Riverdale Review: Chapter Sixty-Nine: Men of Honor (Season 4 Episode 12)
Since the return from midseason hiatus Riverdale has given us a string of filler episodes, and Riverdale Season 4 Episode 12, “Chapter Sixty-Nine: Men of Honor,” fits right in with its two predecessors. Season 4 is rife with plots that we want to see explored, like the videotape mystery and how Jughead ends up murdered by Spring Break, but unfortunately, this episode doesn’t focus on any of that.
Part of Riverdale‘s charm is how chaotic it is, but sometimes the show overloads itself with a few too many plot lines and it appears we’ve definitely arrived at that part of this season.
Veronica introduces us to the latest Riverdale spin-off on a college trip to New York. It’s a decent enough teaser, and I hope that Katy Keene is a great show that thrills a whole new sect of the Archieverse, but even with this taste, it’s not something for me. I know all of the words Katy said, but they all truly sound like nonsense, with very little context, if you’re just watching for Riverdale.
At the end of Ronnie’s escapades, we learn that Hiram is suffering from a degenerative disease that will eventually kill him. Throughout this entire reveal, I am desperately searching for the reason that I am supposed to care. We don’t like Hiram, Veronica doesn’t like Hiram, besides Hermione, no one in Riverdale likes Hiram–it’s not going to be some moving plot twist to learn he’s dying.
Veronica changes her name back to Lodge and with one fell swoop, it seems as if she’s back under his thumb without Hiram even having to lift a finger.
Back at home we finally get a Toni centric storyline…that’s still mostly about Cheryl. I am all for getting revenge on men who assault women, but I have mixed feelings about this storyline. I think it works because Toni gets footage of him being tickled with Kevin and Fangs, not something more sinister. If she had sunk to Nick St. Claire’s level to get back at him I would feel really uncomfortable.
Toni: You will never set foot in Riverdale again, you will not so much as think about Cheryl Blossom, and you will never assault another woman.
Toni is such a powerful mastermind, and it’s never going to be dissatisfying to watch her take down bad guys. The scene where they show Cheryl the video and bond over popcorn and laughs is actually pretty wholesome. After the season Cheryl and Toni have had it’s good to see them spend time with friends.
Betty and Alice team up to get to the root of Stonewall’s creepy secret society and while it’s great to see these two working together as a power duo, it feels like we barely learn anything we didn’t already know.
“Chapter Sixty-Nine: Men of Honor” teases us like it’s going to bring back the mystery of the videotapes that were delivered to the residents of Riverdale earlier this season, but instead we just get further proof that Bret is a total pervert. He has tapes of dozens of people having sex in the dorms of Stonewall, and he has a pile of creepy confession tapes for the members of the Quill and Skull.
I definitely want more from Betty and Alice’s crime-solving institution but I’d really love to watch them actually solve something. How does Alice fit into the whole “Betty Murders Jughead” story? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Archie’s story has been completely consumed by his deadbeat uncle. Now he’s got people coming after him trying to kill him. Riverdale please, for a dollar, bring back Mary Andrews. No shade to Ryan Robbins, who is a genuine delight, but Frank Andrews is killing my interest in Archie’s story. Like Hiram to Veronica, Frank takes away from everything Archie does and has fully lifted him out of the best plot he’s had in years.
Blue and Gold Classifieds:
- Jughead fights with Bret in school-sanctioned fencing and fisticuffs. That’s it, that’s pretty much all they do. Jughead letting Bret win the chess game just to annoy him is definitely a power move though.
- Spare Snakeparents content? Spare breadcrumb for the starving?
- FP Jones and Tom Keller are better surrogate dads to Archie than Frank will ever be.
- I hope Moose is doing okay. He’s a good boy.
- Can we be done with the tickling storyline now? It’s gross.
- Riverdale stop trying to make me care about Hiram Lodge challenge. It’s not going to work!
- I’m here for the drag queen on Katy Keene, and the Marie’s Crisis reference. Thank you, goodnight!
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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Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.
One thought on “Riverdale Review: Chapter Sixty-Nine: Men of Honor (Season 4 Episode 12)”
This review is killer. It’s harsh criticism that the show NEEDS TO HEAR! I agree with EVERYTHING Sam’s saying.
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