'Riverdale' Recap With Spoilers: Archie Fights For His Life in "American Dreams"

Riverdale reached a pretty major milestone this week, as the hit The CW series officially aired [...]

Riverdale reached a pretty major milestone this week, as the hit The CW series officially aired its 50th episode.

Given the new plot twists and major moments that have happened this season, and the bittersweet things that happened behind-the-scenes, fans of the show are curious to see how the show celebrates such a landmark. Read on to find out!

Obviously, spoilers for tonight's episode of Riverdale, "Chapter Fifty: American Dreams" below!

The episode opens with F.P. on the eve of his 50th birthday, clearly reconnecting with Gladys and Jellybean. Gladys has a surprise for the family -- that she was the anonymous buyer who purchased the Cooper house. After a bit of protesting from Jughead and F.P., Alice and Gladys decide to move forward with the purchase. Jughead offers to let Betty stay with them, but she decides to stay with Veronica instead.

Alice reassures F.P. that she doesn't care about the Joneses buying the house. F.P. tells her that he and Gladys are still married, meaning they have to end whatever relationship they had together. Jughead asks Gladys how she got the money for the house, and suspects her of being shady since she returned to town. Gladys tells him that she's just trying to start over her life, and mentions that she's throwing F.P. a birthday party at the speakeasy. Jughead agrees to give the speech at the event.

F.P. and Tom meet with the Serpents, helping them get used to their work as honorary deputies. Jughead rides with F.P. in his squad car, as F.P. remarks about how happy he is that he's able to properly provide for his family. They get called to Pop's, where someone on Fizzle Rocks attacked one of the servers. F.P. mentions that he heard someone is trying to restart the Fizzle Rocks trade, and it's clear Jughead suspects it's Veronica.

Veronica later tells Betty about Gladys' work on the Fizzle Rocks trade, which Betty later tells Jughead. He decides to investigate.

Meanwhile, Jughead and Betty meet with Archie, revealing that Ricky's "kill the Red Paladin" card was the same as the one given to Warden Norton. This motivates Archie to meet with Hiram, who reveals that he was the one who printed out a dozen of the cards. Hiram gives Archie a list of addresses where people play G&G, which Archie later gives to Betty and Jughead.

It takes them to Riverdale's comic book store, where they find a group of people playing G&G -- who are also on the Red Paladin quest. They try to figure out how to change the game somehow, and Archie asks Hiram to help find a place to make it happen. Hiram offers up a previously-closed boxing gym for Archie to invite the rest of the people on the quest to. A group of costumed men meet Archie at the boxing gym, wanting to fight him.

Jughead declares the rules of the boxing match -- that they will succeed if they knock out Archie within three minutes, but the quest is over if Archie can knock them out. Multiple guys fight Archie and he wins, but not without getting bitten and otherwise injured. Jughead and Betty get all but one of the Red Paladin cards, before finding out that the last one belongs to Archie's former parole officer. He fights Archie, but Archie ultimately knocks him down.

Archie later thanks Hiram for helping end the quest, and Hiram lets him keep the keys to the boxing gym. Sweet Pea and Fangs report back to Jughead, revealing that Gladys is, in fact, running the drug trade. Gladys says that she's doing it to give her family the American dream, and forces Jughead to keep it a secret.

F.P.'s birthday party happens, where Fred congratulates him on their new house. Jughead gives a speech at the party, and it seems like he's about to reveal the truth about Gladys, but he stops himself. After the speech, Jughead reveals that he's going to run his mom out of town, and asks Betty for her help.

Other tidbits from the episode include:

  • Reggie offers to become Veronica's business partner at the speakeasy, something that she respectfully turns down. She later tries to give Reggie a salary for his work, but he turns it down. Reggie then tries to get his car back from Gladys, but she finds out, and Veronica is forced to pay for the expenses of F.P.'s party because of it. Reggie later tells Veronica that he feels insignificant in her eyes, and asks if they would even be dating if not for the speakeasy. Veronica reveals that she bought Reggie's car back from Gladys.
  • Cheryl and Toni have a fight about how to spend Spring Break, and it's clear that Cheryl is upset with how much time Toni is spending with the Pretty Poisons. Cheryl visits Toni while she and the Poisons are working at the Speakeasy, and finds Toni and Veronica doing karaoke together. Cheryl later learns that Toni has been paying rent to Nana Rose. Cheryl dresses up and attends the speakeasy's casino night, but tells Toni that she doesn't have an ulterior motive in doing so. Cheryl layer tries to break into the speakeasy, but Toni finds her. They begin hooking up. Afterwards, Toni explains that the Poisons have been the only thing that has really felt hers. Cheryl suggests that Toni move out and they break out. Cheryl later meets with Kevin, revealing that the spring musical is now going to be Heathers.

***

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

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