Riverdale is a series where teenagers look like 30-year-old models, secret identical twins run rampant, and Cole Sprouse is the leader of a motorcycle gang. In order to enjoy this CW series to the fullest — which I, for one, most certainly do — you have to accept a certain level of insanity. However, that doesn't mean some of the show's less-than-cohesive plots don't come with plenty of questions from fans. The most "huh?" plots of all just so happen to involve the hot parents of Riverdale — though these plots weren't always so confusing.
How did Riverdale's new madame Penelope Blossom (Nathalie Boltt) recover from her burns so quickly? What was up with those pills that Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) was popping after his gunshot wound?
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It turns out that those plot lines weren't dropped as much as they just never made it to the show's final cut.
According to the deleted scenes on the DVD extras of Riverdale: The Complete Second Season, there was a great deal of plot that the series simply left on the cutting room floor. Of the deleted scenes, several would have given fans much deeper insight into plot points that the show teased — then never quite picked up again.
After Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) burned down her family's mansion, Penelope ran back inside the house to save a few precious items, and ended up receiving severe burns in the process. Though Penelope had a full-on Goodnight Mommy look for the first episode of season 2, fans saw very little of the burn recovery process.
However, Riverdale initially had multiple scenes dedicated to Penelope's recovery, and even explored her disturbed mind: Penelope, apparently, still sets the table for deceased son Jason (Trevor Stines) and husband Clifford (Barclay Hope). As if poor Cheryl wasn't messed up enough, she had to stare at the never-to-be-touched plates set up for her dead relatives.
There's also another moment from the deleted scenes which would have provided a lot more for Luke Perry to play with. Remember when we saw Fred take a painkiller in season 2, with the show heavily implying that maybe the best Riverdale dad wasn't coping as well as we thought from his run-in with the Black Hood? Riverdale actually had an entire "Fred becomes addicted to painkillers" subplot that was dropped.
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The plot point even includes a moment between Fred and F.P. Jones (Skeet Ulrich), who asks Fred to be his unofficial AA sponsor. Fred says he'll do so, if F.P. returns the favour:
"After I got shot I started taking painkillers," Fred tells his old high school buddy. "Archie found an empty bottle, in the trash can, and it seemed like a wake up call."
Speaking of F.P. — he and Betty's mum Alice (Madchen Amick) also get an expanded upon subplot, thanks to these deleted scenes. When F.P. goes to see Carrie: The Musical, in which Alice is playing Mrs. White, it's with more than just the intention to see his former high school sweetheart on stage. He brings an apology note, hinting that Falice was very much alive and well in F.P.'s head.
For a show that focuses so much on Archie (K.J. Apa) and his BFFs, it's kind of nice to know that the parents of these teens have lives that are equally full and complicated — even if we had to see major moments in deleted scenes after the season was already over. Fortunately, Riverdale is already promising more parent action in season 3, with a very special flashback episode to the parents' high school days. That particular episode will have the young cast portray the adult characters during their teenage years. We'll also, according to TVLine, see a showdown between two Riverdale fathers: Fred and Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) will engage in a clash of the hot daddies.
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Will season 3 illuminate the inner lives of everyone's mum and dad? Here's hoping that the next season of Riverdale finally treats these grown-ups like the equal players they should be.
Check out the deleted scenes below:
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