Riverdale Review: Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk With Me (Season 3 Episode 14)
On Riverdale Season 3 Episode 14, “Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk With Me,” Jughead finds a new purpose for the Serpents. The power struggle between Toni and Cheryl continues. Elsewhere, Veronica’s clientele at La Bonne Nuit is getting unsavory, and Archie’s future looks bleak.
Fans haven’t seen as much of Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) this season. But when we have, he’s trying to guide his often beguiled, stubborn, impulsive, impressionable, well-meaning, moody son through the quagmire of depravity and doom known as Riverdale. On “Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk With Me,” Fred bursts in, saving his son from a knife-wielding tween.
For most viewers, Perry’s death barely registers as a blip. For those of us who are emotionally stunted enough to enjoy teen drama past our twenties, the hit is much harder. His final scenes will be a bittersweet reminder that he may be gone, but he won’t be forgotten as long as Gen-X women draw breath.
Riverdale‘s core demographic only know Perry as Fred Andrews — a DILF to be sure, but, mainly, just Archie’s reliable dad. A good-natured guy who defied death not once, but twice. What will happen to Archie now? How will Fred die on the show?
That’s for Riverdale‘s creators to hash out, and I wouldn’t speculate on what they plan to do, other than to assume that this chapter will come to a close painfully. Riverdale didn’t just lose a former teen icon, beloved cast member, and reportedly all-around nice guy. They’re also left with a gaping hole where a nurturing parent used to be.
On “Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk With Me,” Gladys and Hiram choose to hang their respective hats at a speakeasy run by a teenager for teenagers instead of… anywhere else.
A brainwashed Alice sells her home so she can go shack up with the other misguided Edgar Evernever acolytes, and FP recruits the youthful members of a gang as deputies, because apparently the Serpents are now narcs.
While the other adults of Riverdale are out making the world a weirder place, Fred Andrews is cleaning and bandaging his son’s wounds. Parents like Fred don’t exist in the real world anymore than ones like Hiram do.
Fred Andrews was this generation’s Ward Cleaver: wise, steady, reliable, masculine, present, forgiving, nurturing, and unwavering.
It would be impossible to not mention Perry’s untimely death, the weirdness of hearing his character’s name, or seeing him onscreen since those things are unintentionally but inescapably at the epicenter of the episode. Perry and Fred will fade from memory eventually, but a few paragraphs of this review is the very least they deserve.
There’s a lot going down on Riverdale, and it sure feels like the inmates are running the asylum. In addition to Veronica banning the town’s two biggest criminals from her speakeasy because of their bad behavior (we found the one thing Gina Gershon can’t do well), Betty can add fire bug to her resume.
Are we never to escape G&G? This game is still going on, and as long as killing Archie remains the ultimate quest, we’ll have to question the motives of every young, displaced moppet who crosses his path. How do you get a bunch of tweakers, outcasts, and geeks to stop playing this game?
It seems like Riverdale can’t quite put the toothpaste back in the tube with this one.
One plot that continues to thicken is the power struggle going on between Toni and Cheryl. As much as we love Choni, nobody can resist a good catfight. And both of these kitties have big claws.
Archie doesn’t get stuck with the worst storyline this episode. That honor goes to Jughead and the Serpents. The formerly fearsome Southside gang that struck terror into the hearts of everyone north of the tracks are fighting crime for college credit?
I guess there are limited opportunities to be badass in a town with more gangs than stoplights. One thing is certain: With FP as the sheriff and the Serpents solving mysteries like a badly dressed Scooby Gang, crime will continue to thrive in Riverdale.
R.I.P. Luke Perry.
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.