Riverdale Review: Chapter Sixty-One: Halloween (Season 4 Episode 4)

It’s Halloween in Riverdale and things are getting pretty spooky for our favorite chaotic teens. Riverdale Season 4 Episode 4, “Chapter Sixty-One: Halloween” pays tribute to some of the best classic horror movies while also ramping up the mysterious plots of its narrative. 

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and “Chapter Sixty-One: Halloween” has already become one of my favorite episodes of Riverdale to date. Betty, in particular, is having a spectacular season so far as her story is highlighting her mental and emotional growth, along with her strengths as a problem solver and as a person.

Meanwhile, Cheryl is headed down a dark path that makes me fearful of where the Riverdale writers are taking her this year. Jughead’s disappearance is being heavily foreshadowed, and Veronica and Archie suffer from being rooted in Season 4’s most dull storylines. 

Jughead

Jughead begins this episode doing some classic Jughead investigation into his new school’s shady past. We get tidbits of information about “The Stonewall Four” that have both Jughead and the audience curious about these missing students. These students have each gone missing over the past 30 years, and while it could be just an urban legend, Jughead’s disappearance later in the season certainly lends itself to the history of these vanishings.

Bret and his merry gang of brats decide to initiate Jughead into their little group by hazing him and trapping him in a coffin all Halloween night. Jughead is a pretty hardy boy but after all of the trauma, he’s faced this psychological torture would mess with just about anyone.

It’s also indicative of the level of care the professors at Stonewall Prep have for their students when the teacher finds Jughead the next morning and laughs the incident off as tradition, with no intention of punishing the students who locked their classmate in a coffin for 12+ hours. 

At the end of this episode, we get another flash forward to Jughead’s eventual disappearance but this time it’s a little more substantial in terms of information.  We get a horrifying glimpse of Betty and FP identifying Jughead’s dead body at the morgue. Whether this is a fake-out or Jughead’s actual death remains to be seen but it’s a pretty bold move for Riverdale to show Cole Sprouse lying on the slab looking like an actual corpse.  

Do you think this mystery will end with Jughead dying? I’m still operating on the theory that, for some reason, he has to fake his death and the core four are in on it. Let me know your theories in the comments below! 

Horror references: The Cask of Amontillado, Buried Alive, The Vanishing. 

Veronica

Veronica’s story is the only one on this episode that doesn’t move her narrative forward in any way. While her scenes play on some classic horror tropes, she is little more than a prop for those references to be made. Her few brief scenes on this episode of Riverdale borrow heavily from the 2018 Halloween sequel–from the Michael Meyers-inspired serial killer to the way that Veronica destroys him by lighting him on fire these moments are a clear homage. 

While Halloween (2018) is an excellent film, I am still waiting for Veronica’s story to hold some substance. Veronica has been suffering narratively since early season 2, it’s time for a change. 

Horror references: Halloween (2018)

Archie

Archie is beginning to deal with the realities that come along with running the community center. His little dust-up with Dodger and his gang comes back to bite him when Dodger shows up on to the gym to terrorize one of the kids spending time there. 

It would be nearly impossible for Archie Andrews to save every wayward kid on the streets of Riverdale, but you know he’ll be damned if he won’t try. Speaking of which, just how many wayward kids are wondering around this town anyway? Is Archie going to turn this community center into a shelter next? 

It’s very obvious that Archie is on a quest to better Riverdale in honor of his father, I just wish his storyline was rooted in helping the characters we already care about like Reggie, Kevin, Munroe, Cheryl or any other characters we’ve already been introduced to. It’s a noble cause but it’s centered around tertiary characters that I have a hard time investing in.

Cheryl

Well this story certainly took a turn, didn’t it? Riverdale is playing with some truly toxic themes between Cheryl and Toni and I am approximately zero percent here for it. Cheryl admits to gaslighting Toni throughout this episode to maintain her psychotic need to keep her dead brother’s corpse around the house like some Norman Bates fantasy. 

We also learn that while in the womb, Cheryl absorbed the body of a third Blossom triplet that was to be named Julien. Then Penelope raised this bizarre doll alongside the twins until they outgrew it. I was completely down for a long lost Blossom triplet to turn up out of the blue when this storyline was introduced on “Chapter Sixty: Dog Day Afternoon,” but now I’m not so sure. 

It seems like Riverdale is interested in turning Cheryl into a Chimera and exploring the concept of her having multiple personalities. I feel like this is a really dangerous choice as something that “others” Cheryl even more than the narrative already has. While it’s great to see she and Toni get more storylines the quality of those storylines is also deeply important for the representation that both characters provide. 

Why does Toni put up with Cheryl’s abuses on this episode? Why does she allow Cheryl to keep clinging to a literal corpse instead of seeking out the help that her partner needs? I’m hopeful Riverdale will use this opportunity to explore mental health, but I’m not holding my breath. 

Horror references: Chucky, Annabelle, Haunting of Hill House, Bates Motel. 

Betty

Betty easily has the best storyline once again as she endures Halloween themed harassment and re-traumatization as her ghosts from her past are turned into costumes. When kids show up both at school and Betty’s doorstep dressed like the black hood and the gargoyle king, Betty shows an incredible amount of strength as she stomachs her reactions and puts on a brave face without breaking. 

She very understandably draws the line after enduring prank call after prank call from someone pretending to be her father. The twist to have Charles show up on her doorstep with pizza and help her solve the case is a brilliant way to bring them closer together and explain Charles’ desire to stick around Riverdale and be a part of the family that he belongs to.

It’s disconcerting, after watching these two bond, to see Charles listening in on Betty and Jughead’s conversations at the end of this episode. Hopefully, this twist, in particular, is nothing more than a red herring because I don’t think I could handle another personal tragedy for the Cooper-Jones family.

Horror references: Halloween (1978), Scream.

FP and Alice 

FP and Alice fans are finally getting fed and yet it still feels like breadcrumbs. While it’s delightful to see these two all cozied up in a domestic relationship, Riverdale still cuts away from their kiss and skips over a considerable amount of development.

The last time we saw these two together FP had broken up with Alice to be with Gladys, and FP had no idea that their shared son was even alive. Now they are sharing a home, and presumably a bed, working with Charles and flirting over morning coffee. I do think that this is where FP and Alice’s relationship should go, but I can’t say that I’m not disappointed to have missed so many crucial turning points along the way. 

We didn’t see them reunite after Alice’s return, we didn’t see Alice tell him about Charles or see FP meet Charles for the first time. Did they discuss living together? Or their lengthy separation? Did they talk about Gladys and Charles and everything left unsaid between them? As a diehard Snakeparents shipper, I am so excited for their stories on Riverdale Season 4, but I hope that the show doesn’t continue to breeze right past these key moments in that relationship. 

Horror references: Scream. 

Blue and Gold Classifieds

• If you caught any horror references on this episode of Riverdale that I missed please let me know in the comments! 
• Did Moose join the army or is he the latest victim of whatever’s taken the “Stonewall Four?”
• Betty’s Laurie Strode costume is fantastic and Jellybean is in desperate need of a horror movie education.
• Riverdale really could’ve done more with the Scream references given Skeet Ulrich’s role in the film and Alice Cooper’s role on the show as a reporter. 
• I’m still confused by whatever Mr. Honey is doing with Reggie and Kevin but I’m completely sure that I hate it. Sure they were stupid teenagers committing vandalism but his singling out of Reggie, using his abuse against him, and then vandalizing his car as retaliation is much too far. He is borderline abusing these students and I could easily see him becoming the big bad of the season. 
• Reggie’s shirt is straight out of Nightmare on Elm Street, which is also conveniently where the Cooper-Joneses live. 
• Those videotapes are pretty creepy. Who do you think is watching everyone’s homes? This is definitely more than just a Halloween prank. 
• I actually yelled at the use of the title cards from the Halloween films, absolutely genius. 

 

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

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

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