Riverdale (3×19) Fear the Reaper Review

For our review of the last episode of Riverdale, click here.

“Fear the Reaper”starts off with FP and Jughead rushing home searching for Jellybean. Gladys arrives and the group of them get enraged that the Gargoyle King kidnapped their daughter. They torture Kurtz trying to figure out where Jellybean is, but their only option is to play a game of G&G. Meanwhile at the hospital, Archie learns that Randy has died and Elio tries to pin the death on him.

Kurtz uses the game to out Gladys, “The Alchemist,”to her family. She has to confess that she has been the one selling Fizzle Rocks and FP is not happy. He berates them both for hiding this from him, but he focuses on the game to bring Jellybean home. The next quest is to rob Riverdale’s local tavern Pop’s so Kurtz can skip town. While they expect it to be a walk in the park, Pop Tate pulls a shotgun and manages to hit FP’s arm. Luckily, Jughead and Gladys escape to continue their game.

The next challenge is for Gladys to fight against a returning Penny Peabody. They are given a pair of ninja sais and beat each other senseless. While Gladys gets an arm broken and a ruptured kidney, she manages to subdue Penny and stab her thigh for good measure. With Gladys now out of the game, only Jughead can complete the quest to save Jellybean. Kurtz brings Jughead to a junkyard and forces him to pick between two refrigerator doors, but Jellybean isn’t behind either.

Kurtz pulls a gun on Jughead and locks him in one of the fridges. He hears Kurtz make a call to kill the princess. Jughead uses this as motivation to break free of the fridge, but upon getting out he finds Kurtz lying on the ground dead with the Gargoyle King overtop of him. He races home to find Jellybean unharmed and surprisingly unaware of her apparent kidnapping. With their daughter safe, Gladys decides to skip town and avoid family confrontation leaving Jellybean with FP and Jughead.

Archie talks with Fred about how he blames himself for the outcome of the match. He swears off boxing for self preservation, but Fred supports him and tells Archie that things will get better. The last of Fred’s fatherly advice, RIP. Unfortunately things go from bad to worse when the police raid their boxing ring and find Archie and Mad Dog with some drugs. Veronica bails them out, but after a negative drug test Randy’s family blame Archie for his death and continue the very public denouncement of his name.

He wants to make things right so Archie gifts Randy’s sister with the tournament prize money and some cash from a fundraiser. He has a motivational talk with Veronica and heads back to the boxing ring and spars with Mad Dog. However, evil is afoot as Hiram talks with Elio in one of the back rooms as they try to figure out how to take him down. Looks like their short truce is over.

Meanwhile, Betty sits down with Hiram and tries to persuade him to transfer Hal to his new prison. She meets up with Toni who informs her that not only is Edgar planning to marry Alice, but also adopt Polly’s twins. Betty breaks into the student records and looks into Evelyn’s file where she discovers that she has been posing as a junior in high school for over a decade. Turns out Evelyn is 26 years old and isn’t Edgar’s daughter, but in fact his wife.

Betty decides to intervene and get Penelope involved to protect her grandchildren. She is able to negotiate the release of the boy Dagwood, but Juniper is left at The Farm. However, Betty wants more and with Toni’s help she breaks into The Farm to rescue Juniper. That is until she is led to a ceremony by Toni, who has become brainwashed as well. Betty tries to reveal Edgar and Evelyn’s true relationship, but everyone at The Farm already knows. They all chant and try to get Betty to join their ranks. She flees from the building and races off in her car as the zombified versions of these former Riverdale residents watch in despair. Betty’s night goes from bad to worse when she learns that during Hal’s transport to Hiram’s prison there was an accident with no survivors.

And finally, Josie reaches out to her father who is playing a gig close by. They meet up at Pop’s where she pleads with him to come watch one of her sets at La Bonne Nuit. She sings Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black which impresses her dad. At school, she sits down with Archie and decides to have the talk. She doesn’t see them as endgame and tells Archie that her plan is to travel to New York and follow her career while Archie is destined to stay in Riverdale. He jokes about asking her to prom and they share a sombre goodbye kiss.

Questions

• Can The Farm be stopped?
• Is the Red Paladin Quest over?
• Is Hal really dead?
• Will Varchie return?
• Is Gladys gone for good?
• How are The Farm and The Gargoyle King connected?

What did you think of “Fear the Reaper”? Let me know in the comments below!

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Dylan Phillips