Rumors have been circulating about the impending musical episode of Riverdale all season long. And oh boy, did it happen.
After a two-week break from new episodes in preparation for the big one, Riverdale went full Glee. There were dance numbers through the high school hallways. There were fights for solos and lead roles. There were even some tearful numbers. And, of course, there was a lot of singing. Some of it was surprisingly good, and some was just auto-tuned enough to be cringeworthy.
On top of the musical elements, the weirdly inserted documentary element both added and took away from the episode overall. Riverdale has struggled to maintain focus for more than three minutes at a time for most of the second half of the season, and parts of this week’s episode being shown through grainy black-and-white shots supposedly captured by Jughead while documenting the musical preparations made this episode no different.
It was clear the episode was meant to be a lighter note for the season (pun intended), and at moments it succeeded. The scenes that featured the cast rehearsing for the school production of Carrie dressed in ‘70s garb are visually fun in styling, lighting, camerawork and choreography. Some old wounds between friends were even healed through song in some oddly touching scenes.
As usual, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) was the ultimate scene-stealer. Every bit of revenge she gets against her diabolical family is a highlight, and threatening her mother while covered in blood as Carrie White was truly iconic.
But of course, peace and justice couldn’t reign for too long without the Riverdale writer’s affinity for darkness worming its way back in. Another Black Hood death in the show’s final moments confirmed the long-lasting suspicion that the murderer wasn’t gone after all. So naturally, the show is thrown back into a state of utter chaos, which has become the norm this season.
