'Riverdale' recap: 'Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night'

Riverdale heats up in penultimate episode in which the town of Riverdale is overrun with violence, and Betty discovers alarming information about her father.

Previously on Riverdale, Betty and Cheryl investigated Hal. The mayoral debate was held and the Black Hood shot at the candidates and crowd. Fangs was arrested and later shot during his attempt to leave the jail through a crowd of protesters.

“Judgement Night” begins immediately where the last episode ended, with Cheryl opening her front door to find the Black Hood. Cheryl screams and runs upstairs as the man follows behind her with an axe. He breaks down her door to find an empty room with an open window. The Black Hood runs downstairs and outside, where an arrow zooms past. Cheryl appears, bow in hand and tells him she won’t miss. He steps towards her, so she fires an arrow into his shoulder and he runs away

The Serpents get Fangs to the hospital. Jughead wants to find the shooter, but FP says they need to stay level headed. He tells Jughead being leader means contacting Fangs’s family and the two walk back towards the waiting room.

As Betty waits for her father at Riverdale Town Hall, Cheryl calls her and tells her about the attack. Betty wants to know if it was Hal, and Cheryl says maybe based on his build. Cheryl’s plan is to track him in the woods and warns Betty to be careful. Betty calls her mom at the Riverdale Register and asks for her dad’s location. Alice says Hal is covering the rioting and tells her to come to the office.

Fred walks into Archie’s room to find Veronica getting ready to leave. He heard about the riots and is looking for Archie. Veronica wants to go with Fred to find Archie, but Andre arrives to take her home.

Meanwhile, Archie meets with the rest of the wrestling team minus Reggie, who has disappeared. He tells hem some of the Serpents saw Reggie holding the gun and is worried about his safety. He tells the group to split up and Kevin and Moose go with him to Reggie’s house.

Hiram gets the news that Andre has Veronica and tells Hermione it’s time to go to the Riverdale Register’s office. Hermione’s worried about their plan, but Hiram insists they have a way to show Riverdale they can restore order. She wonders if he’s hiding anything, but he ignores her worries.

Back at the hospital, Jughead finds out Fangs is still undergoing surgery. Sheriff Minetta appears and talks about the Serpents rioting and tearing up the town. FP blames the Sheriff for Fangs getting shot and Minetta fires back that FP shouldn’t harass a cop while he’s still on probation. FP turns around to find Jughead gone.

Reggie’s hiding behind a dumpster when he calls Hiram to tell him about the shooting. Hiram says he cannot help and hangs up. Veronica rolls down her window and watches the rioting and burning in the streets. She notices Midge’s mother and makes Andre stop the car. Veronica goes to Mrs. Klump, who seems to be in shock. She tells Veronica she shot Fangs.

Archie and Jughead talk on the phone and Archie confirms Reggie is not the shooter. He asks Jughead to make the Serpents stand down and Jughead agrees. Jughead says he will meet them at the school.

Hermione arrives at the Riverdale Register’s office and gives an interview. She claims the unrest is because of the Black Hood. She offers a one million dollar reward for whoever brings her the Black Hood, alive or dead. Betty questions the decision and makes Alice and Hermione wonder why she seems against catching the Black Hood. She receives a call from Cheryl who tracked the man’s location and says he exited the woods close to the Cooper’s house. Cheryl tells her not to go home alone, but Betty is worried about her father.

At Riverdale High, Moose, Kevin and Archie hear noises and go find something to use as a defense. Veronica calls Archie and tells him that Mrs. Klump is the shooter and is now in custody. Archie says he will tell the Serpents. Veronica finds her mother at the police station and learns of the reward for the Black Hood.

Back at the school, Serpents start to trash the place. Archie confronts Sweet Pea and tells him about Mrs. Klump. Sweet Pea says it doesn’t matter, either way a Northsider shoot Fangs and he might die. Sweet Pea threatens to burn down the school. Before the two groups start fighting, Principal Weatherbee and others arrive to stop the violence. Jughead finally gets there and Archie tells him the gang is headed to the Klump house. Jughead goes after the Serpents. Seconds later, Pop calls Archie and tells him Reggie is having a breakdown at his diner.

Betty arrives home, but instead of her father, she finds bloody prints all over the kitchen sink. She cleans them and gets a call from FP. He just saw her father come into the hospital and offers to go check on him for Betty, who declines and says she’s on her way.

Veronica accuses her parents of taking her million dollars to use as the Black Hood bounty. She locks herself in Hiram’s office and searches it while Hermione yells outside. She finds a file labeled “October Surprise” and inside are pictures of Fred and Hermione together, along with an article. Veronica is disgusted Hiram would trash his own wife’s reputation and that Hermione knew about the plot. Veronica cannot believe Hermione still trusts in Hiram and believes he will protect her and Veronica.

Kevin, Archie, and Moose go to Pop’s to talk to Reggie. Archie is unable to get much information from him before they hear noises outside. They think it’s the Serpents, but Archie calls Jughead and finds out all of them are back at the bar. The sounds get louder and they discover the Ghoulies are back. The group tries to barricade Pop’s but the Ghoulies break a window and start vandalizing cars.

Pop suggests Archie make Molotov cocktails and throw them off the roof at the gang, which he does. Before the situation escalates, Keller, Fred, and FP arrive and scare the gang away. Jughead let them know the group was in trouble so they came right away.

Hiram calls Pop and asks about the attack on the diner. A big man walks in and asks Pop about Hiram, claiming he’s a family friend and asks for his address.

Betty goes to the hospital and walks into her dad’s room to find the doctor dead on the bed. The phone rings and the Black Hood admits to killing Dr. Masters. He demands Betty come home and threatens to kill Alice if she tells the police.

At the Serpent bar, Sweet Pea and Jughead fight about the Ghoulies and Fangs. Jughead gets a call from Penny Peabody, who wants to meet. He says no, but she reveals she kidnapped Toni and will hurt her if he refuses.

Betty gets home to find her mother in the living room. She finds out Hal is home and tries to get her mom to leave. Hal comes in and Alice tells Betty he wants them to watch old home movies together. The film begins with Hal’s mother convincing a young Hal to lie and protect his father. It turns out Hal’s father was the Riverdale Reaper and killed the Conway family because they were “sinners.” His mother tells him to make the survivor (Mr. Svenson) point out someone other than Hal’s father as the murderer.

Alice is still confused and Betty is terrified when the video stops and Hal asks Alice to take out her tape recorder. Hal yells and she starts recording. He says Great-Grandpappy Cooper wasn’t murdered, he killed Great-Grandpappy Blossom. He took the Cooper name and the Conway’s were blackmailers. Hal goes on about the darkness in their family and talks about how it’s inside of Betty. He kneels before her and asks her to say who he is really. She calls him the Black Hood and he confirms it, then she says what he did after he asks. He admits to killing everyone but was not the person who shot up the debate.

Meanwhile, Fred and Archie come home. Archie notices the back door is ajar. He shuts it, then he hears something and a Black Hood attacks. He aims a gun at Archie and Fred jumps in front of him and is shot. The Black Hood runs away and Fred reveals he’s still wearing the bulletproof vest Keller made him wear. Archie chases after the shooter but sees no one outside.

Hal reveals Betty’s speech reminded him of what his mother told him, so he decided to kill the sinners of Riverdale. Betty asks why he wants a recording of their conversation and Hal’s reply suggests he’s planning to commit a murder-suicide and wants Riverdale to know what happened.

Jughead gets to the meeting location and finds Toni tied up and Penny sitting by a fire. Penny reveals she’s not alone and a pack of Ghoulies appears. Jughead isn’t alone either. Cheryl walks in with her arrow pointed at Penny and demands Toni’s release. Penny threatens the Serpents and says she wants the Southside back. She says the next day will bring a battle between the two gangs.

Small Fry Boucher, Pappa Poutine’s big son, shows up at The Pembrooke looking for the Lodge’s. He breaks down their door while Veronica and Hermione are still fighting and says he’s going to kill them to hurt Hiram. They run into the study, pressing a chair against the door to buy some time. When Small Fry breaks down the door, Hermione shoots him multiple times using a gun she grabbed from Hiram’s desk.

Back at the Serpent bar, Jughead and the others argue about their choices. Jughead doesn’t want to fight, but Sweet Pea and Toni want to take on the Ghoulies. FP shows up and tells them Fangs died. He puts the fight with the Ghoulies to a vote. Everyone except Jughead, Cheryl included, votes to fight.

Alice takes on Hal by pointing out his insecurities and making him angry. She looks at Betty, then at the fireplace shovel and Betty slowly moves towards the weapon. Hal finally snaps when she tells him FP is a real man, and he begins choking Alice. Betty hits him over the head with the shovel and Alice uses it to hit him again.

Jughead and FP get in a fight about the Ghoulies. Jughead calls Hiram and accuses him of being behind Penny and the Ghoulies. Hiram denies it, but Jughead says he has an offer for him and the scene cuts to Penny standing in front of Hiram smiling.

Keller arrives and leads a cuffed Hal to a Sheriff car. Which is weird because Keller isn’t the Sheriff anymore. Fred and Archie walk over and she tells them Hal is the Black Hood. Archie tells her about the shooting and she says Hal was with them during that time. Jughead calls her, says he loves her, and seems to say goodbye.

Jughead goes to Penny and the Ghoulies and offers himself up to protect the gang. After they start beating him up, Penny says the gangs will fight tomorrow anyway. She takes out her knife and says she wants to pay him back. Betty calls FP and lets him know about the phone call. FP asks Toni about Penny’s hideout and goes there immediately.

Hiram comes home to find Andre dead downstairs. He finds the Lodge women sitting at the table. They tell him there’s another body and he gets to clean his mess up. Later he tells them Minetta took away the bodies and made them seem like riot victims. He tries to touch Veronica and she recoils. She pulls out the file and says she won’t be one of his pawns.

Betty and Archie arrive to find the Serpents waiting for news of Jughead. FP walks out of the woods holding a beaten, bloodied and unconscious Jughead.

What an intense episode of Riverdale! The Black Hood mystery is still not completely solved, but I’m excited to learn the everything in the finale. Catch Riverdale’s season finale Wednesday at 8 p.m. on The CW. The trailer can be watched below.