'Riverdale' Season 2, Episode 6 'Death Proof' Recap: A Race for Truth and a Witch Hunt for the Sugarman [SPOILERS]

Justice is not always served in “Riverdale.” Assault charges and drug deals go under the radar, especially when Mayor McCoy (Robin Givens) pins everything on the Southside Serpents. Jughead (Cole Sprouse) decides to help clear the gang’s name especially when a rival poses a threat. Betty (Lili Reinhart) is still the number one peacemaker of Riverdale as she’s ready to turn the tables on the Black Hood. Meanwhile, Nick St.Clair is paying for silence about Cheryl’s (Madelaine Petsch) would-be assault. It’s an exciting sixth episode for the fourth season of “Riverdale.” They promised a darker show and they definitely know how to deliver.

The Sugarman a ‘Riverdale’ Children’s Tale

You may have heard of the Boogeyman—a monster hiding under our beds when we were children. But have you ever heard of the Sugarman? A man dealing drugs; and if you snitch on him, he takes your children in the dead of night. It’s a story Cheryl’s mother told her when she was younger. An all too real fear turned into a child’s worst nightmare. But it looks like Cheryl’s Sugarman is more than another made-up story.
After giving Nick’s name to the Black Hood, Betty immediately regrets it and tries to save him, only to find out it was a test and Nick is walking away free of any consequences. The Black Hood is happy to find out that Betty is ready to give up any name, so he finally tells her who his next victim is. The only problem is that he doesn’t know who it is and tells Betty to find out for him. He asks her to find the supplier of the new hit drug on the streets, Jingle Jangle, the man known as the Sugarman. Knowing Clifford Blossom was tied to the drug trade of Jing Jangle, Betty asks Cheryl to dig for more traumas. Cheryl agrees to help.

Aside from the Sugarman, Cheryl’s other worst nightmare is her mother—Penelope (Nathalie Boltt)—the only person who knows the identity of the Sugarman. As she was about to confront her mother about it, she finds out Penelope accepted a check from the St. Claires. This enrages Cheryl and it’s enough the cops don’t believe the almost-assault because she was high. Then her own mother is paid to say her daughter provoked Nick, a sad mirror of reality. Only 15.8 to 35 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to the police. Knowing her mother would continue to deny the existence of a Sugarman, Cheryl takes the check and will only give it back once her mother is ready to name names.

Jughead’s Race For Peace Between Sides

Archie (KJ Apa) was always the knight in shining armor of Riverdale, but sometimes it’s not always a good thing. But kudos to him for helping Jughead avoid a raid at Southside High lead by Mayor McCoy. Despite this, Jughead is still bitter at both Archie and Betty for hurting him. To add salt to the wound, Jughead had to witness his friends Toni and Sweet Pea get handcuffed. It looks like the PG-13 grope session with Toni actually meant something to Jughead. Because of the raid, Jughead seeks help from his father’s right-hand man. It was disappointing for Jughead to find the Serpents making deals with their rival gang, the Ghoulies. Their leader offers to make peace if the Serpents help a deal with Jing Jangle. Of course, Jughead refuses to work with the Ghoulies and continue to ruin the image of the Southside.

Archie suggests they ask help from FP (Skeet Ulrich), who wasn’t happy knowing his son joined the Serpents. But he did give some solid advice in keeping the Serpents away from the Ghoulies. FP tells Jughead to compete in a race with the Ghoulies and whoever wins gets to call the shots. So, Archie and Jughead rev up their engines for a race. Jughead and Archie speed off with the Ghoulies sideswiping Jughead’s car and pulling ahead. As they approach a narrow bridge, it looks like Jughead might win. But Archie warns him only one car can fit and in the last second he yanks the parking brakes before Jughead speeds off to the bridge. The Ghoulies ended up getting ahead in the race—or so Jughead thought. Apparently, Archie tipped off the police, who were waiting on the other side of the bridge ready to arrest the Ghoulies.

Justice Served Cold in ‘Riverdale’

After the race, Cheryl comes home to see her mother crying by the fireplace. Penelope defended her husband who murdered their son. Now she’s ready to be on the good side of things. She finally tells Cheryl who the Sugarman is, but he is more than one person. According to Penelope, the Sugarman changes but they all have the same motives. She watched different Sugarmen come and go, she only told the silly tale to Cheryl to make it seem like her husband’s ordeals were a temporary nightmare. But after Jason’s death and Cheryl almost getting raped, Penelope didn’t want to deny the nightmare any longer. She not only tells Cheryl who the current Sugarman is but she also threw the check in the fire.

Cheryl calls Betty giving her the name of the Sugarman. It’s revealed that Jughead’s English teacher was the Sugarman. Betty uses the information to keep the Black Hood in check, but he isn’t going to let that happen. By the end of the episode, we see the Sugarman lying on his bed with regret as a dark shadow appears with a gun. The Black Hood is standing over him and shoots him. But that’s not the only surprise of the episode. It looks like the Lodges are taking lessons from “The Godfather,” because when Veronica tells their parents about Nick trying to assault her, the very next day the St. Claires was in a car accident. Everyone got what they deserved in the end.
“Riverdale” continues next Wednesday with “Tales from the Darkside,” 8/7c on The CW.