Ten nights working the Lonely Highway,
and not even a nibble.
Truckers are not stopping for us.
Though I'm sure we'd have better luck
at catching our killers if we were flying solo.
Ten quiet nights with no new murders
is a win in my book.
When serial killers go quiet,
that is when you should be afraid.
That is when their desire to hunt
and kill is building up inside of them.
Dr. Curdle Jr., it's early for you.
I'm calling about our tongueless friend.
You asked me not to report him
to the proper authorities,
but I'm getting nervous
keeping his corpse in cold storage.
I'd like your permission
to incinerate the body
in my crematorium.
No. He's evidence for the Lonely Highway case.
It's risky for me, Miss Cooper.
And refrigeration is expensive.
Why don't I come by in a bit with a payment
to help cover your extra expenses?
That would greatly ease my anxiety.
-Okay. I will see you in a couple of hours.
And here I thought leaving Chicago
for Riverdale would mean no nightlife. Huh.
- See you at dusk? - See you at dusk.
I had just about given up hope, Archie.
We haven't found the mother lode of palladium yet,
but I have faith.
Look, Cheryl, about that.
Me and the guys, we're down there breaking rocks for you,
pulling 12-hour shifts,
when there's so much we could be doing topside.
Ah, yes, your crusade to save Riverdale,
which consists of what, at this point?
Filling in potholes?
Maintaining the town's infrastructure
until we can get reincorporated.
Which I'm happy to do on my days off,
- but it costs money. - I know where this is going.
If I'm putting my crew's focus on the mines,
then I need your assurance
that if we find that palladium--
You and your men will be fairly compensated.
In fact, I will deposit
a modest finder's fee via Chime
- in exchange for the nugget.
In the future, a portion of whatever
you unearth will be set aside
to subsidize your revitalization efforts.
Then we will work our asses off for you.
Let's move on to the house in Sag Harbor.
That's mine. And I won't sign
the divorce papers unless I get it.
I bought that house, Chad,
with money I made on Wall Street.
- I want alimony, too. - Fine, you worm.
And this apartment.
Fine.
Fine. Take the Pembrooke.
And you know what?
- Take this ring and rot in hell.
I don't care, Chad. Take it all.
All I want, all I need is Archie.
Poor, dim, impressionable Kevin.
I'm worried for you.
When I started this ministry,
it was with nothing but the purest of intentions.
And now Cheryl has twisted it into something profane.
Dare I say, cult-like.
When Cheryl made those bees dance
to her infernal tune,
I got distinct Wicker Man-like vibes.
If this religion's a cult, then you're in it, too.
Mm. Please. My will is a steel rod.
Can you say the same?
Pop's, this is Tabitha.
Oh, Mrs. Fields, of course. How's Squeaky doing?
Riverdale is done with me.
And I am done with Riverdale.
No. No, I... I haven't heard from her since she left.
I admit, when Mr. Weatherbee told me
that two students had gotten into a fight,
you're the last person I thought would've been
involved with that, Britta.
I punched Tim Higgins once.
And only because he wouldn't stop calling me...
homophobic names.
Well, that's completely unacceptable.
I'll talk to Tim.
But violence isn't the answer.
I know.
The thing is, Ms. Topaz, I think I am.
Gay.
I mean, I haven't told my family yet or anything.
Coming out can be a process.
And sometimes a difficult one.
It was for me when I came out.
But the good news is...
only you get to decide when is the right time for you.
And I'll be here if you need anybody to talk to.
If I wanted to talk to my parents,
would you be there with me?
Absolutely.
I'd be honored.
So, my daughter continues to be
as much a thorn in your side as she is mine, huh?
I keep hoping we might reconcile.
You won't.
Not as long as Archie is in the picture.
See, it's one of the things I've learned over the years.
My daughter's greatest vulnerability
is her love for Archie.
So if you want a shot in hell
at saving your marriage,
you're going to have to get rid of him.
It's a ghost gun.
No serial numbers. Untraceable.
Hey.
I just finished practice with the Vixens.
Do you want to ride back to Thornhill together?
Actually, Cheryl, can I ask you something?
When we pray,
who are we praying to?
- Jason? - Um...
Jason is more of a conduit.
A messenger to the higher power.
Which is what, exactly?
I'm not sure.
- Let me fast on it. - What?
Well, it's like doing a cleanse. No solid food.
Only hot water with lemon, maple syrup
and a hint of cayenne pepper.
It flushes you out completely,
and then once I'm empty,
I can be refilled with wisdom
and answers for you, Kev-Kev.
I'm worried about a friend of mine.
A waitress who used to work here, Squeaky.
Her mom called and said that she never made it
to her friends in California.
Oh, God. Tabitha, I'm sorry.
Me, too. Is there anything I can do to help?
There is, Jughead.
The Lonely Highway killings are a mystery, right?
And everyone tells me that there wasn't a mystery
you two couldn't solve back in the day.
So... I'm canceling all of your shifts.
You'll still get your weekly paycheck,
but it won't be to bus tables.
It will be to help Betty.
Betty, are you down with this plan?
Yeah. Yes.
- Jughead? - Sure.
Great. What's the first step?
Well, I'm assuming that you have thorough case files.
- Yeah. - I'll start by reading those.
Chad?
So you captured a guy who more or less confessed.
And then they swallowed their own tongue
because they thought you were going to dismember them?
Yeah. That's sort of the last big thing that happened.
And you still think this is several serial killers working
- in tandem over the years? - Yeah. Yes.
A family of truckers who have been kidnapping and murdering
hitchhikers and sex workers.
And Lerman Marshall Logan.
My ex-student that disappeared on the Lonely Highway
and was... somewhere for, like, a week, remember?
Yeah, yeah, no. I've been thinking about him
and he doesn't fit any of the victim profiles,
which might be a clue in and of itself.
He might be one of the only people
who actually encountered this family of yours
and survived. Now, at the time,
Weatherbee didn't let me talk to him
because I was a teacher and he was a student.
But now Lerman has transferred and I've been fired, so...
So we need to talk to Lerman.
Yeah, I'll find him on social.
Hi, Dr. Curdle. I'm so sorry.
I have your money in small bills.
Another body's been brought in from Swedlow Swamp, Ms. Cooper.
I think you'll find it very interesting.
The victim is unlike any we've found.
The body has been completely dismembered.
Why would they change their MO?
Maybe to make the bodies harder to find.
Have you identified the victim yet?
Unfortunately not.
The body was mutilated beyond all recognition.
But, based on the level of decomposition,
it could be your sister.
I'll need to perform a DNA test on the remains,
and then compare it to--
Mine. Yeah, do it.
There's also a waitress from Pop's.
Lynette "Squeaky" Fields.
She vanished around the same time as Polly.
I'm going to reach out to her family
and ask for a sample as well.
It's so funny, Chad.
Your pathetic attempt to kill my lover
has made me rethink what I want out of this divorce.
I'm getting everything.
And you're getting nothing.
And if you don't agree to those terms,
I'll seek to press murder charges against you.
- How? - You dropped the gun, idiot.
Check and mate, you little bitch.
Mm, these croissants are positively divine.
You should try one, dear child.
I already told you, Mother.
I'm fasting for enlightenment.
As a matter of fact, I'm feeling rather...
- Lightheaded? - Inspired.
I am going to go paint
and let the invisible hand guide my brush.
- Oh, my God. Cheryl. - I'm fine.
Just leave me be, you doubting Thomases.
I had Archie in my sights but the gun misfired.
Veronica stole my palladium.
Archie stole your wife.
I thought one bullet would right these two wrongs, but...
As a wise man once said,
never send in a boy to do a man's job.
Get out of my sight, Chad.
You disgust me.
Better yet, get out of Riverdale.
'Cause you lost my daughter forever.
Hi, handsome.
Hey, Ronnie.
What's going on?
Guess what's in here.
My divorce papers.
It's official. I'm a free woman.
Hey, you're going out?
Yeah, I'm heading down to the station.
I don't mind the distraction since Tom called
and said that there was another body found.
Yeah. I went to the morgue.
I don't know... if it's Polly.
The body is...
- What, Betty? - It's...
dismembered.
- Oh, my God. - I know.
I know, but Jughead and I have a lead.
Okay.
Keep me posted.
Look at what came out of me.
This. This is your answer, Kevin.
The higher power you've been praying to,
drawing strength from.
I don't understand.
Earth, water, fire and wind.
They're the fabric of the natural world.
I'm still not following.
The higher power is nature itself.
That's what we should be worshiping, Kevin.
The elements. It all makes perfect sense.
How do you figure that?
Well, for more than a century,
we Blossoms have made our livelihood
from maple trees,
but our roots go so much deeper
than I've ever considered.
So, when we pray, we...
- pray to-- - Gaia. Mother Earth.
Okay. Got it.
You know, Cheryl...
I'm really happy that you found some clarity.
But I think I'm out.
This religion has gotten a little too fringe-y,
even for me.
I hope that's okay.
Of course, it's okay, Kev.
You've always been free to go.
But you will always have a place here.
What if Lerman doesn't even show up?
He will. I promised him
my first edition copy of War of the Worlds,
which is actually a fifth edition.
Hey, guys.
...whoever is terrorizing our town,
committing these inhumane murders,
you have to stop.
Every time the phone rings,
I pray it's about my daughter.
I pray for closure.
Just today, another victim was found.
Their dismembered body is down at the Riverdale morgue.
What does it say about me
that I want it to be my daughter...
so that this nightmare will end?
So that I can wake up.
Please.
- Help me wake up.
Mr. Jones?
Sorry, my bus was late.
Rough day, huh?
I'm worried about one of my students.
Britta Beach.
She's gay, and she asked me to be there with her
when she came out to her parents.
So, I was. And--
Let me guess.
They didn't immediately say,
"We love you no matter what."
Nope. They said, "Are you sure?"
- Ah. -"Do you have to be?"
I'm sorry, Toni. That sucks.
Big time.
It's such a lottery, you know?
Who your parents are,
what kind of family you grow up in.
I mean, it wasn't easy for me when I came out to my nana.
Yeah, my dad was pretty harsh
when I told him I was bi.
He was like, "Great. You can choose,
so choose being with a woman."
I was like, "That's not how that works, Dad."
Yeah.
So, is Britta going to be okay?
I talked her parents off the ledge, I think.
But she's a tough kid.
So, I hope so.
And, for the record,
no matter what baby Anthony is,
I'll be ecstatic.
Same.
What the heck was that?
We need to get out of here right now.
Archie, Archie, Eric's working further down the tunnel.
Get everyone topside, I'll find Eric.
Archie!
Guys, get out. Come on.
Everybody out! Let's go, move. Move!
Everybody move. Move!
What is it, you philistine?
I'm working on my 12 Commandments.
Oh, my God, Kev. How many are still underground?
Hello?
Cheryl, what's up?
Oh, my God. I'm on my way.
Thank you again for coming to meet us, Lerman.
Not a problem, Mr. Jones.
I felt bad ghosting you like I did.
That's okay. You're here now.
And are you still willing to talk about that week
that you went missing?
Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready to.
Any details whatsoever could help prevent this
from happening to anyone else, so...
Most of it's fuzzy,
but the best I can piece together is
I was sleepwalking like I sometimes do
along the Lonely Highway.
Then, the next time I woke up,
I was in this metal shed.
It was small. There weren't any windows.
It looked like the inside of a spaceship.
That's how Polly described where she was to my mom.
What else do you remember?
I could hear voices outside sometimes.
Voices? Plural?
Yeah, maybe even a family?
Were you alone in the shed?
Yeah.
'Til the Mothman came in
- and helped me escape. - The Mothman?
That's what he called himself.
He had red eyes.
One bigger than the other.
Or weird red markings on his face.
He said I was a mistake,
that I shouldn't have been caught,
and that he was throwing me back,
the way you sometimes throw a small fish back into a lake.
Wait. So he let you go,
he freed you from the shed, and then he took you
to the Lonely Highway where you were found?
He said I better not tell anyone what had happened,
or more Mothmen would come back for me some night.
Lerman, this is very important.
Do you know where the shed is?
No, but it was close to the Lonely Highway.
- I know that much. - How do you know that?
Because I could hear the trucks rumbling by.
Dr. Curdle has the DNA results.
He wants to tell us in person.
Kevin, Cheryl, what's the update?
Been trying Archie's phone, and Eric's.
They're not getting any signal down there.
How long will it take to dig them out?
We need more hands on deck, we need heavy duty equipment.
And even then, it'll take hours, if not days.
Okay.
Whatever you need, no matter the cost, just do it.
First, you said there was an explosion. What kind of explosion?
Yeah, the kind that was triggered deliberately.
But who in their right mind would
blow up a mine on purpose?
I can guess.
Jackson.
- You with me, buddy?
I'm here, Sarge.
Okay. Just hold on.
You need to take shallow breaths. Okay?
We need to conserve as much oxygen as possible.
The others...
Did they make it out?
Yeah.
Yeah. It's just us in here.
But don't worry. I'm gonna dig us out, okay?
We ran your DNA against the most recent victim, Ms. Cooper.
And it wasn't a match.
So, it's not Polly, again.
No, but the body parts were a match to Lynette Fields.
Oh, my God. Squeaky.
There is more, I'm afraid. Your DNA did come back as a match to another body.
Your tongueless John Doe.
The trucker? How can that be?
It seems he's your very distant cousin.
What? No. That's impossible.
All of the Coopers are either... dead or accounted for.
What about your more distant relatives?
The Blossoms?
There's one last thing. When I was at my lab,
the morgue was broken into.
The body of the John Doe
and the severed limbs of Lynette Fields were stolen.
They're covering their tracks.
They heard my mom on the news
and they came here to steal the evidence.
It's just like when our Mothman body was taken.
Yes. Yes, it is.
Nana Rose gave us that Mothman that was stolen,
and now your prime suspect tests positive for Blossom DNA.
Lerman was held captive by a Mothman
near the Lonely Highway.
These two things are connected, and their connection...
Is the Blossoms.
You two go.
I'm gonna get in touch with Squeaky's family.
But, guys,
when the time comes to take these monsters down,
I want in.
Two miners, Archie Andrews and Eric Jackson,
both Army veterans,
remain unaccounted for after the mine collapse
in Riverdale earlier today.
-Relief efforts are currently underway.
But the condition of the miners are not yet known.
Oh, good. You're awake.
-Mija? - Let's start with the obvious.
I know you're behind the mine explosion.
Don't bother denying it.
Untie me immediately!
It's ironic, I keep hearing
the words my guidance counselor said to me
way back in high school.
That our sick dance of death
could only end with one of us dying.
And now, here we are,
headed straight for an Oedipal tragedy
set in motion when I was...
a 14-year-old girl.
Veronica, stop being so dramatic.
Oh, but this story is dramatic, Daddy.
The day of my quinceanera.
It was supposed to be...
the most important,
celebratory day of my young life.
When I overheard you in your study,
talking with some of your friends,
telling them I was a disappointment.
That you wished Mom had given you a son
to follow in your footsteps.
Oh. How nice.
You remember.
Do you know...
what it does to a 14-year-old girl...
to hear that kind of dismissal from her own father?
I have spent an entire lifetime
chasing your approval and love. And for what?
Sociopaths aren't capable of love.
Which is why
I want to be very clear with you right now.
If Archie dies,
you die.
Can you feel it, Daddy?
Our dance of death is finally coming to an end.
Hey, Nana.
We need to talk to you about the Mothmen, remember?
I've told you what I know.
Look at me. Look right at me.
Right now, young women, including my sister,
who was a member of your family,
are being abducted,
tortured, and murdered.
So, focus
and answer our questions.
Right. You gave my friend and I a corpse inside a maple barrel.
Who was it?
The truth, Nana.
I'm ashamed to admit it. It was Cousin Timothy.
I came across his corpse in the woods
after he passed, and I put him in a barrel.
Poor Timothy. He was born with so many defects--
Okay. Cousin Timothy?
This... this is a blood relative of yours?
My late husband
was a compulsive philanderer.
He made the beast with every woman who worked on our estate.
The maids, the cooks, the nannies.
And then when they swelled with child,
he forced me to pawn them off to avoid a scandal.
But I knew a barren couple
who lived in a cabin in the woods.
The Starkweathers.
I gave the children to them.
How many children in total?
Oh, over the years, half a dozen.
The trucker that I caught, the one who bit off his tongue,
he must have been one of them. A Starkweather.
A Blossom, dear. In part.
Nana.
You're... you're saying
there is a secret,
illegitimate clan of Blossoms
that have lived in the woods for two generations?
Why did you call the corpse a Mothman?
The family kept to themselves.
Didn't like eyes prying into their business.
So, they created a fiction.
The Mothmen.
One which we Blossoms were all too eager to embrace.
Do they still live in the woods?
Oh, my, no. They migrated from the there to the mines.
And then, when that closed down,
they moved closer to the highway.
Who else has been propagating the Mothmen idea for decades,
right in plain sight, right off the highway?
Old Man Dreyfuss.
Yes! Dreyfuss Starkweather, yes.
Is he still alive?
Oh, my God, Jug.
You and I have both been there.
Polly could've been there right under our noses.
It's Toni. She said there's an emergency.
- Are you still with me, Jackson?
How we doing, Sarge?
Not great. We're losing a lot of oxygen.
And a lot of blood.
I'm gonna be honest with you, I have no idea how we're gonna get out of there.
You don't really believe that, do you, Sergeant?
Bingo.
I thought we were square.
Apparently not.
Apparently you need a kick in the ass.
You remember back at basic, during our first PT test,
you did double the number of push-ups or pull-ups as any other guy?
You don't have an ounce of quit in you!
Bingo, I'm only one man.
All due respect, Sarge,
no, you're not.
Come on, guys, double-time.
Let's help the Sergeant get him and Corporal Jackson out of here.
Britta ran away last night.
Her mom called to see if she was here.
They got in a fight, and when her mom went to check on her, she was gone.
She left a note saying, "Now you don't have to deal with me."
Did Britta give any indication as to where she might've gone?
We called all her friends, no one knows anything.
Well, if there's even a chance that she's trying to get out of Riverdale
using the Lonely Highway,
then we need to go to that junkyard ASAP.
Wait, you know where the Highway Killer is?
Killers. Yeah, we think.
But we need a team to go in with us.
I wanna come. Fangs, you stay here
with Baby Anthony in case Britta comes back.
- Is that okay? - Um, not really.
No, Toni. You're a mother now.
You just can't go out on crazy raids anymore--
I have to, Fangs, Britta came to me for help,
and I saw myself in her.
And as for Baby Anthony,
I don't want him to grow up and think that his mom was a coward,
and that I didn't do everything I could to help somebody in need.
And besides, there's nobody better to take care of him than you.
Than my mom, you mean,
'cause if you're going on this raid, then I'm going with you.
I'm gonna be watching your back,
and that's not up for discussion.
Well, how about we watch each other's backs?
Deal.
Cheryl, any luck finding a first aid kit in here?
I'm looking, sit down.
Veronica, you're stressed, you're injured.
You need to take a break. Or at least go home,
- get cleaned up. - I can't go home.
Archie's trapped in a mine.
I know, but you will want to be your gorgeous self
when Orpheus emerges from the underworld,
and probably not with an infected hand.
Trust me, go get refreshed,
and I'll hold down the fort here.
And not to worry. I've got some serious backup.
I call upon fire.
Which consumed my brother's body
and mighty Thornhill once upon a time.
I call upon wind,
as I have once before.
Blow a cool gust
across Archie's brow.
I call upon water,
where I saw my departed brother
in the icy depths of Sweetwater River,
and where I, myself, was reborn.
And lastly...
I call upon the Earth.
Dear Gaia, please return Archie and Eric to us.
Open a path for them
so that they may return to the land of the living.
Pippi, turns off all the lights in the apartment.
Pippi, play Wagner.
Full volume.
Miss Veronica?
Oh, my goodness. Pippi, lights on. Music off.
Miss Veronica.
What happened?
Chad broke in...
and attacked me.
Oh.
Cheryl, any news?
- Came to finish the job?
I can't tell you how tempting that proposition is.
Then again,
I've already seen blood spilt today.
Besides...
unlike you, I stick to my word.
I told you you'd die if Archie did.
Well...
he didn't, Daddy.
Archie is alive,
above ground, and waiting for me.
You failed yet again.
You literally dropped a mountain on Archie
and still couldn't kill him.
You know...
I used to admire you...
grudgingly...
but I did.
But now you're just this...
silly cartoon.
I'm not afraid of you anymore.
'Cause you're no longer a threat to me.
But if you ever come after me or Archie again,
you'll end up getting shot.
Just like Chad did today.
- What? - Call Dr. Curdle for the details.
Bye, you little bitch.
As we discussed, Jughead, you're gonna distract Dreyfuss
while the rest of us search the junkyard.
If Britta is being kept in the same place that my sister and Lerman were held,
we're looking for some kind of windowless shed.
You know how to use a stun gun?
I'm from Chicago.
- Yes. Jughead? You good?
- I'm good. - We're ready then?
Jug, you're up. The rest of us, let's split up so we can cover more ground, okay?
You again.
Hey, Mr. Dreyfuss.
I'm so sorry to drop by unannounced.
I, uh... I actually just got back into town.
I was hoping that you and I could
continue our conversation about the Mothmen.
Let me grab some moonshine.
Actually, it's a little cold. Do you mind if we talk inside?
Don't mind the mess.
- Live here alone? - Yep. Just me.
No family, huh?
I thought we were gonna discuss the Mothmen.
But they are your family.
Aren't they, Mr. Starkweather?
You know, I wondered if we were gonna have trouble with you.
How much have you figured out?
Not all of it.
Do you mind if I take a stab at it?
Be my guest.
The Mothman corpse
we had at Pop's,
that was, uh, Timothy, your half-brother.
You were the one that took it.
You must have overheard Tabitha and I talking about it
when you came to pick up your regular
Thursday night order of pork chops.
And you did. We have receipts.
You were also the person that stole the bodies
from the morgue.
There was another brother.
Swallowed his own tongue just to keep your secret.
Which is what, to your thinking?
That you and your inbred brothers
drive up and down the Lonely Highway searching for women to murder.
Lerman, he was an outlier,
because it's women that you're after.
Why?
To survive.
So we started going after
the people that no one would miss.
Runaways
and sex workers, drug addicts.
To what, steal from them?
Those people couldn't have had much money.
You're right, of course.
But we don't need much to survive.
Anyway, after a while, it wasn't about that.
It was about--
The hunt.
The sport of it all?
Yep.
So the Mothmen story, that was just a cover up?
Just a spooky little tale
to keep people away from all the disappearances on the highway.
And if someone goes missing, then...
maybe they were taken up in an alien spaceship.
People believe what they want to believe.
Nobody cared about those girls.
Oh.
You are so wrong about that.
Britta? Ms. Topaz?
Okay, I'm gonna get you out, hold on.
Betty?
Wanna test that armor against a point-blank shotgun blast?
Didn't think so.
Betty, are you okay?
I heard you scream. What happened?
I found Britta. She's fine.
Scared, but fine.
Remember what you told us about Lerman,
how a Mothman helped him escape?
Well, apparently not all Starkweathers are evil incarnate.
Hi, Britta.
Oh, my God, Jughead.
Are you okay?
Yeah. No, I'm fine. He tried to chew his tongue off
and choke on it. But not before he answers our questions.
Your hunting days are over, you sick--
How does it feel?
My foot? Like it's on fire.
The rest of me? Like a complete ass.
Well, who would've known we were walking into The Hills Have Eyes?
Toni...
we can do this.
Right?
Like, all of this.
Oh, yeah. We got this.
You and me just...
watching each other's backs.
Not even the Earth swallowing you whole
could keep us from this moment, Archiekins.
Another brush with death to add to your ever-growing list.
Your guardian angel deserves a raise.
More than one, Ronnie.
Mr. Starkweather,
I've spoken to my colleagues at the FBI,
and they'll be here soon to take you
and your brothers away.
But before that happens...
I would very much appreciate it
if you would tell me where my sister is.
Please tell me.
She's in the junkyard.
I can draw you a map.