Riverdale, the show based on the Archie Comics, has been turning heads across the world.

Following the midseason finale in December, the show left us with a couple of cliffhangers, just like it always does. Betty Cooper, played by Lilli Reinhart, ends the episode holding the black hood’s hood and not engulfing it in flames as she did with all the other black hood evidence she accumulated. The previous episode had me on the edge of my seat waiting for Jan. 17 to come so I could see what happens next. Rather than falling off my chair from excitement when it did air, I sat back with disappointment.

The returning episode brings back some characters that didn’t have to return. For instance, Nick St. Clair, played by Graham Phillips, shows up in the hospital and Archie Andrews, played by K.J. Apa, challenges him for information and money, then proceeds to beat him up. The episode could have happened without St. Clair and Andrews having a feud. It was not a necessary scene for the plot of the episode.

Andrews also starts to help a bigger force in Riverdale on the examination of Hiram Lodge, played by Mark Consuelos. In doing this he becomes a bigger concern for people in town. He’s more of a threat than ever before.

Another character who is finding himself to be a bigger person than his original character is meant to be is Jughead Jones, played by Cole Sprouse. The original couple of Jones and Cooper have not gotten back together and it doesn’t look like that will be happening anytime soon, which is depressing because Jughead has become such a relevant character due to that relationship. The reasoning behind that is because Cooper challenges him to be better and he challenges Cooper and they helped each other uncover the truth of the Black Hood. They both play a big role in the core of the show.

Some basics of the new episode were easily predictable. The Serpents have to join Riverdale High School, as seen in the teaser trailer. The differences the two schools have is a obvious turn-out. It’s a basic “The Outsiders” rivalry and brawl. I think the writers of the show are trying to show that Jones has been changed after joining the Serpents because they’re making him more bad than he truly is.

Another odd thing that happens in the returning episode that wasn’t necessary is that Mrs. Blossom, played by Nathalie Boltt, has a weird character development in this episode. She took a turn for the worse, but she is not a big enough character for people to care.

What I did like about the returning episode was the ending. The writers didn’t fail at leaving us with a cliffhanger. It’s because of the cliffhanger and the weird development of characters I was still caught sitting, waiting for the next week’s episode.