• Choked Up
• Nostalgic

Riverdale Season 7, Episode 19: “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six: The Golden Age Of Television”

The first half of Riverdale‘s penultimate episode is a sweet wrap-up to the storyline that found the cast sent back to the 1950s and reliving their teen years at Riverdale High. Featuring the welcome return of Principal Weatherbee, some lovely scenes between Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Alice (Mädchen Amick), and a swerve involving Kevin’s (Casey Cott) dad and Archie’s (KJ Apa) uncle, the teens vs. adults plot comes to a nice conclusion with hope for the future. And it seems like a solid, normal episode of Season 7 until Jughead (Cole Sprouse) walks into his train car to find Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) waiting for him. But this isn’t the 1950s Tabitha; it’s the angel version of Tabitha, returned to tell him that they’re all stuck in the 1950s, but thanks to their actions it’s a more idyllic, hopeful ’50s than the real world. And not only that, she returns everyone’s memories from the original timeline in the wildest, only Riverdale could pull this off way possible: by having them all binge-watch Riverdale. Shockingly, it works not just through the grounded performances of the cast and stunning direction by Tara Dafoe, but also as we, the audience, experience these clips from the show that have given us such joy over the years. It all ends with a heartbreaking scene between Jughead and Tabitha that sets up the final episode in poignant fashion. If this last episode is any indication, we’re not ready to say “Goodbye, Riverdale,” just yet.