RIVERDALE (S3E4) “Chapter-Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club”: Nostalgia & Risk Pay Off

It is episodes like “The Midnight Club” that make me love Riverdale. Bringing G&G and the Gargoyle King into the spotlight in this parental centric episode, viewers were given the story behind the parents of Riverdale‘s involvement many years early – as well as an understanding into their deeply rooted fear for the lives of their children.

Inspired by The Breakfast Club, Riverdale shaped its episode with heavy bouts of nostalgia, utilizing its young cast to encompass the younger versions of their parents. Viewers finally saw the younger versions of Alice (a South Side Snake), a young valiant Fred Andrews flirting with brainiac Hermione and Penelope Blossom before she became a conniving head figure within the Blossom family (information that may come into play in future episodes as she continues to plot with Hiram Lodge).

There are many elements that make Riverdale a success, one being the awareness that their demographic extends beyond teens and twenty-year-olds. Many of the parents of Riverdale are played by actors who were once teen sensations themselves between the late 80s and 1990s – Molly Ringwald, Luke Perry and Skeet Ulrich. Those teens that idolized and fanned over each of these individuals are now grown up, a leading demographic in the consumption of nostalgia – as is evident in the success of increased adult animated TV series, Stranger Things and the influx of TV reboots. The structure of The Breakfast Club and the Saved By the Bell-esque Riverdale title card enamors and locks in viewers – especially those who were avid fans during their premieres.

Beyond the nostalgic structure, the throwback centric episode was a welcomed break from the Archie Andrews (K.J.Apa) Fight Club/ Shawshank Redemption themed storyline. It feels tired and unoriginal, a place to put Archie while the more enticing story plays out on screen. It was also a break from Veronica (Camila Mendes), who finally started to develop her own storyline, though following a couple weeks of thought, only leaves me feeling the writers are unsure what to do with her character this year. While the Gargoyle King seems to be overshadowing, it is truly the only storyline rich in Riverdale style so far this year.

Forming the Midnight Club

In “The Midnight Club”, we finally find the backstory of the parents of Riverdale and their terrifying involvement with the Gargoyle King – a secret from the past they have vowed to never speak of again. Yet, with the manuals to G&G (Gryphons and Gargoyles) circulated to each student at Riverdale High, keeping the truth hidden may be putting everyone in danger. With Betty’s (Lili Reinhart) stubborn nature and unrelenting fight for the truth, her mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) finally breaks down, hoping that in being honest with her daughter about her interaction with G&G, Betty may see the need to be afraid and avoid researching the Gargoyle King any further.

Throwing back the hands of time, Riverdale fans are thrusted into the past, bringing their first glimpse into the high school versions of then Alice Smith, Fred Andrews, FP Jones, former mayor Sierra Samuels, Chief Tom Keller, Penelope Blossom and then Hermione Gomez – even young Hiram Lodge makes an appearance. Each belonging to their own clique, most, if not all, were mere acquaintances in the hallways. That is until a girl fight and jock inspired streaking throws everyone into a Breakfast Club inspired Saturday detention.

With weeks of Saturdays ahead together, the gang begins to grow closer, revealing some of their deepest darkest secrets. Eventually out of boredom, they break into a teacher’s desk, retrieving treasures that had been confiscated, stumbling onto a board game called Gryphons and Gargoyles. What starts as a way to pass the time quickly descends into an obsessive means to escape their secrets and reality.

Dubbing themselves “The Midnight Club”, they would continue the game in secret, until one night their game takes a tragic and irreversible turn. Swearing to never tell anyone, the group disbands, each changed forever by the course of the night – and by a game that had forever snatched their innocence.

A Lion Among the Lambs

This was an episode with high anticipation surrounding it, and Riverdale delivered. Alice’s story will mesmerize viewers, the tension building within, keeping one glued to their seats in anticipation. While there are no answers to the origin and nature of the Gargoyle King and the game itself, we finally have the backstory involving the parents of Riverdale, and know the ramifications of playing.

As the episode, and Alice’s story, came to a close, Betty encouraged her mother to break her years of silence and report what she knows to the police – that an unwilling player did not die of suicide by ingesting poisoned blue liquid, but that someone from the Midnight Club had killed him. Unbelieving in the supernatural, Betty is certain a killer lurks within the town of Riverdale, convinced they had gotten away with murder.

Yet, as Betty attempts to sway her mother to do the right thing, I find myself curious who the murderer really is. Initially, I am at a loss, but I find myself zeroing in on Alice. Before playing the game, Alice had found out she was pregnant, using this as a reason to excuse herself from partaking in the indulgence of drugs with the rest of the club during Ascension night. Yet, I wonder if the Gargoyle King would prey so easily on the altered minds of the club. It seems as though he would want those who can be easily influenced by his game, by his “power”. It does seem strange that Alice, in her clear minded state, was the only one to see the writings on the wall in the bathroom and to be given the choice of Chalice – as well as the only one to have seen the Gargoyle King in the halls and the principal enter the school that night. She may not have been under the influence of drugs, but she could without a doubt be under the influence of the game.

To further support this argument, the farm comes swiftly to mind, the cult like organization that has brought instant serenity to both Alice and Polly Cooper (Tiera Skovbye). She seems to easily prey to suggestion, constantly reciting in previous episodes this season what Edgar had done or recommends. And lest we remind viewers of the ritualistic ceremony Betty walked into, the twins being dropped into the bonfire, only to float above.

Could Alice Cooper be a murderer? If not Alice, than who could it be? And with full knowledge that Archie comics does break off into the supernatural world of Witches (Sabrina) and werewolves, could it be possible the Gargoyle King could be real?

Conclusion

Needless to say, Riverdale potentially has another murderer on the loose, hidden beneath a new hood – lurking the woods and the halls of Riverdale High. It may be sometime before we find out who that is, but I feel as though it may tie into many of the subplots that have been lingering in waiting this season. The one thing we do know for certain is that the game is not complete – and it has its eyes set on Cheryl and Jughead next.

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