Riverdale Review: Chapter Sixty-Seven: Varsity Blues (Season 4 Episode 10)

Welcome back to Riverdale! It’s spirit week and our favorite underage hooligans are up to the shenanigans we’ve come to expect from this absolutely insane show. From giving drugs to teenagers to shaking up the rum industry Riverdale Season 4 Episode 10, “Chapter Sixty-Seven: Varsity Blues,” is chock full of drama and nonsense in equal measure, with a fun mix of actual high school activities like journalism and applying for college.

This is a pretty classic Riverdale episode and it’s an entertaining enough hour for the mid-season premiere. 

JUGHEAD

For Jughead this episode is all about getting into college and also being further inducted into Stonewall’s creepy cult. Bret is suspiciously friendly for this entire episode which is actually even more creepy than when he’s outright bullying our little scooby gang. 

Bret is predatory towards Betty and Veronica and cloyingly generous towards Jughead, going insofar as to buy him a new laptop. In the end, the other shoe drops and we learn that Bret is also going to Yale. You mean we have to endure even more of this guy? Pass. 

Jughead has mixed feelings about going to Yale because of Betty’s rejection from her dream school, but these high school sweethearts actually exhibit some pretty healthy communication habits on this episode. After the pair realizes they’ve been keeping secrets from each other they work it out and come clean.

It’s nice to see these two actually working on their relationship in healthy ways and staying connected even while they’re apart. 

FP’s pride in Jughead for getting into Yale is totally wholesome and I continue to be so grateful for their relationship arc. Unfortunately in the flashforward, we’re still being made to believe that Jughead is dead. It’s hard to tell exactly where this one falls since they’re coming to us out of order, but shouldn’t Betty be in jail?

These flashbacks are also getting harder and harder to theorize about. I want to believe Betty is being framed, but we’ve literally seen her with the murder weapon in her hand. Let me know your thoughts on the flashforwards in the comments! 

VERONICA

Veronica is focused on finding a work-around for the restraints Hiram has put on her rum business–which is a totally normal thing to say about a teenager. The back and forth between her and her dad is still nothing short of gross. I’m so glad to see Veronica truly standing her ground for good this season though. 

In the past, Veronica has a bad habit of slipping right back into Hiram’s clutches, but so far this year she’s committed to staying away from him. Which is an impressive change of pace for her, and I hope it sticks. The end of this episode gives us a taste of a team-up between Veronica and Cheryl and since both of their storylines have been a little lackluster so far on Riverdale Season 4 I can’t wait to see what their partnership brings. 

BETTY

Betty is back at it at the Blue and Gold and she’s got her most interesting scoop in weeks: Stonewall Prep plays to hurt. On this episode, Betty seeks to expose the violent undercurrent at the school and the toxic behavior of nearly all of its inhabitants. 

I love this storyline for Betty because it’s both something I could see a high school senior doing and it’s deeply interesting. It’s somehow even more satisfying to watch Betty go after Bret than it would be to watch Jughead do it. Bret all but admits to beating in Munroe’s knee, and with Betty’s dedication, she’ll get her story one way or another. She’s coming for him at the quiz bowl and I truly hope she wins the next round. 

ARCHIE

Archie’s storyline is both wholesome and horrifying on “Chapter Sixty-Seven: Varsity Blues,” as he continues to try to help every lost soul that he can. But this time his open helping heart lets in someone who may or may not deserve redemption. Since the mid-season finale, he’s been harboring his uncle Frank, Fred’s brother, without telling Mary about it. 

I completely understand that Archie just wants to do good and help those less fortunate have a better life than their circumstances have allowed. I do however wish that he would trust his mom more instead of just blindly following the first father figure that walks in the door. Mary gives Archie plenty of reasons not to trust this man, and then Frank himself offers drugs to Munroe, and somehow Archie still comes out of this episode thinking that Frank is a good person.

I know Archie isn’t the brightest bulb in Riverdale but come on buddy. What Frank is doing is dangerous and someone is going to get hurt. 

CHERYL

Cheryl has a new arch-nemesis in the form of Ms. Appleyard, the new cheerleading coach. It’s disappointing to see Cheryl continue to backslide in her character development, even from just one episode ago. Cheryl just had a healthy discussion with Mrs. Burble about taking care of her mental health and cutting back on the number of projects she’s handling, namely the vixens and here she obsessively fights with Appleyard until she gets her way. 

Cheryl: My body is perfection, you crone.

We get a fantastic, classic Riverdale musical number out of this conflict, but aside from the gross body-shaming, I’m kind of on Ms. Appleyard’s side on this one. Cheryl needs to take it down several notches and this is pretty standard procedure. I’m excited to see her get involved with Veronica so that hopefully she (and Toni and Veronica) can be real people again. 

Blue and Gold Classifieds

• Reggie straight-up destroying Hirams car with Veronica during halftime is the content I’m here for. 
• Cherry Bomb is a fantastic song for Cheryl and I’m only surprised it took this long for a music number. 
• That’s it those are my notes for this one. 

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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