For years, Riverdale had prided itself
as being the Town with Pep. Safe, innocent, utopian.
But after recent events...
...there was no denying
the darkness that churned beneath Riverdale.
The inequality, the prejudice, the fearmongering.
It had been bubbling to the surface,
and very nearly exploded.
Now, a re-shuffling was happening.
Now, some new way of thinking, of being
was required.
Principal Featherhead was stepping down from his cherished post.
The official story was "for personal reasons".
But word from the bird was that he'd been identified by an anonymous accuser
as an accessory to Mayor Blossom's Soviet shenanigans.
With a sudden vacancy in the Principal's office,
the PTA is initiating a county-wide search for a replacement.
-Mmm. -Here's hoping this one makes the grade.
Yes.
In light of recent revelations, and after much discussion,
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper had decided
to continue living on Elm Street as husband and wife,
though Mr. Cooper would be moving into the basement bedroom,
a decision that frankly flummoxed Betty.
You know the truth now, Betty.
Why didn't you leave Dad back then?
When you first learned about his affair with Mrs. Muggs?
I didn't want to break up our family over his indiscretions.
I didn't want you and Polly to grow up without a father.
Well, why don't you divorce Dad now?
What am I gonna do?
My life is so intertwined with your father's.
This is his house.
I don't own this station. I can't even open a bank account on my own.
And what, uh...
What about when you go off to college?
I'm gonna be alone.
You know that I have never been alone a day in my life?
I lived in my parents' house
until the day that I married your father.
It's just the three of us now, children.
May your idiot father and viper mother
both rot in a Russian gulag
for the rest of their miserable lives.
From your lips to Moloch's ears, Nana.
I always knew there was something squirrelly about Mom and Dad.
In the meanwhile,
it's up to us to ensure that the Blossoms rise from the ashes,
like phoenixes.
I wholeheartedly concur.
And rest assured,
I know exactly what my first order of business will be.
So, with Featherhead gone, who's gonna run the asylum now?
Well, not to sound like Chicken Little,
but what if it's Dr. Werthers?
There's got to be better candidates out there.
Like Captain Hook or Godzilla?
Just so long as they don't ask my uncle to step up.
Well, I actually know the perfect candidate,
but we would need support from the PTA to push it through.
My mom's president of the PTA, of course.
Well, that's a brick wall.
The last time we appealed to your mom's better angels, she let us down.
She did, but I think that we should give her another chance.
A lot has changed for her since then.
Well, in the meantime, I'm going to pay a house call
on good old Dr. Moldy.
Oh, I knew it.
Featherhead is barely out the door,
and you're already trying to take his office? So what's the plan?
Are you going to study us like lab rats
or experiment on us like some two-bit Dr. Moreau?
Alas, Mr. Jones,
I have no interest in being principal of this school.
No, I'm off to do real work, in Washington.
I'll be serving on the President's subcommittee,
looking into the causes of juvenile delinquency.
Specifically, its links to comic books
and other subversive forms of popular culture.
Well, golly!
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Oh, fear not, though.
My tribunal will still be doing the important work of regulating comic books.
Censoring them, you mean.
As a matter of fact,
here is our response to your latest issue,
which we're rejecting for the reasons outlined herein.
Good luck to you and your colleagues at Pep Comics,
while it still exists.
Damn, Red, you still got it.
I'm just buzzing, Reg. Buzzing.
Earlier this week, Ms. Grundy told us to read On the Road
by king of the Beats, Jack Kerouac.
Brought everything into focus for me.
"I was surprised, as always,
by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt.
The world was suddenly rich with possibility."
You really got the bug, huh?
Yeah, I guess I do, Reg.
So much so, that this summer, I'm gonna ride the rails,
hit the trails,
I'm gonna be a vagabond writer.
Hop trains,
explore the country,
sleep under the stars,
and then write about my experiences,
wherever they may take me.
And what's your mom gonna say about that?
Mom can't say diddly-squat,
because I'm doing this during summer vacation.
Well,
jumping trains doesn't beat going to the best basketball camp in the world,
but if it floats your boat,
good on you, Arch.
So as a parting gift, Dr. Werthers rejected Zip Comics number 42.
And what was his rationale, may I ask?
Well, it's got to be because of the last story in that issue.
The Comet.
What?
But that one's the cat's pajamas.
I know. It's based off a W.E.B. Du Bois story
that Tabitha clued me into last time she was in town.
It's so romantic and philosophical.
"After a comet hits and destroys New York City,
a man and a woman come together and fall in love."
Their problem is that
it's a Black man and a white woman who find each other.
I haven't even told Mr. Fieldstone yet.
I think it's gonna crush him.
I'm sure. That Comet story is a masterpiece.
Honestly, my first thought when I read it was,
"This would make for a fantabulous movie."
Well, if anyone wants to get in touch with Du Bois' representatives,
I have all their information.
Just saying.
Mom, this is your chance to do the right thing,
to make up for sitting on your hands
when I asked you to report on Emmett Till.
I know you regret that.
Mrs. Cooper.
When Riverdale High integrated,
three of the Black schools in town shut down.
And suddenly, dozens of great teachers were kicked to the curb.
There's this incredible educator
who spent the last year driving a cab.
Girls, I would love to help.
-But the rest of the PTA-- -Mom.
Make them understand.
Riverdale is at a turning point.
Now is the time for a fresh start.
Good morning, students.
I know you've all had a difficult year.
I know your previous principal
wasn't exactly open to change.
To new ideas.
To addressing the needs of all his students.
Well,
let me make one thing clear.
I'm here for every student.
That said,
the challenges that face us are enormous and systemic,
and if you're not part of the solution,
then you're part of the problem.
So I challenge you all.
Be kind.
Be decent.
Be better.
Now let's get to work.
Whoo!
Principal Weatherbee?
-Yes. -Hi.
I'm Archie, Archie Andrews.
Please, sit.
What can I do for you, Mr. Andrews?
Well, there used to be a teacher who worked here,
a real top-notch teach.
She was falsely accused of being a communist,
and she was fired for it.
Her name's Mrs. Thornton.
I know Edith Thornton very well.
She is a wonderful educator.
I know. Well, that's why I was hoping that--
Let me see if I can't right this wrong.
Get Edith back here.
Well, that would be swell, Principal Weatherbee. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Hold on to your pom-poms, my beloved paper-shakers because...
♪ I'm back ♪
Cheryl, this is a private practice for Vixens,
not has-been daughters of Russian spies.
Now that Principal Weatherbee is ushering in a new golden age at Riverdale High,
I am launching a coup to take back control of my Vixens.
Therefore, Evelyn, I am challenging you to a dance-off.
Winner takes all.
I refuse your challenge.
That's not an option.
♪ They started going steady And bless my soul♪
♪ He out-bopped The buzzard and the oriole♪
♪ He rocks in the treetop All day long♪
♪ Hoppin' and a-boppin' And singing his song ♪
♪ All the little birds On Jaybird Street♪
♪ Love to hear the robin go Tweet-tweet-tweet♪
-♪ Rockin' robin ♪ -♪ Tweet-tweet-tweet ♪
-♪ Rock-rock-rockin' robin♪ -♪ Tweet-tweedilly-tweet♪
♪ Blow, rockin' robin 'Cause we're really Gonna rock tonight♪
♪ Tweet-tweedilly-tweet ♪
♪ Tweedilly-tweedilly-deet Tweedilly-tweedilly-deet♪
♪ Tweet-tweet♪
Your turn.
Today marks the beginning of a new era for the Vixens.
To that end,
I have decided to live in the light.
I'm going steady with Toni Topaz.
And if anyone here has a problem with that,
you are more than welcome to follow Evelyn out that door
and into a dumpster.
We're in full support of you, Cheryl.
And
-we also... -Want to live in the light.
Mr. Fieldstone, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.
Hey, I get it, kid. I get it.
"Rejected for not promoting traditional American values."
You know what that's code for?
They didn't want to see a Black man and a white woman end up together.
-So what do we do now? -What do you mean?
We publish without the damn seal. That's what we do.
Send it out in the world and hope for the best.
I was hoping you'd say that.
And depending on the sales,
I was thinking, next time, we could--
There's not gonna be a next time, kid.
No, that's it for me. I'm done.
I mean, this is the best comic I ever put together.
It's a work of art.
I mean, it actually says something.
That tribunal couldn't care less.
So let The Comet be Pep's swan song.
I can't imagine a better one.
In the meantime,
would you do me a favor, kid?
Would you write the last editorial?
Think of it as our eulogy.
For the final issue of Pep Comics.
It's been an honor, kid.
It really has.
Well...
It was a beautiful dream while it lasted.
Oh, my gosh, I've been waiting for this.
What did you get, hun?
It's the first copy of my book.
You wrote a book? Your mom and dad must be very proud of you.
Oh, hey, Kev. What are you doing here?
Hey, Dad. Audrey said you weren't feeling great,
so I thought I'd bring you some of Pop's chicken noodle.
Oh, boy, I... I appreciate that, that's...
That's great.
Coach Andrews?
What's going on?
Uh, I'm staying in the motel as well,
and, uh,
the shower in my room is on the fritz.
So your... Your dad let me use his.
Ah.
Right.
You... You want to come in and grab a flop?
Um...
No, no, um,
I should... I should probably cut out.
Mom,
I have something that I want to show you.
Oh.
What is it, Betty?
I wrote a book.
Goodness, yes.
You... You did. I see that you're on the cover
in undergarments.
I really, really want you to read it.
Hmm.
It says right there in the title that it's for teenagers.
I mean, why would I read it?
Well, in an ideal world,
I'd love for you to be proud of me for writing a book.
But I'll settle for you reading it,
just to get to know me better.
And maybe by getting to know me better,
you might get to know yourself better.
Oh, it is so great to have you back, Mrs. Thornton.
Geraldine shared some of your recent poems with me.
I do hope you plan to stick with your writing.
Oh, I do.
In fact, this summer, I'm gonna hit the rails.
Like all the Beat writers do.
I'm gonna see if I can get
at least one great, big, juicy Allen Ginsberg-like poem out of it.
Oh, that's wonderful.
You'll see what the world beyond Riverdale is like.
It's exactly what you should be doing at this point
in your development as a poet.
Clay.
Tell me, have you ever read the story, The Comet?
Of course. Multiple times, in fact.
I figured you would've.
In that case,
how would you feel about writing and directing
an adaptation of The Comet as a major motion picture?
Is this a gag?
I've actually been fiddling with
a screenplay version of The Comet for years.
Well, thanks to Jughead,
I connected with Du Bois' agents.
And it turns out the movie rights had been languishing for years.
So I snapped them up,
and I suspected you'd be passionate about this.
Veronica, I can't believe what I'm hearing.
It's going to be an uphill battle,
but there are things we can do,
like get the right star attached.
Someone like, say...
Sidney Poitier.
Precisely.
Can you get to him?
I might not be able to get to him.
But we both know someone who can.
Josie McCoy.
But, Clay,
if we're going to attach a big star like Sidney,
your adaptation needs to be undeniable.
Don't worry, it will be.
And who needs to wait for summer? I'll get going right away.
Wonderful.
In that case,
I'm thinking a premiere at Cannes in the next four to five years.
How does that sound?
Yay!
Hey.
Why the long face?
I just got the information packet for Camp Evans.
My basketball camp.
Well...
Well, that's great, isn't it?
Turns out they flip-flopped the dates on me,
and now it's smack-dab in the middle
of our annual sweet corn harvest back on the farm.
Well, can't you skip the harvest this one time?
The corn we harvest that single month
supports our farm for the rest of the year.
There's no way I can miss it.
My parents need me.
So I just... I gotta
forget about basketball camp.
Well...
Well, heck with that.
No.
Reg, don't sweat it. I mean, I'll take your place on the farm.
Stop goofing, Andrews.
You got other plans.
Well, whatever I had planned
is not as important as getting you set up for college
and going pro.
Besides, working the land with my hands,
giving back to the earth,
and then writing about it while leaned up against a haystack...
I mean, that's...
exactly what a Beat writer should be doing.
My parents won't be able to pay you, Archie.
And it's not easy work.
Reg.
I got it.
It's all part of the experience.
You're going to Camp Evans.
Let me take up the slack at Duck Creek.
Sleep in your barn,
learn the ukulele, break bread with your mom, your dad.
Yeah. Okay.
Sounds good.
Thanks, Archie.
I love you, Reg.
I love you, too, Archie.
Mom?
What is it? What's wrong?
I, uh...
I just finished your book.
And I'm speechless.
Well, I'm really glad that you read it.
Betty, you wrote a book,
a whole book.
And you're right.
I did get to know you better.
And all those...
wonderful, intelligent,
promising young women.
So full of thoughts and fears and struggles
and dreams.
They have aspirations.
Yeah, that's true.
And then I think of myself and
my biggest dream was being Miss Riverdale.
Mom, you once told me that you dreamed about being a stewardess.
You wanted to see the world and meet fascinating people
and be a fascinating person.
Yeah, well, that was a, uh,
silly dream from a young girl a long time ago.
No, Mom.
No dream is silly.
I know you think that it's too late for you, but it's not.
You can be happy.
Please, please, please, believe that.
Chances are you won't ever see this issue on a newsstand.
Despite that, Pep Comics has decided to release it.
We are publishing this, our final issue,
without the Comic Book Code's seal of approval.
Most likely, that means
this issue will end up in either a landfill or a bonfire.
But we here at Pep Comics refuse to kneel to the un-American censorship
that was specifically drafted to silence stories like The Comet.
We hope that this comic book will find its way into your hands.
And hopefully, the stories in it will make you think,
and make you feel a little less alone.
So, we at Pep Comics leave you with this final message.
It is easier to tear down than to build up.
Try to be a builder, not a destroyer.
With that in mind, enjoy this humble adaptation of The Comet
by the great author, W.E.B. Du Bois,
a man who faced unthinkable adversity and still chose to believe
that the end of the world was not a foregone conclusion.
There is always a chance for a brighter, better, stronger future.
From all of us at Pep Comics, this is adieu, but not farewell.
We'll meet again.
Tabitha.
Hi.
What are you doing here?
- Hi, stranger. - Ah.
Gee whiz.
You're a sight for sore eyes.
What happened to your glasses?
And what's that television doing here?
Jughead,
I am not the Tabitha who's traveling across the country
with the NAACP.
I am the Tabitha that you've forgotten.
Uh,
what are you talking about?
Sit down.
Let me show you something.
Oh.
- Our story is about a town... -Wow!
Wait! Is this a color television?
...and the people who live in the town.
From a distance,
-it presents itself like so many other small towns... -Is that my voice?
-...all over the world. Safe, decent. -Just absorb.
Innocent.
-And then I will explain everything. -Get closer, though,
and you start seeing the shadows underneath.
The name of our town is Riverdale.
♪ Tell me ♪
Well?
I remember.
I remember everything.
That I sent you and everyone back to 1955
to save Riverdale from Bailey's Comet.
And that while you and all of your friends
worked to make this timeline less dark and nihilistic and hopeless,
I was trying to untangle the various timelines that had gotten jumbled,
shore up the multiverse,
in other words.
We were successful?
You were.
You all did great.
All of your collective, innate decency,
all of your struggles have started to reshape this town,
this world.
And it will just keep getting better and better.
- Neat. - Hmm.
Awesome.
I assume that you were successful, too.
After much trial and error, I realized it would be impossible for me
to untangle and pull apart all of the various timelines.
So, instead, I wove them all into a single timeline.
This one.
And I used all the energy from all of the other timelines
to stabilize it and fortify it.
Great.
It is.
But, um,
now that it's stable,
I can't move anyone through time.
I can't send you all back to 2023.
So, the others won't remember anything
about everything that happened before?
Well, I can't move them through time, as I've said, but I can show them.
I can show them what I showed you,
and then they can decide
whether or not they want to remember their other
adventures, let's call them.
It's the least I can do.
So, I gathered my friends again.
And I told them about the future.
And how we couldn't go back to our previous lives.
But they could remember them if they chose to do so,
and then decide if they wanted to keep those memories or forget them.
Look, I know it's a lot to process.
So, I'll just leave the decision to you.
If you're interested, you know where to find me.
I wondered if any of them would take me up on Tabitha's offer.
Jughead?
I drew the short straw.
If this is real, I figure I might get a good poem out of it.
My own version of Howl.
Come on.
In the future,
this is called binge-watching.
Our story is about a town,
a small town, and the people who live in the town.
From a distance, it presents itself
like so many other small towns all over the world.
I was a boxer,
prisoner, football player.
I was a soldier,
like my dad.
I was with my dad.
And then he...
Then he died again.
Well,
I promised the others I'd report back.
What are you gonna tell them?
I'm not sure.
I didn't think I'd ever see my dad again.
So, I'm...
I'm glad about that.
But I don't know if they'll wanna see what I saw.
That said, if anyone does, they know where to find me.
Hey, Jughead.
Archie told us what you showed him.
We'd like to see what Archie saw.
-Together. -Classic Bee and Vee style.
Our story is about a town, a small town, decent, innocent.
Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath.
The name of our town is Riverdale.
♪ Tell me ♪
You could have prepared us a little more for that, Jughead Jones.
There was...
so much darkness
in that world.
And my family...
My father was a killer.
My sister was murdered
and then came back to life.
You and I,
we were together.
Yeah.
Until we weren't.
I was with Archie.
And I killed my husband, Chad,
and my father.
What you're about to see is your past,
but it's also your future.
And some of it will be disturbing.
We can handle it.
At times, you might not even recognize yourselves.
Where are Kevin and Julian?
Kevin asked if Clay was in any of the stories on TV.
When Betty told him he wasn't, he didn't want to come.
When Julian found out he was just a doll in the TV stories,
he didn't want to come either.
But the rest of us wanna see what our past was like.
Sounds good.
Our story is about a town, a small town, decent, innocent.
Get closer, though,
and you start seeing the shadows underneath.
Now you know.
Now you know what your lives were like before the comet.
The adventures you had, the people you loved,
the people you lost.
The good, the bad.
The bear.
The question is, do you want to carry this knowledge with you
for the rest of your lives,
or would you rather forget?
Because I can make that happen.
Because she's an angel.
Along those lines, Angel Tabitha,
can I call you Angel Tabitha?
This is something we've all been discussing,
and we were wondering,
could we perhaps just remember the good things?
Forget all the serial killers and superpowers and gargoyle kings
and just remember the happy times we had?
It doesn't exactly work that way.
Actually, I can make that happen.
Yes. I can hit a reset button
and only re-share the good memories.
I think after everything you all have been through,
you deserve that much at least.
♪ Heavenly shades Of night are falling ♪
♪ It's twilight time ♪
♪ Out of the mist Your voice is calling ♪
♪ 'Tis twilight time ♪
♪ When purple-colored curtains Mark the end of day ♪
♪ I'll hear you My dear, at twilight time ♪
♪ Deepening shadows Gather splendor ♪
♪ As day is done ♪
♪ Fingers of night Will soon surrender ♪
♪ The setting sun ♪
♪ I count the moments, darling Till you're here with me ♪
♪ Together at last At twilight time ♪
♪ Here in the afterglow Of day ♪
♪ We keep our rendezvous Beneath the blue ♪
♪ Here in the sweet And same old way ♪
♪ I fall in love again As I did then ♪
♪ Deep in the dark Your kiss will thrill me ♪
♪ Like days of old ♪
♪ Lighting the spark of love That fills me ♪
♪ With dreams untold ♪
♪ Each day, I pray for evening Just to be with you♪
♪ Together at last At twilight time ♪
♪ Here in the afterglow Of day ♪
♪ We keep our rendezvous Beneath the blue ♪
♪ Here in the sweet And same old way ♪
♪ I fall in love again As I did then ♪
♪ Deep in the dark Your kiss will thrill me ♪
♪ Like days of old ♪
♪ Lighting the spark of love That fills me ♪
♪ With dreams untold ♪
Hey, hey.
Is this the part where you ghost me?
Don't you wanna see how the movie ends?
I know how it ends.
And so do you.
Stay.
I can't.
Why not?
Well...
there's already another Tabitha here, for one thing,
in this universe.
And what happens to her?
She settles in Chicago.
She goes to business school and then law school.
She's a civil rights advocate in every aspect of her life
-for the rest of her life. -But we don't...
Well, then that's all the more reason that you should stay.
We lived together.
We had a life together.
Was any of that real?
Of course, it was real.
Just like this is real.
It was all real. It all happened.
Hey.
Do you remember our epic date
before the end of the world, when we watched Titanic,
and then we ate at Pop's?
And we had a family.
We grew old together.
That time bubble still exists.
It's still protecting us.
What we had, what we will always have.
But from this point here,
there is only one path forward now.
And that is a good thing, Jughead. Trust me.
Well, it really sucks that you had to die to make all this happen.
Except I didn't.
Not anymore.
The comet,
the end times, that doesn't...
That won't happen anymore.
We all took care of that.
Ah.
Classic time paradox.
Can I at least kiss you goodbye?
Jughead Jones, you read my mind.
And in the blink of an eye, Angel Tabitha was gone.
But she had given us the greatest gift of all,
our memories.
Edited for maximum joy.
The good ones.
The ones we would cherish forever.
Though I chose to remember not only the happy times, but the dark times, too.
I figured, as the unofficial chronicler of our town,
that was my responsibility.
But as it happens,
I wasn't the only one who decided to remember everything.
Betty did, too.
More than most, Betty understood
that we are made up of moments of both joy and pain,
happiness and suffering,
darkness and light,
and all the scars we collect along the way.
Another cosmic reshuffling had happened,
or was happening again.
But the stage was set for the final chapter
of our epic saga about the Town with Pep,
one that could only be called...
♪ Tell me I'm your baby ♪
"Goodbye, Riverdale."
♪ And you'll never leave me ♪
♪ Tell me that you'll kiss me ♪
♪ Forever ♪