‘Riverdale’ Recap: Season 6, Episode 8 “Chapter One Hundred and Three: The Town”

Megan
15 Min Read
The CW

In this week’s Riverdale as the town gets blasted as the worst town in America, Percival Pickens makes his way through the residents to push out the homeless, and Britta tries to bring Cheryl back from her imprisoned dreamscape.

Keep reading to find out what happened in “Chapter One Hundred and Three: The Town.”

Riverdale on Blast

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Thanks to an anonymous opinion in the Riverdale Choice, the town is getting blasted as the “Worst Town in America.” A.k.a what the town presented as versus what it truly was. It’s calling the Babylonium illegal — a gateway to crime, drug use, and violence — and it also condemned Riverdale’s culture of street gangs.

“It called out the town’s long history of intolerance, ignorance, persecution, and backwards thinking.”

There are plenty more critiques, but perhaps the most scathing took aim at Riverdale’s struggling economy, soaring unemployment, and “Homeless encampments on every corner.” At Pop’s, Percival is still as happy as ever that he moved to Riverdale.

Archie is not so happy that Jughead printed the horrible but possibly honest critique. Jughead is not one to name anonymous sources, especially if it’s one that will meet the end of Archie’s fist. Alice and Frank are calling a town hall meeting so everyone can respond to the opinion in person. Jughead better be there in person to cover it.

Garbage Opinions

The town hall meeting commences, and the residents are not very happy about their town being put on blast. Veronica tries to defend her casino, but Alice is not having it, knowing exactly what Lodges do. Archie switches the subject and tries to get whoever wrote the article to speak up. Newbie resident Percival Pickens admits to having written the article, noting that he was concerned if they saw the name Pickens on the byline they’d take his words out of context because of what his great-great-grandfather did. Genocide against Toni’s ancestors.

Percival offers his two cents about Sketch Alley and that the homeless should be bussed out of town. Archie defends Sketch Alley, saying that Riverdale takes care of its own. Since Percival said his solution, Archie needs to tell everyone his solution.

And thus began the battle for Riverdale’s soul.

Jughead Jones

Riverdale’s Solutions

Jughead goes to Archie’s house to tell him that he agrees with him. Bussing out Riverdale’s homeless is not a solution. He knows those people; at times, he was one of them. They always helped him when he was in trouble. While Jughead didn’t say these things at the meeting, he will at the next one once Archie presents his big idea. Unfortunately, Archie doesn’t have one yet. Luckily Jughead did some research of his own, and he suggests micro homes. A shower, a bed, a toilet. They build one of these homes for every unhoused person. Archie obliges.

Alice meets with Percival to discuss some of Riverdale’s issues, and Percival works some of his charm on her. He assumed Alice would have a personal stake in making Riverdale safer given what happened to Polly.

A Different Thornhill

Britta tells Nana Rose they have to figure out a way to get Cheryl back, but Nana Rose tells her that Cheryl is gone. “Vanished into the void.” Britta swears she saw Cheryl in a mirror that Abigail was looking into. She is still in her body somewhere. Nana Rose says Abigail is keeping her locked away, imprisoned in a kind of mental jail if that’s the case. The only way to make contact with Cheryl is for Britta to be in a deep slumber near Abigail, who would also need to be in a deep sleep. Since Abigail once inhabited Britta’s body, Britta could use that tether to enter and walk her dreamscape and find Cheryl. “If she exists.” Britta must also awake before Abigail does.

“Or risk her wrath.”

Cheryl’s World

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In Cheryl’s dreamscape, she is eating with Jason and Penelope, and all seems right with the world. The Blossom twins are even speaking at the same time, though it gradually falls apart.

Abigail soon drinks Britta’s tea and falls asleep, with Britta joining not long after. In the dreamscape, a birthday party for the twins is going on at Thornhill, and Britta joins in the fun looking for Cheryl. Penelope shows her where Cheryl is, in the corner crying, as it’s punishment for being a selfish, ungrateful brat. Penelope is now only celebrating Jason’s birthday, but before she gets to go any further, the alarm clock sounds, and Britta wakes up. Abigail soon follows suit.

Asleep once again, Britta finds Cheryl, who tells her to hide from Penelope. Penelope makes Cheryl and Jason clean the entire place while Britta is hiding underneath the bed.

Britta tells Nana Rose about what Cheryl’s enduring and Nana Rose tells Britta to tell Cheryl that Penelope is not real. Perhaps that will wake Cheryl before Abigail takes permanent possession of her.

Back in the dreamscape, Cheryl’s hair has been cut extensively after Penelope saw her with her friend, Heather. Britta tries to talk some sense into Cheryl and tells Penelope she’s not real. Penelope kicks Britta out, but Britta drops a note for Cheryl that explains everything. The note brings Cheryl back to her former glory, and she is not backing down.

Cheryl visits Britta in her dreams and tells her they need to drive away Abigail, but she has no idea how.

A New Babylonium

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After the town hall meeting and Hiram’s death, Veronica suggests to Reggie they run a scam-free casino with no side deals, no loopholes, and no tax evasion. She wants to prove Alice and the haters wrong. Veronica wants to start a new chapter after burying her father and rehabilitate the Lodge name.

“Instead of the council fighting us at every turn, we lock arms with them, help fix the town my dad broke.”

Reggie likes the idea, but that means they have to get their licenses and permits in order. It’s not a problem; it’s just very expensive. Veronica tells Reggie to pull the trigger, and once they hang her father’s portrait above the desk it will serve as a constant reminder of who they’re not going to be like.

After going through some of the casino’s reports, Reggie tells Veronica it’d be nearly impossible to turn a profit if they’re strictly legit. He suggests running scams, but Veronica is not on board. Meanwhile in one of the private gambling rooms, a consumer has hung himself. Veronica and Reggie are stuck on what to do.

Reggie digs deeper into the dead guy, and when he and Veronica look through security camera footage, they spot the one and only Percival Pickens talking to the guy before he kills himself. Heraldo then shows up to help Veronica and Reggie with the body, and Veronica asks him to look into Percival.

The Town’s Future

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The town hall meeting to discuss Riverdale’s future commences, and Veronica and Reggie begin with a presentation about making Riverdale the new Atlantic City, with Babylonium being the solution to lifting Riverdale up. There would be an arcade and a daycare.

Archie presents his idea for micro homes to give the occupants a sense of ownership and security. All labor will also be provided free of charge by Andrews Construction. The council loves the idea, but not so much the costs. They just have to find a way to fund it.

Meanwhile, Percival sticks to his solution that will cost the town nothing and can be carried out immediately.

Archie later meets with Percival, trying to get a read on him. Percival tells him his thinking is flawed, as his neighbors don’t want them there. They really want the poor to go away without compromising their own comfort. Archie tells him he’s wrong, so Percival challenges him.

Archie’s Plea for Help

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Archie meets with Tabitha and Toni for personal help to underwrite one of the houses. One can be like Pop’s, and one can be like the Whyte Wyrm. Archie figures they can be like billboards. Tabitha and Toni are in.

The houses are being built in Sketch Alley, and Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Sheriff Keller, Frank, and the rest of the Andrews Construction crew get to work.

The “Sketch” In Sketch Alley

While working on the houses, Kevin tries introducing himself to Doc, but he gets knocked out by Doc’s hammer instead.

Alice is quick to report what went down in Sketch Alley, and Archie, Tabitha, and Toni are less than thrilled to hear about it. Luckily Kevin’s going to be okay. Not so much for the micro homes. However, Archie still has the financial support of both Tabitha and Toni. Toni suggests Archie holds off on painting a house to match the Whyte Wyrm, and Archie agrees. Tabitha is still all in as well. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks it’s a great idea, as after the house is completed it’s vandalized.

Percival visits Kevin in the hospital in the hopes that what happened at Sketch Alley never happens again.

Who Really Is Percival Pickens?

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Jughead visits Doc in jail, and Doc has no memory of attacking Kevin. One minute he’s hammering, and the next, he’s standing over Kevin. It was like someone put the idea in his head. Of course, it was none other than a guy with a British accent.

Jughead meets with Percival in the hopes of him writing a rebuttal about the piece he previously wrote. Percival comes off as someone coming from a better place and wanting to do good for Riverdale when in reality he just doesn’t want the homeless in town. As Jughead hears Percival’s thoughts Percival tells him to stop rooting around in his brain, and the statement surprises Jughead.

Jughead starts to tell Archie about Percival, but Percival shows up in the parking lot and tells them that Sketch Alley is no longer an issue. He spoke to the people of Sketch Alley and got them to leave town.

“Call it the power of persuasion.”

Archie, Jughead, Tabitha, Toni, and Frank visit Sketch Alley which is entirely empty. At a town hall meeting, Percival thanks Sheriff Keller for help, and Sheriff Keller announces that Percival is joining the department as a deputy.

Not only that, but Percival has convinced the council to not partner with the Babylonium since there is a lot of risk with the biggest liability being Veronica and the Lodge name. If Veronica takes a back seat the council will reconsider the proposal. Veronica sinks to her father’s low and confirms the scams, side hustles, and everything in between is back.

In Percival’s “lair,” he has a whole bulletin board of Riverdale and its most notable residents, newspaper clippings, and maps.

Side Effects

Betty, who has been on the run due to TBK, comes into Archie’s house with sunglasses and asks him to turn off the lights. Betty’s bad headaches have only gotten worse, and she figured out they are only triggered by light. The brighter the light, the more excruciating the pain. Betty can still see auras, but the headaches are a side effect. Archie catches up on what she missed, including that Jughead can read minds and Percival can control minds.

Riverdale airs on The CW on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Stay tuned for our continued coverage on the series, including episodic recaps and more!

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By Megan
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Megan has been passionate about writing since she was little and has been passionate about all things pop culture and nerdy since almost as long. Joining Nerds and Beyond in 2019, she also graduated from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Journalism. Megan is constantly binge-watching shows and finding new things to obsess over. 9-1-1 and Marvel currently reign as the top obsessions. You can find her on Twitter @marvels911s if you ever want to discuss some certain firefighters.
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