Riverdale Season 3, Episode 19 recap: Keeping up with the Joneses

As Betty learns the startling truth about the Evernevers, Jughead’s family races around Riverdale to find Jellybean. Who’s dead, who’s leaving, and who’s joining The Farm?

Some families celebrate Easter by having an Easter egg hunt and eating jellybeans, but others embark on a deadly hunt to find Jellybean. While it wasn’t officially Easter in Riverdale, the Joneses went on their final Gryphons & Gargoyles quest to save the “princess.” Meanwhile, Betty finds a few Easter eggs hidden in the past of Evelyn Evernever, and Archie’s past comes back to bite. But whose unexpected death will send shockwaves through Riverdale?

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

1. The worst Jellybean hunt ever.

Picking up from last week’s cliffhanger, Jughead and his parents follow Kurtz’s instructions for the final quest that will return Jellybean. First, the trio must complete an armed robbery of Pop’s, though Pop foils their mission when he shoots FP. Next, Kurtz leads Jughead and Gladys to their next battle, a ninja sword fight (no joke), with Penny Peabody. Gladys wins, but Jughead drops her off at the hospital for the injuries she sustained, leaving Jughead to face the final mission alone.

Kurtz takes him to the “valley of darkness,” which looked a lot like an abandoned junkyard, but its precise location and purpose was never explained. Jug must choose one of two metal lockers. One will contain Jellybean, the other will result in his “doom.” Well, both are empty, and Kurtz locks Jughead inside one after proving Jellybean is in fact alive. But when Jug breaks out of the locker, he finds Kurtz dead and the Gargoyle King behind him. How curious.

2. What’s Evelyn’s age again?

Betty’s busier than usual in the latest Riverdale as she’s dealing with two Farm-related doozies and a shocking matter regarding her father that we’ll get to later. First up, she learns that after Alice and Edgar marry, he intends to adopt Polly’s twins, Juniper and Dagwood. Legally speaking, does that even make a lick of sense? Nope, but Betty’s not concerned about the legalities as much as she’s concerned for their well-being, and rightfully so.

Before wrapping up that nonsense, Betty follows a hunch about anti-vaxxer Evelyn by taking a peek at her file. She does some snooping, as Betty does, and discovers that Evelyn has been repeating her junior year of high school for upwards of a decade. No, she’s not a vampire as I’ll admit I thought for the briefest moment. But she is 26 and married to Edgar (!!!). Betty calls on a newly indoctrinated Toni’s help to steal Juniper (Penelope saved Dagwood), but she leads Betty to her failed initiation.

3. Archie talks his way out of another murder charge.

Are we really recycling storylines in the same season now? Once again, Archie faces the blame for murder, after he lands the punch on Randy that ended his life — or at least helped turn the lights off. Elio tries to frame Archie for killing Randy and drugging him with G, but Veronica vows to make like Cardi B and “dog walk” him.

When push comes to shove, Archie swipes the $50K prize money from Elio and gives it, plus donations from La Bonne Nuit, to Randy’s grieving family, effectively clearing his name. But Archie’s troubles could be far from over since Elio has been working with Hiram all this time. Obviously, Hiram doesn’t understand the definition of “truce.”

4. So many exits, so little time.

Since day one, Josie has been itching to get out of Riverdale and follow her dreams. Finally, the day has come. She convinces her father, who tests her dedication to music and performing, to allow her to join him on tour. While Josie’s headed out on the road (and the possible spin-off Katy Keene), Gladys also packs her bags and leaves town in light of her confession to producing and dealing fizzle rocks. Her departure could throw a wrench in a few bold Gargoyle King theories, unless that’s exactly what Gladys wants us to think.

5. Betty’s dad meets his maker… or does he?

Apart from matters of The Farm, Betty bends to Hal’s wishes to be moved out of his current Hannibal Lecter situation and into Hiram’s jail with a view. Hiram agrees to the transfer, but Veronica breaks the news to Betty that during transport, the van containing the inmates crashed. Naturally, Betty assumes her father escaped, but there were no survivors. It’s time for conspiracy theories, all of them. Until we see a body, the Black Hood remains MIA and very much in play.

Odds & Ends:

• When did Jughead start wearing as many rings as Ariana Grande buys for her friends? Not a judgment, just an observation.
• You think you’ve seen all the crazy Riverdale can hand you until there’s an actual ninja sai fight during a performance of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” Bless this show.
• Wasn’t there already a Riverdale Reaper last season? Are we also recycling nicknames?
• Gladys very well could be the Gargoyle King. Clearly, the King had no intention of harming Jellybean, and the whole kidnapping situation ended too easily. She was just… back home? Where was Ricky? Something isn’t adding up, and I wouldn’t put it past the mother-daughter duo to be up to no good.
• This episode marks the final appearance of Luke Perry as Fred Andrews. We’ll miss Fred, his wisdom, and — most importantly — Luke. What an honor to have watched him act.

What did you think of the latest episode? Sound off in the comments!

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