A birthday party becomes a wedding becomes a crime scene on Riverdale's wild mid-season finale

Is it the maple mushrooms talking, or was that an especially trippy episode of Riverdale? Though it feels like season five’s post-time jump plots were just heating up, the show sends us off on hiatus with “The Pincushion Man,” one hell of a mid-season finale with surprises to spare. On this week’s Dial M For Maple, we break down the episode, twist by twist, tracing the shockwaves sent through town from Hiram’s explosive—and surprisingly successful—prison break. Hosts Marah and Cameron wonder if some of Jughead’s maple mushroom-induced visions were real, praise the return of loopy lovebirds Charles and Chic, and share their excitement over Penelope Blossom’s newfound religious fervor (but which religion is it?). And, finally, in this week’s edition of The Blue & Gold, we fawn over some cast hiking photos and get giddy about some Riverdale-adjacent real estate listings.

If you’re a Riverdale fan, you’ll definitely want to give Dial M For Maple a listen. You can subscribe here, and can even drop us a review over on Apple Podcasts. As always, we’re taking comments and questions on Twitter, so just hit up @DialMForMaple, and we’ll see it.