Riverdale Season 3 Finale: 8 Ups & 3 Downs From 'Survive The Night'

6. It's All In The Subtext

On the surface, each one of the core four were forced to endure a quest specific to their respective Gryphons & Gargoyles personas. That makes sense, given that all of them are well-accustomed to the rules of 'G & G' at this stage, but the real beauty of it lies in the fact that each character's quest was actually specific to their journey on the show.

Archie's quest was a callback to his near-death experience with the grizzly bear earlier in the season and was a clever way for the writers to force him to face his fears - which had been personified through this beast-like warrior that he had to square off against. By conquering his formidable opponent, the Red Paladin conquered his fears and, in doing so, brought his friends one step closer to victory.

Similarly, Veronica's quest was a callback to the game of spin the bottle she played in the show's first season and, by attempting to protect Betty from drinking from a poisoned cup, she highlighted how much she had grown since then and, more importantly, how her friendship with Betty was responsible for that growth.

Meanwhile, Jughead's 'Battle of Kings' against Chic was the manifestation of his anger at being unable to make the impostor pay for his sins last season and, through victory, he could finally overcome that anger, while Betty's kill or be killed quest finally allowed her to show her father that she was nothing like him.

Even without the subtext, these quests would have been incredibly compelling but, as we saw in this case, the little things can make all the difference.