Riverdale Round Table: The Kiss That Was A Miss
Justin Carreiro at .Masked robbers broke into the Lodge lake house and held everyone at gunpoint, Hiram Lodge bought the town's only newspaper, and tensions rose between the friends during a couples weekend on Riverdale Season 2 Episode 14.
Below, TV Fanatics Jack Ori, Paul Dailly, and Justin Carreiro debate Josie telling Kevin about her mom's affair, the awkwardness of Jughead and Veronica kissing, and the budding new friendship/relationship between Cheryl and Toni.
1. Josie came clean to Kevin about their parents having an affair, even though Sierra wanted to keep it a secret. Would you have done the same thing?
Jack: Absolutely. There was no reason to keep it secret. Kevin deserved to know the truth and there was no reason for Josie to protect her mother's ability to keep having an affair.
Paul: Yes. Josie did the best thing because it would have been much worse if it emerged that she knew about it and kept it from him.
Justin: Definitely! Josie shouldn't be hiding something simply because her mother still wanted to have an affair without causing any trouble. Josie and Kevin are great friends, so her not telling him would've been worse in the long run.
2. Veronica and Jughead kissed in the hot tub to get even with Betty and Archie. Will this be the last we see of them kissing?
Jack: I hope so. I thought all the tension over the Betty/Archie kiss was the least interesting part of Riverdale Season 2 Episode 14 and the Veronica/Jughead kiss was the worst, most ridiculous part.
Paul: It was random, but Veronica's reasons for it made sense. However, it would not make sense for them to do it again. It felt like a storyline we get when a show is running out of steam.
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Justin: This entire scene felt extremely weird. Having Jughead and Veronica be so game to kiss out of revenge was petty and childish; they didn't need to do it to get even with their relationships. I hope this doesn't happen again; however, they made it a point for us to see this. Anything could happen at this point.
3. Kevin, Moose, and Midge had an awkward dinner at the diner as they talked about Kevin's dating life. Do you think she's suspicious of Moose and Kevin?
Jack: Unless she's totally oblivious, she's got to be. She knows Kevin's gay and was trying to get him to hook up with someone else. And Moose was evasive about how he and Kevin knew each other.
Paul: I think she knows there's a spark between them, and she doesn't want to lose Moose, so that's why she was trying to find Kevin someone else.
Justin: She definitely is suspicious of them. You could see the questioning on her face; her intuition was ringing out like an alarm. Midge knows that Moose has some type of feelings for Kevin.
4. Hiram paid off the debts of the Southside Serpents AND bought the newspaper. Why do you think he made these recent payments?
Jack: It's all about power with Hiram. I tend to agree with Jughead that he wants to control the media as well as gain power over most of the town.
Paul: Yeah, he wants to monopolize Riverdale. He wants to own everything and have a lot of pull with the residents. He's the puppet master.
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Justin: I agree with the others that this is about control. He's appeasing the enemy, taking control of the media, and buying out all of the property. When Hiram and Hermione make their move, they will have all the pieces they need to strike without any pushback.
5. Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica had an awkward weekend at the lake house filled with fights, hookups and drama. What moment was the most surprising/awkward?
Jack: My mind kept wandering during these scenes. The robbery scene was the most surprising; though, it was random and didn't have much of a point.
Paul: The kiss between Veronica and Jughead. It felt so out of place, and Archie and Betty looked jealous as hell.
Justin: Their entire adventure at the lake house was strange. The revenge kiss between Jughead and Veronica stands out; however, the fascination Jughead and Archie had over the fact that Betty and Veronica kissed on Riverdale Season 1 Episode 1 made no sense. There's no way they didn't hear about that kiss before, and they were so bro-ish about it. Their reaction didn't fit their characters at all.
6. Cheryl chose to confide in Toni an important secret about her sexuality. Share your thoughts on this scene and this new friendship.
Jack: I liked it! I wasn't expecting Cheryl to confess to a same-sex attraction, and it's good to see her and Toni out of the Veronica/Archie/Betty/Jughead drama.
Paul: Yeah, I agree. It came out of the left field and further solidified how much of a horrible person Penelope is. I want Toni and Cheryl to remain friends. They're great together.
Justin: Cheryl and Toni had many great scenes together; I liked the emergence of their friendship. They need to stick around and develop this further. Penelope better not get in the way again!
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Justin Carreiro was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.