Recap / Riverdale S 07 E 14 Chapter 131 Archie The Musical

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35

Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 | Chapter 39 | Chapter 40 | Chapter 41 | Chapter 42 | Chapter 43 | Chapter 44 | Chapter 45 | Chapter 46 | Chapter 47 | Chapter 48 | Chapter 49 | Chapter 50 | Chapter 51 | Chapter 52 | Chapter 53 | Chapter 54 | Chapter 55 | Chapter 56 | Chapter 57

Chapter 58 | Chapter 59 | Chapter 60 | Chapter 61 | Chapter 62 | Chapter 63 | Chapter 64 | Chapter 65 | Chapter 66 | Chapter 67 | Chapter 68 | Chapter 69 | Chapter 70 | Chapter 71 | Chapter 72 | Chapter 73 | Chapter 74 | Chapter 75 | Chapter 76

Chapter 77 | Chapter 78 | Chapter 79 | Chapter 80 | Chapter 81 | Chapter 82 | Chapter 83 | Chapter 84 | Chapter 85 | Chapter 86 | Chapter 87 | Chapter 88 | Chapter 89 | Chapter 90 | Chapter 91 | Chapter 92 | Chapter 93 | Chapter 94 | Chapter 95

Chapter 96 | Chapter 97 | Chapter 98 | Chapter 99 | Chapter 100 | Chapter 101 | Chapter 102 | Chapter 103 | Chapter 104 | Chapter 105 | Chapter 106 | Chapter 107 | Chapter 108 | Chapter 109 | Chapter 110 | Chapter 111 | Chapter 112 | Chapter 113 | Chapter 114 | Chapter 115 | Chapter 116 | Chapter 117

Chapter 118 | Chapter 119 | Chapter 120 | Chapter 121 | Chapter 122 | Chapter 123 | Chapter 124 | Chapter 125 | Chapter 126 | Chapter 127 | Chapter 128 | Chapter 129 | Chapter 130 | Chapter 131 | Chapter 132 | Chapter 133 | Chapter 134 | Chapter 135 | Chapter 136 | Chapter 137

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Kevin workshops a musical he writes himself, while dealing with his family falling apart. Archie struggles with not making any choices for his own life, and having to learn to live with the consequences of doing so. Betty and Veronica try to work out whether their feelings for each other are romantic.

Tropes

• A Day in the Limelight: Kevin gets a lot more focus than usual this episode. His home life is seen, as are his relationships with his father and his mother, who makes her first ever appearance on the show.
• All for Nothing: Principal Featherhead tells Kevin the musical will not be produced, stating that at the time, they need to be more traditional instead of original. On top of this, the reason is something he was aware of before Kevin began, implying he never really considered the musical anyway.
• Betty and Veronica: Subverted. They spend the episode trying to figure out their feelings for each other, rather than Archie, who is not at all concerned with his own romantic life, but rather what he wants in life, for himself. Both girls also state that they care more about each other than about Archie.
• Fantasy Sequence: Most of the musical numbers take place in these.
  • In the opening number, "Monday, Senior Year", it's the first day of senior year and Veronica is singing about being the new girl. It cuts to the musical cast poking holes in the story and Kevin explaining the choices.
  • "Friday Valentine" has not only Betty and Veronica but Toni and Cheryl singing about fighting the other girls over Archie, singing in Pop's and playing in a band with him called Archie and the Girls.
  • Betty and Veronica's duet "The Universe Inside" sees them running for student body president together and kissing in outer space (It Makes Sense in Context).
  • Archie and his understudy Julian sing together for "Archie's All-American", and are running down a road circling each other, then taking their shirts off demonstratively and singing while showering.
• Group Hug: Concluding the episode. Archie comes in and thanks Kevin, and then everyone else comes in and sings the song Kevin wrote and they all hug him at the end (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Toni, Cheryl, Jughead, Ethel, Fangs, Midge, Julian, Reggie, Dilton and Clay).
• Hidden Depths: Julian turns out to be a very good singer. While Midge and Fangs contest his claim to be the best singer in school, insisting that Fangs is, it proves not to be all bluster for once and Kevin finds him to be an even better Archie than the real Archie after replacing him. Also, he takes part in the Group Hug where everyone comforts Kevin at the end of the episode.
• "I Want" Song: The trope is referred to by name by Kevin and Clay and parodied. To begin with, they've written Archie an "I want" song called "Archie's All-American". Archie has issues with the song and not knowing what he wants, so they write another one for him called "I Got Two" about choosing between Betty and Veronica, but he tells them the choice he's really worried about is between basketball and poetry.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: A lot, mainly making fun of the criticism Riverdale receives, without making an effort to change it.
  • The biggest one is Kevin addressing that Archie has to choose something, otherwise his character will be 'undefined'. From Season 2-onwards, the series has been heavily criticised for the characters being little more than plot devices for the story, which negates most continuity and thus leaves the show at a status quo where the characters never grow or learn. This was changed with the Season 5 time-jump, but has returned after the Soft Reboot of this season.
    • This is also addressed in Betty and Veronica's duet, which is about people seeing that there's a universe inside them, where Veronica has a lot of lines about 'if only people would look beyond the surface'. The character is often criticised for being defined by men, especially her father, and, again thanks to the status quo, never learning any lessons or growing. Thus, the words ring hollow as the show itself hasn't looked beyond the surface of Veronica Lodge.
  • Cheryl stating that her and Toni's verses in "Friday Valentine" were tacked onto a song about a straight Love Triangle instead of getting their own relevant song - no less written in-show by two gay men. This refers to the series-long criticism that their love story hasn't been given screen time.
• Love Triangle: Subverted. Archie isn't really participating at all, and the girls seem to want each other.
• Musical Episode: Kevin writes a musical about Archie and everyone plays a part.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Betty and Veronica balk at the concept that they're fighting over Archie's affections, while Archie isn't really focused on his romantic life but rather struggling with making decisions for himself altogether. Meanwhile, the girls continue to contemplate their romantic feelings for each other. In the end, Archie tells them both that he's swearing off romance for a while.
  • Jughead serving as Archie's advisor and counsel.
• The Other Darrin: In-universe, three of the cast bowing out leads to Julian taking over as Archie, Clay as Jughead and Fangs as Reggie.invoked
• Period Piece, Modern Language: Betty, Veronica, Toni and Cheryl's song about wanting Archie has them refer to themselves as "frenemies", a term that didn't yet exist in the 1950s. It's handwaved by Kevin saying he invented the word.
• Romantic Ride Sharing: Archie and Toni in the Fantasy Sequence for "Friday Valentine", with Toni in the driver's seat.
• Senior Year Struggles: Invoked. Kevin and Clay write a musical about their fellow high school juniors, but bumps them up to seniors in the script because senior year is just that much more dramatic. So it's the last first day of school, the last chance to be varsity champions, college next year, prom night, etcetera.
  Kevin: Teens on the cusp of the rest of their lives.
• Shirtless Scene:
  • Clay when he sleeps over at Kevin's; Kevin is not shirtless.
  • During the Fantasy Sequence as they rehearse "Archie's All-American", Archie and Julian take their shirts off while on a run and then shower together.
• Wanted a Gender-Conforming Child: How Uncle Frank treats Archie when Archie stands up for himself and quits basketball to focus on his poetry.