'Riverdale' Season 4 Episode 13 Review: The ominous flash-forward gets a backstory as Varchie get some airtime
Spoiler alert for 'Riverdale' Season 4 Episode 13: 'The Ides of March'
Guess 'Tangerine' isn't the only trigger word that activates Betty' s (Lili Reinhart) killer genes. 'The Ides of March' was supposed to be about Veronica and it partly was. However, the episode switched on the thriller mode and went straight to the ominous flash-forward that has been teased since the start of the season. It was just two plot lines that saw the core four unite in the direst of circumstances in the end. And after last week's staggering episode that saw the Punisher, the teen drama has managed to do an encore with 'The Ides of March'.
And it was about damn time. Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) needed that screentime. That most of it went was steamy lovemaking doesn't really bother us as it also explains the reason behind the sudden love rush and the party-like-its-the-end-of-the-world attitude. The news about Hiram Lodge's (Mark Consuelos) neuromuscular degeneration disorder seems to have hit the teen hard and in a bid to get away from all that's happening, this was her way of dealing with it. That disorder means jack sh*t to Hiram. He's busy pumping iron and flexing those pecs and gun-shaped arms. Amen to that.
Much like Veronica, Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) had those one-off solid plotlines throughout the series that it reminded us of the number of Archie-centric stories in one of those 'Archie's Pals n Gals' digests. This episode shows him maturing. His dad's death has had an impact on him and today we see him at his decision-making best. He decides not to sell Andrews Construction to the Lodges and that is a sign of how he intends to take his father's legacy forward. Another instance is when he's got a Plan B that will still see him make it to college.
Veronica might have ruined Hermosa Lodge's (Mishel Prada) plans of collecting information about the Maple Club and the Red Raven Rum (so that's what it's called), but this plants a serious doubt if Hiram and she are just concocting the whole disease bit just to get on Ronnie's emotional side. If that's the plan, then we got nothing to say, except, Mr Lodge is a skunk who doesn't change his stripes.
Moving on to Act II, Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) is all done with Stonewall Prep. Bret, Donna, Jonathan, Snooty-nosed Dupont and the whole works. That he was decommissioned from writing the Baxter Brothers copy was the last straw and he decides to leave, but not before he taught Bret a lesson, or that looked likethe plan. And might we add how much we missed that Serpent jacket.
Jughead in 'The Ides of March' was like the guy who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Gets kicked out of the Quill & Skull society, loses Baxter's Brother book contract and then finds out there's a sex tape out there of him and Betty. For now, his death comes across as unbelievable. And that Betty was there with a rock in her hand implies she killed him. The episode ends with a gazillion questions and would have left 'Riverdale' fans watching the screens wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Did Betty kill Jughead? Did Jug fake his murder? And how was it the freakish-four came back to the 'Ides' party when Bret left with Jug and Donna with Betty? There's a lot we don't know.
'Riverdale' Season 4 airs Wednesdays 8 pm on The CW.