We left off last week with a mysterious VHS tape on the doorstep at Betty’s house. This week, we pick right up at Betty’s house where she, Jughead, her mom, her brother Charlie, and Jughead’s dad are watching the tape. They learn that they are not the only ones who received a tape. Over the week, it seems that everyone has received a tape with hours upon hours of footage of their own homes, or in Pop’s case, the diner.
Jason’s Body
Cheryl and Toni buried the body, and then a creepy-ass doll showed up. Toni put the doll in the trash; she was not messing around with that scary toy. Cheryl says that the doll is from Jason’s ghost, upset that he was buried… again. We all know Cheryl is full of crap, but the scene ends.
Cue Jughead uncovering an “enlist in the army” poster on Moose’s desk in their dorm room. Moose says he thinks he might be done with high school.
With Archie concerned that Dodger will be causing trouble on Halloween, Veronica makes a suggestion on how to help. The Community Center should throw a Halloween Party. She says her friend Katy Keene can make costumes. The costumes end up being quite charming, if not a bit comic-like, which is quite appropriate. Archie is wearing tights as Pureheart the Powerful, and Monroe is The Shield.
Due for a vanishing
We learn the urban legend of the Stonewall Four, all of whom went to Stonewall Prep and all of whom disappeared without a trace over 30 years.
Jughead was drugged by freshly brewed coffee from the jerk-wad classmates of his who haven’t said a nice thing about him since he joined the ranks of Stonewall Prep. We hear him wake up before we see him, because it is pitch black. After flicking his lighter on, he sees that he has been placed in a coffin. He begins talking, thinking his classmates are out there, but no one answers. He beats at the lid of the coffin. This is all very Edgar Allen Poe like, right?
Betty dresses as Laurie Strode from the original Halloween. She opens the door to hand out candy, and she sees two kids dressed up as the Gargoyle King and the Black Hood. In addition to the lovely Halloween costumes, Betty is also receiving heavy breathing phone calls.
The caller says, “You know who this is?” and asks if she has checked on the children lately.
The Family Man
Veronica is at the diner, and even though it is closed, a truck driver comes in and says he has been driving for hours and just wants a cup of coffee and a home-cooked meal. A breaking news alert comes on the TV to share that a dangerous patient has escaped Shady Grove Treatment Center. A serial killer known as the “The Family Man” is the trucker in the diner with Veronica. Of course. Because that’s how lucky these characters are, right? Veronica drops the pumpkin pie she was getting ready to serve him and makes a run for it. It’s a game of cat and mouse, as Veronica hides in the dark. She throws alcohol on him. His lighter flame is out because it is dark, so he goes up in flames.
Nothing else comes from this. We have no clue why he showed up at Pop’s. We don’t see the police come. Veronica leaves the scene, and then the family man is done.
Spiraling storyline
Toni is dressed up as Harley Quinn, and Cheryl is Poison Ivy. They hear a baby crying on the monitor, but the twins are crying. They walk into the chapel, and the creepy ass doll is sitting there in Jason’s wheelchair.
Kevin and Reggie get caught trashing Principal Honey’s office.
Betty hears strange noises coming from Jelly Bean’s bedroom, and when she runs into the room, she sees Jelly Bean knocked out on the floor on top of a pool of blood. Fortunately, it was a horrible Jelly Bean prank. However, the phone calls keep coming.
Charlie shows up with pizza. This seems odd to me.
We zero back in on Jughead. He’s still trapped, and now he’s getting scared.
Trouble out in front of the community center
Dodger and crew can be outside of the community center because it’s not private property. Archie walks forward, saying he is tired of their presence, and then Dodger flashes a gun. Dodger is there looking for Eddie, one of the kids who has been helping him work the street.
Cheryl, Toni, and Nana Rose use a Ouija board to have a séance. Cheryl learns that she was meant to be a triplet. Nana Rose says that Cheryl absorbed the third baby in the womb. So Cheryl’s mom procured this terrifying-looking doll, and now it is haunting Thistlehouse.
Principal Honey speaks to Reggie and asks if he is acting out because of his father abusing him. The principal then states he should consider the fact that his friends are not laughing with him, they are laughing at him.
Betty and Charlie have a “heart to heart,” and he says he has always wanted to be a part of a family.
Then the phone rings
Betty tries to keep the caller on the phone so that she and Charlie can find out where the call is coming from.
The call is coming from Shady Grove Treatment Center, where Polly is staying. Betty has Charlie call the center pretending to be crazy Edgar from “the farm,” and Polly accepts the call. Betty then tells Polly that she is dead to her, I mean, after all, Polly was pretending to be their dead father, the “Black Hood.”
We hear gunshots at the community center and find that Eddie has been shot by Dodger and crew.
Reggie and Principal Honey walk out to the school parking lot. Reggie finds that his car, Bella, has been destroyed.
Cheryl is brushing her dead brother’s hair in the chapel, happy to have “him” back at home.
Jughead is still buried alive, but he hears footsteps. Mr. Chipping is the person who finds him. He survived. Bret says it was just a bit of Halloween fun.
Now we’re in the hospital with Archie and Eddie. The gunshot has been taken care of, and they are talking about the options that Eddie thinks he has… either he rolls with Dodger or he hides from Dodger.
Those are not good options
Now we see Archie in bed with Veronica, fully clothed for a change. He says he always knew she was a badass.
Cheryl admits she was gaslighting Toni before, but when Toni finds the doll on her bed after her shower, she realizes that something, or someone, else is now haunting Thistlehouse.
Jughead goes back to his room to find that Moose has vanished. Not a trace is left.
As Jughead and Betty are talking on the phone, we see that Charles is listening in on the phone call.
Jughead says that if he ever really went missing, he knows Betty would be the one to find him.
Then we see her and his dad at the morgue looking at Jughead’s dead body. WTF!?
And we still do not know what the VHS tapes are all about.
Watch again next Wednesday on the CW, or tune back in on The Painted Lines for our recap.
