Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Riverdale below!
Riverdale received a welcome addition at the end of tonight’s episode, in the form of Mary Andrews, played by 80s icon Molly Ringwald.
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While the casting of Ringwald helped further the show’s feeling of nostalgia, it also paid homage to one of the show’s biggest influences – the movies of John Hughes.
According to one of the show’s executive producers, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, this inspiration goes hand-in-hand with the show’s more dark influence – the cult-classic 90s show Twin Peaks.
“Riverdale is very much in dialogue with shows like Twin Peaks and coming of age movies and things like that.” Aguirre-Sacasa revealed during a recent set visit. “When we finally kind of landed on the formula, we did kinda pitch it as John Hughes, via Twin Peaks, as a mashup.”
With Twin Peaks set for a revival later this year, Aguirre-Sacasa said that aforementioned mashup is purely an homage – as seen, in part, through the casting of Ringwald and Twin Peaks alum Madchen Amick.
“I’m really glad we came out before the new Twin Peaks did.” Aguirre-Sacasa joked. “But I think that we’re not hiding or ashamed of that influence. When we kinda figured out that that would be the way to separate this from other coming of age shows, we kinda just ran with it.”
When Fred (Luke Perry) decides to finalize the divorce with Archie’s mother Mary (guest star Molly Ringwald), Archie (KJ Apa) hides his true feelings.Archie tries to win Valerie (guest star Hayley Law) back with a romantic evening, however, Betty (Lili Reinhart) hijacks his plans when she decides to throw Jughead (Cole Sprouse) a surprise birthday party.Once Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) learns of the party, she decides to make it interesting and things quickly get out of control.Meanwhile, Veronica (Camila Mendes) contemplates whether she should participate in the deposition to help get her Dad released.Madchen Amick and Marishol Nichols also star.
Dawn Wilkinson directed the episode written by Britta Lundin & Brian E. Paterson.
Riverdale stars KJ Apa as Archie, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camilla Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Luke Perry as Archie’s father Fred Andrews, among others. The series’ showrunner is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Archie Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer and the writer of Afterlife With Archie, the publisher’s wildly popular zombie series.
MORE: Riverdale Live Recap with Spoilers: Chapter Eight: The Outsiders / Cole Sprouse Talks “Bughead” / Molly Ringwald Comes to Riverdale in “The Lost Weekend” Synopsis / KJ Apa Explains Archie’s Relationship With His Mom Played By Molly Ringwald
Riverdale airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
