Riverdale Season 3 Episode 17 Review: Chapter Fifty Two: The Master
Paul Dailly
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Edgar Evernever is making the impossible happen.
Riverdale Season 3 Episode 17 confirmed that the leader of the cult-like Farm is not garnering a steady stream of minions to admire his good looks.
Instead, he's offering people another chance to connect with their deceased loved ones. As far as twists go, this was just par for the course with the Farm.
If you watch Riverdale online, you know we've already witnessed floating babies, people coming close to death, among other crazy things.
Betty: Thanks for meeting me here, mom. I had something I wanted to ask you in person.
Alice: What, honey?
Betty: Is the reason that you're so obsessed with The Farm because they let you talk to Charles?
Alice: Yeah. Yes, I see my son. And it's like I never lost him. Oh, you would love your brother, Elizabeth. He's the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. Being with him, is unlike anything I can ever imagine. And it's all because of Edgar. Edgar brought me my son.
Betty: Mom, can I meet him?
Alice: Charles?
Betty: Edgar.
Alice Cooper has always been a strong individual with a no B.S. filter, so that's why it's been difficult to believe that she's gotten enthralled by these people into selling up her belongings and even offering up her daughter's college fund like its nobody's business.
We witnessed Alice's pain on Riverdale Season 2 as she got a second chance at being a mom to her child that got away ... or so she thought.
It was only a matter of time before Betty cracked the case, and now she's going to go some crazy lengths to unmask what is going on behind closed doors.
The tapes inside the janitor's closet in boxes like the farm was a reputable company was pure comedy gold. I couldn't help but laugh at the prospect of a legitimate business operating from that building.
Betty has been skeptical of the farm since the get-go, and for good reasons. First, her sister's whole demeanor changed, and her mother followed suit.
I don't even want to think about how Edgar could be making these people see their deceased loved ones, but I'm pretty sure the town's never dying supply of drugs is somewhat responsible.
Turning to Cheryl was a good move because Betty could turn her manipulation up to one hundred percent. Bringing Jason's name up and his children were the nudge in the right direction Cheryl needed to get on board.
You wouldn’t be the first mobster to see a therapist, Daddy.
Veronica
Still, it was surprising that Evelyn never did some more vetting of Cheryl before taking her under her wing. Cheryl's decision changed pretty much overnight, and that should have been an immediate red flag.
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Add in the fact that Betty kitted Cheryl up with some of her mom's spying tools from her journalism days; it was silly more than anything. Alice would have noticed those materials if she were to bump into Cheryl and the jig would have been up.
Maybe this shows that Betty was desperate to get some results before the whole town was under the spell of everyone, but I'm not so sure Eddie is going to give up all the information.
Either way, the chat is sure to be a firework-filled affair. Edgar's ultimate goal will be to lure Betty into the fold, but I'm scared what he's capable of if she continues her plight to expose what's going on.
Let's hope Betty didn't go to that meeting without telling anybody where she is.
Mr. Evernever is a yummy snack.
Cheryl
Then there was Archie who learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. Bringing Mad Dog and Baby Teeth back into the mix was a good move.
It helped bring the juvie storyline to a halt for good, but also helped kickstart Hiram's prison storyline again. Hiram always has a way to scheme his way to the top spot, so it was only a matter of time before this storyline returned.
The biggest issue I had with this was that Archie wanted to save both men from going to the new prison because, well, they would be dead pretty quickly.
But he followed that up by taking them to Hiram's gym. By my calculations, Hiram lost some of the men who were going to make his prison look like an excellent opportunity for the safety of Riverdale.
Surely Archie taking those boys and putting them in Hiram's gym was an act of war in Hiram's eyes. I don't want another power struggle between Archie and Hiram because that storyline went on for longer than it should have done.
Archie needs to learn that his actions have consequences. Mad Dog taking up Elio's offer was no surprise. He had no money, and he had to provide for his family. Mad Dog was one of the warden's best fighters back in juvie, so Elio knew he could make a pretty penny for him.
The issue here is that this could result in Mad Dog finding his way to the big house once again. Once Elio is done with him, he will throw him to the wolves, and I dare say Mad Dog will be looking for Archie's help before long.
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It's a shame Baby Teeth was taken out of the equation thanks to the return of G&G, but Archie is going to want to end this horrible game once and for all now. He probably feels somewhat invincible after taking all of the people down who wanted to kill him.
As for Jughead, he continued to prove he was one of the most resourceful teens in town. Every single time he gets the drugs away from town, they pop back up. It was comical to watch him and his "unofficial DEA" doing the rounds, but they're no match for his mother.
Gladys knows how to hurt Jughead, and there's a good chance her manipulation could turn F.P. against him. It would be a surprise, but Gladys is one of the most manipulative people in all of Riverdale.
What we do know is that Jughead is ready for a fight with his mother, even if that means he loses his relationship with her for good.
It's a real shame because Jughead thought his family was getting back together, and that they had all gotten a fresh start, but nope, that's too easy.
The scenes at the apartment building were some of the best of the season. The fighting through the building was crazy, and I thought Mad Dog was going to wind up getting stabbed when he was left to fend for himself against like ten of the villains.
Jughead needs to take Kurtz down once and for all. The dude is a pain in the ass who seems to think he's invisible and can get away with anything.
He could have seriously injured Jug when he decided to take his ascension up a notch.
I can't believe we've gotten this far without talking about the most random development of "The Master." Hiram and Hermione's marriage getting annulled came out of the left field.
It was natural for Veronica to worry about what would become of her mom. She spent the better part of her life with Hiram's protection, so if people were to learn that she was fair game, it could have resulted in someone from her past popping up to exact some ice cold revenge.
The Lodges have a wide array of enemies, so anybody could potentially strike, and if they covered their tracks well, they could get away with it.
Veronica pulled the wool over my eyes with the dead fish schtick. I never thought for one minute she would go that far, but it made sense in the end. It helped Hiram realize that Hermione could get killed at any minute.
Granted, Hermione played with fire by trying to off Hiram on more than one occasion, but Hiram does not want to take the mother of his daughter away.
That's all I got, Riverdale Fanatics!
What are your thoughts on all the wild developments?
Hit the comments below.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays on The CW.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
