After enlisting Archie's help, Cheryl's plan to fool her family spirals out of control. Jughead turns to Veronica for help after finding himself in some trouble, and Betty gives Kevin an ultimatum.

Principal Featherhead takes aim at the negative influence comic books have over kids, just as Jughead is tasked by Pep Comics to write four tales for a new issue.

In order to keep Riverdale High's basketball legacy alive, Frank and Archie recruit a new player to the team - a quiet farm boy named Reggie Mantle. Tabitha's return to school inspires Toni to start a literary society for Riverdale's Black students. Alice forces Betty to join the River Vixens, and Kevin starts a new job at the Babylonium.

Archie and Reggie lean on each other as they prepare for their big basketball game against Stonewall Prep. Meanwhile, as they deal with ongoing issues with their parents, Betty and Veronica decide to throw a slumber party with Kevin and Clay.

Panic ensues after Archie and the gang learn that Mrs. Thornton is accused of being a communist. Cheryl's father Clifford forces her to out gay students at Riverdale High or risk losing power over the Vixens. Meanwhile, Hiram's surprise arrival to town is quickly met with suspicion by Veronica, and Jughead devises a plan to get around a boycott of comic books.

It's time for the town's annual Miss Teen Riverdale pageant and Betty, Veronica, Cheryl and Toni each have their own reasons for entering. However, when Alice doesn't allow Ethel to enter the pageant, the girls band together to make sure she has a fighting chance.

Veronica sets up a screening at the Babylonium after Julian gets his hands on a stag film and invites Archie, Reggie and the guys over for a watch party. Betty unexpectedly reunites with Polly and learns about her sister's new life in New York. Elsewhere, Jughead goes to war with Dr. Werthers over his censure of comic books.

As the gang gets swept up in Cold War paranoia, a new mystery brewing in Riverdale leads Jughead to suspect it may have ties to a string of suspicious murders in town. Archie reconsiders his future after Uncle Frank gives him a hard time about his poetry writing, and a shocking discovery involving her family shakes Betty to her core.