Review of: Riverdale Season 6 Episode 5 Recap and Ending

'Riverdale is' a teen TV series that was inspired by the 'Archie comics. It focuses on Archie, Veronica and Betty's lives. Although the series was not widely praised, Roberto AguirreSacasa's CW series has a cult like following because of its darker plotlines, chaos drama and tight-knit friendship groups.

Season 6 features horror as a genre. We witness Archie's death, Reggie's sale to the Devil and Cheryl's body swapping. This 5-episode episode of "Rivervale". Toni transforms into La Llorona and Sabrina Spellman visits Rivervale. Cheryls' mysterious witchy heritage is also revealed.

Riverdale's world and Rivervale's are, as you can see, confusing. But, Rivervale's last episode answers most of the questions. We have everything you need about Riverdale season 6, episode 5. SPOILERS BELOW.

Riverdale Season 6 Episode 5.

In the opening scene, a dead body is found in front of Rivervale's town sign. Archie is seen returning from the grave elsewhere. Meanwhile, Betty, Veronica, Toni, Fangs, Nana Rose, and Cheryl talk about their nightmares — from Archie's sacrificial killing to the swapping of bodies — which encapsulate all of the supernatural events we have seen in 'Rivervale.' Jughead becomes uneasy as he begins to see discrepancies within his reality.

Jughead is shocked to see his classmates and high school students roaming the hallways of school on Jughead's return day. Next, Jughead meets Ben Button. He sacrifices his life to the Gargoyle Kings by leaping out from the window. Season 3. We learn later that Betty is getting married to Archie, and Jughead is their best friend.

Incredibly, Betty hears Dr. Curdle tell her that he discovered Jughead’s corpse. A stunned Jughead heads over to the mortuary and sees his doppelganger's body — it was strangled to death and found near the town sign. Jughead searches through the belongings of his doppelganger and discovers an Archie comic book called 'Rivervale. The Jughead Paradox.' He also realizes that he owns a whole collection that covers the worlds 'Riverdale’ and 'Rivervale. Jughead begins to read the six seasons of Riverdale in comic-book form. Rivervale could be seen as a "warped reflection" of Riverdale.

Jughead then meets Jason Blossom (who dies season 1), Dilton Doiley (who dies season 3), and Ethel Muggs. But Jughead is the only one who remembers those deaths. Doiley is a high school physics teacher and describes to Jughead the parallel universes Riverdale/Rivervale. Then, Veronica comes across two Reggies — one from season 1 of the show, played by Ross Butler, and one from seasons 2 to 6 of the show, played by Charles Melton. Each one begins to vie for her attention.

Jason is then kidnapped and taken by the Black Hood. Jughead manages to track him down at the Whyte Wyrm, thanks to Riverdale memories. Sheriff Keller, Archie, and Jughead unmask the killer — he is revealed to be Clifford Blossom, who kills his own son, Jason, in season 1. Toni later discloses that Cheryl had been strangled and killed.

Riverdale Season 6 Episode 5. Ending: Archie and Jughead dead or alive?

Veronica learns the Reggies had been fighting over her and are now dead. Jughead approaches Veronica and informs her that they should all experience the bomb explosion together because they are Betty's and Archie respectively. Archie realises Jughead's true intentions when Jughead fails to show up for his wedding ceremony. Archie then kills Veronica, who was trying to save Jughead. However, he also murders Cheryl. Archie, the "big bad" in Rivervale is what we see as he strangles Jughead.

Betty arrives in her wedding dress and shoots Archie. But, Betty, Jughead and Archie leave to perform the bomb explosion scenario again, Archie returns from the dead and chases them. Archie is killed in Rivervale at first, but because of the nature the parallel universe, Archie keeps returning to life. In the end, we learn that Archie is the one who killed Jughead the narrator. The narrator Jughead is also back and assists his double-crossed friend in unraveling the mystery behind the parallel universes.

Just as Hiram Lodge is Hiram's "big bad", Archie's villain in Rivervale is Archie. Rivervale exposes Riverdale residents to their darkest side. Archie becomes enraged by the grief of losing Fred Andrews' father and uses the concept that the universes can be used to help him return. "Everybody is alive" in Rivervale. Archie is desperate to meet Fred Andrews at the wedding and begins to attack his friends, who are trying split the two universes.

Here we can see the exploration of duality in characters, world building, and motives. Every character is shown to be a negative example of their own traits. It works well in horror and also helps to emphasize the positive aspects they possess within the OG universe. Jughead's investigative abilities and writing skills are evident as he is the only one to notice that two universes have the same characters and setting.

Riverdale and Rivervale have parallel universes

Riverdale and Rivervale are parallel universes — the latter is created due to Hiram's bomb blast during the finale of season 5. Hiram's hatred and Archie's love for Betty create a bizarre reality filled with supernatural inclinations.

It is also revealed that Dilton, a Rivervale physics teacher, was responsible for the creation of parallel universes. He would like to explore what happens if both universes remain in the same state. He says that he is the first scientist to witness a prime universe in its current state. But he is poisoned and dies. Ethel worries about his lack of empathy.

Jughead, with the help of Ethel, the 'Archie" comics and his intuition, realizes the mysteries of Rivervale. Ethel also helps him to see that Jughead's writings are the only documented documentation of both universes. Recreate the events that lead to Rivervale and he discovers that this will generate enough energy for both universes to be divided. Riverdale is linked to Rivervale at the moment of their creation, even though both are expanding rapidly.

Jughead, the narrator later tells us that Archie had strangled Jughead and that he went to Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe up in the air. The special issue comic bridges issue 95 (the last Riverdale comic) and issue 96 which mark the start of Rivervale. It was through this that he discovered that imagination is what is required to create two worlds and bring back normalcy. It is because imagination can be thought of as the equivalent of creating, while the bomb that causes Rivervale to explode is an act of destruction.

Rivervale's Jughead can only be seen inside the story. He decides to make Rivervale a living battery or a story generator to save both its original and an alternate version. Jughead manages to control Rivervale by endlessly creating stories. But he is forced to live alone for the rest his life. He writes people's realities, but fades from their memories so they don't have to.

Although Jughead and Betty are getting ready to explode the plan Hiram-like blast, enough energy to separate the two, Jughead the writer writes the bomb. Archie is stopped in his tracks by Jughead. Meanwhile, the other survivors, Cheryl and Veronica, remain alive, and they eagerly await Jughead's and Betty's arrival.

We are also aware that many of the episodes of episode 5 take place before the final bomb blast. Thus, we realize the importance of a writer and a narrator — right from season 1, Jughead provides us with his insightful knowledge of Riverdale's people and places. He saves Riverdale and Rivervale because of his love for the small community he lives in and his clever storytelling.

Does Betty and Archie Survive a Bomb Blast?

Betty and Archie do survive the bomb blast at the end of season 5 — we know this solely because of the events that transpire in season 6. Rivervale’s Jughead is able to communicate with Riverdale's Betty & Archie via a distorted-voice telephone call. Thus we think that Betty (and Archie) escape from the room before the bomb explodes. The strong, mutually beneficial bond between Rivervale & Riverdale allows messages to be transmitted across multiple dimensions and timelines.