The Boiling Point
Photo Source: Thecw.com
Jughead and Betty finally put the puzzle pieces together enough to narrow down who and why he/she attempted to kill Jughead. I think that faking his death helped him buy enough time to narrow down his potential suspects. I love how Jughead started this scene with a quote from the book “Lord Of The Flies” by saying “I have the conch now”. Jughead is a true literary lover for this. I also notice a shift of guilt in everyone’s eyes once they seen Jughead walk in the room. At first, I was for sure that it was Bret’s doing, but after Donna slapped Bret, became obsessed with Betty, and obsessed with the idea of Jughead still being alive. This entire time I thought that Donna’s desire to kill Jughead was a hidden vendetta for revenge on Jughead or Betty, but it was much deeper than that.
The mystery couple also insisted that Mr.Depaul had something to do with It, after all, it was coincidental that he became the new instructor right after Mr.Chipping died, he was also a member of the quill and skull society, and a Baxter Brother’s ghostwriter. Jughead remembered that it was his classmates who collaborated on his original manuscript rewrite, so it was only obvious that they collaborated on his murder. When Jughead died, Mr.Depaul challenged his classmates to create the perfect murder in exchange for Baxter Brother’s contract. I got confused about Mr.Depaul instructing his students to murder another classmate until Jughead pointed out a few things. Moose was going to be the original target, but Mr.Chipping saved him by encouraging him to get out of the school. That made Jughead the next victim, but they’ve clearly failed. It was the cushion of his beanie that saved him from being in a casket.
Luckily Charles was able to swoop in and save him while the group of friends burned their clothes and Jughead’s beanie. I had wondered why his friends didn’t seem emotional as they should if he died. I’m just glad it was all an act leading up to the biggest secret of them all. Mr.Depaul is not only a fraud, a thief, and a coward. He is also a murder himself who tried to pass down his unruly practices to his students. Jughead discovered that Mr.Depaul was linked to several murders of members of the literary society that were ruled out as “tragic accidents”. These were no accidents, but his biggest mistake was killing Donna’s grandmother who was also a Baxter Brother’s writer. The reason why she wanted the contract so bad was so that she could honor her grandmother and make Mr.Depaul pay.
The members that he killed all knew a secret that he couldn’t afford to be revealed. This why Mr. Chipping had committed suicide, not because of an affair, but because of the burden that comes with being apart of a literary society. Even if Mr.Chipping didn’t kill himself, Mr.Depaul probably had it on his agenda to take him out. The original foresight even made his presence known to confirm his shady tactics over the years. I concluded that the literary crimes from society may be the reason why Jughead’s grandfather never had a good relationship with his dad. The Baxter Brother’s contract is a ticket to a better life, but the original foresight knew it wasn’t worth it. It was good to see when the dust settled that his grandfather and F.P decided to rekindle their relationship.
Rating: 5/5
I loved how this season is starting to wrap up. The beginning of this season was emotional and confusing because all of the random relatives that just decided to show up during ongoing conflict. I wasn’t expecting Mr.Chipping to be the criminal in this situation, but if it wasn’t for him the other students wouldn’t feel so pressured to go after Jughead. I also loved that this episode focused on the conflict and all of the hidden events that lead up to this moment. Most of the episodes have several things going on at one time, it was nice to have a slower pace for a change. I crave the mystery-solving from Betty and Jughead, but I fear that it will come to an end when he goes off to college. I also fear that their relationship isn’t as genuine as I thought. Cheryl also suspects that Betty and Archie’s “fake relationship” isn’t fake after all. I don’t believe it’s fake either considering the fact that Betty always had feelings for Archie. I’m hoping for a little more in the last episode because this season has been juicy!
~Arganise
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