Riverdale “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” review

The search for the Black Hood Killer is heating up but so are the divisions between the Northsiders and Southsiders in Riverdale.

On tonight’s new Riverdale episode “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” the Black Hood Killer contacted Betty while the town became further divided and Archie almost passed the point of no return in his pursuit of the Black Hood Killer.

The Black Hood Killer sent a letter and a cypher to Betty directly at The Blue and Gold. The letter said that Betty’s speech at the Jubilee inspired him to start killing sinners. And the letter said the cypher was a test for Betty.

Typically she gave the cypher to her mother but kept the letter. She and Jughead solved the cypher and managed to stop the Black Hood’s attack on the Town Hall meeting where the concerned parents of Riverdale were debating how to stop the killer.

But at the end of the episode the Black Hood Killer called Betty directly, so it looks like she is going to be the killer’s focus. Does that mean everyone that is close to her will become targets? It looks likely.

Southside Vs. Northside

The Black Hood Killer is heightening the class divisions in Riverdale. The Northsiders are blaming the Southsiders for the Black Hood Killer and for destroying the illusion that Riverdale is the picture perfect town they want to believe it is.

Betty’s mother is stoking the fire by editorializing that the killer must be from the Southside because everyone knows the Southsiders are thugs.

The Southsiders, meanwhile, are ready to go after The Northsiders for their prejudices and for Alice Cooper’s blaming them for Riverdale’s problems. When Archie goes to The Southside and starts tagging buildings with a red circle he’s confronted by some of the Ghoulies, who threaten him. He pulls his gun and scares them away.

But they confront him at his house a few nights later. Luckily the rest of the Red Circle members are there and back him up. But the two groups fight and some of the Red Circle members are hurt pretty badly. One of the Ghoulies pulls a knife but Veronica fires Archie’s gun to stop the fight.

Trouble for Betty And Jughead

Toni Topaz is trying to make Jughead embrace his Southside heritage. And that could be potential trouble for Jughead and Betty. Jughead is spending a lot of time with Toni, and when Toni, Jughead, Kevin and Betty are hanging out in Jughead’s trailer trying to figure out the cypher there was some pretty palpable tension between Toni and Betty. Toni’s going to try and divide Betty and Jughead, wait and see.

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Archie

At the end of the episode Archie and Veronica threw the gun into Sweetwater River. But that may not be the end of Archie’s vigilantism. As the episodes go by he’s becoming more unstable and more revenge driven. Twice in this episode he almost shot someone. He’s been kicked out of school and banned from school property because the principal and Sheriff Keller feel that he could be a threat. If Archie doesn’t get a handle on himself he could end up ostracized by the Northsiders and hunted by the Southsiders. Get it together Archie. Betty’s going to need you if The Black Hood Killer is targeting people close to her now.