Riverdale Season 3 Episode 2: Fortune and Men’s Eyes Review

If you would like to read my review of last episode, click here.

Synopsis: After a gruesome discovery is made in the forest, Jughead and Betty team up to investigate. As Archie navigates his new surroundings, Veronica devises a plan to bring a bit of home to him. Elsewhere, when Moose decides to join the RROTC, Kevin worries he may be pulling away from him. (TVGuide)

Writer: Michael Grassi

Director: Jeff Woolnough

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 45 mins

Airs: Wednesdays at 8pm on The CW (United States)

“Fortune and Men’s Eyes”starts off with Archie entering the juvenile detention center as they strip him down and process him. He’s escorted to the warden’s office who tells him to stay in line and suggests he use the empty music room for his hobbies. At Pop’s, the dads discuss finding the witnesses who framed Archie while Veronica tries to keep things calm at Riverdale High. And of course Betty’s doctor attributed her seizure to stress rather than the cult her family is welcoming into her home. She confronts them about it and say she’s hallucinating, but she has bigger fish to fry when she gets a call from Jughead.

It did not take long for the town of Riverdale to be graced with yet another murder as Jughead reveals Dilton Doiley died with his friend Ben Button barely hanging on. These are some true comic names right here. Jughead asks Betty if she would like to investigate this together for old time’s sake and she agrees. They get into the coroner’s office where they learn Dilton died of cyanide and had some symbols carved into his back. Soon they learn that Ethel stopped by Ben’s hospital room with a weird talisman while another one of Dilton’s scout friends disappeared.

After interrogating Ethel, they learn she’s dating Ben and that they’ve been frequenting a secret bunker in the woods. They find the bunker, but are confronted by a supernatural skeleton creature that resembles Dilton’s Gargoyle King. Inside there is a game of Griffins and Gargoyles, chalices with cyanide and Dilton’s scout friend who proclaims Ethel is Princess Etheline. Jughead and Betty push Ethel to tell them the truth before falling into a seizure after warning that they wouldn’t want to anger him. They return to the hospital to find Ben sitting on the window muttering on about The Kingdom before falling out to his death.

Meanwhile, Archie is trying to adjust to life behind bars, from his new roommate Mad Dog to being jumped by a group of Ghoulies from the drag race after turning down Serpent protection from Joaquin. He confides in his roommate and manages to get him to join in on a game of football with the prize being a new pair of sneakers Veronica got him. Speaking of Veronica, she arrives with the River Vixens to perform a song for the boys. But Hiram looms and will have none of that, inciting a riot with his corrupt prison guards that results in Mad Dog’s death and the warden wanting to mold Archie into his new Mad Dog.

At Riverdale High, Veronica tries to keep things calm until Archie returns, but Cheryl quickly claims the vacant president’s chair. And of course Kevin can’t have anything nice for too long as Moose’s father takes charge of the ROTC at school causing his secret boyfriend to distance himself. That is until Kevin volunteers to join so he can still spend time with him. The episode ends as the parents of Riverdale are forced to work together on their own investigation as they look into Dilton’s death. Apparently it ties into a secret in their past that revolves around one fateful night. 

Questions

• Will Archie become the next Mad Dog? And is Mad Dog really dead?
• Will Josie and Sweet Pea’s summer fling become a full fledged romance?
• Will Hermione intervene and flip on Hiram?
• How will Veronica get back at her dad for his ‘punishment?’
• Will someone die in the battle against the Ghoulies?
• How long until Archie is released?
• Will Moose and Kevin continue their romance?
• What is the Gargoyle King and what does it want?

Overall, this was a great episode. It takes the ridiculousness of Riverdale and dials it up to 11 from the Jailhouse Rock number outside the prison to the new mysterious and supernatural force threatening the lives of everyone in Riverdale. Some of the storylines, like Archie’s stint in prison, have an intensity that is severely overshadowed by the very real threat of death looming over this town. If Archie and Veronica want to continue to be relevant and interesting to the story, they need to be included in these supernatural adventures. The development of these stories mixed with the cliffhanger related to the town’s history helps make for what should be a far darker and disturbingly entertaining season.

Score: 8.5/10

What did you think of “Fortune and Men’s Eyes”? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips