Riverdale‘s fifth season is officially back — and it isn’t pulling any punches. After its long-awaited midseason premiere last week, the series is taking some interesting narrative leaps, including a deeper look at the world of Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos). If you need to catch up on the most essential details and storylines from Riverdale‘s latest episode, we’re here to help. Here are the biggest reveals and Easter eggs from “Chapter Eighty-Eight: Citizen Lodge.” Obviously, spoilers for Season 5, Episode 12 of Riverdale, “Chapter Eighty-Eight: Citizen Lodge”, below! Only look if you want to know!
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Reggie brings Hiram a briefcase filled with money, in order to pay off the debt that Marty owes Hiram after bailing his business out. This makes Hiram and Marty “square”, but Reggie wants to continue working for Hiram — and Hiram tasks him with bringing a gun. Marty finds out about about Reggie’s continued employment and confronts Hiram about it, to no avail. When Reggie finds out about this, he confronts Marty, and disavows him for the abuse he’s suffered under him. Hiram tell Reggie about his own relationship with his father.
In a flashback sequence, a younger Hiram watches his dad shine shoes in the big city, when a businessman tells them about the Palladium reserves in Riverdale. Hiram’s family then moved to Riverdale so he could work in the mines, only for them to collapse and be shut down. Hiram’s mom got a job waitressing at Pop’s, while his father went back to shining shoes.
Hiram is given money from a gangster named Vito. The next day, Hiram asks Hermione out on a date, but she says her mother forbids it given the financial standing of Hiram’s family. Hiram begins to do deliveries for Vito in exchange for a lot of money, which draws the suspicion of Hiram’s father.
With a newfound confidence, Hiram asks out Hermione for a dinner at Pop’s, and they talk about their hopes and dreams for getting out of Riverdale. Cops show up to the diner and arrest Hiram for trafficking drugs. Hermione helps Hiram get bailed out of jail, and Vito is proud that Hiram didn’t rat out the operation. Vito promotes him and gives him a car, which he then uses to go on another date with Hermione. On the date, Hermione helps him come up with the name Hiram Lodge. Hiram gets his name legally changed, and when Marty picks on him for it, he beats him up.
Hiram’s dad finds out about his deal with Vito, and he threatens to call the authorities. When Vito finds out, he sends his goons after Hiram’s dad, and they shoot him dead in front of Pop’s. They hold a funeral, where Hiram meets Hermione’s mom, who apologizes for how she’d previously judged his father. Penelope judges Hermione for Hiram’s ties to the mob. Vito arrives at the funeral and tells Hiram to continue working for him. Hiram confronts some of Vito’s associates about the truth of his father’s death, and proceeds to kill them. Vito proceeded to skip town and never return, and Hiram uses that as an opportunity to make Riverdale is domain.
Hiram reveals that the prison was all a front for him to use the prison labor to harvest palladium, but that the yield was too small. He tells Reggie that another larger deposit is under the Blossoms’ maple groves, and asks Reggie to drive him to Alto’s nursing home, where he kills him.
On the drive back, Hiram tells Reggie that he no longer requires his services, and that he wants Reggie to have the normal life he didn’t get a chance to have. Reggie takes him up on it, and reconciles with his father.
Hiram watches Hermione and Veronica on Real Housewives, where they both argue that Hiram should have retired years ago. Hiram then calls Hermosa, who helps him cover up Vito’s killing — setting a plan in motion for him to get back everything he lost.
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