Oh Riverdale, what will you do with this episode?  You entitled it “Angels in America” but I’m sure it is going to be more like “Back to the Future,” “Doctor Who,” “Time Tunnel,” and even “Quantum Leap” (all that I have watched).  The latest entry is, of course, “Discovery of Witches” (another favorite).  My question is:  why Tabitha?  She wasn’t at the explosion after all and that what seems to have caused the power for the other three.  Of course, Cheryl wasn’t there either, but she has her own demons (Abigail) to fight.

So, let’s review, shall we.  Archie is invulnerable (except to palladium).  Betty sees evil but didn’t see it around her mom.  Jughead can read thoughts (except Percival who senses when he tries).  Cheryl can control heat and fire.  Toni, while we haven’t seen it yet, carries traces of Lady Llorna of the river.  Now Tabitha can travel in time.  The only ones of the gang who hasn’t received a power yet is Reggie and Ronnie.  I could add Kevin, but he is back to being brain controlled and back in a cult with Alice.  And what is Percival – demon or warlock.  Wait didn’t Sabrina’s father (the devil) die in “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?”  Is that why she’s coming back?  My head is already spinning.

PERCIVAL’S SCHEME

As we open at Pop’s, all eyes are on Alice’s newscast featuring none other than Percival.  He has a plan to revitalize the town, a shiny new railroad (what about licenses from Amtrak you idiot).  Unfortunately, to put the tracks in, the rail would go through Pop’s and it would have to be destoryed (like Hiram and the Crypto character in Rivervale).  Pop’s is the heart and soul of the town and a safe haven in bad times.  Of course, Percival knows this and wants it gone (just like Crypto, Hiram).  What is it?  The one place that people can be safe.  Whoops, they used that in Rivervale.  Wait until the end to get all of his scheme!

 TABITHA’S TIME TO SHINE (And Search for Her Grail)

Okay, folks.  Tonight is Tabitha’s time to shine.  Let me first say, I’ve seen something like this before but can’t remember the book/movie/television show that it was.  It is reminding me of “Quantum Leap” but isn’t (and I won’t say why yet).  And I’m going on record to say that this is one of the best episodes of the show!

Tabitha is at the Pop’s which is a special place in the town.  They people there are upset over what Percival plans (evidently his power doesn’t work over the television).  Tabitha goes to talk to Percival about his plan but he refuses to reevaluate (of course he has his mind set).  Archie tells her he knows of his “weakness.”  Betty warns her that Percival is evil.  Toni has her own problems right now with the Serpents and Percival is behind it.  Ronnie thinks that the substation of Pop’s is doing a wonderful business that might make it good to close Pop’s.  And Cheryl will help (after freezing Tabitha to death in the  mansion).

Kevin is Percival’s spy and reports that Pop’s is going to fight it.  Percival expected Tabitha ato try to slow him down (well, apparently she is his foe).  Jughead and Tabitha find “historical documents” that show Pop’s has a historic significance (just like one of the comic books).  They’re going to the state to get it done and Jughead is making notes.  As they continue to dig through material, Tabitha starts to prepare grill cheese for them.  Only, someone enters and shots her.  (Could it be Kevin?)  More on this later.

Tabitha awakes to find herself in the past, but Jughead is there.  The year is 1944 and Jughead is really the angel Rafael.  We get a vision of Jughead sitting in the hospital by Tabitha’s bed.  This is the timie that Rafael had told her to prepare for but he also promised help.  He’s always near her to help with cosmic and cataclysmic events.  When Tabitha asks him how to return to the present, she is giving a book on Time Travel to read.  Sh e realizes that she can only return if she gets something symbolic or meaningful for the time.

In 1944, she and Pop attend a meeting with Mayor Kline about turning the town into a sundown city.  In sundown cities African Americans must be out of town by dark every day which means they cannot live in the town or own businesses.  Sheriff Perkins (always will be referred to as Percival) is pushing the idea and telling them it worked in Centerville.  When Tabitha questions him, he tells her that if they can’t abide by the rule, they’ll have to leave town.  Archie’s look-alike stands with Tabitha as they are part of the town’s fire department.

Tabitha talks to Angel Jughead (A J for now) and tells him how evil Percival is.  A family (Toni and Fang’s look-alikes) come in with their son.  They lives in Centerville and was run out of town.  Others had disappeared and no one knew where they were.  Tabitha and Pop agree to let them stay.  Oh, and there is a Christmas tree in the diner.  Can we say Nativity scene folks with Pop’s being the stable.  As the family eats, Percival arrives looking for them.  Tabitha and Pop refuses to let him take them and they’ll wait for a warrant.  A J has gone to ask a question.  As he leaves, a bright light throws Percival and Kevin into fits.  Tabitha that night takes the family to see Mayor Kline who says “NO” to the sundown city rule and we get Percival as a Revolution/Civil War soldier arriving at Pop’s with a gun to shot her again.

This time, Tabitha finds herself at Pop’s in 1968 on the eve of Martin Luther King’s death.  This time her angel Rafael is Toni (A T).  She recognizes A T immediately and realizes she must do something.  She tries to get on a bus to Memphis but it breaks down.  When she tries to report it to the Riverdale FBI, she finds Percival (Pierce) and Kevin working for the bureau.  Tabitha thinks of calling Dr. King but A T tells her that she can’t change the course of history.

The next day, news is delivered by Senator Robert Kennedy about Martin Luther King’s death.  All are upset but it gets worse when Percival stops by and tells her that they’re afraid of a riot like the ones that have popped up in other locals.  Pop and Tabitha decide to stay open and offer hope to those scared.  Percival threatens to arrest any he finds at the diner after curfew due to the problems in Greendale (Sabrina’s town).  She asks Percival what his problem is and he calls her and the rest emotional.  When she goes in and tells the group gathered, Fangs gets mad but she convinces them to meet in peace – singing and praying.  She also points out that Percival wants violence and blood.

Tabitha does make a call and eventually gets through to J. Edgar Hoover.  She tells him that if he doesn’t stop Percival, Tabitha will make some calls about the hidden files he has on important people.  She manages to stop Percival from carrying out the “Turkey Shoot” (sound familiar from the gang) and Hoover fires Percival.  Percival tries to have his way.  He plants a bomb in Pop’s which Tabitha finds.  It explodes as she goes outside with it and beats her next angel to the next site.  (Of course, we get a commercial before we learn it was a bomb.)  And at this point, there are only 15 minutes left in the program.

Tabitha next jumps to 1999 when they find a code used by white supremacist painted on the diner (88 is the code.  The young man, Brian doesn’t remember doing it and Sheriff Kline will take him back to his parents and tell them.  The card is an oddity of the only Riverdale baseball player in the major leagues.  He got it at the Curiosity Shop, owned by Paul Prince just outside of town. 

Tabitha goes to watch the place and sees Percival exit.  About this time, her angel shows up  and is Betty (A B).  A B tells her she is getting better at the time jumping as she does it before A B knew it was happened.  A B gives her a bobby pin and Tabitha picks the lock and enters.  Wait a minute.  Even Mr. Gold (whose shop this resembles) wasn’t as bad as Percival.  Tabitha takes Polaroids of items on his desk and shows the pictures to A B.  A B recognizes two specific items:  the spear that pierced Jesus’s side as he was crucified and the Holy Grail.  Tabitha has found her way to return home.  She must retrieve the Holy Grail and return to Pop’s. 

As Tabitha gets read to grab the Grail, Percival returns and recognizes her.  He’s Colonel Pickens this tie and implies she’s his thorn in his side.  They fight with Tabitha using the spear.  He thinks he will win but Tabitha tells him she has been preparing for the fight for a long time.  She asks him his name and Percival replies “Legion.”  (Reference from the book of Job in reference to Satan.)  She kills him and burns the shop down before return with the grail to A B.  A B tells Tabitha she can now focus on going home.  A B gives her a chocolate milkshake in the Grail and Tabitha wakes up just before the gun man arrives.  She throws her dish at him and he doesn’t get off a shot. (She said something about Percival but I didn’t catch it all.)

Tabitha thinks she was being trained for a war that has been brewing forever.  Tabitha tells him that Percival was always showing up in the time line always turning up will evil.  She knows it isgoing to talk all with power to stop him.  Tabitha tells Jug that she’s been trained for a war and it’s going to take all of them to win.

TEAM GOOD MEETS

Tabitha gets Jughead, Archie, Betty and Cheryl together and tells them her story.  They have a hard time wrapping their head around what happened.  For her, she’s linked to Pop’s in a time field or station.  She tried moving forward in time and found Pop’s as a shell and all of Riverdale gone.  Archie asks if the future can be changed, and Tabitha doesn’t know.  All she knows is that Pop’s is ground zero and there is an apocalypse coming.  It’s going to take all of them to stop it. 

Okay folks!  I was right on Percival and we’re getting spill over from what I projected at the start of Rivervale.  I had hoped that Percival would disappear but it is too soon for that.  So, how are they going to get Ronnie and Reggie on the team?

Next Sunday:  A power outage occurs, and a fog is coming.  Percival is on the move.