‘Riverdale’ Season 5 Episode 11 Recap: ‘Strange Bedfellows’ Indeed
Loyal Riverdale viewers returned to their TV screens for new season 5 episodes. What’s up with Jughead? Did Archie run those inmates out of town? Those questions and more are at the top of everyone’s minds, and it’s a given that more trouble is ahead. But in this episode, things get trippy and unlikely alliances are formed. Here’s a recap.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Riverdale Season 5 Episode 11, “Strange Bedfellows”]
Robberies everywhere in Riverdale
Archie friend-zones Ronnie until her divorce is over. Penelope wants to start a church. Betty is staking out a truck stop when Tabitha calls her about Jughead. While they talk, a robber comes into Pop’s with a gun, but is distracted when Penelope walks in. Tabitha hits him in the back of his head.
Ronnie is at her jewelry store when robbers come in for a smash and grab. It happens to be Darla Dickinson and her son, Dodger. They bulldozed their way into Archie’s gym seven years ago. Remember them? They rob Ronnie at gunpoint.
Back at the school, Kevin, Archie, and Fangs are cleaning up when they catch a news broadcast. Hiram the Worst is offering a reward for any fugitive inmates. They know he’s up to no good, but Archie visits him and wants to cash in. The governor has his foot on Hiram’s neck and wants his cut of some scheme.
Reggie sees Ronnie at her shop, and she tries to recruit him to find her missing opal. He insists he only works for one Lodge as he’s paying off his dad’s debt to Hiram. However, he’s down to help track down her opal for old time’s sake.
Tabitha recruits Betty to find Jughead
Tabitha talks to Betty about Jughead’s psychedelic bender and implores her to help. She doesn’t want to but agrees because she regrets not acting on another missing person case — her sister Polly.
Elsewhere, sheriff Tom visits Pop’s robber in the hospital and finds Darlene in a nurse’s disguise. She injected the prisoner patient with something, and Tom confronts her. She knocks him out and makes a call. Something sinister is going down.
Jughead is at a homeless tent city, warming up near a fire. Some fancily-dressed jerks taunt him and beat him unconscious.
Archie, his uncle, Kevin, and Fangs map out their plan to capture the inmates. But Sheriff Keller is missing, and Kev can’t get a hold of him. They roll out.
Back at the bunker, Betty unlocks Jughead’s phone and calls Jessica. She’s sarcastic and wants to come help look for Jug, and surprisingly knows about “theeeee Betty” and “diner girl.” And over in Thorn Hill, Penelope is holding a religious service and asks for offerings. Cheryl rolls her eyes.
Archie and crew hit a warehouse and take down some inmates. Reggie has a gun and shows up to help because he has a lead on Ronnie’s rock. Dodger was there earlier praising himself about the robbery.
A kindhearted man put Jug up in his tent and cleaned his wounds. He learns his name is Doc, the same man he watched get beat up years ago. Betty, Jessica, and Tabitha check Jug’s garage abode at Archie’s house, but find nothing but a mess. They check the school next, and of course he’s not there.
Archie turns into Batman, Hiram plots again
Ronnie learns that the Dickinsons and bad guy Ted took Hiram, the sheriff, and the governor hostage. Ted demands palladium from Ronnie, and she wants her stone and the hostages in exchange. Reggie debriefs her on palladium, and she syncs up with Archie’s crew. They’re worried about the baddies, especially since they shot the governor.
Betty and Tabitha take Jessica to the secret bunker, and she suggests they take magic maple mushrooms. The girls don’t want to, and Jessica changes her mind. She thinks maybe Jug went back to New York, so she’ll wait for him there. They detour to Pop’s before she leaves.
Jughead awakens to noise outside the tent. A dodgy businessman is beating Doc. This time, Jug intervenes and knocks him out before collapsing.
Jessica drugs the girls and issues a silly apology. She wants Jughead’s manuscript to ensure he didn’t write about their relationship. She takes Betty and Tabitha back to the bunker and advises them to enjoy their ‘shroom trip. She leaves with the manuscript.
Ronnie shows up to the gym with her dad’s safe, and Archie and crew drop in from the ceiling like Rambo. They fight and subdue Ted and the Dickinsons while all the other characters in the show are singing in their respective scenes. Somehow, Cheryl has a vision of Jason, and Betty and Tabitha are in their own zone.
Hiram threatens the wounded governor in his hospital bed, telling him to forget the palladium. Same old Hiram. Back at camp, Jughead and Doc have a heart-to-heart. And Betty and Tabitha bond when they wake up from their trip. Tabitha received a voicemail from Jug, and he plans to return to New York. As she listens, he’s shown walking down a road, hitchhiking. He climbs into a mysterious truck and based on Betty’s findings, that can’t be good.
