Riverdale Review – Biblical (6×18)

Reviews

Riverdale (and Betty) embraced its darkness as it welcomed fans of the murder capital’s serial killers to Slaughter-Con.

Fan conventions are always a hit, and it’s not surprising that this particular topic brought out a handful of dangerous fanatics to the small town. 

But it was also a perfectly laid plan to trap TBK, also known as the Trash Bag Killer, who has been haunting “pretty Betty.”

Betty has been battling this darkness within herself for several seasons, and TBK is the latest deranged killer to try to bring her supposed darkness to the surface. 

Initially, it seemed like Slaughter-Con had an adverse effect on Betty. After Agent Drake admitted that she had feelings for Betty, Betty began to question her relationship with Archie. Agent Drake underscoring just how fundamentally different they were sent Betty into a spiral as she began to question whether she was being honest with herself, with Archie, and whether she was ultimately too dark for him. 

She found a source of support in an unlikely place — Veronica. Yes, Veronica, Archie’s ex, was convincing her BFF to chill out, think it through, and talk to Archie. 

She also gave her some key advice: everyone’s dark in Riverdale. 

Betty allows herself to be consumed by the darkness — or, at the very least, the fear of the darkness taking hold — which has made her kind of blind to the fact that Archie has dealt with his fair share of darkness as well. 

He may be dubbed as Riverdale’s savior, but Archie’s gone to the dark places in his mind, and he’s done his fair share of terrible things in order to survive. He’s no angel by any means. Half of his life was spent fighting against Hiram Lodge. You know that man has gone through hell and back. 

So, the question isn’t why Betty compartmentalizes with Archie? Why does she choose not to be herself around him?

Archie loves Betty for everything that she is. He accepts her. Why isn’t she upfront about it all? Why doesn’t she think he can handle it?

One thing TBK was right about was the fact that Betty wears a mask — a human one. She hides who she truly is because she’s too scared of owning up to it as if that will send her off some cliff to the dark side. 

In fact, when she took Vee’s advice and confided in Archie, she realized that he knew exactly who she was and loved her for it. 

He knows that her experiences and her family members didn’t make her a killer. He knows that she’s fighting through the darkness and is stronger for it. And he recognizes that the very fact that she’s concerned about hurting him or dragging him down means that she’s a good person. 

While I’m glad that Archie stood by his woman, I’m going to need Betty to figure out who she is and what it is that she wants. It seems that it sort of began to happen when she took down TBK, but she really needs to polish it up so that she’s not swayed by any person who gives her attention. 

Throughout the dark episodes, she’s always surrounded herself by the hope and light with Jughead, Archie, and Veronica. 

She has a good man by her side — and she always has, and yet, she finds herself conflicted at every turn. One minute she wants to have his baby, while the next, she doesn’t even know if she wants kids. There’s definitely a part that’s seeming from fear of the unknown, but I do think part of it is simply because Betty doesn’t truly know herself. 

Riverdale — “Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: American Psychos” — Image Number: RVD617a_ 0191r — Pictured (L-R): Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge and Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper — Photo: Colin Bentley/The CW — © 2022 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Now, we have to get to the kindred spirits of it all. 

Betty shot and murdered TBK with her father’s revolver — the same one that shot Fred Andrews — and yet, we never learned the serial killer’s identity.

Why wouldn’t Betty unmask her tormentor at the very first chance?

I guess when you decide that you will no longer be held prisoner by the darkness surrounding you, it doesn’t really matter who is behind the trash bag mask, but man, I’d love to know. 

I hope that it’s revealed in time, but until then, I’m going to speculate that Agent Drake has a hand in it. 

First off, the whole kindred spirit comment lent itself to Agent Drake telling Betty that they have so much in common. 

There’s also the fact that she came in out of nowhere and became personally involved with the case. 

She had a huge hand in helping execute Slaughter-Con, which meant that she knew the ins and outs of what was happening and when, so she could pass along the information. 

Agent Drake also seemed to consider Archie as big of an obstacle as TBK. 

And finally, she asked whether the song Betty sang was about Archie or TBK. For me, this was the most telling clue because it meant that she wanted to know if Betty’s feelings toward the serial killer might be reciprocated in some way. 

Not to mention her symposium about being drawn to people who have this darkness living within themselves. 

I’d be shocked if Agent Drake wasn’t/wasn’t involved with TBK! 

There was a lot of temptation looming for Betty, but I’m glad she stood her ground when it came to defending her relationship with Archie and defending herself from being sucked into the darkness. It definitely seemed as though she was considering putting on that mask, but it would have gone against everything we’ve come to love from this character.

It’s also hilarious that Vee reminded Betty that if they’re being technical, she has a higher body count. 

Archie was also dealing with union things and keeping Percival at bay. 

Betty might have been extinguishing her demons, but there’s also a battle for the town’s soul that’s kind of important. 

With Jughead still locked up in the bunker, most of the responsibilities fell on Archie and Tabitha, who Percival himself called admirable adversaries. 

But with some “biblical punishment” coming their way, I don’t know if they stand much of a chance. 

We also gained a little more insight into Percival’s plans for Riverdale albeit not much. 

He’s hellbent on getting the railroad built in order to take advantage of the “unique celestial energies” from the passing of Bailey’s Comet, an opportunity that won’t present itself for another 65 years. 

It doesn’t need to be said — Percival is up to no good, and they’re going to need both Cheryl and Heather to defeat him.

It’s a good thing that those two are on really great terms as they make the most out of their second chance. I’m still team #Choni, but I can be swayed into supporting Cheryl’s rekindled flame. 

I like happiness on Cheryl way more than I like her vengeful side. The spell she and Kevin cast on Toni and Fangs was low-low. 

It’s terrifying to note that if it wasn’t for baby Anthony feeling the repercussions that they would have allowed the spell to take its toll. 

And finally, Riverdale loves itself a musical episode, and this one paid homage to the serial killer musical American Psycho. 

Kevin’s performances not only fit the theme, but they also weren’t overbearing. And while Kevin hasn’t been a fan favorite lately, it’s been nice to see him get the spotlight and hone in on his musical aspirations… even if he was a little too on the nose with his TBK tribute. 

In fact, I didn’t really mind any of the musical moments throughout the episode. I actually enjoyed the heck out of Toni’s bachelorette party number that kind of humanized the ladies of Riverdale as lovers of a good couture piece. It was cute, well choreographed, and they all looked 10/10!

What did you think of the episode? Do you think Slaughter-Con was a bit much?

Is TBK really dead? Or is there more than one TBK? Does Agent Drake have something to do with it?

Is #Barchie endgame?

Will Jughead figure out that Bailey’s Comet is the key to restoring the Riverdale we all know and love?

How will they manage to stop the all-powerful Percival?

Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

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