Riverdale

Previously on Riverdale...

If we don't face the reality of who and what we are,

then what happened to Jason could happen again.

Or, God forbid, something even worse.

Where would Cheryl go to be with Jason?

- No! - Cheryl!

Cheryl!

It's the only way we can truly start over, be purified.

Your father's facing serious jail time.

Your mom's over-extended and out of state.

Serpents take care of their own.

- We got your back. - Juggy?

He's moving in with a foster family.

Why are you trying to push Fred out of this deal?

Your father is coming back.

He and Fred, they will not get along.

I'm not selling, Hermione.

Our story continues.

The Mayor's Jubilee was supposed to change everything.

Be a new start.

But when we woke up the next morning,

Riverdale was still, at its heart, a haunted town.

Meanwhile, Archie Andrews, who doesn't even have a driver's license yet,

is at this very moment careening down the streets of Riverdale,

trying to outrace death.

Hold on, Dad, hold on.

Hold on, Dad. We're almost there.

We're almost there. They're gonna fix you up.

Stay with me, Dad, stay with me.

Now, I don't believe in miracles, usually,

but it was a miracle that Archie got his dad to Riverdale General

without wrecking the truck.

Help, please.

Help, hey! Someone help me and my dad.

- Gurney! - What happened to him?

He was... He was shot.

Sir, can you hear me?

- Can you tell me your name? - His name's Fred Andrews.

He's not responding.

- Massive blood loss, it looks... - Let's go. He's in shock.

Sir, I'm sorry, I need you to step away.

One, two, three!

I'm right here, Dad, I'm right here. Okay.

I'm right here.

I'm right here.

Dad? What gives? Take the picture.

The ceremony starts in the gym in ten minutes.

Yeah, Dad, what's taking so long?

I...

Just can't believe we're here, Archie.

We're at your graduation. I...

I didn't think I'd live to see this day.

Yeah, except you didn't, Mr. A.

What?

You didn't live to see this day.

Don't you remember? At Pop's?

Everybody down!

Good morning, sweetheart.

So, what did you and your friends do after the Jubilee?

We went to Pop's.

And then, Jughead and I went back to FP's trailer.

Oh, Betty.

If that beanie-wearing cad defiled you,

at least please tell me that you were safe.

What?

No, Mom, we didn't. I mean...

We almost did, but then we were interrupted...

- Well, thank God. - By the Southside Serpents.

Excuse me? By those thugs?

Oh. See, I knew that Jughead was gonna follow in FP's criminal footsteps.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree,

especially not when there's a snake curled up in its limbs.

If that's Snake Plissken, I want him blocked.

- It's Archie. - Block him too.

Hey.

What is that?

A chocolate almond croissant

from Bean & Beluga.

Unfortunately, I only have the one.

The other thing, Veronica.

Oh, this. A mimosa.

There was a bottle of champagne in the fridge just begging to be popped.

Okay, that was a bottle of Cristal for your father.

Sorry, I have to take this.

If that's your house guest from last night...

It's Betty. Hello?

Hey, Betty.

Arch?

God.

I came out of the bathroom and there was

this man, thief...

Wearing this hood, with a gun on Pop Tate,

and then he pointed it at my dad and he fired.

- Oh, my God, Archie. - And then he...

And then he what?

And then he bolted.

Then I was holding my dad,

Pop Tate called an ambulance and it didn't come so I drove here and...

And I don't know, maybe I should've waited, maybe I made it worse...

No, dude, are you kidding me?

You saved your dad's life.

First Cheryl, and now your dad.

If you keep this up, you're gonna need a superhero name.

Like Pureheart the Powerful.

There isn't any new information. Your dad's in surgery.

He's gonna be there for a while.

Uh, Archie. Have you spoken to your mother about any of this yet?

No. No, I haven't called her.

I'll be right back.

- What? - Mom.

Do not start this.

Start what?

Well, of course, I can't help but wonder

if your Southside associates

had anything to do with what happened to Fred.

- Alice, relax. - Unbelievable.

At least you can't accuse my father of being the shooter, considering he's in jail.

Oh, my God, I can't handle this.

Hey, Mom, how are you?

Good, yeah, good. We're, uh... We...

Actually, Mom, we're not, we're in trouble here.

Dad's in the hospital.

It was a robbery,

and, uh, he was shot.

I don't know what's gonna happen, Mom,

but I think you should come here as soon as you can, in case...

In case we have to say goodbye.

- Sheriff. - How's your dad doing?

He's still in surgery.

Archie, I know this is a hell of a time for you, but...

perhaps we could go somewhere and talk about what happened.

Is it cool if I tag along?

- Actually, if you don't mind... - Yeah, that'd be great, Jug.

He was maybe 5'10".

160 pounds or so.

And he was wearing dark pants and a dark jacket?

Anything on that jacket?

Any symbol or insignia?

- You mean like a snake? - No, it was just a jacket.

No snake.

And the ski mask that he had on...

No, it's not a ski mask.

It's a hood, a black hood.

Homemade, like he'd cut the eyes out himself.

And the guy's eyes were green.

Now, Pop Tate had a fairly good idea of what happened

up until when your father was shot.

And then, well...

There are some gaps. And I need you to help me fill those.

What did he do, our masked man?

After he shot my dad?

He...

Nothing. He shot my dad, ran out of the diner.

Who did this, Sheriff?

Archie, it's just... It's too early to speculate.

But this guy, he was probably out of his head on meth or the jingle jangle,

some Southside lowlife that was just

looking for a cash grab.

How much did he get? How much cash?

We're waiting to hear about that from Pop Tate.

Since this is Riverdale,

I have to ask. What if robbery wasn't the motive?

What else could it be?

Well, I mean, I suppose it could be someone who has a grudge against your dad.

Wanted to make it look like a robbery.

But I mean, it's just too early to tell.

There are certain things no one does better than Veronica Lodge.

Makeovers, party planning, dance-offs,

dropping vintage bon mots as if they were bonbons...

Conversely, there are things that I'm not good at.

Grief, bedside vigils, comforting boyfriends...

Okay, well, that's the old Veronica talking.

Old Veronica would've bolted by now.

But new Veronica doesn't want to let Archie down.

And you won't.

Oh, and speaking of...

Archie, hey.

Were you not telling Sheriff Keller something?

My dad told me that he and Mrs. Lodge fired the Serpents

they had working on their crew.

I know your dad vouches for them,

but what if one of them was pissed off enough to do something?

Let me see what I can find out.

Thanks, bro.

Archie Andrews? I'm Steven Masters,

- I'm your father's doctor. - How is he?

Well, we got the bullet out. And we've stopped the internal bleeding.

But what's most worrisome is,

he's not breathing on his own yet.

- I need to see him. - And you will.

As soon as we've got him set in a room, you'll be able to sit with him.

Should be an hour or two at the most.

And until then, what am I supposed to do, nothing?

Maybe... Maybe you should go home and get changed.

No, I'm not leaving.

No, Archie, wait. Veronica's right.

Here are your dad's clothes and personal belongings. Everything he had on him.

Okay, well, yet another reason to go.

You can get your dad a change of clothes.

Veronica will go with you. Right, Vee?