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As we barrel towards the season finale — only four episodes left — we’re still no closer in figuring out who the Gargoyle King is. And that matter got a little more complicated this week for two reasons: a newly laced version of Fizzle Rocks has hit the streets that turns the user into a foaming-at-the-mouth rage monsters. Luckily, the reaction to the drug is only temporary or Riverdale would be facing a 28 Days Later scenario. The second reason is that the Gargoyle King has a new target and one final quest. That’s right, killing the Red Paladin wasn’t the ultimate task … probably because Archie and his pals figured out a way to beat the game in that instance, but this is a game where new tasks can be added at will, meaning theoretically Gryphons & Gargoyles is a came with no real end (unless you drink from the poisoned chalice then it is Game Over for you). So the target is Jellybean Jones, and the quest is to destroy the Jones family.
For a minute there I was thinking that perhaps Gladys was the Gargoyle King, especially when the guy who is her ‘cook’ for the Fizzle Rocks said that ‘the real’ King is back and giving the orders now. Gladys is the only character this season, aside from JB, who is back in Riverdale, and she’s taken control of the drug supply away from Hiram. It sort of makes sense that it’s her if you look at it from that aspect. But the whole thing with JB seems to contradict that. Why would Gladys be targeting her own daughter? But … JB seemed to be a little more on the ball than the boy she was playing G&G with, almost like she was playing him more than the game but making him think he had her exactly where he wanted her. When she asked if they could play another round, the boy asked if her parents minded if she was out so late. She just said that they were busy. And we know that JB is just the apple from that tree, already well aware of Gladys’ plans and having no issues with playing her father to help Gladys get what she wants. And with Gladys not so happy with Jughead’s attempts at derailing her drug operation — perhaps even willing to sacrifice a fellow Serpent (RIP Baby Teeth) to send a message — it really isn’t out of the question that she’s the Gargoyle King. Right?
But all of this begs the question — if ‘the real’ Gargoyle King is back, all of the others we’ve seen this season were imposters? Who led Dilton Doiley to his death, for instance? We know Tall Boy was masquerading as the King. But who else? If nothing else, the Gargoyle King has been a useful tool for anyone who wants to strike fear into the heart of Riverdale. Now the previews for next week show Gladys having a violent freak out over Jellybean’s abduction … but is it an act?
The other key story this week was Betty’s continued investigation into The Farm, and trying to convince Alice and Cheryl that they were not actually speaking to their dead relatives. Betty went so far as to (a)give Toni a copy of the surveillance video of Jason Bloom’s murder to show to Cheryl, and (b) have a fake headstone whipped up (because it apparently only takes a few hours) to make Alice (now going by her maiden name Smith as she’s filed for divorce from Hal) realize that Charles is dead. Neither of them took the bait. Cheryl said the video was all special effects, and Alice knew immediately that Betty was messing with her. Betty even went so far as to abduct her mother and hold her hostage in the bunker … for her own safety, of course. Forcing her to look at photo albums to remember her past. When Betty returned from school, Alice was burning all the photos, telling Betty she’s not that person anymore.
But Betty was not about to give up. She’s now roped Toni into ‘joining’ The Farm so she can still be with Cheryl and gather intel, and she’s had another talk with Edgar … who doesn’t seem to exist in any public records (I suppose it would be too much for him to be both the leader of The Farm and the leader of the Gargoyles … right?). Betty wasn’t really getting any information about who or what Alice and Cheryl were seeing and interacting with, and Edgar almost admitted that he’s misleading both of them. But he did make a point that really hit home with Betty: Cheryl and Alice are deeply, emotionally hurt. Cheryl has never gotten over the death of her brother, and Alice has not yet quite reconciled her life with a serial killer. Whatever they’re seeing and doing at The Farm is their way of healing, which makes Edgar sound like not such a bad guy after all. That notion touched Betty deeply and she brought her mother to rendezvous with Evelyn at Pop’s, asking Evelyn to make sure Alice is taken care of. It was a heartbreaking moment when Alice, without saying a word to Betty, walked into Evelyn’s outstretched arms and sobbed into her embrace. Where this leaves Betty now is anyone’s guess.
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Speaking of heartbreaking, in a minor storyline Veronica helped Archie get the members of his gym into a boxing match held by Elio so Archie could have a rematch with Randy Ronson. It was a bloody match as Ronson was getting hopped up on G (the street name for the laced Fizzle Rocks) to the point Archie was trying to get the match called, but Tom Keller convinced him he could KO Ronson. You’d think the ref would have stopped the match when Randy started foaming at the mouth, but Archie was able to give him an uppercut to the jaw for the KO … and from the looks of things, it was a permanent KO. RIP Randy? But the heartbreak actually came from a few unexpected moments of seeing Luke Perry again. He’d been missing for a few episodes and it was assumed his last appearance was at FP’s birthday party, but there he was cherring Archie on at the fight. And no, I’m not tearing up … there’s a lot of pollen in the air.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM.
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