Riverdale Review: Chapter Sixty-Three: Hereditary (Season 4 Episode 6)

Riverdale Season 4 Episode 6, “Chapter Sixty-Three: Hereditary,” is honestly all over the place. For every high and triumphant moment on this episode, there is an equally disappointing and frustrating counterpoint.

Pretty much across the board on this episode, it looks as if each story is moving forward in a positive way until an inconvenient plot twist arrives in each narrative to send the story spinning in increasingly horrifying directions. “Chapter Sixty-Three: Hereditary” is an entertaining episode, but at what cost? I certainly don’t feel good after watching it. 

Cheryl

Are we going to talk about the fact that Cheryl’s mental health crisis now has a body count? Riverdale tends to walk right up to the edge of implying that something supernatural is going on in the town, but without fail they always back away from that trope and reveal the human underneath the monster mask Scooby-Doo style.

I have no doubt that something similar will explain away the current haunting of Thistlehouse, but right now the Julian shenanigans are both entertaining and annoying while bordering on being disappointing. 

I want to enjoy Cheryl’s story for the spooky elements, for the relationship she has with Toni, and for who both of these women are as characters, but the quality of the storytelling on this narrative right now just really isn’t working. I can suspend my disbelief for a lot of Riverdale because I know what I signed up for with this chaotic little drama, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to settle for stories that are unironically bad. 

Cheryl and Toni both deserve better than what they’re getting right now. Will anyone miss Cheryl’s creepy uncle? I doubt it. Will having literal blood on their hands and ghosts in their closet continue to haunt these girls until I pull all of my hair out? Probably. 

Jughead

Jughead confronts Mr. DuPont about stealing his grandfather’s work for the first Baxter Brothers mystery novel. Raise your hand if you clocked this one last week! I do love seeing theories we have off-screen come to fruition so quickly, but all in all this storyline doesn’t do a lot for me on this episode. 

Mr. DuPont is unsurprisingly angered by Jughead’s likely true accusations and it looks like he’s willing to do just about anything to keep his plagiarism a secret. DuPont is a classist, thief who built his career on the work of someone more talented than him. 

I’m not quite sure how he convinced Chipping to jump out a window but I am looking forward to seeing Jughead go head to head with the personification of white-male American politics.  

Veronica

At the beginning of this episode, I’m thrilled with Veronica’s storyline. She’s firm with Hiram and Hermosa, she’s kind to her mother and helping her rehabilitate herself, and she’s standing her ground and getting her way for honestly the first time in a while. 

Hiram: I’d like to return to my true passion.

Veronica: Extortion? Murder?

But after one of Riverdale‘s steamiest (and unfortunately, ickiest) sex scenes, all of that goes up in flames and Veronica is once again on her own in a family full of horrible people manipulating each other beyond recognition. I obviously appreciate an adult pairing on Riverdale getting equal treatment to the teenagers in the love scene department, but what goes on here can hardly be described as a love scene. 

Hiram is very clearly sexually abusing and manipulating Hermione into giving him all of the unearned power he wants. It makes me feel horrible to watch it. I’m both depressed for and disappointed in Hermione, angry with Hiram, and sad on behalf of Veronica.  

I think that Riverdale is aware that what Hiram is doing to Hermione is abuse and I hope that this story actually goes in the direction of her getting free of him. Sadly, for now, that means that we have to watch Hiram take advantage of her in increasingly disgusting ways. I can’t blame Veronica in the slightest for writing them off. 

Archie 

Archie is honestly doing an incredible job as a superhero, saving one kid at a time from the mean streets of Riverdale. It’s so inspiring to see Archie doing so much good in this town. 

Unfortunately for Archie, he has to deal with not only Dodger but Hiram as well. Hiram appears under the guise of giving condolences for the loss of Fred Andrews, but it’s pretty clear he has ulterior motives. Archie rejects his help at first but then seeks a deal with the devil when Dodger crosses a line. 

Archie knows better than to deal with Hiram after the man tried to frame him for murder and yet here we are. Hiram turns down Archie’s request but I would bet almost anything that he’s behind Dodger turning up at the El Royale wrapped in a carpet. 

I’m surprised at how much I am enjoying this storyline for Archie and how Veronica can be involved here as well. What they’re doing is honestly very noble and I am so happy to watch them succeed here. This is one area where the extremes of the Riverdale universe work really well. Seeing Archie take on bad guys and deal with the consequences of his vigilante work is wildly entertaining in all the good ways. 

Betty

I really want to love this storyline, but it sure took a sharp left turn into nope-ville didn’t it. Betty’s Season 4 plot started out as one of the best on the show, but the past two episodes have been really rough for fans of the Cooper family. 

Like Archie, Betty deals with devils from her past on this episode when she goes to see Chic in jail to get the tea on her big brother. I don’t know why Betty would ever trust anything that Chic says given that he’s clearly a pathological liar, but here we are. 

Betty’s snooping gets the whole family in trouble bringing up Alice’s past sins (ie. murder!) forcing FP and Charles to further cover up the crime. The real knife in the back here comes when we a scene of Charles visiting Chic implying that he’s playing the Cooper family and manipulating them for his lover. 

I love that this plotline from Season 2 is coming back because it is one of my favorite things that Riverdale has ever done but I really don’t want to watch the Cooper-Jones family get played again. I’d love for this to turn out to be a double-blind situation where Charles is actually playing Chic, but right now things aren’t looking too good for my favorite Riverdale family.  

Blue and Gold Classifieds: 

• Hiram Lodge is a whole joke. 
• I love that Veronica got arcade games for the El Royale. 
• I’m obviously very frustrated with the Cheryl/Toni storyline but I can’t say I don’t love that Toni is willing to kill for Cheryl. 
• Why does Riverdale refuse to even dabble in the supernatural? We’re supposed to believe it’s in the same universe as Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Greendale is right there. Make it spooky you cowards. 
• If Hiram and Hermione can get a scene like that Riverdale has no excuse for not even letting FP and Alice kiss. Give me my snakeparents rights already, good grief. 
• I would take a bullet for Mary and Archie Andrews. 

 

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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