Riverdale: Percival Pickens needs to be a one-season villain

After spending several seasons with Hiram Lodge as the backbone villain of the series, Riverdale can not make the same mistake with season 6 antagonist Percival Pickens. Percival’s goal is already far too similar to Hiram’s in some respects. He wants to take over Riverdale, and his main opposition to achieving that is Archie and his friends.

Percival Pickens brings some interesting new elements to Riverdale. He has superpowers, something Hiram nor other Riverdale antagonists have had. However, even with his abilities, the effects are similar to what other villains have achieved. Getting inside someone’s head and manipulating them to do whatever they want. Percival’s prominent ability is manipulation, and his powers just come with a better guarantee that it will actually work.

But is he someone who can be a long-term antagonist, even if Riverdale’s lifespan is ending with season 7? Although Percival continuing his reign in town would only be for one more season, already making him far less impactful than Hiram Lodge, Percival’s actions have created adverse effects for many characters.

Making a villain that can manipulate minds means that whoever he claims as a follower has lost elements of their personality or ability to choose, making them a part of the hive mind Percival is building in Riverdale.

Kevin, who apparently can not avoid any sort of cult or manipulative situation, is again put under an influential person’s thumb. His role throughout most of season 6 has been to act as an antagonist to Toni and Fangs to create drama surrounding their son, Anthony.

Alice Cooper, who has rarely been allowed moments that could suggest she could be a decent parent or person in the first place, gains nothing from behind under Percival’s mind control.

Riverdale is using Percival Pickens as someone wishing to destroy the heart and soul of the town for some purpose that is not entirely understood. The man is practically a ghost with no trail to follow. Although fitting into the superpowers plot, the suggestion that he is not human has done nothing other than have him continue to manipulate the town’s people.

Riverdale is crawling toward a war the series has already informed the viewers is coming. While Percival Pickens may be an intriguing villain for season 6 and a change of pace from Hiram Lodge, he can not exist as a long-term villain without the storylines becoming too repetitive.

How long can a mind-manipulator of a villain be interesting? Especially when all the viewers already know that he controls or influences the town’s residents.

Whatever Riverdale chooses to do in season 7, leave Percival Pickens behind and allow the characters to get in time to grow and develop as people rather than a series finale being to remove people of Percival’s influence.