‘Riverdale’ Says Goodbye to Fred Andrews in Luke Perry’s Final Episode (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 3, Episode 19 of Riverdale, “Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper.”]
Riverdale says goodbye to Luke Perry the only way it can: through a sweet moment between father and son.
Archie (KJ Apa) grapples with the aftermath of his fight against Randy, which landed his opponent in the hospital. But he’s not the only one struggling with himself in “Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper.”
Betty (Lili Reinhart) does a deep dive into Evelyn’s (Zoe De Grand Maison) life, with a little help, and discovers information she hopes will turn her mother against Edgar (Chad Michael Murray).
Meanwhile, the Jones family must ask themselves how far they’re willing to go when Jellybean becomes entangled in a game of Griffins & Gargoyles.
Fred Andrews, Always in Archie’s Corner
After Randy dies, Archie blames himself and refuses to box again. He knew Randy was juicing and feels he could’ve stopped him, but he didn’t want to forfeit. In his last appearance, Fred (Perry) tells him, “Son, from everything you’ve said, it’s clear that Randy died from those drugs. An autopsy will support that. You’re innocent.”
Archie Andrews, Riverdale Reaper?
Elio (Julian Haig) tries to place the blame on Archie, going so far as to claim he gave Randy the drugs, but Veronica (Camila Mendes) has both Archie and Mad Dog (Eli Goree) tested. They’re clean, which they try to use as proof they didn’t provide Randy with the drugs.
(Katie Yu/The CW)
But Elio convinces Randy’s sister that Archie is responsible for his death, and she calls him a murderer and slaps him in front of Alice’s news crew.
Even though he’s not at all at fault, Archie still wants to help Randy’s family. Veronica suggests they turn Josie’s (Ashleigh Murray) upcoming concert at La Bonne Nuit into a benefit to raise money.
When Elio denies Randy’s family his insurance money, Archie decides to collect his prize money, the “blood money,” from winning the match, and gives it to Randy’s sister. She finally warms up to him — as in, she doesn’t call him a murderer during this conversation — and admits that her brother always had a problem with drugs.
Unfortunately, Elio doesn’t just disappear into the wind. He’s still a threat to Archie, as is Hiram Lodge (Mark Conseulos), despite their truce. As Hiram explains, there are two Archies: the one who saved his life after he was shot and the one who pointed a gun at his head. The second Archie, the one “with murder in his heart,” is the real Archie.
The Jones’ Quest to Save Jellybean
For Jellybean’s location, Jughead (Cole Sprouse), FP (Skeet Ulrich), and Gladys (Gina Gershon) must play G&G, led by Kurtz (Jonathan Whitesell).
During the first challenge, Gladys admits to FP that she’s the one dealing Fizzle Rocks in Riverdale. FP blames her for the position Jellybean is in and promises, “there will be a reckoning.”
Then, they must rob Pop’s. “I’m the sheriff,” FP protests. “Not tonight,” Kurtz tells him. The money will be Jellybean’s ransom and Kurtz’s ticket out of town.
“Kind of reminds me of the old days,” Gladys says before they enter Pop’s. Jughead probably shouldn’t be surprised about his parents’ shady past at this point. The three of them don Gargoyle masks, and things seem to go off without a hitch, as much as that can happen with a robbery planned in about five minutes — until Pop (Alvin Sanders) pulls a shotgun on them.
FP goes down, and Jughead pulls off his mask, telling Pop it’s not what he thinks. He and Gladys leave, with FP telling them to “save Jellybean!”
(Shane Harvey/The CW)
The next quest takes Jughead and Gladys to a “trial with the Cyclops,” a.k.a. Penny Peabody (Brit Morgan). Gladys took her eye and didn’t kill her and doesn’t here, either, because Jughead reminds her that she just needs to defeat her.
After dropping Gladys off at the hospital with a broken arm and a ruptured kidney, Jughead continues with the quest. Kurtz takes him to “The Valley of Darkness,” where he must choose between two refrigerators. Behind one door is his sister, and behind the other is his “doom,” Kurtz tells him. Both refrigerators are empty, and Kurtz orders him inside one if he wants his sister freed.
Jughead demands proof of life first and receives it. Then, Kurtz tells Ricky to kill Jellybean before locking jughead in the refrigerator. When Jughead breaks out pretty much immediately, he sees Kurtz on the ground, possibly dead, and the Gargoyle King behind him. Jughead ignores him and runs home, where Jellybean is safe.
And there won’t be any consequences for the robbery, either, as it was done under duress. But Gladys isn’t planning on staying in Riverdale, and Jughead convinces her to let Jellybean stay with them.
Does the Farm Get Its Hold on Betty?
Toni (Vanessa Morgan) tells Betty that Edgar plans to adopt Polly’s twins after his and Alice’s (Mädchen Amick) wedding.
Betty does some digging into Evelyn’s past and learns she repeated her junior year at different high schools, recruiting the teenagers for her father’s cult. She turns to Ms. Weiss for more information, and the social worker tells her that Evelyn is actually 26 — and Edgar’s wife.
(Shane Harvey/The CW)
While Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) is able to help Betty get baby Dagwood (or “Jason Jr.,” as she calls him) out of The Farm’s clutches, they have to leave Juniper behind. Betty returns for the baby girl, only for Toni to lead her right to the entire Farm. She, too, has drunk the Kool-Aid.
Betty tries to get through to her mother by telling her about Edgar and Evelyn’s marriage, but Alice already knows (and, for some reason, doesn’t care, because that’s what The Farm has done to her).
“Join us,” the entire cult chants at Betty.
“Everyone in your life is here in this room,” Edgar tells Betty. “Your mother is here. Your sister is here. Your best friend, Kevin, is here. Your principal is here. Cousin Cheryl is here.” He’s just ignoring the fact that her boyfriend and closest friends aren’t there. And why should the fact that her principal is there lure her in?
Betty manages to escape, though her classmates do try to stop her on Edgar’s orders.
What’s a Prison Cell With a Waterfront View Worth?
Betty asks Hiram to transfer Hal (Lochlyn Munro) from his windowless cell to one of the “waterfront rooms” in his prison.
The request goes through, but at the end of the episode, Veronica tell Betty that during the transport, there was an accident and “there were no survivors.” But is Hal really dead? We don’t see a body, so you never know.
Josie May Be the Smartest Person in Riverdale
She does, after all, leave it behind.
Josie grabs dinner with her father and tells him she wants to broaden her musical horizons beyond Riverdale and go on tour with him. He’s hesitant, and that’s when the Jones family bursts into Pop’s to rob it. “Now do you see why I have to get the hell out of this town?” Josie asks him. She makes a good point.
Though it looks like he misses her performance at La Bonne Nuit, he’s there clapping for her after. He makes sure she’s completely committed to music before inviting him on tour with him. They have a show the next night.
But before she can leave, she has to break up with Archie in possibly the least drama-filled scene on the show so far. “I’ve loved our time together, but we’re not endgame, and that’s okay,” she says. “Your life is here in Riverdale, and mine is somewhere out there, who knows where. Maybe New York.” (Maybe on Katy Keene?)
Sound off with your thoughts on Luke Perry’s last episode and all the surprises in “Fear the Reaper” in the comments below.
Riverdale, Wednesdays, 8/7c, The CW
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