The Riverdale Companion: This won't end well Archiekins

Watching Riverdale always makes me want to rematch old movies. 
Mark Consuelos Hiram Lodge Riverdale



Riverdale s02e12; The wicked and Divine quoted Casino Royale, Cruel Intentions, and went all Paris Texas when Dark Betty sat in front of her computer screen and closed the door.


Oh Betty...
Betty, Archie, Veronica and Jughead are sinking deeper into the cesspool, unable to rid themselves of the sins of the past, following in the footsteps of their family members.
Riverdale is the Upside Down, where teens due to a sense of loyalty, a search for justice and pure love find themselves on the darkest path wading through a forest full of weeds and poisonous bushes.
At least Archie should know better, being the only one with half decent father. But Archie wants to prove he is worthy of Veronica. Or maybe his apprenticeship isn't about love at all, but Archie's ego growing out of proportion.
It won't end well, Archiekins.

As Jughead wrote getting an education from a mobster is a trope and this trope spells trouble.  Capital T.
Archie is running all over town doing chores for Hiram. When Don Lodge hears Archie beat up Nick St Clair after he tried to molest Veronica, showing no mercy, Don Lodge thinks Archie is ready for the big leagues. The famous poker party where the heads of the family congregate.
Archie is playing both sides, having been forced to be the eyes and ears of the FBI. He is supposed to report back, but instead warns Hiram, that Papa Poutine wants to take Hiram out of the equation, sealing Papa's fate.
I can see this relationship between Hiram and Archie ending like The Godfather Three. There are so many Godfather inspired scenes, the lightning is straight out of Coppola's playbook and the renounce Satan routine is always done whenever a mobster is killing off his enemies.
In numero 3, Michael Corleone takes his nephew Vincent under his wing. Only Vincent is fooling around and falling for Michael's daughter, Mary, played by Sofia Coppola. Sofia got a lot of flak for that movie, but I love her in it. The whole thing ends horribly; Micheal's enemies take out a hit on him and kill Mary instead.  I wouldn't want poor Veronica to be caught in the crosshairs of her father's malevolent business dealings but being in the middle between the big dog and the puppy might end up with her being hurt.
The best outcome for Archie could be a Donnie Brasco kind of a deal. In Donnie Brasco the undercover FBI agent played by Johnny Depp gets so attached to mobster Al Pacino that he breaks his own heart when he has to give him up. Tragic, but I rather see Hiram go down than Archie. Only Hiram doesn't seem to have one good bone in his body, so this will probably not happen.

I personally would like to see Riverdale go all out Departed (and Internal affairs). In that one Matt Damon and Leonardo di Caprio, both undercover, one as the gangster gone cop and the other as the cop gone gangster, square off, both getting killed in the end. That won't happen in Riverdale but it would be fun if Archie wasn't the only mole, but we have seen any indication that this intricate plot could play out.

No, this relationship between Hiram and Archie reminds me the most not of a Mafia movie, but of Wallstreet. With Hiram as Gekko, and Archie as Bud with the blue collar father. Giving us an ending where Bud/Archie has to choose between two fathers, turns state's evidence against Gekko/Hiram and goes off to prison himself for the crimes he has committed under Gekko/Hiram's spell. A Babydriver kind of and ending. Unlike Baby, we know Archie will not spend too much time in prison only dreaming of getting out and riding off with his dream girl.