The CWArchie Andrews (KJ Apa) is officially on the run.
Sure, he's been exonerated and is no longer on the run from the law, but he's still on his way out of town in fear of Hiram (Mark Consuelos) and his various schemes to take down this one poor redheaded teen boy. With Jughead (Cole Sprouse) by his side, he called and broke up with Veronica (Camila Mendes) and then took off down the train tracks. Remember when these kids were in school trying to decide between music and football? Those were the days!
Of course, Archie's decision to leave is for everyone else's safety, because that's the way that Archie makes decisions, so it's not as if he and Veronica are really over. KJ Apa said as much when E! News paid a visit to the Vancouver set.
"I think Archie being in Riverdale puts [Veronica] in danger because of the whole kind of, with Hiram and stuff like that. I think Archie being in Riverdale kind of puts a lot of people in danger; but most of all, puts Veronica in danger," he said. "But, that being the reason for them having to part ways means that there is still something there. You know what I mean? They didn't part ways because of someone doing something."
Some of that danger might be very justified, because Consuelos says he really liked Archie where he was, and this new development is not good.
"I think that he doesn't like the fact that Archie's on the run and doesn't know exactly where he is. That's a loose end that he needs to tighten up."
Archie and Jughead, Friends Forever
For Archie and Jugead, this is a bit of a return to a friendship that hasn't been prominent for a long time (for a lot of reasons), and Sprouse says it leads to a "very fun episode" reminiscent of the three-part episode in season two, "Tales from the Darkside."
"It's the same kind of rubric for this one," Sprouse says. "It's really an Archie-Jughead narrative, which is kind of in rare supply, so you get that for a good chunk of episodes. It's really just Archie and Jughead for a little bit and it's a lot of fun and they're on the lam and they're running away, kind of Stand By Me. It's really fun."
"Eventually, they end up finding themselves having to kind of—like the fork in the road, they have to go their separate ways at some point," Apa said. Sprouse couldn't elaborate on what breaks them up, but it sounds like it might have something to do with Jughead's dad.
"There's a definitive reaction and it causes a reunion," Skeet Ulrich said of FP's reaction to Jughead and Archie running away.
Archie In Trouble
In that vein, Apa says he's also been spending a lot of scenes alone, out on the road, meandering and "kind of just chilling" while being angry at the world for getting himself into this position.
"A lot of it's solo, which has been great, which has been really cool," he says. "It's been fun. It's been really fun because when you're by yourself, a lot of weird s--t happens to you 'cause you've got no one else to kinda talk to. It is fun but at the same time, I do miss kind of doing scenes with the guys and stuff. But, you know, it doesn't last. He can't be isolated forever. But I've been enjoying it."
When he does come back, Apa says Archie will feel like school is kind of "ridiculous" compared to what he's just been through, and "we see him turn to other options, which are not good."
This causes a "huge divide" among the group, where Archie "is kind of just spiraling into a dark kind of place, but is saved by a person and by music."
Betty Locked Up
Meanwhile, Betty (Lili Reinhart) spent the entire episode doing some serious investigating into what the hell is going on in this town and uncovering things like the fact that Dilton's dad had an affair with Penelope and ended up murdered, but then the Gargoyle King showed up in her house. It was a great homage to Scream with Jiffypop heating up on the stove and Skeet Ulrich climbing in through the window, but it scared Alice so much that she and Polly are heading to the Farm to stay.
She knew that Betty wouldn't join them, so she had her committed to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy so she'd be "safe." Unfortunately, "safe" isn't exactly a word we'd use for that place regularly, and especially not when the entire art class is painting pictures of the Gargoyle King.
With Jughead off on the road with Archie, it doesn't sound like he plays much of a part in getting Betty out of the convent.
"We do touch upon it a little bit, but a little further into the season," Sprouse says. "It's touched upon quite a bit."
Gryphons & Gargoyles & Seizures
It was just the last episode when Jughead could barely function normally because he was so consumed with Gryphons and Gargoyles, but it sounds like thanks to his dad chaining him to the fridge, the spell might have been broken.
"I think FP chaining him to the fridge actually did some good," he said. "I think he does break it a bit...By the time he goes with Archie, [the obsession] is pretty much gone."
Gryphons and Gargoyles and the Gargoyle King and the possibly related seizures were everywhere tonight. Joaquin (Rob Raco) ended up dead with the symbol for "sacrifice" (the same one branded onto Archie) carved into his forehead. Josie (Ashleigh Murray) had a seizure while the sheriff was threatening her class over giving up Archie's location, and of course, there's Betty trapped in a convent full of players.
Ashleigh Murray says the seizures are still a mystery to her, meaning we'll have to wait a long while before that part of the G&G web is explained.
"I still don't even really understand how the seizures are happening or why," Murray says. "I'm uncertain as to if the severity of her seizure could have affected her memory of it. I have no idea, but the scary thing that I still don't really understand, and I'm not really sure if it's something that she is going to resolve. It's not something that we've touched on yet so I don't know."
So this is what we know: Archie and Jughead are going to have some fun before Archie's left all alone, Archie and Veronica still have a chance, Betty's predicament is still a mystery that will be "touched on," and not even the people on the show understand what's going on with the seizures. And that barely even covers the 40,000 things that happened in tonight's episode! Is anyone else very, very tired??
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.