riverdale / film parallels

in their 6.02 apartment argument, tabitha and jughead are in parallel to ‘demonologist’ partners ed and lorraine warren of the conjuring series.

in the climax of the conjuring 3, pictured here, the warrens have entered an occultist’s lair to find a way to break a murder/suicide curse she set (affecting 3 pairs of victims including the warrens) before it’s too late. the occultist possesses ed and forces him to attack lorraine with the hammer he used to break into the lair. before he lands a blow on her, lorraine uses her clairvoyant ability to telepathically speak in ed’s mind, encouraging him to see her and focus on the memory of how they met and fell in love. ed is able to break thru the possession and destroy the occultist’s satanic altar, ending her curse and ultimately causing her death.

this conjuring scene is itself an homage to the shining, when jack is possessed by the hotel’s demonic forces and swings at wendy with an ax. but it uses this parallel to make a point - the warren’s love and faith in each other sets them apart and enables them to defeat forces that would overcome others.

ed and lorraine’s relationship is the heart of the three main films in the conjuring universe. their dynamic in this particular scene is best understood as a culmination of their trials throughout the series.

in the first conjuring film, ed is fearful about lorraine participating in the investigation at hand bc at a previous job she was deeply traumatized by a vision. lorraine counters by reminding him he once said to her ‘god brought [them] together for a reason,’ to help people, and they do it best together.

in the conjuring 2, lorraine sees the traumatizing vision again - revealed to be a portent of ed’s death - and she decides it’s too risky to keep taking cases involving demons. ed counters with a similar idea: ‘[lorraine’s] visions are a gift from god’ and she must receive them for a reason - so that they’re better prepared to face danger. he reminds her they don’t run from fights when people need their help.

so in this third film, there’s no question between the two that they’ll confront their opponent together. even tho ed is weak after a heart attack and lorraine is fearful of what is able to look back at her thru ‘the connection’ of her clairvoyance, they both understand that their power is their faith in each other.

the takeaway from this 6.02 storyline between jughead and tabitha seems to be this same conclusion - that their love and trust in each other is their grounding strength against adversity, whether mundane arguments or supernatural ghosts.

to support that tabitha and jughead’s parallel to the warrens extends beyond the one film, the conjuring 2 is also referenced in their argument scene.

in the second film’s opening sequence, lorraine visits the amityville house (located, interestingly, in babylon LI) and enters a trance to view the past defeo murders. when she crosses a mirror we see the one whose steps she’s retracing.

tabitha’s mirror check is visually very similar to lorraine’s vision of the past, altho tabitha is physically in the present and holding a weapon for real.

i think this aspect of the rd scene also bears influence from 2021′s candyman wherein mirrors reveal the ghost possessing a character. candyman and the fear street series are another two subjects of rd’s film homage in early s6 and the interplay between these films and the conjuring series upon rd’s canvas is really interesting.

 there’s similarities between the fear street series and the conjuring 1 and 3, with a witch possessively haunting her land and a curse from a satanist with an underground altar affecting locals, respectively.

there’s also a parallel between painter ed warren, who takes inspiration from a demonic vision, and anthony mccoy, the artist in candyman who becomes obsessed with the local legend. rd’s sam, one of the apartment ghosts, resembles anthony in action and literally resembles a character, the warren’s assistant drew, in the conjuring 2. cool shirt