Riverdale Review: Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fortune and Men’s Eyes (Season 3 Episode 2)
On Riverdale Season 3 Episode 2, “Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fortune and Men’s Eyes,” Archie adjusts to life in juvenile detention while Hiram does his best to separate Veronica and her incarcerated boyfriend. The mystery of the Gargoyle King deepens.
Riverdale is going all in on the Gargoyle King storyline which goes back far longer than recent events indicate. Riverdale is moving into serious horror genre territory.
The parents’ ties to the Gargoyle King is reminiscent of the slasher classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (the parents of the terrorized teens murdered Freddy Krueger, resulting in the killer who pervades their dreams years later). The sins of the father and all that.
This paves the way for some highly anticipated flashbacks, featuring youthful doppelgängers of the adult residents of Riverdale.
Whether or not the Gargoyle King, Betty and Ethel’s seizures, the Farm, Edgar Evernever (a possible nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven?), and his lurking daughter Evelyn are connected remains to be seen. However, it feels impossible they aren’t related.
Riverdale dipping its toes in supernatural waters isn’t entirely unexpected since The CW enjoyed a great deal of success with The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. This also pushes Riverdale further into Twin Peaks territory.
Comparisons could also be drawn to the soaps The Edge of Night (1967-1984) and Dark Shadows (1966-1971).
Even Ben Button’s plunge from the hospital window can’t help but conjure up similarities to The Omen.
Riverdale’s writers are either paying homage to the show’s predecessors or just unapologetically ripping them off and attempting to give them their own twist.
A lingering concern is Riverdale’s steady departure from even metaphorical comparisons to the trials and tribulations of everyday life as a teenager. The show is more interested in exploring the varying origins of evil without a substantial amount of subtext.
While the Gargoyle King and the Farm storylines are intriguing enough to stick with Riverdale Season 3, Archie’s stint in juvie is not (despite the plethora of gorgeous inmates).
Riverdale is embracing every conceivable concept and cliché viewers have seen in everything from The Shawshank Redemption to The Longest Yard to Orange Is the New Black to any number of exploitation films.
Sending Archie off to juvie was a monumental mistake, and because he’s stuck there for the conceivable future, they have to give him something to do.
This includes solving Mad Dog’s murder and being forced to do the Warden’s bidding which looks to include — based on Riverdale’s Season 3 Episode 3 trailer — participating in some kind of fight club.
Riverdale hasn’t completely abandoned more realistic storylines. The relationship between Kevin and Moose keeps the show somewhat grounded. Moose’s fear of coming out may seem to be LGBTQ specific, but everyone wants to be true to themselves and not live in fear of judgement.
Kevin’s quest to find love and acceptance continues. Even if you aren’t a fan of this particular twosome (Kevin can do much better), his feelings of being marginalized are relatable.
What did you think of this episode of Riverdale? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Jennifer Lind-Westbrook
Jennifer has been working as a freelance writer for six years, contributing to BuddyTV, Screen Rant, TVRage, Hidden Remote, Gossip On This, and PopMatters. She prefers binge-watching old episodes of The Office (British and American versions) to long walks on the beach. She's still holding out hope that Happy Endings will get a revival.