Riverdale season 4, episode 15 review: To Die For

As the murder investigation gets underway, Riverdale FINALLY clarifies whether Jughead is dead or alive and if there’s for hope for Barchie.

While Alice starts working on a documentary about Jughead’s murder, FP’s investigation points to Betty, Veronica and Archie as prime suspects. But soon enough another mystery grips the town: is Jughead even really dead?

Meanwhile, always in the mood for a little chaos, Cheryl catches Betty and Archie in a seemingly compromising position, leading to a dramatic confrontation with Veronica in the student lounge.

Here’s a look at what went down in “To Die For.”

It’s official: Jughead’s alive

Granted, we still have a lot of questions, but we can cross that one off the list.

Here’s what we know for certain. Jughead faked his death and is currently holed up in the bunker investigating the Stonies. FP, JB, Charles, Dr. Curdle, Jr., Molly and (by the end of the episode) Alice are all in on it. So, we can also cross off the uncomfortable question about why everyone wasn’t more upset about Jug’s death. It still doesn’t explain why Alice was so chill (especially since she was confident her own daughter did it!), but Alice’s characterization has been strange to say the least for a while now, so we’ll let it go.

We also know that the Stonies did really try to kill Jughead, believed him to be dead and planted the bloody rock on Betty.

Here’s what we don’t know. What exactly happened at the party that night? Assuming it was Jug’s idea to fake his death, were Betty, Veronica and Archie in on his plan from the beginning? If Jug’s alive, then whose body did they find? Why did the Stonies want to kill Jug? How did Jug know they would try?

The Thing About Donna

In addition to confirming Jug’s survival, Riverdale also finally confirmed a theory that’s been building for a little while now: Dark horse Donna Sweett is the ringleader of the Stonies, the brains behind the operation. Bret is her glorified lackey.

Donna’s found a worthy opponent in Betty. But, to her credit, Donna sees past Betty’s gaslighting about Jug’s death, confident she’s hiding something. The more Donna tries to prove herself right, though, the crazier she appears, even to Bret.

Donna eventually gets Bret to fall in line, but it may all be for not. At the end of the episode, Veronica presents Jug, Betty and Archie with dirt that Hermosa found on Donna. Apparently, Donna is not who she says she is and her true identity may just be the “smoking gun” Jug needs to finish his investigation.

Nowhere to hide in #Riverdale. West Coast, a new episode starts now on The CW. pic.twitter.com/rAQ6VjQV9A
— Riverdale (@CW_Riverdale) March 5, 2020

So Barchie was just a ruse… or was it?

With rumors swirling of Jug not being dead, Betty, Archie and Veronica scheme to erase all suspicion of his survival.

Step 1: Betty and Archie meet up at Pop’s and share a moment (knowing they’d be overheard by Cheryl somehow?).

Step 2: The next day, they sneak off to the music room and kiss with the door ajar, knowing a suspicious Cheryl will snap a photo and show it to Veronica.

Step 3: Veronica dramatically confronts Barchie in the student lounge. She tells Betty she doesn’t blame her, until Betty admits she initiated the kiss.

Step 4: Everyone thinks Jughead must be dead because Betty would never move on like that if he weren’t.

And that’s it. Problem solved… right?

Step 5: Betty and Archie reassure Jug and Veronica, respectively, that the kiss meant nothing.

Step 6: Disregard Step 5. Betty and Archie both felt something, and they know it but don’t want to admit it to themselves or each other.

But the question remains: will Barchie actually happen or is Riverdale just stoking the flames a bit longer? We’ll have to wait and see.

Next. 20 most shocking Riverdale moments. dark

Riverdale returns to The CW next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET. What did you think of this week’s episode? Let us know in the comments below!

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