Riverdale has had an influx of super people this year.  Archie is indestructible except with palladium.  Betty has the ability to spot a killer/evil due to auras.  Jughead can read minds (and hidden commands).  Tabitha is a time traveler.  Cheryl has the magical ability of controlling fire/heat.  Ronnie has the kiss of death.  Toni’s Lady Llorna story will somehow come into play (I’m sure).  Poor Kevin and Reggie have joined the opposition (along with Alice, Frank and Tom) serving the “Power” (I could use a five good terms here but won’t) of Darkness, Percival, who is either the devil or a warlock.  So what’s next? Well, Sabrina is returning (I’m sure to defeat Percival in the season finale) but we’re still several weeks away from that.  Who else has a power that we don’t know about?  Will it be revealed tonight or is that more about Ronnie learning how to use her power, the “Kiss of the Black Widow.”

Tonight, how do I recap.  Everything seems tied together as we open with Jughead going through comic books (but why) researching superpowers and Betty looking at family pictures trying to trigger memories.  Ronnie is trying lipstick colors and Archie is confronting Reggie who now is with Percival.  Archie also challenges Percival who pulls out palladium.  Cheryl meanwhile is talking to Nana about the past and her lost love, Heather.  Cheryl knows Heather is a librarian in Greendale (oh, the Sabrina town) and plans to email Heather.

Archie’s Immunity

Jughead and Archie discuss the defects that the supers face against Percival.  Jughead wants to learn what he can get their problem (defects) from superheroes comics.  Archie asks how Superman survived kryptonite.  Archie decides to get some from Cheryl and try to build up an immunity.  He makes it into a necklace and wears it but guess what?  No immunity (now we all knew that that would happen, didn’t we).  His hands get bloody from a workout, and he has to let Betty open a can for him.  Later, Cheryl visits and tells him he looks like ‘he’s half dead.’  She has a solution.  Archie needs to take the necklace off and start drinking the stuff which he does. 

Later at the gym, he passes out and all rush to his aid.  His weight is down since he started drinking the palladium mixture Cheryl gave him.  He weighs and is down to junior high weight.  At home, he pours it down the drain and must wait for the palladium to get out of his system.  Instead, it seems to be making him weaker.  He’s losing weight and hair.  Okay more on this later under the “Remedies” title.

Ronnie’s Problem and Solution

Ronnie not only has the kiss of death but her toxins in her body.  Her blood, sweat, and tears have the toxin, and our friendly morgue doctor doesn’t want to touch her without being gloved and masksed.  He wants her to get a dialysis (transfusion it looked like to me) to change her body fluid and get rid of the toxin or she will die.  We later learn that it doesn’t work.

Meanwhile, Reggie calls a shareholders meeting.  He wants to seize control of the casino because she threw him out as co-owner, not return on the investment made, and she looks insane in her new clothing style.  She reminds the men that the first year was going to be rough and promises a  new evaluation.  Reggie says it doesn’t matter as they have found a buyer (Percival, I’m sure) for the casino.  Reggie sees it as becoming his!  Ronnie meets with Cheryl and well go to the “Remedy” section for more.

Later, Ronnie visits Percival and Reggie and questions Reggie about the ambush.  She even tells him that she knows Percival put Reggie up to it.  Reggie say no that’s one was on him (yeah, right!).  He did it for himself.  Reggie called the meeting, made the shareholders side with him.  Ronnie asks him if he has a problem with his self-esteem and yells at him.  She accidentally spits on him, and he starts to get a headache Ronnie realizes what she has done and leaves.  Reggie tells Percival that she’s’ the black widow (if only he knew).  Percival isn’t worried.  If he loses Reggie, he just loses a foot soldier.  Percival will prevail.

Ronnie calls a meeting with Archie and Betty for drinks at the Whyte Wrym.  She comes clean about her newly found power and they tell her about theirs and Archie’s condition.  They share drinks and their situation.  Ronnie is upset because the last person she kissed that didn’t die was Reggie.  She hates that will be her last kiss.

After the remedy, Ronnie gets a message that Reggie wants a meeting.  He tells her to sign the club over or face a hostile takeover.  Reggie knows she is sick and has pictures to prove it (I didn’t see proof).  She tells him that she’s fine and he just doesn’t know how healthy she is.  Oh, and the casino is healthy.  If Reggie or anyone else tries to take it over, it will be a bloodbath – Reggie’s.  Oh, and he and the shareholders should come to the club for a little show which includes a musical number to honor Betty and Archie.  She sings, dances, and sweats and doesn’t kill anyone.  Percival looks on concerned as Archie and Betty cheer.

Betty’s Problem and Jughead’s help                                                                                                              

Betty goes to see Jughead and has a favor to ask.  She wants him to read her mind – not her conscious mind but her subconscious one.  There are old memories that must be discovered.  He realizes that maybe her mind can develop everything into a cohesive story.  While Jughead doesn’t want to do it (he’s researching superheroes remember), he does agree. Each memory comes as a “Betty” comic (how cute).  The first memories don’t go deep enough.  He sees their early (season one and two) relationship and his assuring her she wasn’t evil and it couldn’t be inherited.  The finale of this round takes Betty back to the scene where she kills her cat, Caramel.  Hal has taken her to Pop’s for a ice cream (reward).  She upsets over what she did but Hal tells her that she had to kill Caramel because she was a sinner.  Hal wants to know if Betty felt excitement over the kill and Betty realizes he was grooming her even then to be a killer.  This has been hard on Jughead and it shows in his appearance and manner.

Betty wants a round two against Jughead’s advice.  The next comic is Alice and Hal talking.  Jughead thinks that Hal implies that Alice has the killer gene also.  Hal loves the fact that Betty may have it.  Betty stops the section and realizes that Alice may be even more evil than Hal (well, she has been influenced by a cult leader and Satan).  Betty immediately takes the news to confront Alice.  She confronts Alice with the memory that Alice had Betty tested for the gene.  Betty thinks Alice has it too.  Alice swears she didn’t but that doesn’t stop Betty.  She tells Alice she will get to the truth and leaves a worried Alice at the house.

Betty realizes the truth is in Alice’s memories and Jughead agrees to help discover the truth.  They confront Alice at the news studio as she prepares to go live.  As Betty makes accusations, Alice has a train of memories go through her mind which Jughead sees.  One is of Alice and Hal putting something under the living room floor and he breaks Betty off.  At the house, they tear up the floor and find a body. 

With the evidence under the floor, Betty confronts Alice and demands the truth.  Alice is upset so Betty can get through anything Percival has given Alice as a suggestion (at least for a while).  The story is that Hal needed help to get rid of one of the girls.  He had the body at the house and told Alice that if she didn’t help him then he’d tell the cops that she was the murderer.  Alice agreed to protect Betty.  She was Hal’s favorite and Alice hoped to stop him cultivating Betty and control the evil in Betty.  Alice calls it nurturing and Betty says she now understands why Alice tried to control her life and make her perfect.  Unfortunately, the evil is still there just in a different way (she sees evil).

Cheryl’s Situation.

Cheryl is the one who offers the cures.  She has reminded Archie early in the episode when he asked for palladium that what he proposes and she will try go beyond the natural to the supernatural.  Meanwhile, Cheryl in her personal life decides to reconnect with Heather and she send Heather an email but does hear back.  When she doesn’t get a reply, she calls the library and Heather answers.  Oh and Cheryl is relying on a magic eight ball.  As the show ends, Heather arrives.  She knows that Cheryl called (she’s a witch) and has come to see Cheryl

Remedies

Cheryl becomes the source of cures.  First Archie approaches for palladium which he wears as a necklace.  That didn’t work so he tried drinking it only to lose his hair.  Ronnie, Archie and Betty have had their club drinking meeting and Archie’s cure is making him worse instead of better (both of them).  Betty questions Ronnie about the poison curse and asks how did it happen.  Ronnie never gets sick and takes shots for everything.  Ronnie realizes that Betty is right.  And the visit to Cheryl starts.

Since drinking the palladium didn’t work, Cheryl has studied cures.  She gives Ronnie a series of other poisons but tells her she might have a negative reaction that could kill Ronnie.  She also hands Ronnie a book on spiders.  Ronnie promises to have an ambulance standing by and tries the poisons.  Of course, she doesn’t die.  The book on spiders also teaches her how to control the venomous fluid.  If she stays calm and in control, a non-killing dose is secreted.  Ronnie doesn’t lose the kiss of death and Cheryl gives her another vial.  Cheryl also tells Ronnie she’s invincible as a woman.

Meanwhile, Cheryl has a new antidote for Archie so he and Betty meet with her.  He must perform a transmutation spell like turning iron into gold.  In this case, it will turn his body, with Cheryl providing the heat, into being invincible.  Downside though is it could kill him.  After sharing one last night with Betty (probably getting her pregnant), Archie meets with Cheryl and she starts the melding.  At first nothing seems to happen as Archie reads the spell but then he starts to shake and Cheryl puts on a little more energy.   Afterwards, Archie calls Betty to his house.  She asks him about the spell, and he shows her that he has his power back even wearing palladium. 

In a flashback while Ronnie sings, we see what happened.  Ronnie, Betty and Archie have met with Ronnie.  Since Archie has his power back, Betty has a crazy idea.  She tells Ronnie to give Archie a kiss and he doesn’t die.  Both can now control their power and the three with Jughead, Cheryl and Tabitha are in it together. Next Week:  Things take a change for the good guys.  Ronnie has a talent show and Jughead does a mind reading act.  Tabitha confronts Percival.  Franks hits Archie only to hurt his hand.  Archie asks Frank if he’s ready for a fight.