As Riverdale mourns the loss of one of their own, Betty discovers something about Chic while Archie and Veronica deal with an enemy.
Previously on Riverdale, the school put on a production of Carrie: The Musical. Cheryl began as Carrie, but her mother forbad her from performing. Midge took over the role and was killed by the Black Hood during opening night.
“Prisoners” begins at Midge’s funeral. Cheryl sings a song while townspeople stand in somber remembrance of Midge. She finishes her song and her fellow Vixens raise their pom poms. Cheryl declares she and her fellow cheerleaders will not stop until the murderer is caught.
The Sheriff interviews the people involved in the play. Jughead tells him about shooting the documentary and the threatening letters. Ethel admits to writing the letters and tearfully claims she didn’t hurt anyone, she only wanted the part of Carrie. Moose claims he doesn’t remember what he and Midge were talking about that night. Archie asks about Svenson and says he believes they got the wrong man, but Keller disagrees.
After the funeral, the main four watch as Cheryl walks with Midge’s mom and Keller addresses the woman. She slaps him in the face, saying he failed to protect her daughter. Cheryl says he’s not going to be in charge much longer.
The gang goes to Pop’s and Jughead declares the murderer must be a copycat. Jughead thinks Chic might the killer, but Betty says no. Archie tells them he doesn’t think Svenson was the real Black Hood and says the janitor’s eyes weren’t the same as the man who shot his father. The others are doubtful. When they leave, Jughead reiterates his feelings on Chic, but Betty says he didn’t know Midge so the theory doesn't work.
Archie is worried the Black Hood will come after his dad or one of them again. Veronica’s worried that he’ll start going after the Black Hood again. Later Archie walks home and runs after someone he sees in all black. He looks around but thinks the person is gone and continues home. Behind him, a person in black watches.
Archie talks to his dad about his worries and tries to convince him to go leave town for a while. Fred says he doesn’t want to leave and that Keller has a cop watching the house. Archie is unconvinced given how Midge died that a cop nearby can do anything.
Meanwhile, Betty has the same idea for Chic to leave Riverdale, but for a different reason. She thinks he might break about the murder he committed if Keller starts asking questions. Keller had visited the house earlier looking for Chic because people saw him at the play. Alice says not to worry because she’s going to coach Chic.
At The Pembrooke, Hiram and Hermione are working on the campaign Hermione’s planning on visiting everyone to play up how important safety is in her campaign. Hiram sees Veronica and asks her to find out how Cheryl is doing, citing how bad she seemed to be taking Midge’s death. Veronica tells them to leave them out of whatever plan they’re working on. Later, Hermione goes to see Cheryl about Keller. She asks Cheryl to write an opinion piece in the newspaper about his handling of the Black Hood case.
Betty tells Jughead that she knows both Chic and Svenson were at Sisters of Quiet Mercy for a time and wonders if they know one another. The two talk to Sister Woodhouse, and she refuses to let them see Charles’ file without a court order. Betty threatens her by saying she will contact the cops about the conversion therapy happening in the building. Woodhouse gives them her brother’s files and they find the times did overlap. They also find a picture of her brother, but it’s not Chic. Betty confronts Woodhouse, but she says the boy in the picture is definitely Charles Smith, her brother.
Jughead and Betty go to her house and find Alice and Chic in the kitchen. Betty tells her mother Chic is not her son and shows her the picture. Chic claims Betty is making stuff up because she’s out to get him and Alice is confused. Chic picks up a knife to attack Jughead and cuts Alice instead. Betty knocks him out.
Archie goes to Svenson’s old house and sees someone. The person turns around but is covered in black. Other people appear and attack Archie. Later, Veronica gets a call from Nick St. Clair aka Nick St. Sicko, on Archie’s phone saying he abducted Archie. He demands a million dollars for Archie’s safe return. Veronica asks her parents for the money but Hiram refuses. She says she’s calling the cops then, but they tell her no because the St Clair’s are a mob family. Veronica is furious and leaves. Hermione looks at Hiram but he says Archie isn’t blood and if they pay, the St. Clair’s will come after Veronica next.
Kevin storms into the Vixens practice confronting Cheryl about her article in the Riverdale Register. She says his father is failing to protect Riverdale and needs to step down. Later, Kevin talks to his dad, telling him not to listen to Cheryl’s article. Keller says he might have made a mistake about the Black Hood. They hear and noise and go outside to find his police car vandalized with Sheriff Killer written on it and the windshield smashed.
Chic wakes tied to a chair and they demand he tells the truth. He says Chic’s his real name and he and Charles were roommates. He claims Charles went to the Cooper’s house one day to meet them and Alice slammed the door in his face. Chic says Charles overdosed that night. Alice rushes off and Betty goes to comfort her mother while Jughead watches Chic. Alice is distraught, saying she does remember a boy who came to the house. She blames herself for his death and doesn’t listen to Betty. She tells Betty to stay and goes to see FP. Alice tearfully tells him when they were teens she gave birth to his child and it’s her fault he’s dead. FP is confused and thinks she’s talking about Chic, but Alice manages to say not Chic. He holds Alice while she breaks down.
Archie tries to reason with Nick by telling him about the danger Fred is in from the Black Hood. Nick’s of course not moved and rambles about how his dad is disappointed in him so he’s going to kill Archie to prove himself to his family. At the same time, Veronica steals all the money from her parents safe, but it’s not enough. She meets Nick at Pop’s and he shows her a picture of a beaten up Archie to prove he’s still alive. He demands she sleep with him since she doesn’t have the full million. Later Nick tortures Archie some more, only this time with the knowledge that Veronica has agreed to sleep with him for Archie’s return. Nick has him set up in front a laptop live feed of the room and says he’ll kill him later.
Betty’s standing in the kitchen when the Black Hood calls. The killer admits to murdering Midge and setting Svenson up. They say Betty made a mistake by taking in Chic, who they claim has murdered multiple people. Jughead comes in and Betty says she doesn’t believe Chic and thinks they should go back to his old apartment. The two knock on doors and ask a neighbor about Charles and she confirms he lived there with Chic and they often fought. She says one day he wasn’t there anymore and she saw bloody sheets in the dumpster. Betty and Jughead interrogate Chic but he doesn’t give them any answers.
The Black Hood calls Betty again and says if she hands over Chic, no one will know about the man he killed in the Cooper’s house. She starts to say something but her mother and FP arrive. FP rushes downstairs and finds Jughead punching Chic and pulls him away. FP tells him it’s Alice and Betty’s decision what to do with Chic. Betty and Alice discuss what to do and Alice decides she wants to tell Hal.
Veronica arrives in Nick’s room and he continues to talk about how she should leave Riverdale and Archie. Veronica acts polite and sits drinking with Nick and later slow dancing. Archie breaks free of his bonds and attacks the lackeys Nick left behind.
Hal completely freaks out when Alice tells him what happened. He wants to go to the cops but she tells him she’ll be implicated if he does. They make Betty leave during their argument and she goes downstairs. She pulls Grundy’s gun on Chic and says they’re leaving.
Archie runs to Nick’s hotel room and breaks down the door. He finds Nick passed out on the floor and Veronica standing over his body. The two embrace and she says she roofied Nick. Archie ties Nick up and Veronica calls his parents, asking how much they value their son.
Betty walks Chic into a graveyard and he finally admits to killing Charles. The Black Hood appears and Betty tells Chic who it is and offers him a head start. Chic doesn’t believe her at first, but after a few moments, he starts running. The Black Hood chases after him in the woods.
Kevin walks in on his dad drinking at his desk. He says the deputy mayor is asking him to step down. He might keep his job, depending on if Fred wins the election. Kevin offers to campaign for Fred. Keller says if he resigns, they will probably hire someone from outside of Riverdale who might be able to catch the Black Hood.
The Lodge’s come home to find Veronica at the table counting a huge pile of money. She tells them it’s the money she got from ransoming Nick to his parents. Hiram claims he was handling it and she says the St. Clair’s hadn’t heard from him at all. She says he can go explain that to Archie. Hiram sits down with Archie to explain and Archie says he’s done a lot for Hiram, but he realizes he hasn’t earned his bone with Hiram yet. Archie says the only person he wants to kill is the Black Hood. Hiram tells him to ask for any help he needs.
Betty arrives home to find her mom drinking and tells her she took Chic away. They hug and Betty lies, saying she took Chic to the bus station. Betty looks around and asks where Hal is and finds out he left to look for her earlier.
I thought this episode of Riverdale was entertaining. I’ve been a fan of the theory that the Black Hood is several people or a person hired by another. That said, the person in this episode seems to be the same one Archie saw based on the eyes. One of my main suspects is Hal, but that seems unlikely given Betty’s suspicion at the end. Hal could have a twin of course. Claudius/Clifford, Tall Boy, and Sheriff Keller are the other main ones based on the bits of the face we’ve seen so far. Chic/Charles were on my list despite the fact the Black Hood seems older, but that seems impossible now unless either is still alive. Who do you think is the Black Hood? Comment below to let me know.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW. Check out the trailer for the next episode,