Episode Synopsis: As Riverdale prepares for its annual Variety Show, tension rises between Josie and Val over the Pussycats’ performance. After getting Archie a spot in the show, Veronica gets angry when Archie tells her that he doesn’t need anymore help with his performance. Meanwhile, Betty and Jughead find more information about Polly’s whereabouts. Adult-wise, Fred looks into getting the drive-in lot job for his construction company, unaware of Hermione’s involvement in the project.

My Thoughts: Overall, I cared a lot more about Betty and Jughead’s plotline than anything else. We’re only six episodes in and I’m getting tired of the ‘Archie and his dream of being a musician’ plot line. I realize that the show is not going to entirely focused on Jason’ murder, but there’s a pretty stark contrast with Veronica and Archie are fighting over a talent show and Betty and Jughead investigating a murder.

I enjoyed getting some more interaction with Josie and the Pussycats this episode. I really like Val as a character and I hope she just simply doesn’t become a love interest for Archie. I didn’t enjoy how Veronica suddenly took her place as a Pussycat, even though I knew Val would be back in by the end of the episode. I have a feeling Veronica will simply forget that she was even part of the band come next week. I feel bad for Josie with all the pressure from her parents, with her dad being a musician and her mom being the commander she is. Between Josie’s mom and Betty’s parents, I’d love to know why some of the parents on the show come off as so demanding. No wonder Josie almost has a breakdown on stage and Betty takes Adderall.

Getting back to Betty and Jughead’s plotline, I was so intrigued by Betty’s interaction with Polly. I really thought Polly would be so unstable (and is she?) that she wouldn’t be able to talk to Betty. While I was surprised by her pregnancy news, I wasn’t so shocked to find out that she didn’t know about Jason’s death. Another win for the Coopers, I suppose. The ONE thing that bothered me about Betty and Jughead’s plotline this episode was THAT KISS. WHY CAN’T WE JUST HAVE ONE COMPLETELY ‘JUST FRIENDS’ RELATIONSHIP ON THIS SHOW? At least for this episode, nothing came out of it except for Betty remembering something Polly had told her about Jason.

Rating: 3/5 stars. I really enjoyed learning more about Polly and how she fits into Jason’s story, but I didn’t really care too much about what the other characters were up to. This was definitely the least intriguing episode so far. Based on the promo for next week’s episode, I’m excited to get more into Jughead’s background and what he’s been really up to.

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