Riverdale: The Black Hood contacts Betty, Jughead makes a huge decision and Veronica’s past lover comes into town

According to every fan I’ve talked to this was the most exciting episode yet, and I can’t help but agree. The Black Hood is everywhere and it is clear, as Jughead says, “there is a serial killer on the loose.”

In the previous episode, (season 2 episode 4) Betty receives a personalized letter from the Black Hood. He told her that her speech at the Town Hall in which she calls on the town to trust and take care of one another (season 1) inspired his acts of violence. Jughead and Betty figure out the next place he will strike is Town Hall so they frantically race there before anyone gets hurt.

However, in Riverdale, there is never an happy ending. Instead, that episode ends with Betty getting a phone call from the Black Hood.

Episode 5 starts off right at Episode 4’s cliffhanger. Betty is sitting in her room terrified and frozen as the murder speaks to her. The Black Hood says that if she doesn’t do what he wants he will kill Polly, Betty’s pregnant sister who now lives four hours north of Riverdale. She eventually tells Archie despite the Black Hood’s rules to not tell anyone because “two best friends who live next door to each other [talking] looks perfectly normal to anyone that might be watching, including him.”

Hiram and Hermione Lodge are building a mall on the South Side called the SoDale project but are having trouble closing the deal because the South Side is home of the South Side Serpents. They ask Veronica to help them close the deal by charming Nick St. Clair who is coming to town from New York. If he can convince his parents to invest, the project will go through.

Nick isn’t only Veronicas old friend but past lover and tension will build between Archie and Nick when he comes to visit. Fans predict that Nick will bring out a more dangerous and darker side of Veronica because he knows her as the “rich city girl” unlike her new friends in Riverdale.

Betty and Jughead’s relationship is going as smoothly as before so I won’t be surprised if the writers add a little drama to Archie and Veronica too. I would love to see that because Archie and Veronica are two different people who don’t make the best team and I believe they shouldn’t be together.

Archie accuses the South Side Serpents of being associated with the Black Hood. The Serpent’s plan to jump Archie for his accusations and they question Jughead’s loyalty when Jughead tries to protect him. This is going to be hard for Jughead because as the season goes on he’s having trouble figuring out where he stands. On one side there are his best friends who have protected him and love him but he lives a different life now and it might be time to move on. Joining the Serpents will keep him safe but will distance him from his friends back at Riverdale High. Jughead should join the Serpents because Riverdale isn’t how it used to be and the gang needs a leader to stop chaos. Since his dad is in jail, I think Jughead should step up.

The Black Hood calls Betty again and sends her a picture of her mom as a South Side Serpent. He threatens her saying if she doesn’t publish it in the newspaper her sister will be dead by tomorrow morning. In return, Betty gets to ask him one question and she better make it good because no one is getting close to figuring out who this man is.

Jughead realizes that his dad was the only one keeping the Serpents in line and making sure a war doesn’t start between the south and north side of Riverdale. Jughead finally decides to officially become a South Side Serpent.

Jughead has proven himself strong and smart since the first episode of Riverdale. Becoming a Serpent will force him to make some challenging decisions but in the end he will always do what he thinks is right. Hopefully, the North and South side can get past their rivalry and team up to defeat the number one enemy, The Black Hood.

The Black Hood calls Betty again and tells her he’s selfish and doesn’t like sharing her with other people. If she doesn’t cut people out of her life, he will do it for her. The first person that needs to go is Veronica Lodge, the daughter of an embezzler. Veronica is powerful and brave and has proven herself as a good friend to Betty since the first episode so cutting her out of her life will be hard.

When Nick St. Clair hosts a party that night and everyone consumes jingle jangle, except for Betty. She sees the opportunity and says the nastiest things to Veronica that you could imagine. She walks out obeying the Black Hoods orders by cutting her best friend out of her life.

We understand that Betty is obeying orders to keep her sister safe but she isn’t being smart in this situation. She decides to trust that the Black Hood will keep his word even though she shouldn’t. He claims he will answer a question of hers but there is no proof his answer is true. So, there is really no way of Betty winning and the relationship between her and the Black Hood seems very one sided. The writers don’t have Betty realize that the Black Hood could be lying, even though it seems obvious to anyone watching.

Knowing the Black Hood, he won’t just stop there. He tells Betty that Jughead is next but being the best friend Archie is he tells Jughead for Betty. Archie comes just in time to find out that Jughead is becoming a Serpent.

Archie is closed-minded and is not supporting Jughead no matter what his decisions are. Archie and Jughead are bestfriends but what Archie needs to realize is that instead of feeling forgotten he needs to focus on his friend and help him in anyway he can.

As the open house continues, Jughead is going through the last trial in becoming a Serpent. He has to walk as 12 of the strongest Serpents punch him in the face until the leader knocks him out with brass knuckles. It goes to show how much each character has to go through to get what they want. How much pain you can handle is the ultimate test. Each character has experienced pain and they prove their strength by how they handle it.

Next comes probably one of the scariest and most gruesome scenes Riverdale has ever shown. At the open house put on for the SoDale project, Nick St.Clair slips a pill into Cheryl’s drink and she passes out seconds later. Fortunately, Veronica, Josie and the Pussycats (Josie’s band) find Cheryl on the bed, Nick on top of her. They tackle Nick before he can do anything and the four girls beat him severely, leaving him bleeding on the ground.

This attempted rape was even more shocking than the murders or shootings. I am glad that this scene was shown because the main people that watch this show are teenagers. This part shows that awful things like this can happen at a party or anywhere. If you drink too much or pass out, somebody can take advantage of you. It is extremely disturbing and terrifying content but this makes people aware.

Betty gets another call from the Black Hood. Keeping his word he answers Betty’s question and tells her to go to an abandoned house for her answer. Over the phone the Black Hood instructs her to open the box in the middle of the room. Inside the box is the exact hood that the Black Hood wears and tells her, “That is your answer Betty. I am you.”

In other words, Betty was completely tricked and isn’t any further in finding out who the Black Hood is. Season two is exciting so far but if the investigation leads to more dead ends like this, it will become extremely boring. The writers better give more information the next episode or they will lose fans quickly.

In his trailer with Toni, Jughead holds an icepack to his head and we see a huge Serpent tattoo on his arm. She says, “You’re gonna have a hard time hiding that from Betty,” and he replies, “That will be a non-issue now.” Obviously still distraught from the breakup, Toni kisses Jughead and he kisses her back.

All the fans saw this coming but I did not expect for Jughead and Betty to break up and then Jughead gets with Toni in the same episode. I understand the writers are trying to emphasize that Jughead is a new person now and he cannot hang onto his past friends but putting him with Toni right away I believe was wrong. Betty is already going through so much pain and she had full faith her and Jughead would get back together. When she finds out he’s moved on so quickly she will be devastated. This is sure to get the viewers feeling bad for Betty.

The episode ends with Betty at home, with no Jughead and no Veronica in her life. Her phone rings one last time and the Black Hood speaks once again. She has done everything he wanted but he must still punish her since she told Archie about their conversations and will kill Polly if she doesn’t give him another person to kill. After a few seconds she whispers “Nick St.Clair.” The episode ends with him responding “I told you we were the same.”

This episode has been the most thrilling of Season 2. The characters are developing fast and the plot is constantly changing. I’m glad to see that the story keeps moving forward, unlike the first season where it slowed down after the first three episodes. However, if the writers don’t give anymore information about the Black Hood in the next episode, viewers will get bored because what makes the show so captivating is who the Black Hood is.

Again, Riverdale has left us wanting more. Will the Black Hood follow through with the murder of Nick or keep torturing Betty until she has no one? Jughead is officially a South Side Serpent and has gotten together with Tony Topaz. Archie and Veronica remain together but like every relationship in Riverdale, has it flaws and something could happen in any time.