'Riverdale' Season 4 Episode 16 Review: Mysteries unfold in 'The Locked Room' as new truths are revealed
Spoiler alert for 'Riverdale' Season 4 Episode 16: 'The Locked Room'
Franklin W Dixon would be proud, and so would Carolyn Keene. For two straight weeks, the writers of 'Riverdale' took a rather slow, but comprehensive route to explain the whole Jughead (Cole Sprouse) death storyline. Of course, the world never believed for a second the teen was done. And while part of us wishes it was real, it would definitely have been a lot to take.
For all the memes, the trolls, the rants, and the threats, the show stuck to its idea and used 'The Locked Room' as a chapter that explained the mystery, one layer at a time. Jug was alive and he exposed the devious mastermind behind his murder, attempted considering it was a botched try. In a way, it was only fair the entire Stonewall plot comes to a close. With still a good six episodes, there are enough stories that are left to be told.
Something was awfully off about Mr Dupont. The man's very presence felt creepy and unsettling. Not to forget, the oldie was a cheat. First, he ensured Jug's grandpa, Forsythe was promptly kicked out of the Baxter Brothers tale, then committed the heinous act of killing his classmates to clear all tracks, even though his attempt to kill Forsythe was unsuccessful. It was a compelling episode, especially when the writers managed to tie in the whole Stone Wall mystery around one man.
Dupont was always the criminal, instigating his wards to commit the perfect murder. They hoped to find the perfect patsies in Jug and Moose. The latter was forced to leave by Mr Chipping, while the Stonies, despite all the ill-will and the craziness failed to kill Jug. Blunt force trauma as a mode of killing didn't really work.
Except, that wasn't the end of the story. The final jarring twist came in the form of Donna Sweett (nothing sweet about that one) whose grandmother, Jane Dallas Brown was one of Dupont's murder victims. The woman was the brains behind the character, Tracy True in the novel. Eventually, it is revealed that Donna bagged the contract and had her own plans of reintroducing the character that her grandmother created and hence reboot the series.
Special mention for Mishel Prada's 'Hermosa' who finds out Donna's secret. We're pretty sure it came at a hefty price. For now, it feels like Donna's done.
Despite all the crimes and the evil plans, there's some method behind Donna's madness. The sheer lunacy needed a concrete backstory and the episode gives it one. Pity, she ran into another sleuth in Betty (Lili Reinhart) who concocted an epic scheme of her own in the form of Jug's death.
Now for a couple of spoilers:
Joan's got diplomatic immunity: So that's to that! She used daddy's power to get away, scot-free.
Bloody Bret: Quite literally! Charles gave him a chance to redeem himself, Bret played smart. What followed was a Jug and FP one-two punch (or many) combos that had Bret's face rearranged.
'The 'Locked Room' did throw up one question and it came from Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) being "No one's really dead in Riverdale" are they?. So does that mean there are some bastard Blossoms running loose? Only time will tell.
'Riverdale' airs Wednesdays 8 pm on The CW.