Welcome back all you Riverdale fans! I’m shocked and surprised by the way this week’s episode went. Not only was I wrong about The Farm but about the presentation as well. Good job of throwing us off the scent with your trailers, Riverdale and thank you for more Ethel. . .I think. I’ll get to that in a bit.
As always, spoilers ahead.
1. Tales from the Riverside
Much like last season’s “Tales from the Darkside,” “The Man in Black” splits the episode up into three vignettes, each centering around Archie & Jughead, Veronica, and Betty respectively. I love this. It allowed the stories to breathe, giving us three focused narratives over the course of fifteen minutes each instead of forty-five minutes of jumping between three unfocused plot lines. The whole thing had a different feel to the rest of the season, creating thru-lines via Hiram and the Gargoyle King while still remaining independent.
The cinematography was also sharp and experimental, producing some gorgeously composed frames that sold me on the tone of the stories. I don’t know what was different, maybe it was not having to build in cuts between three different teams, but whatever it was, more of this is welcomed.
2. Fizzy Lifting Rocks
As much as they try, the writers still have not convinced me that Fizzy Rocks are a serious drug. Everything surrounding it is creepy and unsettling and it’s obvious the drug is dangerous but the name is too ridiculous to take seriously. It certainly did Jughead’s trek through the abandoned town no favors. Up until the creepy lady named dropped it, and Jingle Jangle, I was all in on the spooky, almost southern gothic atmosphere. Still, they nailed the tone and if a little bit of fizzy rocks is all that’ll break it, I’d call that a win.
Speaking of Jug & Archie, I think theirs was the strongest of the narratives, closely followed by Veronica’s. That may be because I’m more of a fan of the mysteries and questions raised by Jug’s exploration of the abandoned town whose population has mostly been sucked into Hiram’s prison/drug lab. Archie’s a simple soul and seeing him go on this journey, with Jug by his side trying to keep him safe, is heartening because it hopefully means he won’t make the same stupid mistakes he did last season.
Also, I feel like they’re setting up Hiram to be the one behind the Gargoyle King but I don’t think that’s the case. It’s too obvious and Riverdale loves its fake-outs during the mid-season finale.
Final thought on this one. Did anyone else get a Prolethean vibe from Gracie & the farm? No? Just me?
3. Casino Royale
Veronica finally, FINALLY, is given something to do that doesn’t revolve around Archie. It does involve her father but, because he’s involved with everything shady, his presence isn’t out of place. Seeing Veronica play Elio is golden and Reggie as club bouncer somehow fits this version of the character. This was less gothic horror/suspense and more heist, which is reflected in the directing and the final “reveal” of how the con was pulled. Honestly, the only part that bothered me was, again, Hermione Lodge being given very little to do.
I also think I’ve been pretty harsh on Mark Consuelos. Well, not on him but on his character. Let me fix that. Consuelos has been turning in a pitch perfect Hiram Lodge, with the right balance of charm, cold calculation and care that makes him such a compelling antagonist to watch. You understand why people follow him and are afraid of him. It’s in the writing where his character falls apart, which is a shame, but they knew how to use him to great effect this week, so I’ll stop harping on him and move on to a different thing to harp on.
4. Mugging for the Camera
Again, I ask, what happened to Ethel Muggs? Her personality is so different from that of last season or the season before that. I just don’t understand WHY she’s acting the way she is. Why she’s so petty, so mean to Betty, who is no saint herself. What possible reason could they have for making Ethel the fanatic and why not show us how she got to this point? Were this to have been part of who she was prior to this season, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. But then again, Jughead lost it when he started playing G&G, and Ethel has been at it longer.
Continued belowIt could also be a result of the Fizzy Rocks, you know, the drugs that everyone eats at the asylum of torture? Another thing, where was the Gargoyle King prior to this? Like, he’s everywhere and embedded in everything and has been around for a long time so why haven’t we heard from him before? Yes, I know the meta-textual reasons but I’m waiting for an in-universe explanation. Maybe it will come with the end of the season or the mid-season finale. I suspect it has something to do with magic (I can dream!) or more likely, some form of drug-induced brainwashing. So long as there’s an actual reason and not just some hand-waving, I’ll be good.
5. Betty, are you OK? Are you OK, Betty?
Betty’s narrative was by far the weakest because, again, they overdid it with the narration. I forget the last time they did this, with Betty having a solo internal monologue, but this one felt so much more intrusive. I want to say 70% of her internal thoughts were unnecessary, removing any of the tension the visuals were building, and they only served to make Betty appear much more judgmental than usual. Why does she hate Ethel so much? I get that Ethel’s being a giant dirt-bag but the vitriol in Betty’s voice doesn’t sound mesh with her usual judgments. It also felt tacked on.
This vignette would have been much more effective if they had reduced the narration to smaller snippets, trusting the audience more. There were moments that worked, such as highlighting the difference between her internal comments and her external ones, but, again, it should have been much more succinct. This way, when that ending occurred, it could have been more chilling.
That about does it for now! What did you all think of the vignettes? Anything I missed that caught your eyes? Let me know in the comments and join me again next week for the mid-season finale! It looks like its gonna be a weird one and for Riverdale, that’s saying something. Until then, don’t eat the fizzy rocks and be careful around cast iron skillets.
Best Line of the Night:
Veronica: “Why, Elio? ‘The house always wins.” Isn’t that what they say?”
