Riverdale Theory: Season 5 Will Have a Major Time Jump
April 21, 2020
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Note: I apologize for the mistakes in the article, English is my second language
Riverdale Theory: Season 5 Will Have a Major Time Jump
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| Riverdale Theory: Season 5 Will Have a Major Time Jump |
While the fourth season will not be able to end all of its episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic, episode nineteen entitled "Chapter 76: Killing Mr. Honey" will be the end of the season. It has not yet been clarified what will happen with the remaining three unproduced episodes of Season 4 as Riverdale has already been renewed for Season 5. Since other TV productions have not yet solidified their plans after COVID-19, fans may have to wait longer than expected for Riverdale to return and other ongoing shows.
Although season 5 details are not available, some updates and excitement may indicate that Riverdale not only ending the high school era of the series but may also make a major time jump. TVLine reported that "an established series" producers are considering "a major timeline shift" at the end of next season. Since Riverdale is entering its fifth season this fall, it easily qualifies as an "established" show at this point.
At Least Two Parents Are Leaving After Season 4
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| Riverdale Parents |
In the first three seasons of Riverdale, teenagers weren't the only focus on the show's massive cast. Many storylines have also followed parents as well, including Hiram Lodge’s tyranny and a controversial arch following the farm, to which Alice Smith was a member until it was revealed to be undercover. However, when Perry passed last year, which was followed by Fred's death at the premiere of Season 4, Riverdale was slowly fazing the parents out in various degrees. While Mary Andrews continues to recur as Archie's only parent, Season Four deals less with parents in general. The biggest arc revolving any of the kids, folks is Hiram because he suffers from a neuromuscular disorder.
While Hiram is struggling with illness, the overall theme of the season is still related to the senior year of teenage characters. As many of them went to college, the question about the parents, involvement in the series began to come to light. Although the fifth season plot points being under wraps, two important changes have already been confirmed. Season 4 will be last year featuring F.P. Jones and Hermione Lodge as two series regulars with Skate Ulrich and Marisol Nichols leave Riverdale formally before season five. While there have been no other cast updates since their announcement, this supports the theory of Riverdale’s potential time jump.
If the current season ends with Hiram's death, he may set the way for Hermione to leave the city in order to find out what's next. Although there are no hints about Alice leaving, it makes sense to leave with F. Now they get together after all this time. Only time will determine whether Alice and Hiram will return to Season Five or not, but with their significant others not returning to the next season, it makes sense that Season Four marks the end of their regular positions in the series as well. If Riverdale intends to set outside the actual city, it relegates the parents of any major roles in the lives of their children once they go to college. If anything, parents are likely to continue to appear in popular guest locations, whether through phone calls or visiting their children wherever they are in a potential flashforward.
A Time Jump Makes Katy Keene Crossovers Easier
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| Riverdale Katy Keene Crossovers |
While Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a spinoff adjacent to Riverdale, the so-called Archieverse has officially expanded this season with the arrival of Katy Keene. 5 years after the Riverdale events, the Lucy Hale-led drama has already organized a number of crossovers with its Mother Series, including Josie McCoy as a regular series. Katie even appeared as a teenage version in the fourth season of Riverdale in episode 12, "Sixty-ninth Chapter: Men of Horror", when she was established with Veronica as good old friends.
The spinoff has only have touched upon life after Riverdale and where some of the main characters are p in this timeline. Given that the original show is still being set nowadays, it's clear that Katy Keene cannot reveal much detail about what happened to Archie and his friends. As the launch continued in New York-based spinoff still settling into its freshman season, The CW requested 13 additional scripts, indicating that the second season of Katy Keene was likely to be aired.
While crossovers between the two shows must continue, Riverdale characters appearing on Katy Keene will still come in some mystery so as not to spoil the things that haven't happened yet in Season 5 and beyond. By jumping forward a few years, and specifically 5 years, Riverdale can perfectly line up with Katie Kane. Not only does the door open for more crossovers, but any Riverdale character can, through exposition, be more specific about where they are now.
Jumping Years Ahead Would Allow For Massive Character Growth
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| Riverdale's Characters |
Despite the stories presented by Riverdale Season 4 in preparing college years, it comes with its pros and cons. One of the biggest attractions of the drama was the mystery of the crime and how the kids can solve it. Focusing on their college experience will restrict the characters from being able to follow their mysteries realistically. By making a time jump, it makes storytelling for the future more plausible and believable. Although Riverdale tends to rely on absurdity, the thrill and suspense in most crime stories have been consistent for four years.
But what tends to be forgotten is that this, after all, was presented by high school students who somehow managed to solve crimes and complete their education. In a college setting, it would be demanding too much suspension of disbelief that Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica were able to investigate mysteries without their education being deeply affected. It may be easier to continue in this direction if the characters somehow return in a time jump setting, have somehow returned to Riverdale where they pursue their professions after college. But their restriction to continuing to live in the small town puts the risk of not allowing characters to grow and develop. Many teen-driven shows that eventually reach college stories have been hit or missed, given that shows started with characters as teens.
Some teen series has progressed better than others when teens moved from one stage of their life to another. With Riverdale, it might be helpful for them to go ahead and skip character time in college and start Season 5 as they advance as characters often off the screen. But by showing them as evolved versions of one another, it increases the chances of Riverdale characters to come off as more mature and older as they head to new stories, whether driven by the mysteries of the new crime or not. What most time jumps also tend to do is breathe new life into character conflicts. Any show that has been aired for 4 years without any major changes could risk repeating too much. As the end of the season, four approaches and the fifth season of Riverdale may be the one to suit the blind TVLine, Archie Comics will soon have many eyes watching after its progression for the rest of the year.
Source: Screenrant
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