Riverdale went all out as it celebrated its milestone 100th episode titled “The Jughead Paradox,” which also wrapped up a pretty wild 5-episode event.
I find myself saying this a lot, but the episode was bonkers, even by Riverdale standards.
Anything goes in Riverdale, and once you learn to accept that fact, it becomes a lot easier to digest the ridiculousness that pans out on the screen.
Paradoxes, parallel universes, and comic books — oh my. They all had a hand in crafting the narrative for the finale, which found Riverdale’s fate up in the air.
The same goes for Jughead Jones, the only character to pick up on the fact that Riverdale and Rivervale were twin-versus that were headed for implosion.
Honestly, that storyline wasn’t totally insane considering we’ve seen something similar pan out on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In the final season of the Netflix series, Sabrina and her friends navigated the parallel cosmos and saved the prime one while letting the other one fade into oblivion. CAOS also dealt with paradoxes, so again, it’s been done before.
The events of Riverdale and its pocket universe, Rivervale, seemed to mirror those plots. Turns out Riverdale isn’t much different than Greendale at the end of the day.
A mysterious corpse was found by the town’s limits that was later identified as Jughead Jones. Except that was impossible because Jughead was very much alive. However, his memory of events was skewed by flashbacks of simpler high school memories. He also had no recollection of Betty and Archie’s (he’s alive) upcoming nuptials and couldn’t shake this feeling of utter doom.
His gut turned out to be right. When he fetched Jughead’s personal effects, he found the Archie comics in which his life — and the lives of his friends — were documented on the pages.
He began to investigate these two parallel universes that were seemingly bleeding into each other, and realized that he probably needed to stop it immediately.
His quest for answers brought him to Dilton Doiley (also alive) and his teaching assistant Ethel Muggs. Dilton told Jughead to chill out and stop looking for the answers of the universe, but honestly, does he know who he’s talking to? Eventually, it was revealed that Dilton knew all about the two universes imploding and let it happen because, you know, science. Ethel wasn’t about that, however, so she poisoned Dilton and suggested that they recreate the events that ended Riverdale and created Rivervale: the bomb at Archie’s house.
That was the moment when the the normalcy (a strange way to describe Riverdale, I know) ended.
Of course, since Betty and Archie were otherwise occupied with their wedding, Jughead sought out Veronica to help him recreate the moments prior to the explosion. Surprisingly, Veronica was more than happy to assist, exclaiming: “Let’s make out to save the universe… Here’s to ‘Vughead’ becoming canon.” The saying “in another universe” comes to mind.
Fans hoping for a #Vughead moment sadly never got it. Before Ronnie could come and assist Jughead, she was killed by Rivervale’s big bad — not Hiram Lodge but Archie Andrews.
Although, I’ll be quite honest that Archie, even in his murderous shape, doesn’t hold a candle to Hiram. Archie may have been strangling people left and right, but he knew the rules of the universe, so he knew that their death wasn’t permanent. It’s grim, but it’s not exactly villain-material when you’ve dealt with the the likes of the Black Hood, the Gargoyle King, murderous nuns — all of which Jughead was too eager to remind his friends in Rivervale about.
Riverdale — “Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox” — Image Number: RVD605b_0087r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Drew Ray Tanner as Fangs Fogarty, Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones — Photo: Kailey Schwerman/The CW — © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Speaking of the Black Hood, he was alive and well in Rivervale, but it wasn’t Hal under the mask, it was Clifford Blossom. It’s not entirely clear why the change, but maybe it’s because Hal was busy being a husband and father and giving some heartwarming toast at Betty and Archie’s wedding rehearsal?
Also, Jason Blossom was very much alive in Rivervale despite the yearbook dedication mourning his death. And honestly, good for Trevor Stines for finally get some screentime! Though, since Cheryl’s life has been defined by her brother’s death, it would’ve been nice to see them include Jason’s existence a bit more so that we could see if her character would’ve been different had her brother never suffered a grim fate.
Elsewhere, Ronnie — prior to her death — found out that two Reggies were definitely not better than one. After Jughead informed her and Reggie of the parallel universe, Veronica opened the door to find the OG Reggie (played by Ross Butler very briefly in season one before Charles Melton took the reigns) at the door.
There wasn’t much of a point to this storyline, but it was a fun and silly nod to the recasting. Veronica embraced it fully by suggesting a threesome (Veronica!) before she dumped them both because they couldn’t learn how to share. They took her advice to “figure it out” to heart and off’ed each other in a duel. Bye, Reggies!
But back to the whole saving Riverdale from Rivervale situation. Archie, determined to preserve Rivervale so that his father, Fred, could possibly come back to life (how heartbreaking?!), was shot dead by Betty in a wedding dress who wasn’t all that thrilled to be stood up at the altar. In shooting Archie, she saved Jughead’s life and the two of them decided to detonate the bomb while recreating her makeout sesh with Archie.
And boy, Bughead fans — this was your moment. Jughead embracing Betty in a wedding dress while they save the world? This is what dreams are made of!
It’s proof that it’s always these two against the world.
Their romantic moment was interrupted by… Jughead Jones. Yep, Archie wasn’t lying when he said his victims come back to life.
It seems as though this was the Parallel Jughead, who informed the duo that there was definitely another way to save Riverdale aside from destruction.
Parallel Jughead explained that he was enlightened while visiting the Pops Chocklit Shoppe in the sky, which obviously had all you can eat burgers.
The heavenly Pops also embraced a 50s retro vibe that allowed the series to celebrate the origins of the Archie Comics including the iconic outfits!
Riverdale — “Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox” — Image Number: RVD605fg_0058r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, KJ Apa as Archie Andrews and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge — Photo: The CW — © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
That’s where PJ picked up a comic about Riverdale and Rivervale and found that the former could be fueled with a new power source: imagination.
Honestly, it all gets a bit hazy and complex here, but essentially, Jughead could save Riverdale by writing in an isolated room in a bunker.
Betty wasn’t convinced, but Jughead assured her that he needed to save the universe, and thus, took his place in the bunker writing away. I guess it makes sense why Riverdale always feels like it’s Jughead’s novel, and why he’s always serving as the narrator.
Meanwhile, Betty and Parallel Jughead (I think?) recreated the bomb scene… except that the bomb never went off once it hit zero.
Instead, Betty and Jughead walked downstairs to find their friends waiting for them. They couldn’t remember a thing, but it does seem like everything went back to how it was prior to Rivervale’s creation as Jughead embraced Tabitha and Betty kissed Archie.
We got another glimpse of Jughead’s time in the bunker, and it’s revealed he isn’t alone as Ethel is down there feeding him burgers, which admittedly, is very strange.
And then… we see Archie and Betty in bed together. He hears ticking as she picks up a call that warns her to get out of the house because there’s a bomb under the bed.
At that very moment, we see Jughead typing in the garage as a bomb goes off.
Jughead said that Riverdale would stay the prime universe as long as no one in Rivervale messed with the narrative, but it doesn’t seem like this bomb explosion was supposed to happen.
Plus, if the real Jughead is trapped in an isolated bunker, does that mean that Parallel Jughead is out there living it up with his friends?
Is that why Betty and Jughead aren’t getting back together? Because it isn’t her Jughead?
Or will these two worlds somehow merge in the future?
It was a bonkers episode, but the unknown of it all is even more confusing. It’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t anymore, so while it might be fun to play with these characters and put them into random situations, it’s becoming very difficult for the audience to keep up and keep track.
What did you think of Riverdale’s 100th episode? Did you enjoy seeing familiar faces like OG Reggie, Jason Blossom, Clifford Blossom, Ethel Muggs, and Hal Cooper? Who else would you have liked to see?
Did you like seeing Archie in the role of a villain rather than a hero?
How do you think the series will continue in 2022? Will Riverdale and Rivervale collide? Will everyone survive the explosion? Who warned Betty?
Share all your thoughts, concerns, and critiques in the comments below! Till next year, Cravers!