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This article is about a gang of students who became unlikely friends while in Saturday detention. You may be looking for the episode of the same name.

We played for weeks. Sneaking into school, late at night, getting deeper than ever. And we dubbed ourselves "The Midnight Club." We abandoned the board, acting out our quests and adventures in the real world, playing characters. Some of us became a little more inseparable than others.


The Midnight Club was a group formed by Fred Andrews, FP Jones, Alice Smith, Hermione Gomez, Sierra Samuels, Penelope Blossom, Tom Keller, Hiram Lodge, Marty Mantle, and Darryl Doiley during their junior year at Riverdale High School.

History[]

The group formed in the 1991-1992 school year after bonding in a month of Saturday detentions being left unsupervised. Despite most of the girls not being friends and Alice having a tense on-and-off friends-with-benefits relationship with FP Jones who unknowingly got her pregnant with their son, the group shared their secrets to break the ice between them. While chaotic at first, it eventually lead to friendships being formed and the discovery of Gryphons and Gargoyles, which the group then began to play.

Throughout Riverdale[]

Season 3[]

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Alice is pregnant

It was their junior year. Back then, before marrying Hal, she was Alice Smith. A teenage bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks with enviable hair, no friends, and one huge problem, that she was pregnant. A discovery made while in the ladies restroom at school. Alice bangs on the restroom door in frustration. Hermione Lodge overhears her frustration and opens the stall door to check on Alice, however, she is in no need of assistance, telling Hermione to mind her business. Alice hopes the pregnancy test is merely a false positive but as Sierra explains, false positives only happen approximately 3% of the time. Alice is panicking. She tried to talk to FP, the child's father, but he blew her off for a River Vixen that he's hooking up with. Hall monitor Penelope Blossom enters the restroom to ask for their hall passes, but only Hermione has hers. When Penelope looks to Alice for her pass, Alice replies that it's "up her ass". Penelope retorts by asking if Alice was born with that mouth or if it's something that southside mothers taught their bastard babies. This leads to a brawl between Alice and Penelope.

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FP and Fred go streaking

Elsewhere, Marty Mantle and the Riverdale Bulldogs pressure FP into following through with the Bulldog tradition of streaking. FP is initially resistant but agrees to do so when Fred offers to streak alongside him. While Fred is not a Bulldog himself, last year, the baseball team made him streak and it gained him credibility with the female students. He advises FP to run fast enough to the point where all they'll see is a blur. With that in mind, FP and Fred take off their clothes and run throughout the halls of the school, which lands them both in detention.

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First Saturday detention

Along with FP and Fred, who are given Saturday detention for their streaking, Alice, Penelope, Sierra, and Hermione are also given detention for their scuffle in the restroom. Gathered in that classroom, they were strangers more than friends. Eight hours. Six people with seemingly nothing in common. Alice Smith — The Bad Girl. Hermione Lodge — The Rebelling Catholic. Penelope Blossom — The Teacher's Pet. Fred Andrews — The Artist/Athlete. Sierra McCoy — The Political Animal. And FP Jones — The Lady's Man. He was different back then. Trying to be something other than what he was. But he was still trouble. As detention commences, Principal Featherhead lays down the rules and tells them that at the end of the day, they will all turn in a one-thousand-word essay as to why they're in detention. He then leaves the class.

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Alice carves her name into the window seal

Two hours have passed and not much is said. Alice sits near the window, carving her initials into the window seal with her knife. Fred asks her to stop, but this doesn't go over well. And the bickering seems to bother Penelope the most. Tom Keller then sneaks into the detention room. He greets Sierra with food and a kiss. He then tells her that he loves her before leaving. Fred questions just how long this relationship has been going on given that he had no idea of it. He notes that they've all been going to the same school since kindergarten and still know nothing about each other. Penelope answers that the reason for this is that none of them are friends. Sierra mentions that they have six more hours to kill and no one to impress so she suggests a round of Secret and Sins.

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Secrets and Sins

During a game of Secret and Sins, Sierra reveals that she and Tommy have been secretly dating for a few months. When Hermione asks why secretly, Sierra explains that their parents don't want them dating someone so different. Hermione can relate as her mother is very involved in her dating life as well. Hermione's been seeing Hiram Lodge, who Penelope accuses of being a petty criminal. However, to Hermione, he's a self-starter, providing for his family. But to her mother, Hiram is nothing more than a scrub and not the way to the American dream. Hermione questions what dream her mother is referring to given that she works as a maid at the Five Seasons for sixteen hours a day. A life that Hermione doesn't want for herself. She believes that Hiram has the right idea of getting out of Riverdale at all costs. Fred counters that Riverdale isn't the problem. He wants to stay there his entire life. Alice asks if that's how long it's going to take him to decide between music and baseball. Fred explains that their minor league is solid and they're close enough to the city to play music gigs. He can even see himself running for mayor one day, which Sierra scoffs at the notion of. She calls it a nightmare job and questions why Fred doesn't aim higher as he can do all the same things in a real metropolis. Fred can do all those things except look after his father, who's very ill. Hermione places her hand on Fred's knee for comfort.

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FP is abused by his father

It is now Alice's turn to reveal her deepest secret. FP tells her to share the story of how she lit a dumpster on fire on the south side. Alice counters by telling FP to share with everyone how he actually lives at Sunnyside Trailer Park. He parades around the school in his varsity jacket, pretending to be a Northsider, but Alice knows the truth, that he's a Southsider who will end up like his father, a raging alcoholic. This may be true, but one thing FP won't do is hit his kid as his father hits him. FP told his father that he didn't want to join the Southside Serpents and that he wanted to be the first Jones to go to college, which resulted in FP's injured arm and the cast he must now wear. Penelope then proceeds to reveal a secret of her own. The Blossoms are terrible people, she says. And, she's not an actual Blossom. Penelope grew up at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy orphanage. When she has eight, the Blossoms came and asked to see all the red-headed children. After leaving with them, the next thing Penelope knows, she is being groomed to first be Clifford's sister and then later his life companion. Every second away from them is a relief. Hermione questions why Penelope is still living there, to which she replies the Blossoms are her family. Hermione explains that that's not the meaning of family and it's basically incest. This angers Penelope, who insults Hermione's mother, which leads to a physical altercation between the girls.

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The detentionees find Gryphons and Gargoyles

Once the girls have been separated, Principal Featherhead reprimands everyone. Their sentence has been upped from one Saturday detention to four. However, little by little, the six of them grow to become unlikely friends. Then comes the first cold rain of the season, when Alice gets it into her head to add the rest of the group's initials to the window seal, carved next to hers. As she does that, Hermione decides to break into the teacher's desk to recover her belongings that were taken by the teacher. Inside the desk, they find everything Mrs. Krabappel has confiscated over the years, including Gryphons and Gargoyles.

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The detentionees playing G&G

The six of them decide to play together. The person with the manual, in this case, Penelope, is the game master and is therefore responsible for guiding them through quests until they ascend to the next level. But first, they pick their characters. Alice — The Sorceress. Hermione — The Thief. Sierra — The Siren. FP — Deadeye. And lastly, Fred — The Radiant Knight. Alice is first to pick a quest card and roll the dice, which is how it all begins.

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Penelope sends everyone out on a quest

Long after that Saturday detention, the six of them continue to play the game, in what seems to be a maddening obsession. Penelope suggests taking the game off the board and into the real world. She reveals a quest known as "The Wedding Stone", that requires pairs. Penelope pairs FP with Hermione and Alice with Fred. She hid a gemstone from Thornhill in the school. The first pair to find it and show it to Sierra get to keep it. Once the others are gone, Sierra wonders why Penelope chose those specific pairings. Penelope reasons that she's in the mood for chaos.

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FP tries to kiss Hermione

FP and Hermione search the student lounge for the gemstone. After spotting a miniature gargoyle statue, they find the gemstone inside a vending machine. After shaking it loose and retrieving it, FP tries to kiss Hermione, but she pushes him away. She explains that it's just role-playing and that she doesn't actually like him.

Elsewhere, Alice and Fred search the Blue and Gold for the gemstone, unaware that FP and Hermione have already retrieved it. Fred notices that Alice isn't feeling well and offers her a seat. He asks what's wrong as Alice begins to cry. Just as it seems that she's about to open up to Fred and reveal that she's pregnant, she decides to keep it to herself, stating that she's simply lost. She wakes up every morning wanting to escape her life and mistakes, and when she's with them, she does and she's happy. But when the game's over, she's herself again.

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Hermione advises FP to ask out Alice

Back in the student lounge, Hermione inquires about FP and Alice's relationship. He tells her that he and Alice weren't serious and they were only messing around. However, the more they play G&G, the more he thinks there could be more between him and Alice. Hermione advises him to take a shot with her then.

Back in the Blue and Gold offices, Fred expresses just how much he relates to Alice. Fred hates to see his dad in pain and sometimes he can't handle it, but Sir Fredrick doesn't have a sick father, so Fred often pretends he's with them, playing G&G, and he's free. Alice and Fred then share a kiss.

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The Midnight Club gains more members

Alice, FP, Fred, Sierra, Hermione, and Penelope play for weeks, sneaking into school, late at night. After class, Sierra leaves the classroom window cracked so that she and the others can sneak back in after hours. They dub themselves "The Midnight Club". Eventually, they abandon the board, acting out their quests and adventures in the real world. The six of them dress up in medieval costumes they found in the theater department. It is during this time that FP and Alice begin a relationship, as do Fred and Hermione. As Alice, FP, Fred, Sierra, Hermione, and Penelope proceed throughout the halls of Riverdale High on their latest quest, they run into Hiram Lodge, Tom Keller, Marty Mantle, and Daryl Doiley, also playing Gryphons and Gargoyles. They have been for about a week. Daryl found it in the restricted section of the library. They decide to join forces and play a bigger game.

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Ascension party

One day, all ten of them, Alice, FP, Fred, Sierra, Hermione, Penelope, Marty, Daryl, Hiram, and Tom find strange invitations in their lockers to the detention room that night to rise to the challenge and ascend to the next level. That night, the Midnight Club attends the ascension party. They must find the chalices, flip the gryphon coin for their fate and drink from the chalice to meet their destiny. Before starting, to make things more enjoyable, Hiram takes a new drug known as fizzle rocks. He shares them with everyone though Alice does not take any as she is pregnant. As the game begins, Daryl commends Penelope for coming up with the ascension party, but Penelope claims that it was not her doing.

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The Gargoyle King in the halls of Riverdale High

The festivities begin with an impromptu performance by the Fred Heads, normally just Fred and FP, but Alice, Sierra, and Hermione perform with them as Penelope, Marty, Daryl, Hiram, and Tom watch. Eventually, Alice begins to feel out of place as she's the only one not high off fizzle rocks. While the others are partying non-stop, she finds herself taken back. To make matters worse, she falls ill. Alice rushes to the restroom and throws up in the toilet. She exits the stall to find the chalices and the gryphon coin sitting on the restroom sink, and "flip for your fate" scribbled all along the walls. Alice exits the restroom, bypassing her friends only to be met by the Gargoyle King as she turns the corner. Struck with fear, Alice runs away, or so she tries. She doesn't get far as Principal Featherhead enters the school, forcing her to hide. As he heads further down the hall, Alice takes the opportunity to make her escape. She spends the night calling the Midnight Club but no one picks up.

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The Midnight Club at Pop's

The next day at school, Alice goes searching for her friends, but the student lounge is empty. She heads to the front office, and as it turns out, Principal Featherhead is missing as well. Alice bumps into Hermione as she exits the office. Unfortunately, Hermione has some bad news. Fred's dad died while they were at the ascension party. Fred found him when he got home. By the time Mr. Andrews' funeral came around a few days later, Principal Featherhead had been declared officially missing. Alice, Fred, Hermione, Penelope, FP, and Sierra sit in a booth at Pop's following the service. Fred blames himself for not being there but as FP and Hermione explain, there's nothing he could've done, and beating himself up will change nothing. Penelope states that between this and Featherhead going missing, they're all on edge. It's that statement that leads Alice to reveal that she saw Featherhead the night of the ascension party. No one else saw him, however. Penelope grabs Alice's hand aggressively and tells her that she didn't see anything. She doesn't want to be blamed considering they were doped up and trespassing the same night Featherhead disappeared. So, they are all to keep this a secret.

The rumors regarding principal Featherhead's disappearance spread like wildfire. A week has passed since Featherhead went missing. As it turns out, he was in the school the entire time. Dead and locked in a supply closet. His lips blue.

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The Midnight Club make a pact

The Midnight Club gathers to discuss Featherhead's death. Alice informs them that there was blue liquid in the chalices when she found them. Featherhead has blue lips and the police said he had poison in his system. Alice questions what they did to him though they deny any wrongdoing. In fact, as Penelope and Hiram point out, Alice was there too and she's the only one who saw Featherhead. Alice then asks who was wearing the Gargoyle King costume, but none of them have the slightest clue as to what she's referring to, and the chalices were empty, Marty claims. Hermione accuses Alice of having killed Featherhead given that she left early. Alice dismisses any notions of wrongdoing and then looks to Fred to join her in going to the cops though he still seems distracted by his father's death. When Penelope exclaims that they're not going to the cops, Alice questions why she suddenly wants to break the rules, perhaps because she's the killer. She accuses Penelope of poisoning the chalices when she set up the game, however, it wasn't Penelope or Daryl. Alice recalls the chalices just sitting there, meaning whoever invited them to the party was trying to kill one or more of them. Sierra wants to destroy the game so that it can't be traced back to them. FP suggests destroying the manuals and scattering everything else. Sierra agrees to dispose of the dice, she does so in a monopoly box. Hermione, the chalices, which are stored among other cups in the trophy case. Penelope will take care of the library manual, which she throws in Sweetwater River. And Alice will burn their copy. The Midnight Club spits on their hands and makes a pact to never speak of Gryphons and Gargoyles ever again.

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Alice changes her lifestyle, transitioning to the Northside and asks out Hal Cooper

After playing G&G, they returned to their normal lives and go their separate ways. Burdened by their guilt, they all become different people. Fred sells his guitar and begins breaking rocks at his family business. Hermione goes against her mother's wishes and begins seeing Hiram, who gifts her with a pearl necklace. Sierra and Tom are forced to break up. She hopes that things will be different for them once they're older. Tom agrees to wait for Sierra and he hopes she'll do the same. Penelope relinquishes any reluctance she may have had and agrees to be Clifford's life partner, telling him that she wants to live in Thornhill forever because the world outside is too dangerous. FP, follows in his father's footsteps, becoming a greaser gang member, a Southside Serpent. Alice, on the other hand, forsakes her Serpent ways and begins dating Hal Cooper. From that point on, when the Midnight Club passed each other in the halls, they didn't so much as smile. Once again becoming strangers.[1]

Twenty-five years later, each member of the Midnight Club receives an invitation from who they believe to be the Gargoyle King, asking that they all meet at La Bonne Nuit. However, they soon discover that the invitations were sent by Betty as a means to get them all together and force the truth out of them regarding Gryphons and Gargoyles and the Gargoyle King.

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The Midnight Club in La Bonne Nuit

Hermione reminds Alice of their pact, how they promised that they would never talk about the Midnight Club again. Alice reasons that she told Betty in order to protect her from playing the game, which she isn't. However, her friends are playing, leaving Betty to question if any of them actually care, to which Sierra replies that she should be with Josie, who just had a seizure earlier that morning, instead of rehashing their past which she seems to be irrelevant, at least to her. Betty argues that their past is very much relevant as Josie is by playing G&G, along with Kevin, Cheryl, and Reggie. Betty then makes everyone aware of just how abusive Marty Mantle is towards Reggie, such as giving him a black eye. Fred remarks that it was bound to get out at some time, their secret that is, so he'd much rather address it so that their kids at least know the truth. Betty wants to start with Warden Norton, who was also the RROTC instructor at Riverdale High twenty-five years ago. Given that Tom was a cadet back then, Betty asks if the two ever played the game together, but they didn't. Hiram had business dealings with Warden Norton leading up to his death. Betty wants to know the specifics of those dealings and whether or not Hiram knew that he was playing G&G. While Hiram refuses to inform Betty of his business dealings, he does tell her that he had no clue Norton was playing.

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Penelope claims Darryl Doiley poisoned the chalices

Betty then asks about ascension night, wondering if Norton was present. FP explains that they have no way of knowing as they were high, hallucinating gargoyles. Much to Alice's surprise, FP also saw the Gargoyle King that night. Hiram states that all this is merely a waste of time. As he attempts to leave, Hermione convinces him to stay. Hermione decides to indulge Betty. Betty wants to know who poisoned the chalice. Hermione informs her that given the fact that the Game Master is responsible for setting up the game, her instinct is telling her that the culprit is Penelope. Hermione suspects that she grew the poison in her greenhouse. However, as Penelope explains, you can't grow cyanide. Penelope then reveals that Darryl Doiley poisoned the chalices. Both he and Penelope were Game Masters. He was secretly in love with her and wanted the two of them to ascend together. But, Penelope said no. She assumed the chalices were emptied afterward but clearly they were not. Years later, Darryl came to Penelope, riddled with guilt and seeking comfort. Penelope refused him again given that they were both married with families. She was also afraid of revisiting that night. Darryl left. The next day, he was found dead in his garage, with the engine of his car running and windows up. Betty isn't buying Penelope's story. Even if this is true, that doesn't explain who the current Gargoyle King is. Betty and Jughead saw it in Fox Forest and they've been trying to track him down ever since, which is why Jughead began playing the game. All this is news to FP, who grows increasingly aggravated. He then leaves to deal with Jughead, with everyone else following him out. Before leaving, Alice asks Betty if she's satisfied, but she's not. Not even close.[2]

Members[]

Former Members[]

Appearances[]

Season 3[]

Season 6[]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Williams, Tessa Leigh (writer) & Wilkinson, Dawn (director) (October 31, 2018). "Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club". Riverdale. Season 3. Episode 4. The CW.
  2. Chambers, Cristine (writer) & Talalay, Rachel (director) (November 28, 2018). "Chapter Forty-One: Manhunter". Riverdale. Season 3. Episode 6. The CW.
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