'Riverdale' Season 4 Episode 14: Veronica Lodge deals with losing Mobster Hiram to disease, her rival in crime
Spoiler alert for Season 4 Episode 14: 'Chapter Seventy-One: How to Get Away With Murder'
This episode took the death of Riverdale's ominous writer Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) to another level of complicated banter. While Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is exercising her demons in the wake of her boyfriend's death, the Lodges are preparing to lose the head of their monarchy, mobster Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos).
When Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) returns home after what we'd call one heck of a secret session, she's faced with her never-ending brawl with the members of her family. This blow out may have been a mild one, although may have grievous consequences. Veronica's father has been the source of great stress for the fashionable teen who seems to only want to topple the empire just enough to gain the attention of her father.
Having gone head-to-head with his daughter since she realized that her "daddy" didn't earn his rich lifestyle by indulging on the right side of the tracks, they've developed an inseparable bond that thrives off petty retaliation.
Having found out that her father is suffering from a serious degenerative illness, Veronica had a breakdown only to realize that the way she could keep her father's will to heal is through getting his gears fired up. Presenting him the same with Cheryl's help, Red Raven Rum will be producing 300% more maple rum by the end of the year. After he congratulated his daughter, he responded that she had successfully awakened the dragon.
The pairs wild dealings with animosity while co-residing in a hellhole considered being the murder capital of the world, they seem to only succeed if they are fueled by the other's success. Hiram has managed to serve Veronica even in his absence, as the strong-willed confidence she carries comes from the constant need to prove to her father that she is of the Lodge legacy.
Veronica has now faced with the physicality of her father's illness as he slowly starts to feel the symptoms in full force. In this episode, we see her belittle her own sanity when she accuses her father of not keeping her in the loop about his possible upcoming death. Instead, she was asked to sit on and focus on updations of Hiram's Will, an obscure way for the mobster to distribute the wealth and love.
With Hiram's admission that he didn't tell her because he didn't want her to see him as weak, we can see how his daughter's view of who he is has always mattered. While most consider their relationship an odd portrayal of love and loyalty, their cat and mouse chase of fictional gargoyles and a prison drug trade have instilled in them a need to bounce off each other's antics. Veronica has never moved a chess piece unless "Daddy's" King is up for grabs, and Hiram would want it no other way.
In the midst of the Jugheads death, it's interesting to see Veronica's storyline branch into relevant importance. The poor girl has had her share of evil to deal with and the Lodges definitely need more screen time. Dirty secrets can be hidden and drugs can be turned, but you can only have one Kingpin father.
'Riverdale' airs Wednesdays at 8 pm EST on The CW.