Previously on Riverdale...
I don't think I can go back to Riverdale.
Hiram's gonna follow you, or us, wherever we go.
Where is he?
So, what's the plan?
We'll go see my mom.
Seizures aren't contagious. So what?
The sisters protected me. They protected Polly.
They'll watch over you now.
They make drugs inside the prison,
which all the kids take when they play G&G.
All of it is connected, Archie.
What kind of business does Hiram Lodge
have with Sister Woodhouse,
and how are the Blossoms connected to it?
You've been a very bad girl, Betty.
You haven't been taking your candy.
Wonderful, wonderful work.
My King, my savior.
It was a day like any other.
Everything seemed normal.
Students went to class,
the Vixens prepared for the annual prep rally.
Couples had their stolen moments in quiet classrooms.
You wanna take another hit?
Less talking,
more kissing.
But in Riverdale, there's no such thing as normal,
as Cheryl Blossom was about to discover.
Help! Help us. Somebody help!
Your group is stricken,
infected with poison,
compromised.
And now, you're all alone.
You hear the heavy, scraping footsteps
of some horrific monstrosity.
Girls. Time for your candy.
Well, this is definitely the place.
You guys lost?
Or looking to pick up some merch?
We're looking for Gladys Jones.
I'm family.
We need a place to stay.
- Jughead? - Jellybean?
Thought I smelled something rotten.
You heard him. Open the damn gate.
You, mon petit amour, are officially on bed rest.
I've brewed you a pot of Vintage Narcissus tea,
and our family physician, Dr. Caligari, is on call
should you feel another spell coming along.
I'm feeling much better, Cheryl.
But what if what happened to me is contagious?
Oh, T.T.,
Ship's Fever couldn't keep me away.
My four-poster bed is your four-poster bed.
You can stay here for as long as you like.
Even... permanently?
You mean, like, move in with you?
I'm cuckoo bananas for you, obvi.
Won't you move in?
As long as I'm the big spoon.
I believed you, Hiram.
- It's under control. - No, I supported you,
and you swore to me that this wouldn't happen.
It was a miscalculation.
Now, out of strife comes opportunity,
and now the timing is perfect.
What is going on?
Why am I back here?
Veronica,
thank God you are awake.
We brought you home as soon as Weatherbee called us.
You had a seizure, mija.
What?
It's all the stress you've been under.
Getting dropped by Archie, running two businesses.
Which is why we've decided to send you to New York.
You'll finally get some rest,
and we'll get you in with the best doctors.
Uh, I'm not leaving town.
Sheriff Minetta's body turns up gangland style,
without his hands or head,
and you wanna ship me off to New York? Why?
No answer? Fascinating.
My parents are up to something, Reggie.
I mean, they're always up to something,
but they tried to banish me to New York,
which is a new one for them.
It's like they don't want me around for whatever's coming next.
Has everyone lost their minds?
Is Jingle-Jangle suddenly a thing again?
That was so last year.
I'm not sure it's the Jangle.
Your dad's pulling it off the market
and replacing it with some new candy.
Fizzle Rocks.
Dealt by the Ghoulies?
No. A new gang.
The Gargoyles.
With ties, no doubt, to this godforsaken
G&G everyone's playing.
And what, pray tell, is my father's skin in that particular game, I wonder.
Reggie, I need you to do some sussing for me
and find out what you can about these Fizzle Rocks.
On it.
Last year, I helped my parents spin their criminal web
and good people like Archie got hurt.
This year, I'm going to be a fly in their ointment.
Whatever they're up to, I will stop them.
Jughead?
Hi, Mom.
Oh, Jug.
Oh!
You feel like a... Like a bag of tire irons.
Are you eating?
Ugh, you're not a vegetarian now, are you?
You wound me, Mother.
Oh...
I recognize that rooster top.
Archie Andrews?
Oh!
Gosh, you sure grew up.
Oh! So...
You two finally got together, huh?
I always knew there was something going on between you.
Uh, no, we're not together together.
- We're just on the road together. - Yeah.
- Like a bromance. - Sure.
I know you didn't come to Toledo for the weather.
What's going on?
Why didn't you call me, tell me you were coming?
Last time I called, you told me I couldn't come.
Well, that was a different time.
Hey, I got my GED now.
Hmm? I started this whole place up.
I am a legit businesswoman now.
Hey, Gladys, tailpipe just came in with these. Where do you want 'em?
Yeah, not right now, Lugnut.
Oh, hey, hold up. Get the crew together, huh?
Tell 'em my son's come home.
And his best pal, too.
Tonight, we are going to feast.
Whoa, yeah!
Betty, you look terrible.
Thank you, Mom.
Did you come here just to tell me that?
I thought you were staying at the Farm.
I am, but the school board reached out.
They're having an emergency meeting, and I want to be there.
Meeting about what?
Apparently, there was a mass seizure at school.
Like the same one that you had.
Whatever caused yours spread to the Vixens.
All of them? Including Veronica?
She's one of the fallen, yes.
Oh, my God.
Poor V.
I'm just glad that you were here, honey.
Safe with the sisters.
We have a very special relationship.
He tells me secrets, gives me personal quests.
And I know people are scared of him because he's all-powerful,
but he's honestly super-funny.
Who's super-funny?
Oh, hey, Ethel.
I was just telling everyone about
how the Gargoyle King and I have gotten really close.
Very funny, Betty.
It's true. After I met him,
I couldn't get him out of my head, you know?
He's amazing.
Yesterday, he said...
Nevermind.
He said what?
Yesterday, he said
I was his new favorite.
That... That's not possible.
You're not worthy enough for him.
You're making all this up to make fun of me, aren't you?
Of course not, Ethel.
But if you don't believe me,
you should go ask him yourself.
Or you and I can go talk to the Gargoyle King together.
You do have the keys to his chamber, don't you?
What?
Ethel, are you scared?
What are you doing? Open the door!
I can't, Ethel,
and I'm sorry, but I need to fast-track my plans,
and you're my best shot at converting someone.
You're going to make him angry. You're disrespecting...
The Gargoyle King isn't real, Ethel.
He's a hallucination.
The candy that the Sisters have been giving us?
It's a drug, it's making you see things.
Stop it! Stop lying!
Once the drug wears off in a few hours, you'll see, okay?
You'll see the truth.
- Synced and corrected by VitoSilans - -- www.Addic7ed.com --
Ethel, I'm back.
Are you okay?
I don't understand.
It's just a statue.
But I saw him.
We all did
because we were high on Fizzle Rocks.
The sisters feed us drugs
that make us susceptible to visions that they suggest.
They let us play the game, and then they use
our delusions of the Gargoyle King
to scare us into submission.
- That can't be. - It is.
The sisters are running some kind of scam with Hiram Lodge.
I think he's paying them to test his drugs on the patients.
But I've seen him, in real life.
In my hospital room.
The Gargoyle King, he...
- He's out there. - I know.
I saw the Gargoyle King in town, too,
or someone dressed up as him.
At any rate, it doesn't change the fact that in here,
he's just a hunk of cement.
I can't believe it.
I need your help, Ethel.
Sister Woodhouse must know more about G&G than she's letting on.
This game is literally killing people.
Think about Dilton and Ben.
If we know more, then we can stop those things from happening again.
We just need Sister Woodhouse to fess up
before we can escape and shut this place down.
How are we going to escape?
First things first.
Sister Woodhouse.
Attention, students, we are hereby
closing the student lounge. Please exit immediately...
First, they cancel sports and extracurriculars,
now they're shutting down the lounge? What is going on?
As Student Body President,
please tell me you've got some insider information to share.
Though my powers as Dauphine of Riverdale High aren't absolute yet,
I am CC'd on all School Board emails.
And they're having a meeting tonight.
I think to discuss shutting down the school.
And, Veronica, your parents are leading the charge.
Of course they are.
That is exactly what my dad did with Southside High,
and he definitely had ulterior motives then.
Oh, my God.
And now Riverdale High is officially a hot zone?
- That's one of the infected. - Go, Veronica, run.
Drugs, gargoyles,
mystery men in hazmat suits,
and secret School Board meetings?
How does it all tie together?
Not sure, but I got some suss for you.
According to my sources,
the Fizzle Rocks distributors, aka the Gargoyles,
are giving their product out to people for free.
I've seen enough episodes of Narcos" to know this scheme.
Hook them with a first taste,
then they're customers for life.
And Daddy's always playing the long game.
For sure, and here's the kicker.
Fizzle Rocks are coming from the Southside,
right out of the prison your dad's been building.
That must be where he moved his candy factory to
after Cheryl, Toni, and I
- busted his lab at the Whyte Wyrm. - Hmm.
And speaking of Cheryl...
Cheryl? What time is that School Board meeting and where?
No child should step foot through these doors
until we have figured out what's going on in this toxic petri dish of contagion.
We're taking as many precautions as we can, Mrs. Blossom.
What we should be doing is tracking down patient zero
and running every test in Western medicine on them.
Okay, tonight's discussion is regarding the fate of Riverdale High.
Can we please stay on topic?
To Mrs. Blossom's point,
my wife and I are in full agreement. Most parents are.
I mean, five more kids experienced seizures just this afternoon.
Isn't that right, Waldo?
Yeah.
Which is why tonight, as mayor,
I am signing an executive order
shutting down Riverdale High,
at least until it's deemed safe.
Stop it right there!
- The CDC hasn't set foot in Riverdale High. - Fact!
And now my parents are bullying you all into closing it.
Sounds exactly like what you did with Southside High,
which you're now using as a drug factory.
Wait a minute. I thought Southside High property
was being developed into a prison.
That's just his cover, Mrs. Cooper.
Is that your plan here, too, Daddy?
Trump up a way to get another huge parcel of land on the cheap,
then expand your ever-growing drug empire,
which now consists, almost exclusively, of Fizzle Rocks?
Veronica, what are you even talking about?
That's okay, mi amor.
There's a reason for this meeting, right?
To air out concerns.
We called the CDC.
They wouldn't send anyone to investigate such a low priority crisis.
They think it's all psychological.
So, we took some initiative.
The men you saw in hazmat gear,
they were hired from a private firm to run exhaustive tests.
And Southside High is becoming a prison,
not a drug factory.
If you'd like the names of the guards we've recently hired,
I'd happily provide a list.
Have I left anything out?
Yes, you have.
The part about how you're producing Fizzle Rocks
and giving it away for free
to get every teenager in Riverdale hooked.
And I suppose I'm also the Gargoyle King,
as Jughead Jones accused me of being?
Oh, poor deluded girl.
I hear tell that these seizures cause hallucinations,
and isn't this child one of the afflicted?
On that note, where are the cheerleaders?
I speak for the disappeared Vixens.
What of them?
Where were they taken? And by whom?
Those girls went to Riverdale General
where I'm sure they're receiving the best medical care possible.
And being dissected like fetal pigs, no doubt!
You messed with my squad, which means you messed with me.
Now I demand real answers!
What?
What is it, you viper?
Hiram Lodge, huh?
That good-looking short stack was always trouble.
But why go after Archie?
Archie was the only one that stood up to him, defied him.
Not to mention, I also date...
Dated his daughter.
Oh.
"Dated"? As in, no longer dating?
- As in, single? - Relax, Jellybean.
It's JB now, Kid Kerouac.
Archie.
Have you spoken to your dad through any of this?
I wish. I wish I could see him,
tell him how I'm doing.
But it's too risky. He'd drag me home by the collar.
Riverdale's not where I need to be.
Pig's ready!
All right. You heard the guy.
Archie, go get yourself a hot meal.
Cheek's the best part.
All right,
so tell me about this game thing.
This thing that you and Archie are mixed up in.
Gryphons and Gargoyles?
How involved with this are you?
Well, it's more than just a game.
It's got larger implications for all of Riverdale.
I'm just trying to crack it. Get underneath it.
Figure out who's behind all this.
Hiram, it sounds like.
Is he the one who gave you that nasty scar on your arm?
- You saw that, huh? - Yeah, it's bad.
No, that was, uh...
a gift from a former Serpent under Hiram's employ.
- Penny Peabody. - Penny?
That wench?
She always had a beef about your father and I.
And then she does this? She cuts up my son?
You know, I never wanted this for you, kid.
I mean, you're Serpent King.
I never wanted you in the damn gang.
Don't act all high and mighty.
I saw that kid with the stereos earlier.
You claimed to have left Riverdale to get away from Serpent life,
and here you are, chopping cars and lifting their parts,
- God knows what else. - Hey.
So what? So if we jack a couple stereos here and there
and we steal some hubcaps?
I am feeding and taking care of all these kids
who have nowhere else to go.
What am I supposed to do? Just leave 'em high and dry?
It's what you did to me, isn't it?
Come on, let's get something to eat
before there's something left.
Surprised to see me, Red?
There's a bounty on your hip,
and you left more breadcrumbs coming here
than a chubby kid in a fairytale.
Red, keep quiet,
I'll give you the luxury of an open casket.
Not if I put you in one first.
Drop the butter knife, bitch.
Careful, kid, you might poke your eye out.
You know, Penny, I'm not shocked that a bottom-feeder like you
is working with Hiram Lodge.
You always had unfixed allegiances.
That's rich, coming from Gladys Jones.
Yeah, well...
I am surprised that you're not ratting him out right now.
He must have something real good on you, Penny-slot.
I'm no snitch.
But I will say this,
Hiram won't stop.
Not till he gets what he wants.
And right now, that's Red.
And there's nothing that you, or your little Lord of the Flies crew,
or Jughead here can do.
Hiram won't stop.
Speaking of my Jug,
I saw the work that you did on him.
You carved him up like a Sunday roast.
That was business between me and him.
Yeah, well, I'm his mama.
So it's between me and you now.
All right, everyone, go inside,
me and Penny here, we're gonna have us a little girl talk.
Ask her about G&G,
how Hiram fits into it all.
Roger that.
I wanted to commend you.
The gusto you showed in that meeting,
that was audacious.
- Congratulations. - On what?
On being right.
About all of it. Or at least most of it.
I mean, it's so much bigger than you're giving me credit for.
This plan? What's coming next?
It's practically biblical.
Years in the making.
What is it?
What do you really want, Daddy?
What every king wants.
A kingdom.
And a legacy.
You know, once things are in place,
I'm hoping you'll join me.
Take a seat at my right hand
and help me oversee the new order.
You're deluded, Daddy.
Also, you're not untouchable.
Maybe in Riverdale you are,
because your wife's mayor and there's no sheriff,
but there's a whole wide world out there.
They''ll see what you're doing.
Yeah, I'm not too concerned about that.
You know, it's been a while since I've seen you in pearls.
Maybe you'll start wearing them again.
Hey.
- What happened with Penny? - Just
give me a second, Jug, okay?
Let me think. I just need to think.
- She talk about the game? - Jug, come on.
We know she was tracking Archie for Hiram.
Was it a quest from her master?
Is Hiram more than the Man in Black? Is he the Gargoyle King?
You are so caught up in this damn game,
you can't see three feet in front of you.
The big prize isn't Archie's head,
it is Riverdale.
Jug, if you had your wits about you,
you would realize that Hiram chased you out of town
just to get you off of the chess board.
So you were as far away from Riverdale when he made his big play.
So it's not about ascending to the Kingdom?
It's about claiming the Kingdom.
And if Hiram is the Gargoyle King,
then he is responsible for re-introducing G&G to Riverdale
and the deaths of those kids.
Mrs. J, what do we do?
I'm still trying to figure that out, sweetie.
Are we okay here?
I mean, is Archie even safe?
Yeah, of course he is.
- Hello? - V?
It's Betty. It's so good to hear your voice.
- Girl, where are you? - It's a long story,
- but I'm at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. - What?
We all thought you were at the Farm.
Veronica, there's not much time.
You need to listen to me very carefully.
Your text said you had news.
Betty called. She's at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy.
What?
That place is the Hellmouth of Riverdale. We have to break her out of there.
Betty said she's working on that,
but you and I have another mission.
According to B,
my father's testing Fizzle Rocks
on the patients at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy.
Moreover, she saw your Uncle Claudius with him,
using Blossom Maple trucks to deliver the drugs.
Shades of the Legion of Doom.
They're planning something big, Cheryl.
My father likened it to the apocalypse.
For all we know,
my father may somehow be responsible for the seizures,
but he wouldn't be any more specific than that.
So I was thinking maybe we could ask your mom,
since she's in cahoots with him?
With pleasure, Veronica.
My Vixens have fallen. My T.T. has fallen.
If my gorgon-like mother has any knowledge of how or why that's happening,
we'll get it out of her.
Hi, Sister. Sorry.
I was wondering if I could get some...
Don't scream, Sister.
Oh, sorry.
You're coming with me.
It's time we pay a little visit to your King.
It's just me. Get up.
I didn't want to talk in front of Archie and the others.
As it turns out,
Peabody had a lot to say.
The bounty on your pal Archie, it's not just on him.
It's on anyone who's with him or is helping him.
Which means there is a target on your back now, too, Jughead.
It's the same if he goes back to Riverdale.
Archie's dad, Archie's friends,
everyone is at risk,
which is why you got to cut him loose.
I'm not just gonna ditch Archie, Mom.
He's my best friend.
Your mom's right, Jug.
You got me this far.
That's more than anyone else would've done.
You can go home.
What are you talking about?
You can't go out there alone.
Jug, Hiram almost killed us back at that farm,
Penny tracked us here to your mom's.
I've put her in danger.
I've put Jellybean in danger. I can't keep doing that.
Wherever I go next, it's got to be alone.
- Archie. - Jug.
All right.
So, it's decided.
Arch, we'll get you a ride to the border.
I know a guy up there who can help.
Jughead, you can stay here as long as you want.
No, I think I need to go home.
Hiram Lodge needs to get taken down.
It's only gonna happen from the inside.
You sinful girls.
I will strap you to your beds and electroshock the sin out of you.
Sister, monsters don't scare me, and neither do you.
I've seen real darkness. I've stared it right in the face.
That's why you couldn't break me.
I know the scam that you're running.
I saw you with Hiram Lodge.
You're testing his drugs out on patients.
Why?
Mr. Lodge is a generous donor.
- Oh? - A believer in our mission.
And by "mission", you mean
using the game and the Gargoyle King to scare girls?
To torture children?
The children who come through our doors are broken.
It's our sacred mission to fix them,
using whatever tools necessary.
Does that mean that the sisters created Gryphons and Gargoyles
as a tool?
Misbehaving children have been brought down to this room
since the asylum opened.
That statue scared them into submission.
Some of them, the more disturbed ones,
created a fantasy realm,
a game
to cope with the fear of the one they'd named
the Gargoyle King.
We embraced it as a therapeutic tool.
And it worked
because it embeds itself in the minds of the players.
It makes them complacent. Focuses them.
If that's true, then how did the game get out into the world?
Did you give it to Hiram?
It was never meant to leave these walls.
It's too powerful.
A game born of madness.
A madness you helped nurture.
And now people like Ben and Dilton are dead.
You're going to pay for everything that you've done, Sister.
And you're going to tell the authorities
what you've told us about the game.
And about Hiram's donations.
I only answer to one authority, Betty.
Come on, Ethel. We have her keys.
We're leaving.
We're taking your children with us, Sister.
They won't want to leave.
We'll see about that.
Help!
I'm in the basement.
Help!
Let's do this again.
What does my father have planned for Riverdale?
Speak! Or it gets the syrup again.
Why do you want to know your father's plans?
He's finally going to turn this backwater into something worthwhile.
A place where we can all pursue
- our various enterprises unmolested. - What does that mean?
She's talking about drug dealing and prostitution.
Aren't you, you ghoulunatic?
We need specifics.
How exactly is my father planning on turning Riverdale
into Vice City?
Well, he's in bed with the mayor, isn't he?
And as for law enforcement, well,
the last time I checked,
Riverdale didn't have much of a sheriff.
Details. Or so help me God,
I will drown you in this cheap crap.
And open the garden doors to let the ants in.
All right, I'll tell you.
Wait. What do you mean, you don't want to escape?
We feel safe here.
We play G&G.
The sisters give us candy, keep us warm and clean.
Why would we wanna leave?
Sister Woodhouse was right.
They're all brainwashed, just like I was.
Well, we can't just leave them behind.
Not to mention all those kids in the gay conversion wing where Cheryl was.
There has to be something we can do.
Wait, the game.
The game is how they cope with terror, right?
So, let's convince them to escape by turning it into a quest.
The Gargoyle King inspires fear,
so let's give them hope.
Let's give them the opposite of the Gargoyle King, which is...
The Gryphon Queen.
All right.
Now, I packed you guys some lunches for the road.
Hey, Jug, you mind getting that? It's probably Archie's ride.
Dad!
I've missed you so much, Dad.
Me too, son.
So you finally made it, huh?
Jughead's getting his bag. He'll be out in a minute.
Hey, Jellybelly.
You've gotten so big.
Can I get a hug?
Can I get a dad?
Hey, JB!
Come on now.
Let her be. I deserve that.
She misses you.
She'd just rather fight than admit it.
Yeah, like mother like daughter.
Dad.
I see Mom called you.
Thought you might be missing this.
I heard Penny was here causing trouble.
No problem at all.
I don't think we have to worry much about Penny anymore.
Come here, kid.
I'm gonna miss you.
Go warm up the bikes, will you, Jug?
Thank you, Gladys, for the call.
I'll make sure he gets home safe.
Get out of here.
Kevin, cadets!
This meal's on the house.
But you brutes are helping us out.
We need backup right the hell now.
What's going on?
On your feet, soldier boys!
We're going to war.
Paladins and Hellcasters,
Healers and Deadeyes,
your Game Master has a new adventure for you.
Your goal is to escape
from the Gargoyle King's fortress.
But we can't. If he catches us, we'll be punished.
Yes. Severely.
But there is hope.
A Queen to lead you into the light.
Hark, there she be!
Follow me, your Gryphon Queen,
away from this fortress, and back to the kingdom of Eldervair!
But what about the King?
The King is dead.
You're all free.
We can't wake the King's Demon Soldiers.
I have the enchanted keys.
Meet me at the doors to freedom.
Here you go.
It's the last stop before the border.
Yeah.
You know, I was thinking. I could go with you.
We could do this together.
Find a cabin in the woods?
Yeah. Teach you carpentry, like my old man did me.
Imagine that.
Us.
Living off the land, father and son.
Hunting, fishing.
It would be great.
Yeah, it would be.
But, uh, you know we can't do that.
Right, Dad?
I can't change your mind,
get you to come back home?
But you can give me your blessing.
I was your age when my father passed away.
- I never got to say goodbye... - This isn't goodbye, Dad.
You're damn right, it's not.
See you soon?
Yeah, you will.
Oh, one more thing.
Vegas!
- Mom, stop! - You heard the woman! Halt!
Veronica, what is this?
Consider it a coup d'moi.
We know your end game.
You are hereby relieved of your mayoral duties.
Those plans you and your husband had
with my dollymop mother
are now canceled.
Now, step away from the phone
before you make the biggest mistake of your life.
Veronica...
You can't just walk in here and depose me.
I'm an elected official.
Besides, you're too late.
The order went out ten minutes ago.
I was about to call and tell you.
It's starting.
Betty, what are we going to do with all these kids?
They have nowhere to go.
We'll help them, Ethel, all of them.
- Mom? - Betty.
Why are you wearing that outfit? What's going on?
- What are you doing here? - Hell is breaking loose.
I came to get you out of the sisters'.
Well, you're just in time, but it's not just gonna be me.
And just like that, in a few frantic moments,
the town we'd known all our lives
was once again changed,
but this time, irrevocably.
It was time for us to brace for a terrible impact.
And while Archie Andrews headed away from the doomed town of Riverdale,
we raced towards it.
For that night was the fruition of a game
that had been planned for and played
across the years.
The hell is this?
Town's under quarantine. Governor's orders.
No one in or out. Turn around and go.
No. No, we live here.
Not anymore. Turn around, now!
Well, Hiram, you got what you wanted.
The town's quarantined.
I'll do what I can to keep the outside world at bay.
Riverdale thanks you, Governor Dooley.
You did the right thing.
I pray that's true.
And may God have mercy on our souls.
Not God, Governor...
The King.
- Synced and corrected by VitoSilans - -- www.Addic7ed.com --