It is almost fitting that, upon the eve of his death, Fred Andrews is naught but a spectre among the denizens of Riverdale. So, it is with a heavy heart that I say, welcome back all you Riverdale fans, to a calmer episode than before, in spite of the many events that transpire. I’ll talk more on Luke Perry, perhaps, another day, for it seems to be an ill-fitting episode to discuss Fred “the heart of Riverdale” Andrews.
Or perhaps that is what makes this the perfect opportunity, one that I will pass up for a more fitting, future send-off.
As always, spoilers ahead.
1. There’s Fire Where You’re Going
Betty Cooper is a Blossom. This is a fact we were reminded of quite often in Season 2, mostly by Cheryl, and it seems that Season 3 has decided to really go all in on the parallels between the two of them. Honestly, I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t notice what they were doing when Betty was originally locked away with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Sure, it was a totally different reason and situation but both were locked away against their will, and in secret, as a means of controlling them.
Both fight back against their mother’s controlling and abusive behaviors. Both have fathers who led a secret double life as a criminal and a murderer. And now, both have walked down the stairs to their family homes, in despair at what their mother had done, and set the place ablaze with a candle in hand. The only difference is that Betty didn’t also set her mom on fire and it seems like only an outer wall has burnt down, so, it’s not a perfect comparison.
I don’t know quite WHY they’re making these parallels, although I am all for Betty finally saying, “Fuck it. You wanna burn my life to the ground, mom? How about I beat you to it.” Her character’s ability to treat everything her mom is doing as if it were normal while also continually saying it’s abnormal has been frustrating to say the least. Now that she’s burnt that bridge, maybe something will come of her investigation into The Farm.
2. Call for Help
Poor Archie. He’s trying his hardest to be better, to do good things again, but every time he tries, either he screws up or something terrible happens to him. Case and point: Ricky De Santos. I thought the social workers were going to turn out to be G&G players, lying to get to Ricky for a sacrifice, but boy was I wrong. Turns out Joaquin’s younger brother — yeah, it’s that kind of a reveal — wanted in on the game, branded himself, and planned on killing Archie in order to join the gang.
That’s messed up. It never really hits hard because of the haminess of the show elsewhere but abstracting the plot kind makes it scarier. This is going to do a number on Archie again although, with all he’s gone through, what’s a couple more stab wounds gonna do to his already shattered psyche? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
3. There’s Some Fear in Letting Go
I think we’ve finally gotten to the point where I can say that, yes, there is something supernatural about The Farm’s control of people. . .or at least extraordinary. Just take a look at how fast Kevin has changed and changed towards Betty. That said, the show is still doing an awful job of conveying that this is an out of the ordinary change. No one else is worried and no one else really comments on it. At most, there’s a dull surprise and a “well, he’s been doing weird things but I guess there’s no harm in him joining a cult that drowns and drugs people.”
Am I seeing flaws where there are none? Am I trying to impose a false TV version of the world onto the events of Riverdale? Maybe. Betty does continually bring it up but the show seems unconcerned with addressing it, allowing it to be subsumed by the larger plots of the show, possibly to create tension and mystery, but most likely because they can’t movie it too fast or they’ll break the flow of the other stories.
Continued belowI hope Kevin realizes that The Farm is royally screwing him up and that he listens to his best friend, Betty but something tells me that isn’t going to happen. He walked on coals and did the fire thing after, what, three days? My sense of time between episodes is very wonky because they never really establish how long it is. Maybe Moose will come back and snap him out of it.
4. My Log Has a Message For You
Veronica is fighting back and I am so down to watch just her for the rest of the season.
OK, that’s a bit of a lie but her whole B-plot with the casino was easily the best part of the episode. Everything else felt like the end of a short arc or a break in their larger stories but Veronica’s movements towards establishing independence, true independence, for her club felt more like a midway point. She’s learning how to play the game without bragging about it, which always ended up coming back to haunt her, and that’s allowed her to get the upper hand on Gladys and Hiram’s control over the speakeasy.
I also love how they keep mentioning this place as a “secret speakeasy” when, like, the whole town knows about it? And is it just that gambling is illegal without a license? That whole conversation had me cracking up because of that. Also, bringing in the Pretty Poisons to be the muscle? Smart move. It also gives us a reason to see more of them around town and to provide some more tension between Toni & Cheryl, which, you know, is there for some reason? I’m still unsure about what Cheryl wants and I’m not certain the writers do either.
I wish we had had more time with this story this week though. All the many plots operating at once are still threatening to overpower the cohesion of the show. Try some more vignette episodes. Go outside of the box. Maybe do another musical episode? Who knows if it’ll be any good but it’ll certainly be fun.
5. There’s a Body All Right
Gargoyles & Serpents, bound together at last under a new name, Swords & Serpents. What havoc will they wreak? What problems will they cause? Mostly growling at each other and then trying to kill Fangs. . .again. How many times is this now that Fangs has almost died? Too many. Fangs is a good boy and deserves happiness dammit.
I think what gets me most is that, despite being the “majority” in the new gang, they never make any motions to fully overthrow Jughead and the Gargoyles aren’t very scary. They’re creepy and oily and have a murder den but they’re not what the show wants them to be. This won’t change anytime soon and I’ve got a feeling that we haven’t seen the last of our Gargoyle gang leader. Maybe he went off to find the Gargoyle King. By the way, where has ol bone-face been? Probably waiting to find the right tree to skulk around.
The combined name being Swords & Serpents was a nice touch, though.
That about does it for now! What did you all think of the episode? It was a standard one but fairly enjoyable. Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you all next week for the Fiftieth episode and the Heathers homage. Until then, stay strange Riverdale.
Best Line of the Night:
Betty: “Also known as Murder House on Elm Street. Look it up. That’s us.”
