Last season on Riverdale, Betty Cooper found herself living in a nightmare. Her mother, Alice, her sister Polly, and even her best friend Kevin, all ended up ensnared by the shady group known as The Farm. It was soon revealed that The Farm was, in actuality, a cult led by the shady Edgar Evernever in which he had his wife Evelyn — masquerading as his daughter — infiltrating the high school to recruit even more victims. It was also revealed that The Farm was engaged in human organ harvesting but whatever their ultimate plan was for Riverdale, it never came to be. The cult up and vanished practically into thin air — taking Alice with them. For Betty, getting her mother back has been a major priority and tonight, Betty’s efforts come to a head as she takes on The Farm one final time.
Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Riverdale, “Chapter Sixty: Dog Day Afternoon”, below.
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In last week’s episode, Kevin helped Betty and her brother Charles by obtaining the location The Farm is hiding out as well as discovering that Edgar is heavily armed. It’s deeply troubling news and it’s made even more troubling when Charles sends an undercover agent to deliver pizza to the holed up Farmies. Seems like The Farm were onto Charles. The agent is promptly killed with Edgar warning Charles and the FBI to stay away. Edgar later calls Betty and reveals that he knows Alice is the mole and gives Betty a steep list of demands that she must complete in five hours. Edgar also releases one of the Farmies he’s holding hostage and Polly shows up, a bomb strapped to her chest though Betty is able to defuse the bomb before it blows.
Polly tells Betty that Edgar is going to start killing people and she has to negotiate herself. With the help of Veronica and Toni, Betty gathers what Edgar demands and shows up to the farm where she’s knocked unconscious by Evelyn, waking up tied to a chair alongside Alice who reveals Edgar’s plan. He is going to have Evelyn drive a busload of Farmies off a cliff as a distraction — Betty and Alice would be strapped to the front of the bus as a shield. While this spectacle is going on, Edgar will then fly away in a rocket that he’s built. Clearly, this is bad so Alice and Betty work together, ambush Evelyn and frantically try to get the Farmies on the bus and to safety. However, they’re spotted by Edgar — and Alice goes to confront him.
On the roof of the hotel Alice confronts Edgar who is dressed like Evel Knievel as he prepares to take to his rocket and “ascend”. Ultimately, when Edgar pulls a gun on Alice, she shoots him dead. The reign of The Farm is over. Alice goes home to start her piece on The Farm while Polly checks into treatment to deal with all of the trauma she’s experienced.
It’s a wild end for The Farm, one that is sharpened with the use of various cult and cult-related references. Early on, there’s a reference to the Waco siege in which 76 Branch Davidians, led by cult leader David Koresh, died. Evelyn’s appearance in the episode is similar to that of Patricia Hearst during her time with the Symbionese Liberation Army — particularly the beret. Even Edgar’s rocket is interesting, as it could be a nod to Jack Parsons, father of modern rocketry who helped found the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was also the leader of a black-magic sex cult that once counted Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard as a member.
What do you think about the way things ultimately went down with The Farm? Let us know in the comments below.
