A calm opening quickly led to chaos in the second season premiere of Riverdale. In the season one finale, viewers are left with Archie’s dad, Fred, who was shot by a masked man with green eyes. Betty, Veronica and Jughead are all safely in their homes while Archie, without a driver’s license, is rushing his father to the hospital in their truck.
Fred fades in and out of consciousness, having haunted dreams of his shooting. Meanwhile, Betty and Veronica are safely home, both arguing with their mothers. Betty is brutally honest with her mom, Alice, about her relationship with Jughead as Alice takes every chance she has to insult him. Veronica and her mother, Hermione, argue over the return of Hiram, Veronica’s father. Their conversation is cut short when Betty calls, summoning everyone to the hospital.
Of course, Alice takes the lead at the hospital, revealing that there is no new information on Fred. Viewers watch Fred’s haunted dreams where happy moments, like Archie’s graduation, are interrupted by his masked shooter cutting the dream short.
Not long after arriving, Alice accuses Jughead’s family and close friends, the Southside Serpents, of being involved in Fred’s shooting. Sheriff Keller shows up and insists he speaks with Archie, and Jughead joins. When questions start getting more intense, Archie shuts down and viewers question Archie’s story.
The show jumps to another one of Fred’s nightmares. As his heart rate increases and he gets closer to the edge, dead relatives are pounding on his door.
Archie is advised to go home and shower, except he’s not showering alone. This is a big moment in Veronica and Archie’s relationship, especially at such a critical time in Archie’s life.
Steps are being made in Betty and Jughead’s relationship, as well. They both said “I love you” to each other. Suddenly, Cheryl shows up – briefly describing she had no idea how the fire started, which her mother was badly burned in, but viewers know that it was Cheryl herself who started it.
The mysterious green-eyed shooter is still unknown, even after Archie looks at a lineup Sheriff Keller put together. His friends are shocked that Archie would go alone. Jughead adds to the shock afterwards when he reveals that Sheriff Keller suggested Fred’s shooting was premeditated.
Veronica presses on this issue with her mother, accusing her of putting a hit on Fred Andrews. Hermione warns her to step down.
Slowly, more people show up to support Archie. Now Fred is stable, but he’s still unconscious and dreaming. This time, he’s at Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe, where he was shot, as Archie is telling his dad he’s proposing to Veronica.
Still at Pop’s, but back to reality, Betty and Jughead search the scene for evidence. Here, they learn that this wasn’t a robbery. Pop, the shop owner, tells them “the Angel of Death [has] come to Riverdale.”
Knowing that Jughead has ties to the Southside Serpents, Betty questions if Jughead is going to join them. She worries that he will come to rely on the gang.
The scene cuts to Cheryl terrorizing her mother. Completely wrapped in dressings for her burns and breathing out of an oxygen mask, Cheryl cuts off her oxygen supply and tells her that she will decide how things are going to go in the future.
With Betty, Veronica and Jughead by his side, Archie reveals the big question in his story about what happened at the shooting. Apparently, the assailant put the gun to Archie’s head after he shot Fred and Archie blacked out. Once the bell on the door rang, he snapped back.
Rarely does Cheryl show acts of kindness, but the tragedy of Archie’s dad brings out her best. After she leaves, Archie has a heart to heart with his unconscious father while he’s trapped in another nightmare.
Here, Archie and Veronica are getting married, but something isn’t right. Once again, people who have died are sitting in the crowd. Fred wakes up as soon as he jumps in front of Archie to save him from the shooter walking up the aisle with a gun.
Lastly, Veronica walks in the door to find her father home and scolding her for her disrespect. With no hesitation, Veronica continues to give her attitude. She leaves her parents with the knowledge that Fred Andrews is awake.
The premiere ends with Archie vowing to protect his father, watching the front and back door with a baseball bat in his hands. In a small town called Greendale, an old character, Ms. Grundy, resurfaces with another young boyfriend. She becomes the shooter’s next victim.
Watch Riverdale on www.cwtv.com.
