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It’s been a long time since the last new episode of The CW’s Riverdale, and unfortunately the wait for the next new hour is going to be a little longer. But even though there’s no new Riverdale on tonight, we’re about to enter the endgame run of Season 3, with five all new episodes of the show starting on April 17.
Season 3 has been long and complicated; both in terms of the plot, and what’s happened out here in the real world. In the show, the kids from The Town With Pep have been dealing with dual threats: a stick monster called The Gargoyle King, and his candy drug addled minions addicted to a role playing game called Gryphons & Gargoyles; and a Scientology-esque cult called The Farm. The two plotlines seem to be crashing together, though how it’ll all end is anyone’s guess.
And then there’s the sad, behind the scenes story that the show is going to have to deal with in some way during these final episodes of Season 3: the untimely death of actor Luke Perry. Perry, who played Archie’s father Fred Andrews, passed away suddenly at age 52 on Monday, March 4. Perry reportedly filmed scenes through the nineteenth episode of the season (there are 22 total this season), though whether additional scenes were held back, or if the show will address his passing this season in any way has yet to be confirmed by the production.
That’s a lot of unknowns. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at a list of Riverdale episodes to see what we do know about the final five episodes of Riverdale Season 3.
"Chapter Fifty-Three: Jawbreaker"
Airs April 17
Since this episode airs next, there’s actually a fair amount out there. You can check out a gallery of released press images above, mostly focusing on Archie’s (KJ Apa) boxing storyline, and surprisingly bringing together his ex- Veronica (Camila Mendes) and current girlfriend Josie (Ashleigh Murray) to cheer him on.
Here’s the official synopsis for “Chapter Fifty-Three: Jawbreaker”:
REMATCH — When a tainted batch of fizzle rocks makes its way through Riverdale, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and FP (Skeet Ulrich) set out to find who’s responsible. After asking Veronica (Camila Mendes) to help get him into an upcoming boxing tournament, Archie (KJ Apa) quickly learns he may be in over his head. Elsewhere, Betty (Lili Reinhart) makes one last attempt to rescue Alice (Madchen Amick) from The Farm’s grip, and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) becomes unsettled by a sudden change in Cheryl’s (Madelaine Petsch) behavior. Luke Perry, Ashleigh Murray and Casey Cott also star. Gabriel Correa directed the episode written by Brian E. Patterson & Arabella Anderson (#318). Original airdate 4/17/2019.
The promo shows off a little more of what’s going on, particularly Betty threatening to kill cult kid Evelyn Evernever (Zoé de Grand’Maison) and seemingly kidnapping her Mom. Yikes!
"Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear The Reaper"
Airs April 24
Past this point we’re definitely getting into spoilers and speculation, as scant info has been released about additional episodes. That said, there is a synopsis for “Fear The Reaper” you can read, that kicks off with a surprising bit of info:
JELLYBEAN GOES MISSING — When Jellybean (guest star Trinity Likins) goes missing, Jughead (Cole Sprouse), Gladys (Gina Gershon) and FP (Skeet Ulrich) follow a series of cryptic clues to get her home. Elsewhere, Archie (KJ Apa) faces the fallout from his latest boxing match, while Betty (Lili Reinhart) makes a major discovery about Evelyn’s (guest star Zoe De Grand’Maison) past. Finally, Josie (Ashleigh Murray) makes a big decision about her future. Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, Madchen Amick, Luke Perry, Mark Consuelos, Skeet Ulrich, Casey Cott and Vanessa Morgan also star. Alexandra La Roche directed the episode written by Janine Salinas Schoenberg & Will Ewing (#319). Original airdate 4/24/2019.
Though we don’t know for sure if this is Luke Perry’s final episode, it almost definitely is Ashleigh Murray’s swan song for the foreseeable future: Josie is headed to New York City as a lead on the Archie-verse spinoff Katy Keene. Though that show takes place years after Riverdale, so technically Josie might be able to come back to the mothership show at any point, Ashleigh Murray is only one human being and can’t exist in both places simultaneously. If Katy Keene gets picked up by The CW (and I’d place bets that’s a likely possibility), she’ll be leaving Riverdale for good.
On the plot beat, Riverdale doesn’t explicitly follow its episode titles, they’re more often references to old movies that give tone and feel than anything else, but fans of the show have noted that there is a Reaper character mentioned in the show’s history. The Riverdale Reaper is a serial killer who pre-exists Season 2’s villain The Black Hood — and in fact, was The Black Hood’s father, Louis Cooper. Hal Cooper (Lochlyn Munro) has been Hannibal Lecter-ing it up with Betty for part of the season, so it would make sense to see some sort of return for his character, or the tangled familial ties of the Coopers getting even more messed up — perhaps that’s the discovery Betty makes about Evelyn? Are they… Secret sisters???
"Chapter Fifty-Five: Prom Night"
Airs May 1
When showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa posted the above instagram pic, it was meant to be a tribute to the strength of the cast and crew coming together after Perry’s awful passing. And it was, but it also set off a flurry of intense speculation. Who was going to prom together? Who will be king and queen? Will there be promposals? Delena rainkiss (wait, sorry, wrong show)???
And the image has been analyzed more than the Zapruder tape, with fans pointing out that since the chairs are purple and red, and the crowns are similar, this indicates that Riverdale High will have two prom queens — Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz, since their signature colors are red and purple respectively.
And in fact, as revealed in the official synopsis, Cheryl is gunning for that crown:
CHAOS ON PROM NIGHT — Betty (Lili Reinhart) takes matters into her own hands after learning some unsettling news about her father. Mary (guest star Molly Ringwald) grows concerned by Archie’s (KJ Apa) desire to take boxing to the next level. Elsewhere, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) runs into a roadblock during her campaign for prom queen, while Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and Betty’s plan to confront the Gargoyle King takes an unexpected turn. Camila Mendes, Marisol Nichols, Madchen Amick, Skeet Ulrich, Casey Cott and Vanessa Morgan also star. David Katzenberg directed the episode written by Britta Lundin & Devon Turner (#320). Original airdate 5/1/2019.
Regardless of how it plays out, I would say you should get very worried about the prom king and queen (or queen and queen), as there’s no way Riverdale’s prom goes off without a hitch… Even if Cheryl is usually in the mood for a little chaos.
"Chapter Fifty-Six"
Airs May 8
We know the shoot for this episode was long and epic, filled with days and nights. We know that actress Mâdchen Amick was shadowing director Rob Seidenglanz. We also spilled a ridiculous amount of digital ink on one hashtag on Amick’s Instagram, indicating that the title of the episode may be “The Dark Secret Of Harvest House.” But that’s all we know right now!
"Chapter Fifty-Seven"
Airs May 15
The Season 2 finale of Riverdale seems like it’s going to go out in a very, very big way. Though there’s no official info out there yet, the cast and crew have been filming for weeks on the episode, shooting days and nights in the woods outside of Vancouver. We’ve also seen glimpses of The Farm folks, so we know that will be around until the end of the season. And we’ve seen behind the scenes pics of Archie in what looks like the same suit he was wearing back at his trial in the Season 3 premiere.
There was a mild freak-out in the Riverdale fanbase the other day when a pic of the watering hole the “Core Four” (Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica) went to in the premiere popped up, leading to a theory that they all got high on fumes and hallucinated the whole season. But more likely, the finale is looping back to the beginning in some way. Perhaps The Gargoyle King is forcing Archie to relive his trial, in the woods? Or even more likely: Archie only owns one suit. He’s just a regular teenager, after all. Who owns a boxing gym. And went to jail. And one time was briefly killed by a bear.
