Riverdale Season 3, Episode 4 recap: 5 things we learned from the Midnight Club

A flashback to Gryphons & Gargoyles’ origins in Riverdale reveals fatal secrets from the past. Who’s behind the Gargoyle King’s mask?

It’s time to go back the past with Riverdale to the late ’80s, an era when the first generation called themselves the Midnight Club and got into some trouble with Gryphons & Gargoyles. Since the game has inexplicably swept around school, Betty presses Alice for any and all information she might have that could help solve this mystery. As luck would have it, Alice Cooper’s in the mood not for chaos but for tea spilling, and she doesn’t leave a single deadly stone unturned.

Let’s dig into the five most shocking moments from the jaw-dropping flashback episode of Riverdale. (Warning: It’s about to get real spoilery in here.)

1. Gryphons & Gargoyles wasn’t always scary.

When Fred, FP, Alice, Hermione, Penelope, and Sierra end up in Saturday detention (the boys were streaking, the girls were fighting in the bathroom), they try to find something to do to pass the time other than argue. Once Principal Featherhead (guest star Anthony Michael Hall) leaves them to “write essays,” they share secrets and break into Mrs. Crabapple’s desk.

Inside they find Gryphons & Gargoyles, and even though they had heard of the legends and rumors swirling around the game, they play it. For a while, it’s an innocent bonding activity, an escape.

2. But Hiram was always terrible.

Pretend to be shocked, will you. Young Hiram (played by Mark Consuelos’ son Michael) doesn’t get much screen time in the flashback episode, but the time he does have reveals that a leopard can’t change its spots. Not only does he end up working his powers of manipulation over Hermione, but he brings fizzle rocks to the ascension party and gets everyone high out of their minds.

Oh, let’s clarify: fizzle rocks are the ’80s drug in Riverdale. This isn’t the jingle jangle generation, folks.

3. The Blossoms chose Penelope to be Clifford’s wife.

While the Midnight Club (as they call themselves because they break into school after dark) spills their secrets, some truly chilling things come to light. Fred’s father was sick, and he was willing to spend his life in Riverdale to take care of him (which he ended up doing even after he passed).

FP’s father physically abused him, Hermione was weirdly enamored with Hiram, and the Blossoms were bonkers. They plucked Penelope out of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy because she was a redhead and groomed her to be Clifford’s wife as children. Blossoms gotta Blossom.

4. Someone died.

Here’s the real kicker, the catalyst that drove the Midnight Club apart, the secret that was swept under the rug for years: Gryphons & Gargoyles took Principal Featherhead’s life. During the ascension party, the quest was set up, seemingly by no one, at school. They take fizzle rocks, play music, and jump into the game.

Since Alice was pregnant, she didn’t partake in the drugs. But she encounters the chalices and the Gargoyle King before ducking out of school early. She caught sight of Featherhead before leaving but kept quiet. His body was later found in a closet, blue lips and all.

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5. Jughead plays the game.

Because of the fatal end to their evening, the Midnight Club vowed to keep the secret and scatter all contents of the game so it could never be played again. (That worked out well!) They turned into strangers once more, and their lives took drastic turns into the people they would ultimately become.

In present day, Alice pleads with Betty that she won’t play the game. Its all-consuming powers are too dangerous to toy with. But Betty walks in on Jughead and the Serpents playing the game in Dilton’s bunker, and he’s much too invested.

Odds & Ends:

• Do we think that Alice is right and the person responsible for Principal Featherhead’s death is in the Midnight Club? Could the culprit be in the second group, which consisted of Hiram, Marty Mantle, Darrell Doiley, and Tom Keller?
• Let’s assume Betty’s also right and the person responsible for that first death is the one reviving the game now. Who’s behind the Gargoyle King mask?
• Can we briefly talk about The Fred Heads? What a band name and what a performance. Who knew Archie’s middling musical talent came from Fred?
• What a wasted opportunity to reunite Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall! But it’s still cool that two of five members of The Breakfast Club have been on Riverdale.

What did you think of the latest episode? Let us know in the comments!

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.