Riverdale: The Land of Gryphons and Gargoyles

The first two seasons of this show deal in serial killers and high school drama. This season delves deeper into mob mentality, or in this case, cult mentality. But we start off with Archie getting shipped off to Juvie after going toe to toe with Hirum Lodge. Archie and Veronica always think they can beat Hirum, but they always lose. He’s a great villain, and his mobster activities are a good break from the intense investigations Betty and Jughead are constantly digging up.

Veronica is desperate to get her Archikins back, leading a cheerleading Jailhouse Rock performance for all the Juvie boys. Archie’s time imprisoned amplifies the violence of the show, especially once they get into the underground boxing ring.

Archie and Veronica spend the majority of this season fighting against her father, whether that’s in the form of Archie’s freedom, or his boxing career, or Veronica’s budding business. It’s a storyline that’s been chugging through every season so far, and it feels a little tired. I like Hirum, and I appreciate the tension he brings to the plot and the fact that he is a threat to Riverdale. But it would be cool to see him completely step down and Veronica take up the family business. She’d have to stop trying to keep Archie alive though, which is a full time job.

But enough of Archie. Which is pretty much what I say every episode.

One of the best episodes is the flashback to the previous generation getting introduced to Gryphons and Gargoyles. The main actors get to play the parents of their characters, and switch up the costumes and personas a bit, and Lili Reinhart was very happy to ditch Betty’s sweater sets. It was fun to see the restrained Betty in her mother’s biker clothes, and the sexy Cheryl as her nerdy mother Penelope. And can I just say that Fred was WAY cooler than Archie could ever be. I mean, the hair says it all.

But characters aside, this is a cool way of showing how this game has passed through generations. It deepens the mystery and heightens the stakes. The Gargoyle King plays with Riverdale, pitting parents against children, spreading rumors and lies, and twisting reality into a never ending game.

And the game extends everywhere, even the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Betty is shipped off to the abusive nuns “for her safety” (a turning point in her relationship with her mother, disappointing audiences everywhere). Betty behaves and bids her time, silently going through the motions and inwardly judging everyone there while she plots her escape.

Betty has come a long way since her early days of dreaming about dating Archie and cheerleading. Now she hunts down killers and unravels conspiracies. She might get kidnapped, terrorized, and drugged on the way, but Betty always comes out the other end with a few more scars and a noteworthy news article.

Meanwhile, Archie and Jughead run into Jug’s mom in their Adventures of Avoiding Archie’s Problems. Gladys takes care of her son’s enemies, proving who the actual scary member of the Jones family is. She and Jellybean return to Riverdale, and the Joneses move into the Cooper’s house. After the Coopers move out. Also after Betty tries to burn the house down. The Coopers are a fun family.

Gladys is a cool character, and there’s a really interesting dynamic between all the parents: Gladys and her sneaky backstreet dealings, Hi rum’s never ending mob connections, Alice’s reliably unhinged behavior, and Fred’s endearing ability to take care of any kid who needs help. The parents have a way of dragging their kids into their problems, or maybe the kids shove their way into their parents’ problems. Either way, the line between kid and adult is simply time.

And of course, we have the Farm. The Farm is a happy place full of happy people who are always happy but it’s never creepy because they only want everyone to believe whatever they’re told while their leader (a 40 year old frat boy who needs more sandwiches and less abs) convinces the teens of Riverdale that they are in pain and can only heal with his guidance. And he and his farmies move into the nunnery after the nuns are all poisoned by the Gargoyle King.

This season is seriously crazy.

Betty fights against the Farm with every ounce of her sanity, working with Jug as he hands Archie off to Veronica and focuses on exposing the Gargoyle King. Alice and Polly follow Edgar Evernever ( I kid you not, that is his name) into the abyss of calm insanity while his daughter(ish) exploits the insecure mentality of the high school.

There’s another musical episode, which introduces Edgar to the scene and brings even more of Betty’s friends to the Farm. Betty tries digging up old records to control Edgar, throwing Evelyn into her locker and threatening her with satisfying precision, breaking into the Farm, and even kidnapping her mother. Nothing sticks. Edgar is a pro, and Betty turns to her own psychotic father for help.

Big mistake.

The conclusion of this season brings together the nuns, gryphons, gargoyles, farmies, Gargoyle King, and even the Black Hood. Jughead finally solves the mystery of Gryphons and Gargoyles, and our two favorite couples are chased through the woods (because what climax doesn’t have a dark forest chase?) and the generations of plotting are revealed at last.

This was a fun season. I thought the first two seasons were crazy, but this one took the cake, or crown. The plot meandered a little in the middle, and the ending was ultimately a bit of a stretch, but the whole idea of this cosplay game spanning and influencing multiple generations, while being used as a cover for murder and mayhem, is a really fascinating idea. It’s fun to see all the medieval costumes and rituals, though it definitely takes a darker route.

The trademark dichotomy of sugary small town sweetness laced with sinister deaths continues to make Riverdale a standout show, and there are already glimpses of the next season. Season 4 will focus on Archie and the gang’s senior year of high school (how Archie made it to his senior year, I honestly don’t know). But will the show end with graduation? Or will Season 5 focus on the summer after graduation? Will the show extend beyond Riverdale? So many questions, so many deaths, so many mysteries.