The CW has officially renewed popular YA show Riverdale for season 6. Based on the beloved Archie Comics, Riverdale first began in 2017 and offered a much darker take on the usually wholesome adventures of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones. The series soon found great success, partially due to gaining traction on streaming. Ever since, Riverdale has remained one of the CW’s biggest shows, even as the storylines range from heartwarming to outlandish. It stars the likes of KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, and Cole Sprouse.
Currently, Riverdale is in the midst of its fifth season. As season 4 was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, recent episodes have so far wrapped up the storylines from last year. In addition to solving the mystery of who was behind the disturbing video tapes, the Riverdale gang officially graduated in last night’s episode. Next, the much-hyped time jump will take place. Launching the characters seven years into the future, Riverdale season 5 will pick up with everyone after they’ve graduated college and become embroiled in yet another mystery.
Fans don’t have to worry that this time jump will signal the end of the show, however. According to TVLine, the CW has renewed Riverdale for season 6. Additionally, the network has re-upped much of their current primetime lineup, including three Arrowverse shows. This early batch of renewals took some by surprise, but as CEO Mark Pedowitz said, “we wanted to get a strategic head start on next season with these early renewals, which allows our production teams to start laying out story arcs and hiring staff, and at the same time, continues to provide us with a strong, stable schedule to build on for next season.”
Drastic time jumps can sometimes be seen as poor creative moves, but it’s clear Riverdale will have some life in it after moving ahead. Fans are excited to see where Riverdale will find their favorite characters next, though some things have already been revealed. For example, Archie is heading off to the army, while Veronica will have a husband by the time everyone reunites. It’s hard to predict where season 6 could go while season 5 is just now getting to its biggest story shift, but audiences can theorize as each new episode airs. The early renewal will help ensure the writers plan ahead, which could make for some nice long-running storylines.
With this season 6 renewal, Riverdale is the CW’s third-longest currently airing series. It falls behind only The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, who both scored renewals of their own. Whether Riverdale could prove to outlive them both remains to be seen, but as long as it holds onto its dedicated fanbase, expect the CW to keep it running. As was shown with Supernatural, which continued for 15 seasons, the CW knows when to hold onto something that resonates with audiences.
Riverdale season 5 continues on the CW on Wednesday with “Chapter Eighty: Purgatorio.”
