Here’s everything we know about Riverdale season 5, episode 4, “Chapter Eighty: Purgatorio,” which includes a highly-anticipated time jump. Riverdale features characters and events from the Archie Comics but gives them a Lynchian twist exposing suburbia’s seedy underbelly (such as the Black Hood’s killing spree). The series is poised to undergo a major transformation thanks to a time jump confirmed in May 2020 by showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Filming halted on the series last year due to the pandemic, shortening the season from 22 episodes to 19. “Chapter Seventy-Six: Killing Mr. Honey” served as the finale with Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in the midst of trying to uncover the identity of the Voyeur who was taping recreations of the town’s string of murders.
Season 5 picked up right where the season 4 finale left off, and in addition to Betty and Jughead solving yet another mystery, the principal characters have celebrated two significant milestones: their senior prom and high school graduation. During “Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation,” Archie Andrews, Betty, Jughead, Veronica Lodge, Cheryl Blossom, Kevin Keller, and Toni Topaz went their separate ways, but the core four promised to reunite one year later. However, only Jughead made good on their oath, and as he left Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe, a voice-over revealed he wouldn’t see his friends for another six years (setting the stage for the season 5 time jump) until they were “brought together by, of course, a new crisis and mystery.”
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With “Chapter Eighty: Purgatorio,” set to air on Feb. 10, details have emerged about what fans can expect when Archie (KJ Apa) and the gang reunite for the first time seven years after their vow. The Riverdale season 5 trailer reveals Archie, who joined the military, possibly suffering a battle-related injury. Betty is an FBI agent, Veronica is married, and Jughead is a published author. Archie returns to Riverdale and learns from Toni (Vanessa Morgan) that Riverdale is not how he left it. In January, Apa told TVLine, “He [Archie] came back and saw Riverdale turning to s–t pretty much, and he’s like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to let this happen.’ So he wrangles the whole team in, and they figure out ways to revive the town, and the best way to do that is through Riverdale High.” Apa also revealed that Hiram Lodge is to blame for Riverdale’s demise.
The trailer raises more questions than it answers. Betty has undergone some mysterious Clarice Starling-like trauma, and she appears to be one of the featured players in a snippet of a steamy shower sex scene. Bughead fans shouldn’t get too excited about a sexy reconciliation between the former couple. According to Seventeen, it’s rumored that The Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev has been cast as Jessica, Jughead’s girlfriend. This could pave the way for Betty and Archie to take their friendship to the next level. Another couple whose relationship status remains unknown is Toni and Cheryl’s. At the end of season 4, Cheryl urged Toni to go to Highsmith College without her, so she could stay behind and rebuild the Blossom family’s maple syrup empire (Toni is seen performing at what looks to be La Bonne Nuit.) Morgan’s real-life pregnancy will be written into the show.
There are two confirmed cast additions: Erinn Westbrook (The Resident) plays Tabitha Tate (Pop’s granddaughter), who hopes to franchise the diner, and actor Chris Mason will play Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) Wall Street hotshot husband, Chadwick “Chad” Gekko who isn’t happy about his wife reconnecting with her former flame. There are other signs of marital strife between the twosome. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Mendes shared a clip during which Veronica boasts about being called the “She-Wolf of Wall Street.” The clip also revealed Veronica quit working to pacify Chad, who didn’t want her to be “unduly stressed.” It sounds like Veronica married someone just like her dear old dad. Riverdale’s season 5 time jump promises to be worth the wait.
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