‘Riverdale’: “Halloween” Treats Include Heroes, Villains and a Surprise Return

Technically, Halloween starts post Labor Day and runs right through October 31. Sorry, I don’t make the rules, it’s just true. However, the holiday doesn’t really kick off until October 30, when The CW airs Riverdale‘s “Halloween” episode. And thanks to some new pictures from the hour, we know there will be superheroes, supervillains… And a surprise return student who left last season.

First, here’s the episode synopsis (and for a deeper dive, check out our breakdown of “Chapter Sixty-One: Halloween“):

HALLOWEEN IN RIVERDALE — When ominous videotapes begin appearing on doorsteps across Riverdale, widespread fear quickly returns to the town. At Stonewall Prep, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) learns about a series of mysterious disappearances that have occurred to former students at the school. Meanwhile, Archie’s (KJ Apa) plan to create a safe space for the town’s kids gets derailed when some unwanted visitors crash their Halloween party. Elsewhere, Veronica (Camila Mendes) comes face to face with trouble, while Betty’s (Lili Reinhart) past comes back to haunt her. Lastly, a haunting at Thistlehouse rocks Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) to their core. Madchen Amick, Skeet Ulrich, Casey Cott and Charles Melton also star. Erin Feeley directed the episode written by Janine Salinas Schoenberg (#404.) Original airdate 10/30/2019.

Now, let’s get the big news not mentioned in the synopsis out of the way: Moose Mason (Cody Kearsley) is back! After a short stint in Greendale over on Netflix’s Daybreak, Kevin Keller’s (Cott) former flame has returned, just in time for the spookiest day of the year. And based on the stills, it looks like he’ll be bunking up with Jughead at Stonewall Prep:





When last we saw Moose, he was headed off to California to live with his mother, after his Dad was arrested for pretending to be the villainous Gargoyle King. Clearly at some point after that, he returned to Riverdale… But did he tell Kevin? And could that be why Kevin and Reggie Mantle (Melton) are looking so jaunty in this picture?

It’s possible that above pic might be in the Riverdale High common room, though, which is where we seemingly find Betty, looking comfortable and concerned:

But what about Cheryl and Toni? They’ll be taking on the identities of two DC Comics supervillains, the canonically queer Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, respectively. But they’ll also be dealing with a spooky Ouija board courtesy Nana Rose Blossom (Barbara Wallace), and a weird sailor puppet named Julian.





Curiously, Julian is also the name of the third Blossom child (along with Cheryl and her brother Jason) in the comics. Hmmm…

Let’s turn from supervillains, to superheroes, though, as Archie will be trying to take back the crime-ridden streets of Riverdale the only way he knows how, by dressing up as his superhero character from the Archie Comics, Pureheart the Powerful:

Looks like he’s taking Mad Dog (Goree) — sorry, Munroe Moore — along for the ride. And though Veronica seems to be supportive of Archie’s endeavors as always…

…Pureheart and his team-mate will run into some serious trouble. Word is that the folks who like to do crimez around the duo’s community center/gym aren’t too happy they’re cleaning up the neighborhood. Uhoh.





Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.





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