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Let’s Talk About ‘Night of the Comet’:
- Archie and friends discover that not only did Percival’s spell change the course of Bailey’s Comet, it also put an invisible barrier around the town, and made the comet’s trajectory look perfectly normal to the outside world.
- With the comet sure to hit Riverdale, it seems that only Archie and Anthony may be the lone survivors.
- With Percival’s arcane knowledge far beyond anything Cheryl and Heather know, Cheryl suggests she may know someone who can help … and no, it’s not Sabrina Spellman.
- Alexandra Cabot, not seen since Season 5’s ‘The Return of the Pussycats’, has another business offer for Tabitha … unaware that she is trapped in a town about to be obliterated by a comet.
- Archie’s mother Mary has the worst timing.
- Toni and Fangs make it official — Anthony is the new Serpents king … because he’s immortal and the only one who can rebuild after the comet hits.
- Archie and the men of Riverdale try to find a way past Percival’s barriers by going underneath the town and through the mines.
- Cheryl presents a solution to Riverdale’s comet problem but it may come with a severe cost.
- While everyone makes their final arrangements and gathers with their loved ones, Veronica is struck with another solution to save Riverdale.
- As the comet approaches, our key players break out into a truly emotional version of Billie Eilish’s ‘The End of the World’.
- Cheryl goes all Wanda Maximov on Bailey’s Comet but the end result is not what anyone expected.
Here we are at the Riverdale Season 6 finale and what a ride this has been. I have been somewhat critical of the show since its second season mainly due to the unnecessary length of the seasons. Season 1, which premiered mid-season, was a tight 13-episode romp that told a succinct story from start to finish. With the show’s renewal, it was granted the traditional 22-episode format for a network drama, and it became clear that this was a show that thrived with 13-episodes. Those extra nine were often nothing more than padding that dragged the season down. Remember how they ‘revealed’ the identity of The Black Hood and assured us that storyline was done, and then gave us several episodes of nothing before the real Black Hood popped up again? Or the interminable Gargoyle King storyline? At time it could be taxing to sit through an episode of a show that I genuinely like, but I’m glad I stuck with it to Season 6.
Production on Riverdale, like most TV shows and movies, got bogged down because of the global pandemic with Season 4 ending early and Season 5 concluding that season before jumping into its own storyline. The cast and crew barely had a break between seasons, and that held true with Season 5 as well which ended up shooting late into the Summer to conclude and then pick up again a few weeks later to get Season 6 started. But this schedule gave the Powers That Be the opportunity to give us the entertaining and very different ‘Rivervale’ five-episode event, which was teased as just that — a five-episode event that would have no bearing on the rest of the season. But as Season 6 progressed, our heroes got superpowers and Percival Pickens arrived, it became clear that somehow we were still in ‘Rivervale’ territory … or rather Rivervale was bleeding into Riverdale. This also gave the producers the opportunity to give fans what they really wanted — an appearance by Sabrina Spellman. And we got her twice! But as the elements of the supernatural grew through the season, we all had to wonder exactly how it was going to end. And I think it’s safe to say that none of us saw that ending coming.
The episode, titled ‘Night of the Comet’ (another one of the show’s clever uses of a classic movie title, and this time it actually bore some connection to the episode), was basically everyone trying to deal with the impending impact of Bailey’s Comet, trying to find a way to get around Percival’s last spell before Mr. Cypher dragged him to Hell. Not only did he redirect the comet’s path, but he made it look to the outside world that it was simply passing over Riverdale as it had every 65 years, and he placed an invisible barrier around the town, like a roach motel — people could enter but no one could get out, which was bad news for Alexandra Cabot and Mary Andrews. The spell also prevented Jughead from opening a portal to another universe; he could only move about in Riverdale. It also made Veronica regret moving back to Riverdale. But Percival’s powers were beyond anything Cheryl or Heather had at their disposal so things seemed rather bleak, however Cheryl may have an ace up her sleeve with someone familiar to her who’s been around as long as Percival — Abigail Blossom, whose souls is still imprisoned in the ‘Annabelle’ doll.
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While she and Heather conjure up Abigail, everyone else is left to deal with wrapping up their personal loose ends. Alice apologizes for being such a terrible mother, but Betty assures her that she was not as she and Polly do their best to console her (no sign of Charles though). Tabitha gets a surprise visit from Alexandra Cabot, who we last saw in Season 5 when she had the idea to franchise Pop’s nationwide. Now she has another opportunity to take over ‘Tommy Comets’, a diner chain that recently went belly-up (I love how Riverdale can find clever spins on actual names of places and things). Tabitha doesn’t quite know how to break the news to her friend that she’s about to be vaporized by a comet. Reggie brings the portrait of Hiram to Veronica, and she friend zones him in the end, but invites him to spend their last moments together at the casino (which she generously hands over to him … even though he has less than 18 hours left on the planet). Betty cryptically turns down an offer from Drake to head up a new serial killer hunter unit, and Archie decides that even though they have just a few hours left, he wants to marry Betty … which she declines but tells him to ask her again if they survive.
Meanwhile, Abigail offers to help Cheryl on one condition — she wants to spend one last night with her beloved Thomasina, which is sure to make things awkward for Toni and Heather. She also presents a solution on how to break through Percival’s barriers – what looks like a mile of knotted rope. All they have to do is untie it before the comet hits. Sure, thanks, Abby. With their only real chance of survival resting on Toni’s shoulders (and she and Fangs have just designated the immortal Anthony as the new Serpents king, the only one who will survive to rebuild the group), she agrees to become a vessel for Thomasina if it will help save the town. Heather helped with the soul transfer, keeping Cheryl’s and Toni’s in a jar while Abigail and Thomasina were ‘reborn’ in their bodies. And boy, you could hear a Million Moms’ heads exploding as ‘Abigail’ and ‘Thomasina’ engaged in some steamy ‘carnal relations’ that were almost too hot for The CW. The next morning, both young women claimed they didn’t remember anything but it’s clear they did. It was also clear to Heather that she was a third wheel, and that Cheryl and Toni are predestined soul mates, so if they get out of their comet predicament, she will return to Greendale. But the night was repaid with the information that Cheryl can melt the comet — which is after all just a ball of space ice — with her Phoenix powers. Well why didn’t she think of that in the first place?! Hold the phone because there is one little catch — melting the comet before it makes impact will take all of Cheryl’s powers. Oh, and it seems that it is those powers that are keeping the recently resurrected alive, so one or more or all of them — Alice, Tom Keller, Uncle Frank, Polly, Dagwood, Nana Rose, Fangs, Archie, Jughead — could die again. That, of course, is not the best solution to the problem but it’s the only solution.
The impending end of the world did come with a few positives, namely Betty seeing the light at the end of her ‘Dark Betty’ tunnel. She was the one who finally told Mary the truth and sent her to bring Archie back from the barrier (he tried to break it down with Percival’s mace, and Alice told him it was okay to be afraid). (Mary had also revealed that she had come back to Riverdale to tell Archie she and her wife were divorcing, but on good terms.) When he came back to Betty, he apologized for proposing to her in the middle of all this madness, but she stopped him and proposed to him. He said yes! For Tabitha and Jughead, knowing that he was going to die no matter what reminded her of the story of Jack and Rose in Titanic — which Jughead had never seen! So they spend four of their last hours on earth watching the movie, and Jughead gets it. Tabitha asks him for one last thing — one minute together. In that time, sitting in a booth at Pop’s, she shows him their life together with their small, then grown children, and the two of them as senior citizens still happy and in love after all those years. Hand me a tissue, please.
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Earlier, Veronica had said a final goodbye to her father (the portrait) saying she hoped they didn’t cross paths in the afterlife. When she kissed it, her poison rotted the painting. And as the comet grew closer, looking at the deteriorated portrait and thinking about her power, she was struck with an idea and texted everyone to come to her apartment. As they gathered she laid it all out to them, the reason they were all given their powers. As she is basically a human dialysis machine, she should be able to absorb all of their powers and then transfer them to Cheryl. With the extra boost, it’s likely none of the resurrected would die. Of course the only way to do that is through blood, so they have to cut their palms and hold hands so Veronica can absorb their powers. Two problems — Archie can’t cut his skin and Cheryl refuses to cut her alabaster skin. For Archie, Veronica has one of Percival’s Daggers of Meggido. For Cheryl, the transfer can be done with a kiss. Which could still kill Cheryl but her powers should be enough to combat the venom. It’s a last ditch effort but blood is drawn, hands are joined, and a kiss is delivered. Cheryl does not die. Roni then pulls a gun on her and … Cheryl can see a threatening red aura around her. One power absorbed, and Roni pulls the trigger. The bullet did not penetrate Cheryl’s skin, and she could suddenly hear everyone’s thoughts. If the transfer of powers did indeed work, as it appears, then Cheryl should be able to stop Bailey’s Comet.
Everyone gathers with their loved ones to wait for the comet and say their final goodbyes just in case. Toni, Fangs and Anthony are the only ones who have any sense to hunker down in the bunker. I really thought everyone would gather there but, no, they just sat at home and watched the fire grow in the sky. One lovely thing that came out of everyone doing their own thing was a cast rendition of Billie Eilish’s ‘The End of the World’, which left me a blubbering mess. Yeah, I know there’s one more season but in that moment they all believed they were about to die and that song just ripped my heart out, making me think of holding on to my loved ones as the end approached. Pass me another tissue, please. As they sang, Cheryl stood in front of Pop’s (Heather, Britta and Nana Rose were busily untying that knotted rope back at Thorn Hill) and began an incantation to manifest all of the power within her. As her hands began to glow, Cheryl levitated as she kept chanting to melt the comet.
[IMAGE: RIVERDALE-S06E22-03 Caption: Screengrab]
As the screen went to a blinding white light — and a commercial break — we’re back in Archie’s bedroom … but something is different. His hair, for one thing, is poofier. He pulls a Riverdale High sweater out of a drawer and puts it and his letterman jacket on, glancing out his bedroom window to see Betty and Alice. Betty is crying and Alice is consoling her. He picks up his backpack and heads downstairs where Mary is reading the paper and crying. She too is different, her hair style and clothing from another period. She delivers the news that ‘he’ died. Archie has no idea and she finally tells him that James Dean died in a car accident (there was a poster of Dean on the wall in Betty’s bedroom). She shows him the paper and it’s 1955. Our trusty narrator Jughead tells us that some effect of Cheryl destroying the comet caused some sort of temporal shift, taking Riverdale back to a time before Jason Blossom was murdered, before the Black Hood existed, a time when he and his friends were teenagers in a simpler time. As we see Jughead sitting at his typewriter with the classic Jughead crown (not the beanie), he reveals that he is the only one of them who remembers life B.C., Before the Comet. And that is how you do a cliffhanger!
As I said at the beginning, I was critical of Riverdale for its needless padding to achieve a 22-episode season, but Season 6 was certainly an exception to that observation. There was absolutely no padding this season, probably helped by having the five-episode ‘Rivervale’ premiere event. Ever since Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premiered on Netflix (moving from The CW at the last minute), fans have longed for some kind of crossover while the producers decreed there would be no supernatural storylines on Riverdale. ‘Rivervale’ gave them that opportunity for some fan service and then they just ran with it, and in the process creating one of the series’ best villains in Percival Pickens. With this season of witchcraft and super powers, there really was nowhere to go but with another hard reboot and taking everyone back to the show’s roots with Archie and friends as teenagers was a bold choice. But taking them back to the 1950s is an even bolder choice that opens up so many questions of what the seventh season will look like. Will characters we’ve not seen much recently return? Of course there’s no way to bring Luke Perry back so will Molly Ringwald stick around? How will they address Fred’s absence? Will Penelope, Clifford and Jason Blossom all return? What about Hiram and Hermione? Hal Cooper? The OG Reggie? FP, Gladys and Sweet Pea Jones? Big Ethel and Dilton Doiley? Will Tabitha disappear? Will Josie and the Pussycats return? Miss Grundy? So many possibilities have been opened up with this reverse time jump, so it is with great anticipation that we await Season 7. The only downside is we now have to wait until possibly March of 2023. Ugh! But cheers to a great Season 6 that truly reinvigorated my interest in the show. What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
Riverdale will return for a full 22-episode season in 2023.
What did you think of the season finale? Let us know in the comments section below.
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