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When will 'Riverdale' Season 5 return? Here's everything we can expect with Archie and gang on The CW show

Let's not freak out too much, but this month Sacasa also hinted at the possibility of Archie dying. He had shared images on Twitter that show Archie's friends mourning his loss at a gravesite

Spoilers for The CW's 'Riverdale'

The CW's 'Riverdale' is a far cry from the Archie Comics fans grew up obsessing over. With each character having a willful determination to make their character their own, the teen drama series has become one of the main reasons people tune into the network. From cults and drugs to wayward murders and murderers, we can't wait for Season 5 of the series to drop.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the series had to cut Season 4 short with Episode 19 titled 'Killing Mr Honey' becoming the finale. Originally, the series was supposed to air 22 episodes for the season. 

Where it left off

The Season 4 finale saw the cinephile tape mystery take a darker turn — the tapes that are being delivered to the houses of the teens seem to be a re-creative of many of the town's harrowing events. This includes the deaths of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) and Midge Klump (Emilija Baranac), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) "murdering" Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) with a rock and, more dauntingly, the re-creation of Jughead's script of the gang "Killing Mr Honey". With so many mysteries solved, the gang, and fans have one question, who the hell is behind these weird tapes?

Not to mention Betty's feelings for Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) (let's not forget the kiss) seem to be brewing even though she loves Jughead. We're not sure if this means Archie and Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) break up, but hopefully, Season 5 will speak more on the "love square" that we're so excited to know about.

There is also the part where the entire gang has to figure out life after high school — colleges and Archies' interest in joining the naval academy. There's so much that wasn't set in stone at the end of Season 4, due to the interference in the original production dates. We're guessing that Season 5 will not only re-build the foundation of the narrative but will answer many of the questions we have for the characters as they move on from Riverdale High. 

What we'd like to see

Season 5, we assume, will pick up right where the previous season left off, giving fans what they so desperately want. We're hoping to see the quad — Betty Cooper, Vanessa Lodge, Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones — make it to prom and graduation. Not to mention, they really need to figure out the whole cinephile tapes mystery.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the series' showrunner revealed to EW about the upcoming season, "We had written Episodes 20, 21 and 22 and when we talked about Season 5 and some of the big events like prom and graduation, it would feel like a cheat if we somehow didn't do those. So we're essentially starting the season with the last three episodes of Season 4, and partly because they're dynamite episodes. I mean big, big, big changes happen. We are continuing the mystery and the relationship drama straight into Season 5."

While we don't know if Season 5 would be the final season, as fans of the dark dramedy we are looking forward to many character arcs and yet another mystery-solving journey. With the gang in the last year at Riverdale High, the big coming-of-age events — prom and graduation — will definitely not go on without a glitch. This is the town of Riverdale we are talking about.

Sacasa further revealed, "The prom is really classic Riverdale. And I thought 21, it was a real emotional episode and a lot of people's emotional stories kind of climaxed but really, it's graduation. It's such a rite of passage. So many graduations were canceled this year. I really, really loved that episode. So I'm looking forward to doing it at some point." We don't know about you, we're sure the body count is about to be upped — or so we hope. 

Let's not freak out too much, but this month Sacasa also hinted at the possibility of Archie dying. He had shared images on Twitter that show Archie's friends mourning his loss at a gravesite. Although Archies' death could be a possibility, we're hoping that the illustrations posted are more than what they seem. You can see the showrunner's tweet below.

When is it returning

The series was originally set to air in October, but the pandemic caused major deterrence in the production dates. Catch 'Riverdale' Season 5 on January 20, 2021, on The CW.