Riverdo's And Riverdon'ts

After THOUSANDS OF YEARS, we return to drag our ancient carcasses toward the finish line of Season 2. Political machinations (do they count as machinations when they're really dumb?) are coming to a head, while at the same time we do some incredibly clumsy 11th-hour nonsense to try to make the Black Hood plot interesting again. Maybe this episode isn't "Lost Weekend" bad, but it would have been a chore to get through without the healing ritual of recording this podcast at the end. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward

Hold onto your butts, the actual plot of the TV show Riverdale has come back, after what really has amounted to NINE EPISODES OF FILLER, and, I cannot stress this enough, DURING A NETWORK TV SHOW WITH RATINGS ABOVE THREE MILLION AT THE TIME. Our Black Hood's back, and there's gonna be trouble, and w...wait, what are we doing with this one character? Because none of it makes any fucking sense. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward

  Luke Perry has passed away, and that puts this whole episode in a much more morose light than it otherwise would be. Hopefully the insanity that is the Riverdale musical episode(!) will serve to remind us of what is joyous and whimsical in life. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward, "Betty McFaddin" by Kevin MacLeod

Holy shit, even though this episode might be a bit weaker than those that bookend it, it makes for an action-packed episode of RDARD. This is because there are TRULY HEINOUS Riverdon'ts, fist-pumping Riverdo's, and both the most Rob-Destroying Weekly Weird yet... and probably the funniest fucking thing that we've ever seen on Riverdale. Buckle up. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward

Riverdale's back, baby! This episode serves as a real wakeup call vis-a-vis what we ought to expect out of our ridiculous trash, and carries with it the merciful feeling that the filler arc (still can't believe that's a thing on a major network in the US) is at an end. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward

This episode busts out the old soap opera playbook, and that badboy has color-coded post-it notes and well-worn pages by the look of it. There's no contrivance too unbelievable, no trope too over the top as this week's episode pursues its goal with single-minded determination: The adults in Riverdale must be shown to be just as ridiculous as the kids were last week. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward

This episode, Riverdale drops the pretense of having a plot for the middle of Season 2, for the most part, and just revels in being as teen trash as it can possibly teen trash. And my god, is this an improvement. By turns heartwarming, hilarious, and extra as fuck, this episode is what we actually wanted out of this show. Until the end, anyway, when everything goes off the rails and makes no goddamn sense. Please bother us at #RDARD on the tweeter. Rob (@LordOfTheStith) Quinn (@MonkipiQuinn) Kat: (@kat_kuhl_) Music: "Faded War Instrumental Version" by Josh Woodward