In this week’s episode of Riverdale, it’s hero versus villain when Archie goes up against Percival. Meanwhile, Cheryl is back, but she has a new problem, and Tabitha and Toni try to do something about the Babylonium taking their customers.
Keep reading to find out what happened in “Chapter One Hundred and Five: Folk Heroes.”
The Hero vs. The Villain
“Heroes. Some are born on the gridiron and baseball diamonds. Others are ripped from the pages of comic books. But then there are folk heroes, champions of the common people.”
Archie, Betty, and Jughead get together to figure out what to do about Percival’s mind control. Jughead did some research about an emotional anchor, thinking about something close to you, in order to break the tether.
The Town of Riverdale needs someone to look up to. Archie is the closest thing to an American folk hero. And to bring people in, they need to use Archie’s secret weapon. Jughead knows someone who has a connection with the Guinness Book of World Records, and they are going to need K.O. Kelly.
Man of Iron
At the next town hall meeting, Archie announces that the El Royale will no longer be open for meetings and will instead go back to being a boxing gym for local kids. Jughead says that the El Royale is about to be world-famous. Owned by the “World’s Toughest Man Alive,” Archie Andrews. Someone from Guinness will be there soon to watch Archie perform a set of feats of human endurance, and everyone is invited to cheer on Riverdale’s homegrown folk hero. Man of iron.
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Folk Hero
Archie partakes in several tasks that no human would ever survive (and no one even questions how it’s possible). Percival, though, has his suspicions. Jughead later tells Archie that K.O. Kelly has agreed to the fight, and since K.O. went professional, his whole thing is that he knocks every opponent out that he fights. All Archie has to do is stay standing by the time the bell rings. The legend of Archie Andrews will just build and build.
K.O. Kelly and Archie meet up once again, but the meeting doesn’t last long since Archie has to spend the day putting up the ring, while Katy [Keene] told K.O. all about Veronica’s new casino. As Archie works on the ring, Percival shows up and tries to get Archie to cut himself with a boxcutter. When it’s of no use, thanks to Archie’s invulnerability and the emotional anchor (Fred’s picture), Percival begins to suspect something and leaves.
Archie tells Jughead about what happened with Percival, and Jughead suggests they continue with the plan for Archie to become Riverdale’s own folk hero and drive Percival out of town. Unfortunately, that plan is rendered useless when K.O. winds up in the hospital after he “willingly” walked into traffic, thanks to Percival. Percival offers to take K.O.’s place in the ring. If Percival wins, Archie will reinstate his grandfather’s statue in Pickens Park, and if Archie wins, Percival resigns from the council.
Champion of Champions
Archie and Percival box, but unfortunately, Percival comes out on top, leaving Archie a bloody mess despite thinking of Fred. It’s revealed that Percival mind-controlled Alice to get into Betty’s room, then controlled Betty to tell him everything there is to know about Archie. He stole the Palladium from Betty and hid it in his boxing gloves.
Percival, Sheriff Keller, and Frank get to the site of General Pickens’ statue. Next on Percival’s hit list is Tabitha, who is standing in the way of “true progress with that hideous diner of hers.”
“I’m afraid to say, gentlemen, Tabitha Tate’s not long for this new world we’re creating.”
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A New Cheryl
After Britta’s parents heard about Cheryl wanting to adopt her, they decided they were ready to accept her and wanted her to come back home. Cheryl tells Britta she always has a place at Thornhill, and soon it’s just Cheryl and Nana Rose once again.
As Cheryl is reading by the Abigail doll, she starts getting extremely hot, so hot that it literally burns the book she’s reading and soon herself. Cheryl wakes up screaming.
Burning Desire
Cheryl is burning up, and Nana Rose sets up a night nurse, Darius, for her while she watches over Abigail’s vigil. When Cheryl wakes up the following day, she’s feeling much better. That is until she finds Darius’ ashes on a chair, leaving nothing but his feet still intact.
“Nana, poor Darius has been burned to a crisp.”
Cheryl tells Nana Rose that this is Abigail’s doing, but the doll hasn’t twitched all night.
Cheryl calls Betty for help, and she tells her cousin what happened. Betty meets with Dr. Curdle Jr. after giving him what was left of Darius, and he suggests SHC. Spontaneous Human Combustion. He burned from the inside out.
“Stranger things have happened in Riverdale.”
Cheryl’s temperature is rising again, and Betty tries to comfort her. Betty offers to stay the night to keep an eye on her. Soon, Cheryl is burning up and scared for her life. Betty gets Cheryl into an ice bath, which is boiling but later cools down, bringing Cheryl’s temperature down as well. Betty reaches out to a unit at the FBI that specializes in phenomena like this.
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The agent suggests that it’s not SHC but rather someone who is manifesting nascent powers of pyrokinesis. The ability to create and control fire with their mind.
Phoenix
Cheryl once again burns up, and Betty tries to get her to focus on the heat. Betty tells Cheryl that she is a phoenix. She thrives in fire. Her brother’s corpse was baptized in fire, Abigail was consumed in fire, and she burned Thornhill down and rebuilt it. Even Cheryl herself said that she can control the elements. As Cheryl’s temperature rises, Betty yells at Cheryl to focus. She puts a picture of Penelope in the fireplace, telling her cousin to “set her ass on fire,” and she does. Cheryl is officially a pyrokinetic.
Looking Towards the Future
Percival’s proposal for a new town sign that says, “You can’t stop progress” has been approved by a majority of the council, aside from Tabitha. The new sign means no room for the slogan, “Home of Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe.” While Percival tells Tabitha that he’s not an enemy, Tabitha doesn’t make nice. He does, however, intrigue her when he brings up Veronica’s casino.
Tabitha and Veronica meet with the town council, who vote to go with the Babylonium billboard, as it represents Riverdale’s future. Percival, of course, promises that the casino will bring in more revenue. But Pop’s will always represent Riverdale’s legacy.
Fighting Fire With Fire
Tabitha talks to Toni about the diner’s revenue going down ever since the casino opened. Toni knows exactly how it feels since casinos give out drinks for free. Though, unlike Whyte Wyrm, Pop’s isn’t a direct competition for the casino. Toni talks Tabitha into checking out the competition to see what is going on. Free diner food and free drinks, and Percival is singing.
Tabitha and Toni try to come up with a plan to beat Veronica, and they decide to team up. Fight fire with fire. Tabitha could get a liquor license, sell alcohol, placing all of her orders through the Whyte Wyrm. And Toni can install a couple of slot machines, a craps table. As for entertainment, they both take care of that one and perform, bringing back the Serpent Dance.
Percival, meanwhile, proposes a partnership with Veronica since he stepped down as Deputy and turns her against Reggie, who has been siding a casino of his own with stolen machines from the Babylonium. Veronica disintegrates her partnership with Reggie, despite him being half-owner.
“And you’re definitely banished from my bed.”
Percival Pickens just won’t stop because he tells Veronica about what’s happening at the Whyte Wyrm, and the two see Tabitha and Toni performing.
Circles Rise Together
After Pop’s and the Whyte Wyrm declared war on the Babylonium, the casino is a ghost town. Percival tells Veronica they should “firebomb the hell out of them.” Meanwhile, Pop Tate does not like the idea of selling liquor, and Fangs doesn’t like Toni showing off herself, especially since they’re in a custody battle for Baby Anthony.
Veronica doesn’t like Percival’s suggestion since she is not her father. Instead, she meets with Tabitha and Toni to form a new partnership. Veronica is giving two Babylonium slot machines to the Whyte Wyrm and will get 10 percent of what Toni brings in. And for Tabitha, the casino is opening a Pop’s booth in the grand lobby and splitting the profits from food sales.
“Circles rise together, after all.”
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!
