expelled. FP refuses to allow Jughead to let them tarnish their family name. Jughead worries this’ll ruin his writing career before it even begins, but Betty won't allow that to happen.
Archie covers for Veronica
Kevin, Veronica, Archie, Toni, and Cheryl gather in the student lounge, where Veronica is confirmed by Mr. Honey, who found a flask in her locker during a routine search. He questions how Barnard will react when they hear about this incident. Veronica replies that the recruiter already saw her drinking at her speakeasy. "They’re not a bunch of prissy, power-tripping asshats," Veronica exclaims. Archie tells Veronica to stop and takes the blame for the flask, claiming he stashed it in there before the test. Reasoning that sometimes he just needs to take the edge off. Honey gives Archie a week’s detention and informs him that he’ll be calling his mother. Veronica hugs Archie after Honey leaves.
Jughead takes a lie detector test
Jughead and Betty confront Bret, Donna, Joan, Jonathan about the lie he told in regards to writing "On Featherless Wings." They brought a lie detector test to prove Jughead’s innocence. Jonathan refuses to take the test, and so Betty tells them to watch as Jughead takes it. He answers each question honestly. Jughead again explains that he wrote the story during the summer, before he had even heard of Stonewall. Bret and Donna question what they’re trying to prove. Betty claims this proves Jonathan’s guilt by process of elimination. However, Donna interjects that this doesn’t prove anything. Betty tells her that the lie detector test is only the first step.
Veronica visits Archie in detention
Veronica visits Archie in detention to thank him for taking the blame for the flask. He did it because he’s got nothing to lose, and Veronica has everything. Veronica starts grabbing on Archie and kissing him. He pushes her away and asks what’s wrong with her as she’s acting strangely out of character. Veronica claims that she’s fine and that she’s simply trying to make the most of their time as they agreed. She then leaves, claiming that she has to meet Cheryl and Toni.
Toni meets with a disguised Hermosa at La Bonne Nuit. They dance as they await Cheryl’s arrival. Cheryl arrives soon thereafter, and the three of them start to dance. Cheryl whispers to Toni, and they decide to leave La Bonne Nuit for someplace special.
Hermosa reveals that she knows that Hiram is sick
Laura delivers Veronica a message from Cheryl. Veronica tells Laura to prepare the suite as its time to snap the trap. Cheryl and Toni then lead Hermosa into a suite, where she is greeted by Veronica. Toni marked Hermosa from their first encounter at La Bonne Nuit. She hands her an old newspaper that features Hermosa and Hiram on the front page after he was exonerated. Veronica surmised that Hermosa simply returned to town to infiltrate her rum operation. She even suspects that their father put her up to it. Veronica then learns that Hiram told Hermosa about his illness and not her, which angers Veronica, as she storms out the room.
Betty and Jughead break into DuPont's desk
Betty and Jughead break into Donna and Joan’s room and search for his stolen laptop. After failing to find it in their room, Betty and Jughead look in the sanctum, behind the stone wall, but nothing is there. Not even the video recordings Betty previously discovered. They proceed to break into DuPont’s desk, where they find a pre-written Baxter Brothers novel, ready for print titled "The Boy In The River." Which is the novel about Jason Blossom that Jughead submitted to win the Baxter Brothers contest. DuPont told Jughead that the Baxter Brotherhood rejected it because it wasn’t dark enough. While it’s been re-written to some degree, it’s undeniably Jughead’s story.
Jughead and Betty confront DuPont with their findings. DuPont explains that via Jughead’s contract, the Brotherhood owns everything he submits. They kept the elements they liked and let another ghost writer revised it. All of Jughead’s classmates collaborated on it.
Veronica tells Archie her dad's sick
Archie visits Veronica at home and questions her recent behavior regarding the drinking at school and her party girl attitude. Veronica reveals to Archie that her father is dying. He’s been diagnosed with a debilitating disease, and she feels completely lost. While there’s not much Archie can say, he shares that one of the worst parts about his father dying is that he never got the chance to say goodbye. He didn’t know what little time they had and regrets not spending more of it with him. Veronica has that chance, but she doesn’t want to watch him waste away to nothing. Archie insists that she give her father some of her strength in his time of need, as no one can light a fire under him like her.
Veronica antagonizes Hiram
Friday, Ides of March. Veronica has prepared a presentation to show to Hiram, Hermione, and Hermosa. Red Raven’s newest ad campaign. She claims that she conducted a blind taste test and nine out of ten test subjects picked her rum, Red Raven, over Lodge Rum and Lodge Spiced Rum. She claims this is only the first wave. They’ll be running ads in The Riverdale Register. The Greendale Gazette. And The Seaside Sentinel. Veronica informs her family how Cheryl’s already begin renovating her family’s maple factory and pretty soon, they’ll be producing 300% more maple rum by the end of the year. Hiram congratulates Veronica for successfully awakening the dragon. After Hiram leaves, Hermione and Hermosa scold Veronica for provoking Hiram. However, Veronica explains that with just one minor ad campaign, she’s managed to fire him up more than he's been in days. Veronica declares that if anyone will save her father, it will be her.
Betty reviews the murder board
Betty and Jughead review the murder board. Betty has been thinking about Chipping’s tie pin and how Donna had it. Assuming the affair is false, Betty questions how she got it. Jughead suspects that maybe DuPont took Chipping’s tie pin. Perhaps he gave it to Donna to lend credibility to her story about them having an affair. Jughead and Betty suspect that Chipping was driven to suicide by DuPont.
Donna mocks Betty
Betty arranges a meeting with Donna at Pop’s to discuss Jughead. Betty claims to think that Donna, Bret, Joan, and Jonathan are pawns being manipulated by DuPont, who she believes is the real villain. Betty knows that Donna didn’t have an affair with Chipping, but that DuPont put her up to saying that they did. Betty implores Donna to come forward. Donne laughs at Betty, scoffing at the notion that she’s close to the truth.
Bret reveals he has a sex tape of Jughead and Betty
Bret hovers over Jughead as he continues to write his novel. He comments that this will be Jughead’s last night at Stonewall. Jughead grows aggravated. He informs Bret that more than just his short story, at the tribunal, he’ll also be telling the disciplinary committee everything that goes on at Stonewall, including Chipping, Moose, Quill and Skull, and much more. However, Bret reveals that he does in fact have a video of Betty and Jughead having sex. So, if Jughead tells anyone about what’s being going on at Stonewall, he’ll release it.
With Tom present, Archie contemplates selling Andrews Construction to Vic. He gets to the final page, and as the time comes to sign the dotted line, Archie backs out. His grandfather built the company and his day kept it going afterward. Archie refuses to sell it.
The tribunal
Jughead is brought before DuPont and the disciplinary committee. Donna, Joan, Bret, Betty, and FP are in attendance. Should he be found guilty of plagiarism, he’ll be expelled from Stonewall. However, they’re giving Jughead a choice to gracefully and quietly withdraw himself from Stonewall, which will save everyone the embarrassment of a hearing, or he can fight the accusation of plagiarism, where he’d most likely lose, tarnishing Stonewall’s name and destroying his future. With that in mind, Jughead agrees to leave. FP confronts Jughead after he decided to leave Stonewall rather than putting up a fight, a fight he could’ve possibly won. Jughead explains the game is fixed. It has been from the beginning, and he never stood a chance of winning. FP leaves, though Betty stays behind.
Archie informs Hiram at the community center that he didn’t go through with selling Andrews Construction. Instead, he hired Tom as foreman, who agreed to work on a reduced salary until they get a few more contracts.
Jughead agrees to attend the Ides of March party
Jughead packs up his belongings in preparation to leave Stonewall. Betty realizes that Bret does in fact have a sex tape of her and Jughead, and that he must’ve threatened Jughead with it. Bret and Donna arrive, hoping there are no hard feelings. They invite Betty and Jughead to the Ides of March celebration in the woods behind the school. Jughead agrees to attend, much to Betty’s surprise. Bret also tells Jughead to invite his friends. Once he and Donna are gone, Jughead tells Betty that he has a plan. But first, he has to get rid of the leverage Bret has over them. Only then will he tell Betty everything. He then tells Betty that he loves her, and they kiss.
Veronica tells Archie they're going to a party
At the Andrews house, after having sex, Archie tells Veronica that he won’t be able to walk the stage with them during graduation. He does have a plan however; go to summer school for his diploma, take a skip year, and apply to colleges for a spring semester. Veronica then gets a message from Betty, inviting them to a Stonewall Prep party. Archie is reluctant to attend, but Veronica reminds him that it’s been a while since the four of them hung out together.
Jughead puts on his Serpent jacket and grabs his knife
In his dorm room at Stonewall Prep, Jughead puts on his Serpent jacket, grabs his pocket knife and a rabbit mask.
Betty, Veronica, and Archie meet up at the party. Betty goes looking for Jughead as Archie and Veronica head into the woods to have sex.
Jughead arrives at the Stonewall Party. He spots Bret by the kegs and puts on the rabbit mask. He approaches but doesn’t speak. Bret leads him into the woods, so they can settle this once and for all. Jughead removes the mask as they go into the woods and puts his hat back on.
Donna knows the magic word to activate Betty
Betty follows Donna into the woods as she departs from the party. Betty knows that Jughead didn’t speak up at the tribunal because Bret’s blackmailing him, but Betty doesn’t care that they have a tape of her and Jughead having sex. Betty reminds Donna that she’s the daughter of the Black Hood, and it’s going to take a lot more than a sex tape to deter her. She promises to expose all of their secrets, up to and including Chipping’s murder. Donna reveals that through some investigating of her own, she’s found out quite a bit about Betty. She even visited Evelyn Evernever at Shankshaw Prison. And Evelyn told Donna the magic word. Betty presumes that she means "tangerine." However, Donna reveals that there’s another magic word. The one that makes Betty fugue and hurt the people she loves. Donna approaches Betty and asks if she wants to hear it.
Jughead's lifeless body
After having sex, Archie and Veronica return to the party. They ask Joan and Jonathan if they’ve seen Betty and Jughead. Joan tells them that Betty and Jughead went into the clearing behind the trees. Donna and Bret reconvene with Joan and Jonathan after Archie and Veronica leave. Archie and Veronica find Betty standing over Jughead’s lifeless body in the woods. They rush over to find Jughead bleeding from his head, and Betty covered in his blood with a rock in her hand. Archie checks Jughead’s pulse and pronounce him as dead, then asking Betty what did she do.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
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Soundtrack[]
- Kevin Griffin - Someone Tonight
- Scene: Archie wakes up for work at Andrews Construction.
- Monsta X ft. French Montana - WHO DO U LOVE?
- Scene: Toni meets with Hermosa at La Bonne Nuit. / Archie and Veronica dance.
- Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now
- Scene: Toni and Hermosa dance at La Bonne Nuit as they await Cheryl's arrival. Cheryl then joins them and the three of them dance together.
- RIVE - Vogue
- Scene: Veronica gets a message from Cheryl.
- Conan Gray - Lookalike
- Scene: Archie tells Veronica about not being able to graduate.
- Chromatics - Kill for Love
- Scene: Archie, Veronica, and Betty attend the Stonewall Prep party.
- DREAMERS - Desensitize
- Scene: Archie and Veronica return to the party after having sex and look for Betty and Jughead.
Trivia[]
- The episode title is a reference to the Ancient Roman Ides of March, notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Screencaps[]
Videos[]
