Following the events of Toni and Fangs’ literal red wedding, in this week’s episode of Riverdale, Sabrina Spellman is back from the dead to help out those remaining get their loved ones back, while also helping herself and her own lost love in the process. Meanwhile, Percival finds out about Kevin’s betrayal and strikes a deal with Reggie.
Keep reading to find out what happened in “Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: The Witches of Riverdale.”
The Living Burying the Dead
Those remaining tearfully bury their loved ones, the firstborn, including Nana Rose, Toni, Fangs, Archie, Jughead, and Dagwood. Percival and Frank come to the cemetery to “pay their respects,” but Percival is not sympathetic.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the dead are merely at the morgue in Dr. Curdle’s deep freeze in order to preserve them. Heather and Cheryl promise Veronica, Betty, Tabitha, and Kevin that Sabrina Spellman will be there soon, though time is running out.
“Sabrina is the definition of a multi-tasking witch. Cheerleader by day, Queen of Hell by night.”
They only have 12 hours left to try to resurrect their loved ones, or else the body would be too decomposed to reanimate. And the deaths become permanent. While anxiously waiting for Sabrina to show up, the girls wonder where their friends could be. Heather brings up something called the “Sweet Hereafter,” something Sabrina had previously mentioned.
The Sweet Hereafter
In the Sweet Hereafter, Archie has a family with Betty. A girl, Polly, and a boy, Fred. And of course, Vegas the dog is around too. Jughead, dressed like his comic counterpart, is writing up a storm at Pop’s, his comic book Mad House Glads. Toni, Fangs, and the rest of the Serpents have Twyla Twist and her Ghoulies sign a peace treaty. The two gangs can finally live together in harmony. And that’s a good thing for a now-grown Anthony, who seems to have something going on with Twyla’s son, Timmy.
The Queen of Hell Returns
The doorbell at Thornhill rings, and Cheryl is greeted by none other than Sabrina Spellman, and she introduces herself to everyone. She tells them that after she passed away, her boyfriend, Nick Scratch, sacrificed himself to bring her back from the dead as a way to rebalance the scales. That experience drew her to specialize in necromancy. Nick, unfortunately, had to stay behind in the Sweet Hereafter.
Since the ritual needs a coven of at least six witches, Sabrina tells Veronica, Tabitha, and Betty that all powerful, disruptive women have the potential to become witches. So she makes it official with just a few steps.
Once they have all been blessed with the divine spirit of Hecate, Sabrina suggests they do a trial run, focusing on a single resurrection. Betty takes her to the morgue as the others conjure up a portal. Sabrina picks Jughead’s corpse, and they bring it back to Thornhill. The spell is performed, and Sabrina goes into the Sweet Hereafter.
A Visit from the Mortal Realm
Dressed like her comic counterpart, Sabrina shows up at Pop’s and sits at Jughead’s table. She introduces herself and gives him the key details, surprising him. However, Jughead is not much in a hurry to come back. Even though he misses Tabitha, he knows he’ll see her again. He is in the ideal version of Riverdale. Endless burgers and comic books. And he knows how the war will end, with him likely dying again. What’s the point?
“The point … is hope.”
Nothing Sabrina does or says will convince Jughead, but he hopes to see Tabitha again soon, just not too soon. Before Sabrina leaves in defeat, she asks Jughead for a small favor.
Sabrina returns to Thornhill, with Jughead, though it’s not Jughead. It’s Jughead’s body, but it’s actually Nick.
“Your boyfriend’s soul is in my boyfriend’s body?”
Sabrina tells Tabitha that she asked Jughead to come back, and he politely declined. She borrowed Jughead’s body with his consent to spend a little more time with Nick. He is also a necromancer, and they’re going to need his help, so it’s a win-win. It’s now time for Cheryl, Tabitha, Veronica, and Betty to go into the Sweet Hereafter to convince their own loved ones to return, and they will also have to be dead, temporarily. However, Sabrina and Nick sense something coming off of Betty, and she tells them that she’s the harlot of Babylon, so she can’t get into Heaven. Since Veronica has an emotional connection to Archie, she reluctantly volunteers to talk to her ex-boyfriend.
The Sweet Hereafter Part 2
Veronica, Cheryl, and Tabitha prepare to die and go to the Sweet Hereafter to bring back their loved ones, but not without a bit of worry.
Cheryl: Personally, I’m excited. How many people get to say they died and came back?
Veronica: In Riverdale? A lot.
In the Sweet Hereafter, Veronica visits Archie, telling him what happened and what is still happening. She tries to convince him to fight, but he’s done fighting. Everything he’s ever wanted is all right there. Veronica begs him to at least think about it.
Meanwhile, after Anthony breaks the news to his parents that he and Timmy Twyst are in love and want to get married, the happiness ends as Cheryl barges in. She catches Toni and Fangs up, but they are not listening, just like Archie. Fangs tells Cheryl she did the same thing when Polly and Jason got married, wanting to keep them apart.
Cheryl shows up at Thornhill and finds her late family delegating. Nana Rose, Jason (who still doesn’t speak), Polly, and Dagwood. Polly admits they’re pregnant with triplets, and Cheryl couldn’t be happier for them, relieved to see them thriving.
Tabitha gets to Pop’s to talk to Jughead, but after seeing him signing comic books and happy as ever, she decides to sit down at the counter. A guy next to her says she finally made it to Heaven. It’s Raphael, Tabitha’s guardian angel. While she waits for Jughead to finish up, Raphael brings her up to speed on a few things.
Bittersweet Reunion
Nick and Sabrina have their long-awaited reunion, and Sabrina suggests they run away. They should leave Greendale, leave everything behind. Nick mentions her aunties would kill her, and sooner or later, death would come for them. Meaning they both would get dragged away for good. Sabrina still hasn’t forgiven him, or her aunties for putting her into this situation, and Nick reassures her, comforting her. “Witches don’t cry.”
After their date, Sabrina and Nick prepare their goodbyes once again, parting ways as he goes back to the Sweet Hereafter.
Power of the Phoenix
After returning from the Sweet Hereafter, everyone feels useless since their loved ones do not want to come back. They’re done doing it gently, so Sabrina has a Plan B or Plan C. And Cheryl will be doing the work. She senses something special in Cheryl, an extraordinary ability that isn’t her pyrokinesis. Instead, she has a much more potent gift. She possesses the power of the Phoenix.
Sabrina tells her that individuals with the power of the Phoenix are rare, but they have the gift of resurrection. It doesn’t take much convincing, as Cheryl is on board. She’ll have to burn the bodies, but hopefully, they will rise from the ashes, reborn.
In the Sweet Hereafter, Archie and Fangs begin to feel hot as Toni realizes there are no pictures after their wedding in the photo album. Jughead also begins to sweat onto his comic book pages. Cheryl calls upon the Phoenix powers, and the bodies turn a blue flame. A Phoenix flies through, and Toni, Fangs, Nana Rose, Dagwood, Archie, and Jughead come through the fire.
The Future is Now
With everyone back safe and sound, Cheryl and Sabrina say their own goodbyes to each other. Sabrina hopes she doesn’t get in trouble for what she did, and Cheryl acts as if she doesn’t know anything.
“Be careful. Death doesn’t like to be cheated.”
Tabitha apologizes to Jughead, knowing how happy he was in the Sweet Hereafter. Jughead has Tabitha repeat what she just said and realizes he can hear her and he can still hear her thoughts. He is no longer deaf. In the midst of being happy about getting his hearing back, Jughead realizes that before he died in the bunker, there was another Jughead.
Cheryl tells Heather it was painful seeing her family so happy without her in the Sweet Hereafter, but it got her thinking about a second chance. She needed to try. The door opens, and out comes not only Nana Rose and Dagwood, but Jason and Polly as well.
Tabitha checks in on Veronica and tells her that while she saw Betty and Archie as endgame in many scenarios, in an almost equal amount of scenarios, Veronica and Archie were endgame. Her romantic future is up for grabs.
Tabitha then visits Fangs and Toni, happy to be reunited with Baby Anthony. The question remains of why he was spared, and Tabitha says she learned some things during her visit to the Sweet Hereafter. Anthony is immortal, and she is Riverdale’s guardian angel.
Betrayal
Kevin is afraid that Percival is punishing him, so he plans on leaving town so as not to endanger anyone. As he packs up the rest of his things and opens his door to head out, Kevin is greeted by his dad and Frank. Percival has some questions for him.
Percival tries to have Kevin tell him exactly what his friends have been up to at Thornhill, but Kevin thinks of his friends and flashes back to the past, and he doesn’t give in. He tells Percival to kill him instead, and Percival may just take him up on that offer.
Percival gives Reggie the chance to punish Kevin and kill him so his dad can have his heart. After spending time with his dad, Reggie is torn on what to do. His lookalike doll comes to life as his conscious and talks to him, telling him to get his dad and his pal and blow town.
Reggie tries to leave with his father and Kevin, but they get caught and try to run away. Trapped. Neatly lined up, Percival prepares for a three-way execution for his once-trusted allies. He leaves Reggie, his father, and Kevin alone, but Reggie admits he grabbed one of Percival’s magic weapons as an insurance policy. It won’t break them out of there, but it will be good to stick into someone’s neck. Hopefully Percival’s.
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!
