—A scene critique of what Cheryl said to Betty in 4x18—

a thread.

OK. I need to have this little rant because I'm tired of seeing this come up against Betty and Archie. I love Cheryl. But what she said in 4x18 is irrelevant because her opinion can't and doesn't take into account all of the variables that we as the audience know.

Betty didn't "choose" Jughead because she doesn't have real feelings for Archie. Betty committed to Jughead because Cheryl reminded Betty that she loves Jughead and can be happy with him, he is all Betty knows and Betty was scared to lose that familiarity.

1. The article quote.

I see this all the time. I need us all to understand that this means that Cheryl tells *the truth SHE sees* (always, the quote isn't about just this scene). She isn't afraid to be blunt and honest, a mouthpiece for the obvious without softening the blow. +

+ Cheryl was able to state the simple truth that bughead have been through a lot and Betty loves him and cheating would be wrong. Cheryl saw past Betty's "pretend". She knows barchie was real to an extent, but doesn't know the depth of Betty's feelings for Archie.

2. No objective truth

Cheryl can't tell *the* truth, it's subjective opinion without all the facts. Maybe barchie are a "fantasy", they're almost too perfect an idea to be true. But that doesn't mean it's JUST a fantasy. In fact... in a fictional show like rvd it's all fantasy.

3. Betty doesn't know how she feels.

This is obvious. But how could Cheryl possibly know that Betty is "in love with the idea of Archie" if Betty can't even understand "whatever this is" or what she feels... how could Cheryl know??? *No one can tell another person how to feel.*

4. Cheryl has no idea how Archie feels.

Cheryl isn't close with Archie, she appreciates him for being a good guy. But she knows nothing about his feelings for Betty because they've never talked about it and she's never seen him show how he feels for Betty.

5. Cheryl wasn't close with Betty before she got with Jughead.

We've known this since the pilot when Cheryl was awful to Betty, and even in Betty's diary she wrote about hating Cheryl. How could Cheryl know Betty's past and inner feelings if they were never friends?

6. Cheryl gave the obvious opinion/option.

Anyone would on a superficial level see bughead and varchie being perfect happy couples that should be "endgame" (not going to bother elaborating on the dumb endgame comment though) amidst crazy rvd. And that's what Cheryl sees. +

+On the surface Betty and Archie can't even acknowledge their own feelings... of course it looks like it came out of nowhere and is fantasy. Betty was reading through her childhood journals. Or course Cheryl was like "so nostalgia?" "childhood fantasy?"

Cheryl didn't see or hear this. This wasn't a fantasy.

Cheryl didn't see this. This wasn't a fantasy.

Cheryl didn't hear this. This wasn't a fantasy.

Betty lied to Cheryl about having cheated so Cheryl doesn't know about any of this. (And FYI only one of these pictures is a fantasy... and it's a fantasy dream because barchie want to be together *that* badly.)

Cheryl doesn't know about these words that aren't fantasy.

Cheryl's opinion isn't any deeper than any outsider opinion in the town, there is nothing special about Cheryl saying something to Betty about Betty's feelings for Archie. No one except Betty and Archie know how they really feel, and even they haven't admitted it to themselves.

7. Cheryl's words were a necessary plot device.

The writers needed a character who Betty would listen to, who spits the blunt simple truth to give Betty an easy out. To say "Hey, don't cheat! You love your boyfriend!" Because the cheating had to stop for dramatic payoff +

+ so that the truth comes out later to maximize the drama (watch any show/movie or read a book I promise this is obvious). It had to stop so that Betty and Archie aren't as terrible. They kissed once, it's bad but not irredeemable. We can explore barchie if they're redeemable.

8. Betty took the easy out Cheryl gave.

I could write a whole other scene analysis on Betty "choosing" Jughead. But let's be clear, she couldn't even acknowledge how she feels about Archie, and she *OBVIOUSLY* has feelings for him. Cheryl gave the simple "right" answer. +

+ But "right" doesn't necessarily mean Betty's feelings for Archie are a fantasy or that it will be right in the long run (in fact I guaranty pushing feelings down and hiding the cheating will make things *worse* in the long run.)

SO. In summary. Cheryl gave a perspective, the purity "right" perspective, and she gave it based off what she knows of the situation, and since that isn't the whole truth her opinion can't be the whole truth.

We've seen time and time again that Betty WANTS to avoid how she feels and suppress parts of herself that scare her. It's one of her main personality traits to lie to herself instead of letting herself feel. Cheryl just gave her the out to avoid her feelings for Archie.

SO thank you Cheryl for helping the writers prolong drama I'm super excited to watch it play out... But your statement about Betty's feelings for Archie is invalid as a statement.

(I could probably elaborate more on every point I made but thankfully twitter won't let me actually write an essay. Saves me time and more embarrassment.

If you've made it this far congrats wow. I'm impressed.)

@slowburnsftw I decided to rant publicly apparently.