Riverdale Recap With Spoilers: Time for Therapy in "In Treatment"

While much of the rest of The CW is planning for the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, Riverdale is spinning a pretty epic yarn of its own. The hit series has just two episodes left before winter break, and there's certainly a lot of emotional drama and plot twists that fans have been treated to thus far. This week put that emotional core at the forefront, with an episode that put many of the show's characters in therapy. Of course, since this is Riverdale, things only got more surprising and twisted from there. Here's what you need to know about this week's episode, "Chapter Sixty-Five: In Treatment".

***

A new round of videotapes are delivered to the doorsteps of Riverdale homes, which still show static footage of each house. At the same time, high school seniors are beginning to get college acceptance letters, and the emotional stress of that is leading to more people seeing Ms. Burble, the school guidance counselor.

Alice accuses Betty of lying about her college applications, after finding a rejection letter from Yale. Alice finds birth control in Betty's room and argues that Betty is underperforming at college because she's too busy having sex, which Betty gets offended by. Betty visits Burble, just as Alice happens to also arrive. The two of them begin to argue, which prompts Burble to offer to counsel both of them at the same time. Betty argues that Alice has been lying to her for her whole life, and says that she's learned to take care of herself in the meantime. Burble gets Alice to admit that she's afraid of losing Betty's childhood, and that she loved Betty more than her other children.

Betty later returns home, finding a letter of acceptance and a check for her lost college fund money.

Archie falls asleep in class, which gets him sent to Burble's office. Burble points out that Archie hasn't applied for any colleges, which he argues he's doing because he needs to stay behind and help fix Riverdale. Burble convinces Archie to tell him the truth about being a vigilante. She argues that this is because of his anger, which he admits to -- because he feels powerless about what's happening around him. She suggests that he's addicted to doing the right thing, and begins to suggest other ways to channel his emotions without being a vigilante. Archie later meets with Mary, and says that he wants to move into the community center until Dodger is apprehended. He then takes Burble's advice and starts a tip line for people to report crimes in their neighborhood. He then throws away his vigilante mask.

Archie begins to get anonymous calls to the tip line -- the first of which is a kid, saying that his mom is being abused by a neighbor. Archie grabs his baseball bat and vigilante mask and goes out to investigate.

Cheryl is called to Honey's office, where he confronts her about her frequent absences from school. Honey tells her that he's putting an adult in charge of the River Vixens, unless, Burble deems her psychologically fit. During the session, Burble asks Cheryl about all of the traumatic things she's gone through over the years. Burble asks how she's coping with all of the trauma, and Cheryl admits to talking to Jason's corpse. Cheryl questions if she's lost her mind, but Burble reassures her that missing her brother is normal. Cheryl then talks about she's being haunted by Julian, and Burble argues that she's being gaslit into thinking she's insane. She then offers to test Cheryl's DNA to see if she really absorbed Julian in the womb but tells her that she's going to recommend Honey give the Vixens a coach so that Cheryl has a chance to take care of herself. Cheryl goes to the locker room and cries into her "HBIC" shirt.

Cheryl meets with Toni at Pop's, as they go over the results of the chimera test -- which are negative. Cheryl then decides to hunt down the person who was making her believe she was crazy.

While putting his first-ever bottle of rum in a display case, Hiram checks in with Veronica, asking if she's gotten in to his alma mater, Harvard. At school, Veronica gets a call from the dean of Harvard telling her that she's been accepted -- because her father bribed him with a bottle of rum. Veronica meets with Burble, and argues that Hiram is continuing to control her life. Burble argues that she and Hiram are obsessed with each other and that she can't find her own identity because she's too tethered to Hiram. Burble suggests that Veronica cut off any communication with Hiram.

Hiram confronts Veronica about her turning down Harvard. She confirms that she's completely cutting herself off from him, and that she's going to "kill him" in rum business. She then drinks from his first bottle of rum.

DuPont confronts Jughead about his lack of progress on the Baxter Bros. assignment, as well as not applying early to any colleges. DuPont suggests that Jughead go back to Riverdale High for a letter of recommendation. Jughead meets with Burble to get a transcript, and begins to mention the conspiracy he's uncovered at Stonewall. Burble argues that Jughead is diving into the mystery because he's afraid of his own talent -- and failure. Burble suggests that he's romanticizing the idea of his grandfather, and that if he's going to see the Baxter Bros. mystery through to the end, he needs to investigate. Jughead comes home and hugs FP, telling him how much he appreciates him.

Betty reads Jughead's Baxter Bros. story, after which he tells her the latest clues in his investigation. He's learned that every member of the Quill and Skull - the secret society his grandfather and DuPont were in - has been killed in suspicious accidents. Betty tells Jughead to transfer away from Stonewall, but he says he's too close to turn away now.

In the flash-forward to spring break, Brett and Donna correctly identify Betty, Archie, and Veronica as the people who killed Jughead.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.