Riverdale Season 3, Episode 9 recap: Is [SPOILER] actually dead?

Riverdale returns in the throes of the town’s quarantine, which quickly devolves into anarchy. But which character might not survive the chaos?

Did you revel in your time away from Riverdale and decompress from the never-ending stress of confusion of the third season’s various mysteries? Well, it’s time to dive back into the belly of the beast and immerse ourselves in all the crazy this show has to offer.

In the first episode of 2019, the series adds more questions to the loaded list as Veronica declares 1% warfare on Hiram, Jughead handles a tangled mess with the Serpents, and Archie hallucinates a game of Gryphons & Gargoyles. Who left the episode fighting for their life?

Let’s dig into the five most shocking moments from the latest jaw-dropping episode of Riverdale. (Warning: It’s about to get real spoilery in here.)

1. Archie gets into a fight with a bear

Because this is Riverdale, Archie couldn’t just hide away in the woods and, like, take a chill pill for a second. No, he had to venture out of his Canadian cabin with Vegas in tow after heeding a radio warning about bears in the area. Archie’s soon in the midst of his own remake of The Revenant, except he’s not exacting revenge on the bear that mauled his family or whatever Leonardo DiCaprio won that Oscar for.

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Thanks to blood loss, Archie first hallucinates Cassidy and the others that were killed in the mines, and the group forces him to play Gryphons & Gargoyles. Fair is fair. He’s probably the only one who hasn’t played at this point. Then he hallucinates Warden Norton, who issues him the task of killing the Man in Black, a.k.a. Hiram.

Finally, he hallucinates Betty, Veronica, and Jughead. They present his last mission: Archie vs. himself. Upon completing his task, a pair of authorities find Archie dead in real life. But don’t worry. This isn’t the end of Archie Andrews.

2. Cheryl and Toni go full Bling Ring

It was only a matter of time until Cheryl got bored again. As if she needed the excuse of the quarantine’s limitations, she and Toni slap on cat masks and ears and break into homes. The final straw arrives when they steal Hiram’s Faberge egg (were they calling it a “glamberge” egg?) and the criminal mastermind spots their red lipstick calling card.

Their illegal extracurricular activity gets them kicked out of the Serpents (more on the Serpents’ struggle later). But hey! The bigger Choni news this week is that they both dropped “I love you” on each other. Little victories.

3. The Lodge cold war gains stakes

Over the course of Season 3, Veronica’s battle with her father has become increasingly… uninteresting. We get it: He’s bad, she’s tired of it, and they take shots back and forth. Well, they each fire shots in the family feud, but the stakes have been raised.

Long story short, Hiram wants a cut of Ronnie’s booming business in exchange for protection, but his Gargoyle Gang attacks Reggie, leading Veronica to fudge her books in an attempt to trick her father. Her slick maneuvers don’t work, and while that could be tiresome, the cat and mouse chase isn’t in vain. It’s part of the bigger picture that involves the future and safety of the town.

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4. Jughead battles a new threat

Speaking of the Gargoyle Gang, which was created by Hiram for reasons that aren’t clear other than to unleash further havoc on Riverdale, they cause a real headache for Jughead and his Serpents. First of all, Fangs deals Fizzle Rocks that he received from the gang, which Jug tries to let slide, but once Cheryl catches wind of it in the midst of her own ousting, she takes him down with her ship.

Thanks to the egg Choni stole, Veronica and Jug strike up a deal to work together. The Serpents earn money to protect La Bonne Nuit and fight back against the Gargoyle Gang. It’s a win-win. But can they win against Hiram?

5. Betty continues to follow breadcrumbs

What is it about Riverdale that makes us think that we’ve discovered the big clue we’ve been missing when, in reality, it’s just another small piece of the puzzle? Betty, ever the inextinguishable spirit, houses the kids she freed from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

Between keeping the peace at home with Alice, who wants to take the kids to The Farm, and dealing with the hassle of a trial, our girl is spread thin. The nuns have taken a vow of silence, spelling trouble for any real justice to prevail.

However, once Attorney McCoy coaxes them into talking, the nuns break out of prison and reunite with the Gargoyle King, blue lips and all. Oh, and the escapees? Edgar Evernever took them to The Farm. Betty’s ponytail gets tighter and tighter.

Odds & Ends:

• Can we all give Josie a round of applause for attempting to mind her business and bow out of this madness? She’s thinking what we’re all thinking, what everyone in Riverdale should be thinking.
• How did Jughead and FP get back into town if they were denied access because of the quarantine? In the grand scheme of things, that’s the least of our concern, but it was never explained. Inquiring minds don’t let these inconsistencies go.
• “No Exit” could be classified as a filler episode, but I will boldly say it was one of the more enjoyable (and perhaps understandable) episodes of the season.
• When will we meet the mysterious Edgar Evernever?

What did you think of the latest episode? Let us know in the comments!

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.