Riverdale Review: Chapter Fifty-Two: The Raid (Season 3 Episode 17)
On Riverdale Season 3 Episode 17, “Chapter Fifty-Two: The Raid,” Betty finally learns the allure of the Farm but loses Cheryl in the process. The war between Gladys and Jughead intensifies.
They see dead people. That’s the big selling point of the Farm? The bigger picture may be that Edgar has found a way to worm his way into people’s minds and fill the most obvious gaping voids. For Polly, Cheryl, and Alice, this means mysteriously resurrecting the dead.
If we’ve learned anything from Riverdale Season 3, it’s that there is no shortest distance between two lines, and if you hear hoofbeats, keep on the lookout for zebras. Edgar can’t Pet Sematary anybody, but he’s figured out some way to make the most cynical members of Betty’s inner circle become believers (my best guess is a tie between hypnotism and a stupid-sounding drug like Fizzle Rocks).
We may not completely have a grasp on Edgar’s endgame, we know he’s benefitting financially from at least a few of his recruits. Betty’s college fund probably supplied the down payment for the cult’s Riverdale headquarters.
But Betty brought up an interesting question that has gotten lost since season 1: how did Jason Blossom know about the Farm, and why did he want to take Polly there? Just like Riverdale and its attractive inhabitants have –until recently — been unwitting pawns in a role-playing game for several decades (if not longer), Edgar’s been warming the bench for three-quarters.
Now he’s getting a chance to play. The game analogy is intentional because it’s hard to believe there isn’t an Evernever-G&G connection, especially now that the body count is resuming (RIP Baby Teeth).
Edgar couldn’t have shown up in Riverdale at better time. Awestruck by how well Chad Michael Murray is aging (a Millennial Rob Lowe) distracts viewers from a few storylines that just aren’t working.
The Catholic Church has serious public relations issues, but Catholicism is pretty clear regarding the sanctity of marriage. Even Henry VIII couldn’t force an annulment. Conveniently, Hiram is able to do what a former monarch couldn’t.
Riverdale revels in the ridiculous which is why viewers can embrace FP evolving from a deadbeat dad and all-around scumbag to town sheriff. But FP really sucks at his new job. The best decision he makes is to rescind the Take Your Serpents to Work program.
FP used to lead Riverdale’s equivalent of the Hells Angels, but he’s clueless about his wife’s aspirations to become the female Tony Montana. The Serpents of the Southside have been usurped, but when did the gang begin to resemble cast members from West Side Story instead of Easy Rider?
Riverdale is YA all the way, so in spite of some very adult themes, it can be difficult to remember that any “adults” are peripheral and serve almost exclusively as the source of all evil that befalls our heroes and heroines.
There’s no doubt Jughead will vanquish Gladys, or that Betty will expose Edgar. The best part of Riverdale is trying to figure out how.
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.