Riverdale Review: Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High (Season 4 Episode 2)

It’s the first day of Senior Year on Riverdale Season 4 Episode 2, “Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High,”  and we can already tell this is going to be an eventful year our favorite small-town teens. Betty is putting her investigative skills to good use, Jughead is pursuing his writing career, Archie is honoring his father, and Veronica is running from hers. 

This episode of Riverdale does a great job of setting up each this season’s big storylines, balancing that classic Riverdale chaos with a more grounded high-school tone that’s been missing for a while, and luring us into a whole new mystery. 

Jughead

For Riverdale‘s resident novelist, the school year starts with an interesting offer–Stonewall Prep wants Jughead to transfer and join their prestigious writing program. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Jughead switch schools, but Stonewall Prep is quite different from the now-destroyed Southside High. 

Like before Jughead struggles to decide on where he should spend this year of High School, but this time he chooses higher education over being with his friends. 

Even with this big change for Jughead, his heart still belongs to Betty and the rest of the gang. The students at Stonewall Prep leave something to be desired, lacking any semblance of the heart that makes us love the students of Riverdale. Was anyone else immediately put off by the tour guide’s insistence on calling Jughead Forsythe even after he expressed his preference?

If the end of “Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High” is any indication Stonewall Prep and the connection it has to Jughead’s grandfather play a part in his disappearance that we caught a glimpse of at the end of last season. I’m going to throw out the theory that, for reasons yet to be revealed, Jughead has to fake his death with the help of the core four.

What do you think happens to Jughead? Let me know in the comments! 

Veronica

Veronica’s storyline is easily the least adolescent of the group and the more adult/celebrity themes that surround her on this episode are tonally different from the rest of the story. While it isn’t realistic it’s consistent for Veronica’s role on Riverdale, and to their credit, the writers do put in the effort to keep her rooted in regular High School things like applying for college and caring for the future of her classmates. 

Being chased by paparazzi and pressured to pick a side in the prison war between her parents understandably gives Veronica a very rough first day, but as always, she handles the stress with a flair for the dramatic. The speakeasy is certainly no secret anymore, getting named dropped by the principal and being used as a rather salacious locale for Veronica’s press conference. 

I am thrilled to see Veronica finally stand up for herself but given her past decisions and her tendency to come running back to her father, in particular, I am curious to see how long it will last. In the fight between Hiram and Hermione, I’m pretty much always going to be Team Hermione. Given Veronica’s promises to get her mother out at the end of last season, I’m a little surprised to see her refuse to stand by her now. 

Will Veronica choose herself above either of her parents? Or will she be forced to pick a side?

Archie

Archie is doing right by his father’s memory by looking out for his friends and helping whoever he can. This is a wholesome side to Archie that I’m excited to see more of. We open “Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fast Times at Riverdale High” with Archie convincing his old prison buddy to join him at Riverdale High and get his diploma. 

Eli Goree is a fantastic addition to the Riverdale cast and I’m excited to see him being pulled into the story this season. The presence of Munroe (formerly known as Mad Dog) at Riverdale High also opens up an opportunity to address the abuse we saw Reggie suffering from last season. 

While I have some problems with how these boys decide to handle the situation, I am really glad that Riverdale came back to this plot point. Charles Melton gives a standout performance on this episode as he portrays the fear and anger that comes with being abused. 

I do fear that Reggie and Archie’s choice to trash Marty Mantle’s car could make things worse for Reggie, and it’s not the best message to send to teens who could be suffering from similar parental figures. I’m glad to see it work out for Reggie though. Hopefully, this leads to a lasting solution and bodes well for Archie’s future storylines in more of a caregiver position as he tries to honor his father.

Betty

I’m thrilled that Riverdale isn’t wasting any time in getting into solving The Farm storyline from Season 3. Given that The Farm was one of the weakest elements of the previous season, it’s satisfying to see the storytelling around it sort of turned on its head. We’ve always known it’s a rather malicious entity, but now Betty finally has real help backing her up in the quest to save her mother. 

It’s also a huge relief to have Alice’s role ret-conned into “FBI informant” rather than “brainwashed cult member.” For Alice Cooper fans, Riverdale Season 3 was pretty rough. I can’t wait to see her triumphant return when she finally brings down The Farm from the inside, reunites with her long lost son, teams up with Betty again, and starts living with her high school sweetheart. Now that I’ve written it all down like that Alice’s Season 4 arc sounds too good to be true. What could go wrong?

Did anyone else think that Kevin would betray Betty’s trust? I certainly understand Charles’ fears at learning that Betty has revealed the truth to someone who is fragile at best. Given that Kevin comes through by the end of the episode, I’m hopeful that he’s reached a turning point and is capable of making amends with Betty for all of the horrible things he subjected her to last season. 

Blue and Gold Classifieds:

• Do teenagers have double date sleepovers to sleep with their boyfriends now? Am I old? Is this a thing? Riverdale is long overdue for the sex talk.
• I love that Veronica is changing her last name to Gomez. 
• The Riverdale music department pulled from The Archies’ discography for this episode and honestly it was a brilliant move. Is it cheesy? Maybe. Is that why we love it? Absolutely. 
• Cheryl is still keeping dead Jason propped up in a secret wing of her mansion. Please, please let this storyline end soon. I’m worried about my favorite sapphic student body president. 
• On the other hand, Cheryl’s feud with the new principal is an absolute delight. Principal Honey is the worst, to put it lightly, so seeing Cheryl stand up to him with increasingly dramatic hijinks is something I am very here for. 
• Jughead pouring out his red solo cup right in front of his cop dad is peak comedy. 

What did you think of this episode of Riverdale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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

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