The "Riverdale" Stars Look Exactly Like Their Parents in "The Midnight Club" Episode
If Riverdale feels like a TV show with no concrete sense of time, you'd be forgiven for thinking so: The cast chills in old-school diners while playing on smartphones, and Christmas episodes are followed almost immediately by summery drag races. One thing we know for sure? The series definitely takes place in a post-'90s era. We know this because the parents of Riverdale were teens in the bygone decade... and that's where (or should we say when) we're headed in the special episode called "The Midnight Club," in which the current-day kids play their parental counterparts.
As it turns out, the throwback motif serves a point. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly that the episode is tied to this season's big mystery, which has to do with the board game that might have claimed Dilton Doiley and Ben the pizza delivery kid as victims. He explained, “One of the things that the kids discover pretty early on is that the murder victims in the present were playing a game called Gryphons & Gargoyles, which is of course the Rivderdale version of Dungeons & Dragons. And what our kids in the present discover is that their parents, when they were in high school, were also playing this game and there was a similar murder that happened in the past.” The premise sounds a bit like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but OK, sure! (Maybe reread that book ahead of the November 7 episode air date if you're looking for further clues?)
Until then, we know this: KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, and company took their impersonations of Luke Perry, Mädchen Amick, Marisol Nichols, Skeet Ulrich, and more very seriously. How close to script were they playing? See for yourself below:
KATIE YU1/13In what might be the episode's buzziest casting news, newcomer Michael Consuelos will make his debut as a young Hiram Lodge. If that last name rings a bell, it should...
©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection2/13Because dear ol' dad Mark Consuelos plays present-day Hiram. (Here he is in his All My Children days.)
Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW3/13Meanwhile, KJ Apa did his best
Dylan McKayLuke PerryYoung Fred Andrews impression.Riverdale -- "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" -- Image Number: RVD304b_0109.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Camila Mendes as Teen Hermione Gomez and KJ Apa as Teen Fred Andrews -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- é 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY4/13Need a primer on who Dylan McKay is? Look no further than this GIF from Beverly Hills, 90210.
Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW5/13Meanwhile, Camila Mendes opted for straight hair and glasses to channel...
Riverdale -- "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" -- Image Number: RVD304b_0420.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Ashleigh Murray as Teen Sierra Samuels, Madelaine Petsch as Teen Penelope Blossom and Camila Mendes as Teen Hermione Gomez -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- é 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection6/13... a young Marisol Nichols, seen here in Vegas Vacation.
VEGAS VACATION, Marisol Nichols, Ethan Embry, 1997, (c)Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection
Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW7/13Ashleigh Murray ditched the leopard and cat ears to take on young Sierra McCoy, whose connection with future-Sheriff Keller goes way back. (Hi, Casey Cott!)
Riverdale -- "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" -- Image Number: RVD304e_0522.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Ashleigh Murray as Teen Sierra Samuels and Casey Cott as Teen Tom Keller -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- é 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection8/13Her choice of pastel was on point — Robin Givens posed in pink for Head of the Class in the 1980s.
HEAD OF THE CLASS, Dan Frischman, Brian Robbins, Tony O'Dell, Jory Husain, Leslie Bega, Howard Hesseman, William G. Schilling, Jeanetta Arnette, Khrystyne Haje, Tannis Vallely, Daniel J. Schneider, Robin Givens, 1986-91
DEAN BUSCHER9/13Lili Reinhart knew where to look for throwback Mädchen Amick makeup inspo.
Riverdale -- "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" -- Image Number: RVD304d_0023.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Teen Fred Andrews and Lili Reinhart as Teen Alice Smith -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- é 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY10/13Twin Peaks! “When she first saw me in the hair and makeup, she looked at me, she studied my face for a second, and she went, 'Yep.' And that was it," Lili said of Mädchen's appraisal.
KATIE YU11/13Cole as a young Forsyth Pendleton Jones II is no less broody than his portrayal of Forsyth Pendleton Jones III (AKA Jughead).
Riverdale -- "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club" -- Image Number: RVD304a_0479.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Camila Mendes as Teen Hermione Gomez and Cole Sprouse as Teen FP Jones -- Photo: Katie Yu/The CW -- é 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
GIF: Courtesy of GIPHY12/13From the white tee to the curtain bangs, I'm pretty sure he nailed Skeet Ulrich circa Scream. (Blood not included... I think?)
KATIE YU13/13Madelaine Petsch opted for big glasses and a knit vest to channel young Penelope, in her pre-Blossom years — and she actually looks extremely different from a young Nathalie Boltt.
While throwback photos of Nathalie are fewer and further between, the actor does regularly post #TBTs on her Instagram. And — surprise! — she sports a short, bleached 'do in most of them. Hey, sometimes art doesn't imitate life, after all.
