Riverdale Season 3, Episode 17 recap: What’s Edgar Evernever hiding at The Farm?

When Cheryl much too successfully infiltrates The Farm on Riverdale, Betty finally comes face to face with Edgar Evernever and learns startling details about the cult.

He’s here, and he’s younger and creepier than you ever imagined. Riverdale offers our full introduction to Chad Michael Murray’s much-hyped cult leader Edgar Evernever, the charming brains of The Farm. Since Betty loves a challenge, she sends Cheryl into the Belly of the beast to gain information, but she soon takes matters in her own hands. As the drug trade drama leads to another death, Betty discovers a harrowing Farm secret and finally faces Edgar. Will she find the haunting truth he’s hiding?

Let’s dig into the four most shocking moments from the latest jaw-dropping episode of Riverdale. (Warning: It’s about to get real spoilery in here.)

1. Veronica’s parent trap flops.

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Last week, Veronica fell to pieces when she learned her parents’ marriage was over, and one week later, her grief still makes zero sense. She works overtime to keep the family together, fearing that separating from Hiram’s protection would spell certain death for Hermione. “Stay together so mom doesn’t get murdered!” is the new “stay together for the kids.”

Ronnie goes so far as to plant dead fish on her mother’s desk to make it seem as though the maple syrup mafia was already after her. (“Sleep with the fishes,” get it?) But Hiram doesn’t fall for her games and annuls the marriage after posing a public united front at his prison’s opening. That’ll teach Veronica not to choose Hiram over Archie again.

2. Archie returns the favor to Mad Dog.

It’s no surprise that just as Hiram’s preparing to cut the ribbon on his new prison, Archie receives a phone call from his old juvie pal Mad Dog, who says his parole hearing was canceled and he and all of the others will be transferred to the new digs. Oh, and so will the horrible fight club guards.

Archie turns to Veronica for help, who in turn calls on Governor Dooley for his assistance in pardoning Archie’s juvie buds. What’s a little light blackmail against a government official?

3. Jughead thinks he’s the whole DEA.

As much as Archie likes to tie on a fake cape and save the world, Jughead has every bit of the authority complex to his BFF’s superhero complex. Ol’ Jug likes to believe he’s in charge when, in fact, his father’s running the show now. FP doesn’t take too kindly to Jughead and the Serpents stepping on his toes while busting Gargoyles dealing Fizzle Rocks, but that doesn’t stop Jughead from directly feuding with Gladys and raiding the newest Gargoyle base camp. Ultimately, Jughead sails out of a second story window with Kurtz, and his operation, which includes Archie and his juvie friends as reinforcements, yields no results.

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4. Edgar Evernever gets more than he bargained for.

Betty and Veronica tour The Farm with Kevin as their guide, but Betty has questions about a door marked 317 (which is also the episode’s number). She asks Cheryl to infiltrate The Farm and find out what happens during the taped one-on-one interviews. Naturally, Betty bugs Cheryl and listens as she pours her heart out to Edgar Evernever about Jason.

But Cheryl decides to ditch her role as Betty’s mole and join The Farm because Edgar’s a “yummy snack.” We won’t argue with her on that solid fact, but it’s no help to Betty’s mission. Betty later breaks into 317 herself and steals the tapes for Cheryl, Alice, and Polly. However, Cheryl wants to stay; Edgar allowed her to see Jason at The Farm. Alice can see Charles, too. Huh? Finally, Betty sits down for her one-on-one with Edgar to get to the bottom of what he’s hiding.

5. Another chalice, another altar…

You didn’t think the deaths were over, did you? Archie and Mad Dog’s buddy Baby Teeth, whose name was clumsily delivered earlier in the episode, ended up the latest Gryphons & Gargoyles victim. FP discovers his branded body kneeling before an altar in the woods, every tooth ripped from his mouth.

It’s tough to say whether he was taken by Gargoyles or if he sacrificed himself, as he always seemed sketchy and he weirdly held back during their raid of the apartment building. Whoever’s responsible for his death made sure Archie and Jughead knew by sending a chalice, a tooth, and a quest card to the boxing gym. Looks like the game’s still not over.

Odds & Ends:

• Fun game! Who do we want to set Hermione up with? Who’s the most eligible bachelor in Riverdale? Whose dads (or moms — you never know!) are single and ready to mingle?
• Of course, this show expertly folds in commentary about Edgar being “younger than I expected,” as Cheryl acts as the mouthpiece to quiet chatter about Chad Michael Murray’s age. It all adds up to, “Please stop taking all of this so seriously,” and as we should.
• Okay, don’t judge, but we’ve lost track of the whole Gargoyle King thing, right? Is this entity still in play? Do we think he’s responsible for Baby Teeth’s death? Bueller?

What did you think of the latest episode? Let us know in the comments!

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.