User blog:Looperreallyreallysucks/Pure Evil Proposal - Hiram Lodge

I made a discussion post for the third season of Riverdale over a week ago, but since it was more of a general discussion post rather than a proposal, very few people commented. However, according to the majority of people who did comment, it seems like the character Hiram Lodge is a possible keeper. Let's begin.

What's The Work
Riverdale is a teen, drama, and mysteries series that airs on the CW. The first season focuses on the murder of a teenager called Jason, the second season focuses on a serial killer who refers to himself as the Black Hood, and the third season focuses on a killer called the Gargoyle King who goes around tricking people in playing a game called "Gryphons and Gargoyles".

Who is the Candidate/What Have They Done
Hiram Lodge is a crime lord who arguably serves as the main antagonist of the entire series. He's been committing crimes even before the start of the show. He spends the first season behind bars for committing embezzlement and fraud. He pays the Southside Serpents to devalue the profit of the local drive-in cinema. He also has Fred's construction side vandalized. Then, throughout season two, he manipulates Archie into doing his bidding while buying property in Riverdale. He also has Cassidy Bullock and Poppa Poutine killed. In the last few episodes of that season, he starts to commit MEH-worthy crimes. He tries to have Fred assassinated, attempts to orchestrate the death of an innocent teenager in order to start a full riot, pays the Ghoulies to go to war with the Serpents, and frames Archie for Cassidy's murder. In season three, he taunts Archie for his impending imprisonment, orchestrates an ambush when Archie and his fellow prisoners try to rebel, orders Sheriff Minetta to kill all of Cassidy's friends, tricks Veronica into running his illegal bar and casino, and ends up almost beating Archie to death. To add to that, he pays Tall Boy to pose as the Gargoyle King and kill Joaquin. He also runs drugs through the town and takes part in causing the "Gryphons and Gargoyles" chaos and delivers hallucinatory drugs to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. At the end of the season, he incriminates Hermione, and he gloats to himself that he will do something... horrible to Veronica. We don't know what he's planning to do to her, but given all the evidence, we know that it's not gonna be pleasant.

Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors
He doesn't seem to feel remorse for any of his actions, and from I remember, he has no FE. Now, when he first appeared, he seemed to be friendly and sympathetic despite being a criminal. However, throughout his screentime, his friendly demeanor becomes more and more shallow to the point where it becomes blatantly obvious that whenever he acts friendly, he's only acting that way in order to manipulate people for his own selfish reasons. At some point, he showed gratitude towards Archie for saving his life, but it eventually turns out to be a ruse, and he ended up attempting to beat the life out of Archie, so that's not mitigating at all.

As for loved ones, he actually did seem to care about his family for a while. But then, his relationship with his wife ended up becoming utterly hostile, and towards the end of the third season, he had her incriminated and arrested. As for his daughter, he smugly suggested that he was going to harm her. By the end of the day, all mitigating factors are either subverted or simply too shallow to disqualify him.

Heinous Standard
No, Riverdale is nothing like the source material. The heinous standard for this series is INSANE. There are serial killers, abusive parents, drug dealers, and whatnot. But despite that, Hiram is still heinous enough in his own way. To sum it up, he's a mass murderer, drug lord, fraud, incriminator, and a huge jerkass. His role in the story also makes him stand out, and considering how personal he is to the heroes, I'd say he's ultimately unique enough to qualify.

Final Verdict
I'm leaning towards a "yes".