Everyone Came Together to Fight the Prom Cancellation on the "Riverdale" Season 4 Finale
This week on Riverdale, the show's fourth season comes to a chilling close. Before we say goodbye to the eerie town for the time being, let's cover the main plots of the evening:
The Grinch Who Stole Prom
All of this episode’s plots are intertwined, but I’ll try and separate them out to try to help keep them straight. First off, the IRL trials and tribulations of the RHS teens vs. Mr. Honey. After an altercation between Betty and Mr. Honey involving the yearbook, B leads her friends in a rousing rendition of “We Hate Honey” in the student lounge. Rather than kill him, like she (jokingly) suggests, they decide to prank him, Reggie-style. This involves covering his desk and phone with glue. It works, but obviously it just angers the beast: he cancels prom. Never mind that everyone but Archie and Jughead was banned from prom at various points throughout the season, Cheryl says they were just going to crash, and now they’re extra pissed off. Betty does some digging and discovers that Mr. Honey has canceled prom at every high school he’s worked at, like some kind of…prom-hating guy. The teens rally their parents, who strut into the school, fabulous heels and coats and all, to confront Mr. Honey. Mary Andrews lawyers him. Hiram Lodge mayors him. And Alice Smith newscasters him. F.P. and Tom Keller (and presumably Hermione and Nana Rose)? They’re just there for muscle.
The show of strength works, particularly once a PTA vote is called for, and prom is back on! Everyone, kids and parents alike, celebrates at Pop's. That is, until Mr. Honey receives one of The Tapes in the mail. Its footage is a full tour of RHS, which he interprets as a threat and a reason to re-cancel prom. Betty and Jug aren’t convinced, and when B finds proof that Honey made that tape himself and used it as an excuse to cancel the prom he apparently hates so much, Honey is cooked. He quits/is fired, all the while adamant that he’s just been trying to protect these kids all year long. The crew gloats as he leaves, but he has the last word: he’s got a new job already, at Stonewall Prep. And it pays triple.
Actually, though, that isn’t Mr. Honey’s last word. As the group rags on him even more in the lounge, the school secretary charges in and tells them that Mr. Honey was the best principal she’s seen in her 30 years at RHS. She lists his accomplishments, including NO STUDENT DEATHS THIS YEAR, which is a huge victory, tbh. She also hands over a letter from Mr. Honey to the University of Iowa on Jughead’s behalf. It’s full of praise, as Jughead finds out later. Maybe Mr. Honey wasn’t such a monster after all, hmm?
Killing Mr. Honey by Jughead Jones
But before we can learn of Mr. Honey’s redemption, we (and Jughead and Betty) get to revel in a little revenge fantasy first. The University of Iowa needs more material for Jughead before accepting him, so he gets to work on a new short story: “Killing Mr. Honey.” Catchy. It expands on Betty’s earlier (joke) plan to kidnap Mr. Honey, take him to the Lodge’s cabin in the woods, and scare him. Would Jughead have any writing material if it weren't for Betty? But as the group takes turns watching over their captive, he mysteriously dies. The six accidental murderers (Cheryl, Reggie, Veronica, Archie, Betty, and Jughead) quickly snap into action, easily initiating Reggie into the “I’ve disposed of a dead body” club and burying Honey in the woods. Things start to unravel after that. Honey’s glasses are found in the woods. Reggie unspools, weighed down by guilt, and the crew cuts his brakes to get rid of him, too. Cheryl and Veronica break down after the Reggie incident, and Betty, Jughead, and Archie try to (with somewhat evil smiles on their faces) keep the group together and the secret(s) protected. But then! Things change. Because Jughead has discovered editing. Reading Honey’s glowing recommendation letter causes Juggy to see that he’s got a warped perspective; warped by the town of Riverdale and its sickness. He rewrites the story so that Veronica and Archie do the right thing when they discover Honey passed out in the cabin: they call the cops and tell the truth. Honey is saved. And so, maybe, is Jughead’s soul?
The Tapes Keep Tapin’ On
Charles and his FBI interns continue on the tape case this week: first they review the Jason Blossom snuff film recreation, then a new tape that shows Midge’s gruesome Carrie the Musical death. Then the RHS tape that was sent to Honey, though that’s a fake-out. Last of all, Jellybean drops off a tape that was on the Cooper/Smith/Jones doorstep—this one shows footage of the cabin in the woods where Hermione killed Sheriff Minetta (deep Riverdale cut). Betty and Jughead go exploring, and they find a clearly lived-in cabin with a VHS ready to go in the VCR. B presses “play,” and Jughead, Betty, and the whole Riverdale audience at home are treated to a truly creepy rendition of a masked Mr. Honey being stabbed to death by a masked Betty, Jughead, Cheryl, Reggie, Veronica, and Archie. I have chills. And they won’t be soothed until next season!
Rumordale dot com:
Archie + Jughead + prom? Can’t wait for that fanfic (which Kevin predicts).
This is a pre-mature finale, due to COVID-19-related disruption in production, so a few threads are still dangling and won’t be resolved until Riverdale returns next season. But it was a really fun episode that brings nearly all the gang together (with their parents, too), which has been rare this season, and plays with the show's typical format. Bravo!
That said, though, why aren’t Toni, Kevin, or Fangs along for the murder ride in Jughead’s story? Rude, Jug.
“How deep does this grave have to be?” “Deep, it’s Riverdale.” Truer words have never been uttered.
Think what you will about Mr. Honey, but his eye roll when he learns that Betty and Jughead are helping an FBI agent on his case is…legit.
This is kind of a great spotlight episode for Reggie/Charles Melton, who gets to do some creative unspooling in Jughead’s short story.
There are lots of killer lines in this episode, and “Are we going to be monsters in college? Or in jail?” is one of the top 5, for sure.
“What goes on around here: murder, mayhem, depravity. It is not normal.” “Well, it’s normal to us.” This is not a good thing, Betty. At least on the murder front.
Related: Cheryl Gives Betty Some Tough Love About Her Feelings for Archie on "Riverdale"
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
