Hiram Lodge—and Penelope—made their grand return to Riverdale, though it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine—it never is with him anyway.
You know that whenever Hiram is in town, it’s always for a self-serving reason, and while Veronica attempted to give him the benefit of the doubt, he quickly showed that a leopard doesn’t change its stripes, no matter the time period.
Hiram insisted that he was in town to reconnect with his mija, but before long, she was clued in that the FBI—oh hey, Glenn who wasn’t murdered by the Trash Bag Killer in the decade—was investigating him on suspicion of being a communist and he needed Veronica to go on record to say she was with him on a daddy-daughter trip to Cuba. In reality, he was there with Vidal Maestro (Fidel Castro’s evil twin brother, I suppose), so the FBI is definitely onto something they just misinterpreted the situation—he’s not a communist, he’s a philanderer who was wooing his “blonde honey” Kelly (not to be confused with Kelly Ripa, but I sure got a chuckle). The Kelly callout was reason enough to watch this episode.
In the end, Hiram skipped town after agreeing to Veronica’s terms, as her King Lear monologue definitely seemed to be an official goodbye speech to the toxic relationship she’s had with her father for several seasons. In his place came Hermione, who revealed that though the ’50s were a far cry from 2023, some relationships were simply doomed from the start, including her romance with Hiram. It was nice seeing Penelope take the spotlight for a change, and I’m giving Marisol Nichols a standing ovation simply because her return likely won’t garner the same excitement as Mark Conseulos’…. even though it should.
Also, Consuelos as an acting coach was necessary screentime, and that’s not up for debate.
In the previous episode, Jughead teased that a storm was brewing, and “The Crucible” seemingly lit the match and fanned the flames with Clifford Blossom, Featherhead, and Werthers all banding together in their attempt to control the narrative while simultaneously offering a thought-provoking and upsetting glimpse at the times.
The word communist was thrown out quite a lot with Mrs. Thornton, Archie’s poetry mentor, the first victim who was fired, before they set their sights on Cheryl to force her into turning on her friends and outing them to the public, destroying their lives and threatening their safety in the process.
Riverdale — “Chapter One Thirty: The Crucible” — Image Number: RVD713b_0045r — Pictured (L – R): KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller and Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Essentially, anyone who didn’t conform—who was different, unique, or had their own way of looking at life was considered an enemy of the public. It was a swift change from the bubbly ’50s aesthetic we’ve been shown for much of the season, but it falls more in line with the darker themes and tones we’ve come to expect from Riverdale. We may have been blinded by the fashion, music, cars, and ambiance of the decade, but now we’re seeing the ugly side of it—the parts that persecuted anyone who colored outside of the lines.
The three bad men thought that they were forcing conformity, but in reality, they were encouraging rebellion. When Betty was informed that the Blue and Gold was shut down, she took it upon herself to Lady Bridgerton everyone and start an anonymous newsletter with open communication signed by the Girl Next Door. And based on the amount of fan mail she received, it was a hoot.
When Cheryl’s back was pushed against a wall, she concocted a plan with Toni, Kevin, and Clay to play pretend and be in heterosexual relationships so that they could be safe to nurture their real love stories in private. Archie’s dramatic performance of John Porter in The Crucible, a man that risks everything to preserve the integrity of his name, convinced Cheryl that she couldn’t in good faith turn on her friends and run the River Vixens—something had to give, and she needed to be able to live with her decision. It wasn’t the decision Clifford was expecting, and it won’t stop him from continuing to wreak havoc, but it was satisfying to see her take a stance nonetheless.
Archie may come off as a lost puppy throughout much of this season—and maybe it’s because he’s constantly saying things like “gee golly” and “oh gosh”—but he absolutely murdered that monologue with emotional and
Even Archie scoffed at the idea of dumping poetry because of how it might be perceived knowing that it didn’t change a thing about him or his masculinity. But to err on the side of caution, he asked Mrs. Grundy that they keep his writing a secret so that he can continue working on his talents without scrutiny. I was *shook* to see Grundy again, but hopefully, her mention of having a husband means Archie won’t repeat the same mistakes he did previously. No one needs a teen-teacher love affair again.
As for Jughead and Ethel, they went down a similar path as Betty, reselling copies of comic books that were pulled from newsstands on the down low from a booth at Pops. They were eventually busted, but at least they didn’t let the system silence them.
Unfortunately, the more the masses pushed back, the harder Clifford and his goons worked to exert control, eventually buying back all the comic books and burning them at the stake. We’ve seen witch hunts before, but this one has serious implications for society as a whole, and my guess is that it leads to the moment where they all somehow find their way back to the present day, though I’m not entirely sure how that’s going to come about.
The theme weaved throughout the episode and hammered home with the quote “words have power” was that a lot of good can be done with words, but so can a lot of damage, especially when the words are manipulated and twisted.
And historically, we’ve seen how much damage burning books can do, censoring information and preventing society from getting access to the truth, so hopefully, Clifford, Werthers, and Featherhead launching the “full plan” ignites a full of pushback against the powers at be and provides some clarity as to where this season is truly going.
It’s been fun meddling with the timeline and reimaging these characters, but what’s the end goal? We’re staring down the barrel of a season finale with no idea as to what Clifford’s end-game plan is, who was behind the Milkman murders (and why!), or how Archie and Co. make it back to their timeline and undo this mess.
There was a huge focus on romantic connections this season, but I’m hoping we don’t revert back to a relationship between Archie and Veronica again because that was over and done. We’ve been toying with the idea of Archie and Betty almost all season long, so when is that happening? Hopefully, the final musical episode ever will force Archie to make a decision about his romantic life because whew, we all know that boy goes where the wind blows.
What did you think of the episode? How will this play out? Will the teens take a stand?