Is it Christmas? Maybe my birthday? Perhaps we finally live in a world where justice has been served, because Riverdale has released a cut scene from the musical episode featuring Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), a.k.a. Choni.
Fans were first alerted to the missing scene when the soundtrack for the episode (“Chapter Thirty-One: A Night To Remember“) featured a version of “You Shine” sung by Petsch and Morgan. The couple has been a fan favorite since their introduction, so losing the scene led to a popular petition and tons of good ol’ fashioned tweeting.
And lo and behold, Riverdale (and Warner Brothers, who produces the show) heard the fans, and released the scene!
In a statement provided to EW, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa pretty firmly says that it was the fans who made this happen:
“We hated having to lose this reprise of ‘You Shine’ from the musical, [but] we did it because the episode ran long,” said showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa in a statement. “But we heard how much the fans wanted to see this Choni scene, so here it is! We’re thrilled people are so passionate about this relationship—we are, too!”
And it’s pretty exciting that we get to see the scene, even in its rough form… If you watched the episode, you can see where it cut: right after Toni encourages her girlfriend to go full on Carrie White, dump blood on herself and scare the living f–k out of her mother. Which is the sign of a good relationship, imho.
That said, there are still two items of business left on the table:
1. Toni and Cheryl reportedly called each other “girlfriend” in the episode, which doesn’t show up in the cut scene. You can imagine why this might be important to the LGBTQ+ community, who has suffered through a number of half-measures with network TV. My guess? The moment is being saved for a later episode.
2. The Barchie duet to “You Shine” that was also filmed hasn’t been released yet. Hmmm… Justice for Barchie, anyone?
Watch The Cut Choni Duet Here:
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An after-show for The CW's Riverdale, hosted by Comic Book Club!
