Riverdale Review: Chapter Forty-Two: The Man in Black (Season 3 Episode 7)
On Riverdale Season 3 Episode 7, “Chapter Forty-Two: The Man in Black,” Jughead learns Hiram’s reach extends far beyond the boundaries of Riverdale. Veronica hatches a plan to boost business at the speakeasy, and Betty comes face to face with the Gargoyle King.
“Chapter Forty-Two: The Man in Black,” is separated into three separate vignettes. Each one features Hiram Lodge; each revealing a worse side to him than the last; and each one brings the show one step closer (we think) to solving the mystery of G&G and the Gargoyle King.
After six episodes of theorizing and hypothesizing — along with thousands of other Riverdale superfans — there should be an overwhelming sense of relief that Riverdale is pulling the G&G storyline together. Instead, there’s a sense of disappointment at the mundanity of the outcome.
Riverdale’s Season 3 mid-season finale could still provide fans with a twist tastier than fizzle rocks, but it looks as if G&G and the Gargoyle King are Hiram Lodge constructs. He’s found a singular way to market his designer drug — one he’s been peddling since his days as a student at Riverdale High.
The creative forces behind Riverdale have been masterfully misdirecting viewers all season Is the Gargoyle King another crazed serial killer? Is there something supernatural casting a spell over the citizens of Riverdale? Is Edgar Evernever and his merry band of cultists behind Riverdale’s latest murder mysteries?
The teaser trailer for “Chapter Forty-Two: The Man in Black” is a perfect example. Trailers have a tendency to be misleading no matter what the show, but it looked certain that Archie and Jughead were heading to the Farm, not just a farm.
It’s at this rural homestead — with all the charm of the abandoned Gatlin in Children of the Corn — viewers learn Hiram has basically found a way to blackmail the entire male populace of a town into building the Riverdale prison which will do more than house criminals. As if this isn’t bad enough, he’s also managed to get most of the residents addicted to fizzle rocks.
Riverdale Season 3 Episode 7 shows the dichotomy between Hiram the loving dad, and Hiram the bad guy (something they couldn’t quite accomplish with Clifford Blossom or Hal Cooper).
No matter how hard Veronica tries, she just can’t free herself from the gravitational force that is her father. Once a daddy’s girl, always a daddy’s girl.
After two seasons of watching Riverdale dads drop the ball when it comes to parenting, it feels stale that Hiram is even worse than an uninspired mobster who is pieced together from various big and small screen bosses. However, it is compelling to watch the internal conflict Ronnie feels when it comes to la familia.
Of all the potentially brainwashed people running around Riverdale, Veronica may turn out to be the worst. She’s seen what her father is capable of and even taken an active role in his antics. Even when he frames her boyfriend and tries to kill him, she defends Hiram to Pop Tate.
Will Veronica finally drop Hiram like a bad habit when she finds out the true scope of his depravity?
It seems out of character for Hiram to use G&G to lure the unsuspecting to do his bidding and take his drugs. His tactics have also been more straightforward (like sending henchmen to do his dirty work the old-fashioned way).
There are still a lot of missing pieces that need to be filled in which may elevate this storyline above just another crazy Riverdale-raised parent going off the rails.
If the Gargoyle King is a hallucination — a side effect of fizzle rocks– then how are people who aren’t eating the candy seeing him? What is causing the seizures? Is there an actual Gargoyle King? Is he working for Hiram or the other way around?
How has Hiram evolved from a big city crime boss, to a husband who has his wife delivering bags of cash to the Serpents, to a man whose business associates see him as expendable, to someone who has had an elaborate plan in the works to drug — and kill — the teen residents of a small town?
What did you think of this episode of Riverdale? Share your thoughts in the comments 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.