‘Riverdale’ Recap “Chapter 39: The Midnight Club”
Gryphons and Gargoyles has returned to Riverdale and Mayor Lodge, fearing the worst, bans the game. I doubt anyone will listen. Betty hounds her mother for answers about the game and Alice obliges.
Riverdale has gone back in time. A young Alice finds out that she’s pregnant with FP’s baby and a young Penelope picks a fight with her in the bathroom. A young Fred and FP streak the halls for an initiation ritual. They all find themselves in detention, kind of like in The Breakfast Club. To pass the time, they play Secrets and Sins. They all talk about their relationships, wanting to leave Riverdale, Penelope being adopted and how FP didn’t want to be a serpent. They upset each other which leads to another fight and more detention. Eventually, the walls come down and they become friends. They also discover G&G in the teacher’s desk drawer. Alice encourages them to play.
Obsessed with the game, the group sneaks into the school after dark to play, calling themselves the Midnight Club. The group grows and new member Hiram introduces Fizzle Rocks to the next game: Ascension night. Everyone is high except Alice who is the first to flip for her fate but instead freaks out and leaves.
Fred’s father passed away during the game and Principal Featherhead went missing. Days later, the principal’s body is found in a closet. He’s dead with blue lips. Alice brings her suspicions to the group and they initially don’t believe her. They make a spit pact to scatter the items and never speak of the game or the principal’s death. They went their separate ways after that to become the adults we know today.
No one knows who poisoned those chalices. They were meant for a member of the Midnight Club. Alice advises Betty to leave it alone to protect her. Death is death. Of course, Betty disobeys her mother and goes looking for the missing game pieces. She even finds Jughead and her friends obsessively playing G&G. Hopefully, the gang can end this mystery before more people die.
I finally figured out how to properly spell Gryphons! This episode was wonderful, it gave me chills. I always love expository stories. Getting to see where these characters came from makes me feel for them. The actors did an amazing job playing their parents and I just can’t get over how well Michael Consuelos filled Hiram’s shoes! He was fantastic! It was cool to see that the apple doesn’t far from the tree as the kids share many traits with their parents. Fingers crossed that we get another flashback episode soon!
When Beth “grows up” she wants to see her creations appear on the screen and stage. In her free time, Beth blogs about her love of craft beer and writes screenplays. She received her bachelors in journalism from Youngstown State and received her masters in communication from The University of Akron. She is honored to be a part of the FanFest family.
