Riverdale always dares to go in unique directions: after the musical episode, this year’s special episode is a Breakfast Club’s style special episode. All the actors star in the roles of their on-screen parents and it’s an hour full of surprises. Let’s summarize what happened.
After last week’s surprise ending, Betty is determined to find out what really happened back in the day. She obliges her mother to tell her the truth and the flashback episode starts. In the meanwhile, kids all over the city are playing with Griffin and Gargoyles.
Alice recalls the story of what happened. It all started while they were all in detention and played the game, while Alice finds out she is pregnant. We have a look at what all the old-school characters are doing: Hermione wants to leave town, Sierra and Tom Keller are dating and Fred wants to stay in town for the rest of his life.
We also get to know Penelope's backstory: she grew up in an orphanage and she was adopted by the Blossoms who basically combined her wedding with their first-born. After spending so much time playing together Griffin and Gargoyle, the group grows close. But something happens: during a meeting Hiram makes the group take a fizzle rock drug, and everybody ends up high except for Alice.
While waiting in the bathroom, Alice finds two chalices and she runs into The Gargoyle King. She also sees the principal who is walking towards the scary monster and the day after he is found dead. After this tragedy, the group decides to never talk again about the game and their lives go in separate directions. The episode ends with Betty who finds Jughead playing the game.
This episode is really an enjoyable and fresh hour of television. The idea of letting the young stars playing their on-screen parents was genius: it totally played out perfectly and gave the opportunity to the cast to shine even more. Lili Reinhart was brilliant in the role of Alice.
This season has a concrete and solid direction and I am fairly optimistic about the future. It’s definitely a stronger year in comparison with the last.
And you?
What do you think of “The Midnight Club”?