'Riverdale' recap: 'Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember'

Riverdale returns with “A Night to Remember” in which the students at Riverdale High rehearse Carrie the Musical, but an enemy lurks behind the scenes.

Previously on Riverdale, Toni rescued Cheryl from conversion therapy. Archie stayed loyal to the Lodge’s and deepened the rift between him and Fred. Finally, Alice kicked Chic out after he brought danger into their home again.

Riverdale’s musical episode “A Night to Remember” begins with Kevin asking Jughead to be the videographer for Riverdale High’s production of Carrie the Musical. Jughead agrees. The scene turns to everyone doing their normal morning routine and singing one of the songs. At the Andrews’s, Fred offers to help out with the sets for the musical. He’s happy Archie is getting back into music and tries to give him a ride to school. Archie lies about taking his bike and goes to drive his new car from Hiram. Archie sings on his way to school and in the halls Ethel and Kevin sing. The cast goes to the auditorium, singing and dancing.

Jughead films the cast sitting in a circle and announcing who they are playing in the musical. Alice arrives, playing the adult in the show because Kevin wants accurate casting. Chuck Clayton arrives a bit late for the meeting. He later tells Jughead he believes the musical will help people see him in a better light. Jughead watches everyone through the camera constantly. Betty talks to Archie about being angry with Veronica for going along with her parents' plans.

Kevin tries to get started but Cheryl interrupts. She wants to prove she deserves the role of Carrie White. She sings one of Carrie’s songs and the group claps. When she goes back her seat, a sandbag falls. Later, Kevin shows Jughead a note made from magazine letters he received claiming to be from the Black Hood. In it, they demand Carrie be recast. Jughead films the cast practicing a musical scene.

Archie asks Veronica if he can leave his car in her garage for a while because he hasn’t told his dad. He’s worried about Fred’s reaction given his tension with Veronica’s parents. At The Pembrooke, Hermione and Hiram talk about Fred’s campaign. Hiram says if he continues to cause a rift between Archie and his dad, Fred’s campaign will falter. Later Hiram asks Veronica why Archie’s car is in their garage. She tells him Archie didn’t want Fred to know about it yet and Hiram gets an idea.

Alice goes to Pop’s and tells FP about the play. She asks him to see her in the play and he declines. Alice is upset that he’s ignoring her again.

Back at Riverdale High, Jughead shows Betty the Black Hood letter. She doesn’t think it’s authentic. Betty goes to ask Ethel if she’s upset about Cheryl taking the role of Carrie. Ethel admits she is but then notices Jughead filming them and wonders what the two are doing. She claims she would never hurt anyone.

During a later rehearsal, Kevin has Josie and Cheryl work on their song together. Cheryl stops and apologizes to Josie for her former behavior. They then sing the song and hug. At the next rehearsal, Veronica sings a song about being an entitled rich girl. Betty confronts her about how she embodies the character completely.

After, Archie says Veronica is going through a lot because of her family. He reminds Betty that Veronica forgave her after the Black Hood incident. The two rehearse their character’s duet. Later Betty goes to Veronica and Veronica admits she’s been a bad friend. Betty says she hasn’t and the two sing about their friendship then hug.

Fred and Archie are working on the set design at the school when Hiram arrives. He asks Fred if Archie has taken him for a ride in the car yet. Fred’s upset Archie because he had plans to get an old car for Archie for them to fix up together. Meanwhile, Betty walks downstairs to hear Alice leaving Chic a voicemail. Alice says Chic hasn’t returned her calls.

Kevin received another letter that threatens Cheryl and again demands her replacement. Kevin tells Cheryl he needs to recast Carrie for her own safety. Cheryl refuses, saying she needs this after everything she’s been through lately. Penelope walks over and says Cheryl is done with the musical. Students must have parental approval and Penelope refuses to approve of Cheryl’s “matricidal revenge fantasy.”

Kevin addresses the cast and tells them Cheryl is no longer playing Carrie because Penelope disapproves. He says as an understudy, Midge will now play Carrie. He tells Toni where Cheryl is and she rushes off. Cheryl shares her frustrations with Toni, who encourages her to stand up to her mother and play Carrie one last time.

Back at practice, Alice sings a song about people leaving to Midge and in the end, sings directly to her daughter to not leave. Betty runs after her mom and says she’s not leaving. Alice thinks she’s destroyed all her relationships and Betty tries to comfort her mother. Later, Betty tells Jughead she wants to do something to help.

Kevin shows the cast the programs for the show and Fred brings in some set pieces. Archie talks to Jughead about how his relationship with his dad is frayed. Archie talks to Hiram and tells him not to try and unsettle his relationship with Fred. He returns the keys to the car.

The day of the show, Hal arrives at the Cooper’s with flowers for her and Betty. Alice is allergic to the flowers, but Hal still asks to come home. She says if he comes back, they need to be truthful to each other. She tells Hal that Chic isn’t his child. Hal says he thought so and he still wants to be a family again.

Archie takes his dad to the garage and surprises him with an old car for them to fix together. He tells him about returning the new car to Hiram and selling some music equipment to get the car. Fred is touched and looks over the car.

Cheryl goes to Thistleshouse. She covers herself in fake blood and confronts her mother She holds a burning candelabra and accuses Penelope of teaming up with Claudius to kill Nana and send her away. Cheryl threatens Penelope and demands to be emancipated. She says Penelope and Claudius must leave or else.

The cast sings backstage as they get ready and does a big musical scene together. The audience starts to arrive and Hermione greets people. FP walks in to see Hal talking to Alice and immediately leaves.

Kevin walks around backstage getting stuff ready. He looks for Fangs and finds him in Midge’s room, saying he was giving her last minute directions. Jughead knocks on Ethel’s door but doesn’t receive a reply. He goes inside and finds cutouts from magazines in the trash. Ethel walks in and claims the pieces are for a vision board. She pushes him out and he tries to talk to Moose but is ignored. Veronica, Betty, Archie and Chuck practice backstage. Veronica tells Chuck she sees he’s a changed man. Chic appears and Betty is surprised he came.

On stage, Alice sings a song when she finishes, a screen goes up to reveal Midge, impaled on the set. A bloody message behind her reads “I am back from the dead. All those who escaped me before will die. B.H.” The crowd is confused for a moment and then everyone realizes it’s not a part of the show. Cheryl yells for someone to help Midge and people scream and run.

I really enjoyed this episode of Riverdale. I’d never heard the songs before, but I thought it was fun and the cast did pretty well. The Black Hood returning (or someone taking on the name as their own) is something I’ve been expecting. Midge’s death was shocking, but I do wonder why the Black Hood took so long to return.I feel for Alice, but accepting Hal back into her life feels like a big mistake. I was disappointed to not get more Choni this episode, but Cheryl was the highlight of the episode in my opinion. The core four were better this episode than they’ve been for a while, so that gives me hope they’ll work out their issues.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 pm on The CW. Check out a preview for the next episode below.