Riverdale: Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens

March 31, 2018 2:50 PM - Season 2, Episode 17

As the town (and school) politics heat up, Hiram's mobster associates come to stir up some trouble; things take a dangerous turn when an unexpected guest shows up at the Cooper residence; there's a good old-fashioned conversion asylum break-out!

Riverdale Season 2 Episode 17 Review - Chapter 30: The Noose Tightens -- The women of Riverdale take center stage in a mostly fantastic outing. (Chris Cummins for Den of Geek)

Hands up if you, in the parlance of our times, don't GAF about Hiram Lodge's economy brand The Godfather schtick at this point. Yeah, me neither.

Riverdale is a series in which the average scene length is less than a minute, making it all the more troubling that every moment Hiram pops up on screen feels like an entire geologic period. With so many other interesting things happening -- i.e. EVERYTHING involving the Blossom family -- it is an absolute waste of storytelling real estate to give him so much screen time. He's not only bringing Archie down, but the whole show at this point.

Tonight didn't help matters any.

Riverdale recap: 'Chapter Thirty: The Noose Tightens' (Samantha Highfill for Entertainment Weekly)

This season of Riverdale has been an emotional rollercoaster. It feels like every episode is an experiment where the writers test to see just how much Riverdale they can inject into any given hour. Sometimes it’s far too much, other times it’s not enough, and in the case of tonight’s episode, I’d say they channeled Goldilocks and got it “just right.”

Music from this episode, referenced on Tunefind

posted by filthy light thief (1 comment total)

I like the touch that Thistle House's tv is some ancient 11-inch box that Penelope clearly pulled out of the disused servants' quarters. It's the only way to make that kind of technology feasibly fit with the Blossom aesthetic.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:29 PM on October 28, 2021