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Riverdale season 2 premiere “A Kiss Before Dying” review

By Sonya Iryna

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The Riverdale season 2 premiere ended the suspense about Fred Andrews’ fate. Archie rushed him to the hospital without waiting for the police or the ambulance and his gambit paid off. Fred spent most of the episode between life and death, but ultimately he chose to live.

The question of who killed him is going to be one of the primary mysteries hanging like a cloud over Riverdale this season though. There doesn’t seem to be any motive for the shooting of Fred Andrews. According to Pop no money was taken in the shooting, but Fred Andrews wallet appeared to have been taken. Was the shooting of Fred deliberate?

Riverdale police aren’t ruling it out. And neither are Jughead and Archie. Jughead and Archie are pretty convinced that Fred was a deliberate target. And so is Veronica, who suspected her mother might have been behind the hit as a way to get Fred out of the picture before her husband returns from jail.

Speaking of Veronica’s father the mysterious godfather like business man is finally home with his wife and daughter. And he’s a pretty scary character. Even though she’s his daughter Veronica better have a good strategy if she plans on trying to prove her father had anything to do with some of the seedier dealings going on in Riverdale.

Betty And Jughead

At the end of season 1 Betty and Jughead were in an uncertain place after his father was arrested. Betty was concerned that Jughead was fitting into the South Side Serpents a little too well. But, Jughead assured her that he isn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps. He’s not above using his connections with the serpents though. When he and Archie realized that the shooting may have been a hit he reached out to some of the Serpents to see if they could find out who was responsible.

Veronica And Archie

Veronica thought about bolting when Archie was waiting at the hospital to find out Fred’s fate. But she managed to overcome her inherent desire to flee whenever there were real emotions in the room and she helped Archie through the ordeal of waiting to find out if Fred would live. She also seems willing to help him process the trauma of the shooting and not just disappear on him. That says a lot about how she feels about Archie considering her usual procedure is to avoid emotion whenever possible.

Archie’s in trouble though. The trauma of the shooting and his guilt at not doing enough to save Fred is really eating him up. In one of the last scenes of “A Kiss Before Dying” Archie is seen sitting in the hallway of their home with a baseball bat. Evidently he thinks that the shooter might come back to try and finish the job and this time he plans on being ready.

Cheryl And Mrs. Blossom

One of the highlights of the episode was Cheryl, being Cheryl. After the fire her mother did survive, but is in serious condition in the hospital. Cheryl goes to visit her and explain the new rules in the Blossom family. While cutting off her mother’s air Cheryl tells her that the abuse she has suffered from her mother is over. And if she lives it’s because Cheryl is letting her live.

But in typical Cheryl fashion she switches from ruthless to sweet. Archie finds Cheryl in Fred’s room at the hospital, kissing him on the forehead. She tells Archie that he gave her the kiss of life when he saved  her from the river so she gave the kiss of life to Fred so he would live.

Maybe it really was the kiss of life that saved Fred, because he recovered and is going to be find.

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Another Killer On The Loose

Fred’s attacker is still out there though, and it looks like Fred wasn’t his only target. At the very end of the premiere a familiar figure is seen, in a small town just across the river. It’s Miss Grundy, and it looks like she’s up to her old tricks with another teenage student. But after the student leaves Miss Grundy is attacked and killed by the same man who attacked Fred.

Why was Miss Grundy still in the area? What’s her connection to Fred? And does this mean that the killer will try to kill Fred again? Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Archie are definitely going to try and figure out those answers to protect Fred.

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