Why Did 'Riverdale' Give So Much Time to 'Love, Simon' This Week?

Spoilers ahead for tonight's episode of Riverdale, titled "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes."

If you have watched tonight's episode of Riverdale, the first thing you probably thought was "what the heck was going on with Love, Simon?

Love, Simon, which opens in select theaters this week, is a coming-of-age romantic comedy about a teenager who discovers that he is gay and comes out to his family and friends. Simon's onscreen parents are Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel, and the film stars Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse) and Keiynan Lonsdale (The Flash), among others.

And it was directed by Riverdale executive producer Greg Berlanti.

In tonight's Riverdale, the "core four" (Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica) head to the woods for a getaway weekend, while some of their friends back home (Cheryl, Moose, Midge, Kevin, Toni) head to the movies to see Love, Simon.

"I actually just saw the full version like three days ago, and I loved it," Vanessa Morgan, who plays Toni, told ComicBook.com's Charlie Ridgley. "It's such a beautiful story; it's so heartwarming. Yeah, we were in the theater for Cheryl's scenes, we actually got to see a scene of it, which was nice."

Berlanti, a wildly successful producer, has only directed a handful of projects in his career, including 2010's Life As We Know It, also starring Duhamel. Love, Simon seems to be a passion project, and one that will have eyes on it from the comics community, since Berlanti is reportedly slated to direct Booster Gold from a screenplay by Zack Stentz, who formerly worked under Berlanti on The Flash.

The movie was woven into the narrative of the series, not just in the sense that it gave some Riverdale students something to do on a Friday night but more importantly because it spoke to Cheryl Blossom in a visceral way, and helped her to realize that she needed to be more honest about who she is with those around her.

This, as most fans had already predicted, led to what appears to be the start of a romance between Cheryl and South Side Serpent Toni Topaz. The film did not, as far as we can tell so far, have a similarly revelatory impact on Moose Mason, who remains firmly in the closet, at least as far as his girlfriend Midge Klump is concerned.

Riverdale airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

Love, Simon will be in theaters next week, after special preview screenings around the country this Friday.