Riverdale Recap With Spoilers: Chapter Twelve: Anatomy of a Murder

05/04/2017 09:10 pm EDT

The episode begins with Archie and Veronica telling Betty about how they didn't find a gun in FP's trailer. Archie suggests telling their parents before they go to Sheriff Keller.

The three tell their parents, who don't take the news lightly. Archie and Veronica reassure that FP is innocent, and that they'll go to Sheriff Keller with what they know, even if it means they getting arrested.

That night, Betty sits in her room and texts Archie. They agree to look after Jughead.

Jughead is on the phone with his mom. He explains that he bought a bus ticket to Toledo so he could see his mom and Jellybean. They tell him that they don't want him to visit.

Jughead exchanges his bus ticket for another one - to Florida.

Hermione frantically looks through files, trying to hide evidence that their family is connected to FP. Veronica says that them running away will make them look guilty, and Hermione says she is guilty, and tells her everything.

Archie and Betty try to find Jughead at the bus station. Veronica calls Archie, and agrees to meet them where she thinks Jughead is - Pop's.

The three of them find Jughead at Pop's, and apologize for betraying him. They explain that FP is being framed.

Sheriff Keller interrogates FP. FP explains that he met with Jason before his death, and agreed to give him a getaway car in exchange for Jason trafficing drugs for him. Once he realized who Jason really was, Jason told him his plan. FP then made a plan - to kidnap Jason on July 4th and hold him for ransom. Keller suggests that FP succeeded, until Jason escaped and FP had to shoot him.

Keller asks about the files that were stolen from his office, and FP says he did that as well - as well as burning the getaway car.

The kids arrive at the police station. They find Keller, who tells them that FP just confessed.

The next day, FP's mugshot is on the front page of the paper. The Blossoms show the article to Polly over breakfast, and Clifford reassures that he confronted FP himself at the station. Penelope reassures that their family can now find peace.

Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Kevin talk about the article about FP. Veronica is relieved that the article doesn't mention Hiram. Betty reassures that FP is innocent, and that he might be covering up for another Serpent - possibly Joaquin.

Jughead arrives in the lunchroom. He apologizes to Cheryl, who slaps him in the face and begins hitting him. Archie pulls her off of Jughead, and Weatherbee intervenes and takes Jughead to his office.

Betty finds Cheryl in the locker room. She tells Betty that even if FP did it, it's not Jughead's fault. Cheryl reveals that she doesn't feel like the nightmare of Jason's death is actually over yet.

Betty meets Jughead outside of Weatherbee's office. Betty reassures that FP didn't do it, but Jughead wonders who else it could be, and takes FP's confession as enough.

Archie arrives home, and Fred tells him that Weatherbee suggests that Jughead be kicked out of school for the end of the semester for his safety. Jughead overhears Fred tells Archie that he's worried what trouble Archie will continue to get into with the Jones family. Archie finds Jughead in the hallway, and Jughead says he'll sleep in the garage.

That night, Betty hears a noise in her house. She follows it and finds Alice also following the noise, holding a gun. They both go into the basement and find Hal. Hal reveals that he stole the files from Keller's house.

Hal explains to Alice and Betty that he didn't want the evidence to get back to Polly and the rest of the Cooper family. Hal reveals that Betty's ancestor who got murdered by the Blossoms was actually a Blossom, and the Cooper name was adopted by members of the family after that murder. This means that Polly and Jason are technically blood relatives. The three of them decide that they need to get Polly out of the Blossom house.

The Coopers arrive at Thornhill, ready to bring Polly home. Alice reveals the family line between the Blossoms and the Coopers, and Penelope reassures that the incest between Polly and Jason didn't bother them. The Coopers leave with Polly, but Penelope pulls Betty aside and says that she made a mistake coming after them. Betty reassures that she won't stop until FP is proven innocent.

Archie and Jughead meet Mary at Pop's. She explains that she pretended to be his lawyer to get information. According to her, FP has stuck to his alibi, and that his one phone call was to Joaquin. Mary suggests that Jughead go see FP, and he reluctantly agrees.

Jughead visits FP and explains that he knew FP's redemption was a lie. Jughead confronts FP and asks if he's even sorry for killing Jason, and FP says that he's only sorry that he got caught. FP tells Jughead not to visit him again.

Archie tells Veronica about FP's call to Joaquin. Veronica says that she wants to see this case through for the sake of her family.

Archie, Veronica, and Kevin ask Joaquin what he knows. Joaquin explains that he saw Jason's body in FP's basement on July 11th, and helped clean up the scene. Veronica asks if FP killed Jason because Hiram told him to. Joaquin explains that FP called another Serpent, Mustang, and mentioned a rich guy. The gang agrees to go find Mustang.

Betty tells Polly how happy she is that she's home. She receives a call from Jughead, who believes that FP is hiding something.

Archie, Veronica, Kevin, and Joaquin go find Mustang in a motel room. The room is deserted, and Mustang has overdosed on drugs.

Police arrive at Mustang's hotel room. Keller asks Archie and Veronica how they found Mustang in the first place. Another officer finds a bag filled with money - Hiram's bag.

Fred tells Archie to stay off of FP's case, otherwise he will get hurt.

Hermione bursts into tears as soon as she and Veronica get home.

Kevin helps Joaquin get onto a bus. They kiss, and Joaquin reveals that he didn't tell Kevin's friends everything.

Jughead and Betty question why FP is lying about Jason's murder.

Cheryl asks Penelope why Jason and Clifford were fighting the night before July 4th. Penelope explains that Jason wasn't equipped to take over the family business, despite Clifford grooming him. Cheryl asks what exactly Jason wasn't able to handle, and Penelope chastises her for asking questions.

Jughead and Betty remove Fred and Hermione from their suspect board.

Cheryl asks if Jason ran away because of something related to the family. Penelope violently grabs Cheryl's hands and shoves her into their barn - which is full of barrels of maple syrup.

Alice meets with Betty and Jughead, and explains that the evidence against Hiram and the Serpents is a little too tidy. Betty gets a phone call from Kevin.

The three of them go hunting for something in the woods. They find a duffel bag with Jason's letterman jacket inside.

The three show Archie and Veronica's letterman jacket. Everyone resigns themselves to the fact that FP killed Jason - except for Betty. Betty has Archie put on the jacket, and finds a pocket with a thumb drive inside.

The five of them plug the thumb drive into the computer and watch the video. Betty gets out her phone and calls Cheryl, begging her to get out of the Blossom house. Cheryl understands, begins crying, and goes downstairs. She finds Clifford and Penelope eating dinner, and reveals that everyone knows that Clifford killed Jason.

Alice visits Keller and Mayor McCoy, and shows them the footage. Jason is tied to a chair in the bar's basement, taunted by Mustang. Then Clifford comes in, takes the engagement ring away from Jason, and kills him.

Jughead reveals that FP confessed after Clifford threatened to kill Jughead as well. Jughead argues that FP is innocent, but Keller explains that he's still culpable in too many things.

Veronica arrives home and apologizes to Hermione for suspecting Hiram. Hermione forgives her, and reveals that Hiram is coming home.

Archie tells Mary that he can't move to Chicago with her, but that he might come up for the summer. Alice hugs him and leaves.

Jughead explains that a new mystery is now looming over Riverdale - why Clifford killed Jason. Police arive at Thornhill and find Clifford having committed suicide in the barn. In one of the barrels of maple syrup are packages of drugs.

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