(Alice and Betty jump as there is a knock on FP's door. Neither Jug nor FP seem surprised.)
Alice: Who is that?
FP: I had to call in an expert to help me. Don't worry, it's safe.
(FP opens the door to Sam, dressed in black, wearing her Serpents jacket. She looks as if she is in dark mode. She steps inside, and FP hugs her. She notices Betty and Alice on the couch and shifts uncomfortably.)
Sam: What are they doing here?
FP: I told you it was complicated.
(Sam makes herself at home on the coffee table in front of Alice and Betty.)
Sam: I need you both to tell me everything you know. EVERYTHING. Even if you haven't told each other. You can be outraged at each other later. Tell ME now.
(Betty and Alice pour out their story to Sam. Sam is not surprised at all, only nods calmly. Alice is fearful.)
FP: This is why I called you.
Sam: What do you need from me?
FP: You and I need to get rid of the body.
Sam: I see. Well, luckily for Alice and Betty, we both know how to destroy a body.
Alice: What are you going to want from us in return?
Sam: Alice, what do you think this is? My family is the town conscience, so I'm going to need 20 Hail Marys and 30 Our Fathers? No, Alice, that's not me. (She pulls off her jacket, showing Alice the back) We take care of our own.
Alice: I don't understand. All these years, I thought your family hated us.
Sam: Not you, Alice. We hated Hal.
(Tension is momentarily broken as they all laugh.)
FP: Sam's had a dart board with Hal's face on it for as long as I can remember.
Alice: I have to ask, how did you get here? How did you become a Serpent?
(Sam is silent for a moment, considering how much she trusts Alice. Betty senses it.)
Betty: Sam, it's okay. We're not in a position to cross you.
Sam: You say that now. Oh, well. It'll come out eventually. Almost four years ago, FP… did me a favor. I paid him a quarter million for his trouble. That money helped the Serpents out of a rough time. That turned into a partnership, which turned into part ownership.
Alice: Ownership?
Sam: Of the Serpents. The quarter mil was a down payment, Alice. I've been the silent partner for years now. FP and I run the Serpents together.
(Alice and Betty are silent. Betty turns to Jughead.)
Betty: Is this why you joined the Serpents?
Jughead: No. I didn't even know until my initiation. That was when I found out.
Alice: Sam, have you ever… you know… killed anyone?
(Sam laughs dryly.)
Sam: No. Technically. He's still alive.
FP: Technically, I did that, Sammie.
Sam: I gave you the order.
Alice: I'm sorry?
Sam: Might as well tell you. I'm about to destroy a body for you. If you can't be honest now, when can you? (sarcastic chuckle) My cousin, Lonnie, abused me for years, Alice. Raped me, mutilated me, humiliated me, drugged me. FP found me one night after Lonnie had finished… I was a mess. I asked FP to kill him. I offered him money. FP wouldn't kill him. He's no killer, Alice.
Alice: That's how you knew FP couldn't have killed Jason Blossom. He wouldn't even kill someone who abused and raped a child.
Sam: My dad always loved FP. Tried to keep him straight. He loved Jughead and Jelly Bean. He always told me I'd marry Jug someday.
(Sam pauses, letting the bitterness between them settle in.)
FP: We're basically family now. Once Arthur died, Adam had his hands full. Ravena didn't handle their dad's death very well, and-
Alice: Ravena?
Sam: My sister. She's 19 now. She never got along with our dad. Real momma's girl. My mother's death was a mess. It destroyed Ravena. She was only 7. She hated that I was close to our dad.
Alice: Where is she?!
Sam: Away at school. To give her and my dad some space, he sent her away to boarding school. Then she went away to college. Sometimes I forget I have a sister. Mine and Adam's main focus is Joshua, anyway. Ravena managed to screw him up before my dad sent her off to school.
Jughead: Wait, what?
Sam: Family secret. Ravena has always blamed Joshua for our mother's death.
Betty: Why?
Sam: My mother died giving birth to Joshua. There were complications, and-
(Sam cuts off, overcome with emotion. She puts her head in her hands, leaning down between her knees. Jughead puts a hand on her back to comfort her, and she shrinks away from his touch. Betty notices, confused.)
Alice: I didn't realize, Sam. I am so sorry.
(Alice reaches for Sam's hand, gripping it in comfort. Sam smiles at her, and the tension between them is released. Alice now sees Sam differently, as does Alice.)
Sam: Ravena was just seven. We had no idea she was so disturbed at the time. Joshua was sleeping in his crib. Adam and my dad took turns watching him, but my dad needed a break. He had work to do, and Adam was studying. They figured they'd hear Joshua if he woke up. But the silence was deafening. It was Adam who walked in the room.
Jughead: What happened, Sammie?
(Sam shoots him a look, protesting his use of her nickname. Then, her mind goes to a dark place, a terrible memory.)
Sam: Ravena was standing over the crib with a knife. There was already blood dripping. Adam screamed, and my dad and I both ran in. It was terrible. I thought Joshua was dead. Adam ran to pick me up, and my dad went for Ravena. I remember her scream as he twisted the knife out of her hand… it didn't even sound human. She went insane. We had her committed. When she finally came to, she was in shock. She still blamed Joshua for our mom, but she couldn't believe what she'd done. Once she got better, my dad sent her away, and no one's let her be alone with Joshua since.
Betty: Is that why Joshua's a little… strange?
Sam: Yeah. His brain works fine, but the trauma stuck with him. He's shy, skittish, wary of people. The shrink said the best therapy was immersion therapy, so we sent him to school. The rest of us were home schooled. Adam stayed close to home for college to raise us. Ravena never came home after finishing high school. Went abroad and stayed there.
Betty: She goes to college in Europe?
Sam: We don't trust her at home.
Alice: So you haven't seen your sister since…
Sam: Since I was four. She was seven.
Betty: Whoa.
(Sam wipes a tear from her face and sighs deeply.)
Alice: Why didn't anyone else in the family step in to help?
Sam: You know why, Alice. My father's only sibling was Penelope Blossom.
Alice: I always forgot about that. I don't think I ever saw them speak to each other in public.
Sam: Their problems began long before she married Clifford Blossom.
Betty: Hey, I have a question.
Sam: Yeah.
Betty: What's with you and Cheryl? The look you got on your face when you found out what Nick St. Clair to her was dark and murderous.
Sam: He drugged her and intended to rape her. He thought he would get away with it. She lost her brother and her father, and now she has to live with Penelope. The last thing she ever needed or deserved was to get raped by a punk like Nick St. Clair. Seriously, not even Cheryl deserves it. I saw red.
Betty: You care about Cheryl.
(Sam doesn't answer at first. She relaxes her jaw.)
Sam: Someone ought to. Her own mother doesn't.
Alice: What a horrible woman.
(Awkward silence. Sam changes the subject.)
Sam: So, your turn. What happened?
(Alice looks nervous.)
Alice: Betty wasn't home. I want you to know that. She was here.
(Jughead searches Sam's face for some kind of reaction, but Sam is stone faced.)
Sam: Okay, so she didn't kill anyone. Got it. Continue.
Alice: This guy, he was a drug dealer. He… He got rough with Chic. Chic was trying to fight him off, but he was too strong. I just blacked out and picked up the lamp and hit him with it until the guy hit the floor.
Sam: Okay, and after that, did you hit him again? Was he still moving?
Alice: No. And no. Why?
Sam: I told you I needed all the details. The body will disappear and be destroyed, but I want to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is. I cover all the bases, Alice, okay? I don't want this coming back to haunt you down the road. This IS Riverdale, after all.
(Jughead guffaws, smiling a bit. Sam looks at him, but the look is of longing, not contempt.)
Alice: When Betty got home, Chic was freaking out and he shut down. Betty came in and after she got over the initial shock, she helped me roll the drug dealer up in the dining room rug and move him to the sewage drain. We cleaned the whole room down with bleach and burned the clothes we were wearing.
Sam: Okay. We'll need to replace that rug with an exact match, so let me handle that. FP, you remember those vats on my property?
FP: Of course.
Sam: We'll take the body there.
FP: Can't we just get the rug cleaned?
Sam: Not anymore. Once Alice and Betty dumped it in the sewer drain, they exposed it to a smell that will NEVER come out. Better to just replace it.
Alice: Should we order it now?
Sam: I'll do it. I know a guy who will do it real quiet.
Betty: My dad already noticed it was gone. How soon will it be-?
Sam: Tomorrow morning. It'll be like you sent it to get a routine cleaning.
Alice: That's so… perfect.
Sam: One last thing. Where is Chic?
Alice: I assume he's still at our house. Do you want to talk to him, too?
Sam: No, he's probably traumatized enough right now. He doesn't need my interrogation as well.
Jughead: Why are you treating a guy you've never met with kid gloves, Sam?
Sam: What makes you think I've never met Chic?
(Silence as Sam stares Jughead down, and FP breaks the tension.)
FP: You want to meet him at some point, don't you?
Sam: If I can get the names of anyone he's bought from, I can get the word out that he's 86ed. Save all of you some trouble in the future.
(After FP and Sam are done, they come back to the trailer. Sam needs some air and steps outside. Jughead follows her.)
Jughead: Is it okay that I'm out here?
Sam: It's your house.
(Silence until Jughead's anxiety gets the better of him.)
Jughead: How are you?
Sam: Be better if I wasn't hiding bodies for your girlfriend and her mom.
Jughead: I'm sorry my dad called you.
Sam: It's not his fault. Be sorry that Alice is out here killing people.
Jughead: What else was she supposed to do? Call Sheriff Keller?
Sam: Good point.
(Silence as Jughead watches her.)
Jughead: Sam, I'm sorry.
Sam: Stop apologizing, Jug. We have to learn how to get along. Might as well start trying. I was coming here no matter what. We take care of our own, and Alice is a Serpent. I just don't like the situation.
Jughead: I don't, either.
(Jughead reaches out, sliding a hand to her cheek. For a second, she is seduced by it, but then snaps back.)
Sam: Stop.
Jughead: I'm sorry.
Sam: I said get along, not ignore boundaries. You're with Betty now.
Jughead: I still care about you, Sam. You know that. You know you're always going to be my weak spot. 30 years from now, I could be married with kids somewhere far away from you, but even just the sound of your name would send me running to you. When are you gonna get that?!
(Sam is silent, blinking her tears away. She steps away from him.)
Sam: I started seeing someone.
(Jughead is taken aback. He tries not to let on that it bothers him, but she knows better.)
Jughead: Anyone I'd know?
Sam: No.
Jughead: Well, I hope they're good to you.
Sam: They are. I hope Betty is good to you, too. You deserve to be treated like a prince, Jug.
(They look at each other, and within seconds, their mouths crash together in a metal melting kiss. Jughead picks her up, leaning her against his porch railing, and puts her back down as they begin to pull apart. Sam stands there silently, in shock.)
Jughead: I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-
Sam: I'm just as guilty. I'm sorry. (Silence) I need to go. Tell FP I said good night, okay?
Jughead: You have to go?
Sam: I just- I need to be out of this environment right now. Tell Alice and Betty that I'll be in touch.
(Sam leaves, walking away fast. She jumps in her car and peels out of the trailer park. Jughead watches, bewildered.)