‘Riverdale’ Season 5, Episode 9: Betty Flips Out
Hardly a weekly episode goes by when Riverdale isn’t intense, and episode 9 delivered. Episode 8 left many questions about serial killers, aliens, Polly Cooper, Cheryl’s attitude toward Toni, and the Mothman.
“Destroyer” jumped right back in. Fans are used to the Barchie/Varchie drama, but the spotlight was on Kevin, school spirit, and Betty’s vengeance in this latest Riverdale installment. Viewers went further down the rabbit hole with Betty Cooper, and it remains to be seen how far she will go.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Riverdale, Season 5, Episode 9, “Destroyer”]
Betty lied to her mother
As Archie and Veronica spent their time trying to boost morale for the Riverdale bulldogs, Betty was entrenched in what happened to her sister. After she and Alice found the bloody phone booth, she collected a blood sample and sent it off to Glen at her FBI field office.
At the beginning of episode 9, she was awaiting the results as her mother grew more despondent about Polly’s fate. When Glen called Betty with the results, he told her the blood type came back as AB negative, the rarest in the world. It’s also Polly’s blood type.
Betty assumed the worst and blasted Glen for not coming to her aid sooner. She arrived home to tell Alice the news but lied and said the blood was O positive. That gave her mom false hope and the next day, Alice went on a cooking spree and rejoined her support group.
Meanwhile, Jughead has been toying around with space frequency equipment in his spare time, looking for alien signals. Then, a student named Lerman drew a picture of a monster to go along with a writing assignment and Jughead questioned him about subconscious trauma.
It triggered the kid. His parents got upset and reported Jughead to the principal. That still did not deter him from wondering about aliens and the Mothman.
This later came into play when Betty confided in Jughead about Polly’s blood. He then tricked her into visiting the man at the junkyard. Betty is not a believer.
Betty beats people up and nearly kills someone
Remember dark side Betty who was concerned about her “serial killer” gene? She may have showed up in episode 9. Determined to learn more about who killed/harmed Polly, she hit the truck stop to assault and threaten a few drivers.
After bashing one in the face, she kidnapped another one and accused him of hurting “Patty,” aka Polly. Enraged, Betty headed to the woods in the dead of night and tied him to a tree.
Really, Betty? He begged for his life when she aimed a gun at his face, but he was saved by her phone ringing. Jughead called for help. Lerman went missing. She and Jughead found him safe on the Lonely Highway, but he was rambling.
In other scenes, Kevin contended with his breakup and with himself. He visited a sauna and tried to flirt with a man and touched his leg. The guy was angered and beat Kevin up.
This forced him to finally open up to his dad about his conflicted, shameful feelings. Sheriff Keller was super supportive and loving.
Glen blows up Betty’s lie
By the end of episode 9, Glen blew into Riverdale to check on Betty, but she wasn’t home when he arrived. Alice was, and she learned the truth about Polly and the blood sample. Livid, she tore into Betty.
Glen promised to take over the case in an official capacity to solve Polly’s presumed murder. This makes some viewers suspicious, and now there’s a theory that he’s the Trash Bag Killer.
On a lighter note, the Bulldogs lost but the only girl on their team scored the lone touchdown. And Reggie defected from Hiram’s team. Watch the mid-season finale of Riverdale on March 31 at 8 p.m. EST.
