Now that season five of The CW’s Riverdale is airing weekly, The CW is committed to keeping its fan base informed. The synopsis they released for their fourth episode elaborates on the show’s accelerated timeline, according to ComicBook. On Wednesday February 10 season five episode four will air with the title Purgatorio. In the episode, fans will witness the return of Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa, The Hate U Give) as he goes back to Riverdale after being gone for seven years. Archie’s surprised to find that Riverdale is not the town that he remembers, the town is now under the influence of Hiram Lodge. After Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan, My Babysitter’s a Vampire) informs Archie and catches him up to speed, Archie contacts his group of friends and implores them to come back to Riverdale.
The official synopsis released by The CW also mentions the town is close to becoming a ghost town, maybe alluding to more deaths or a mass exodus. “After spending seven years away from Riverdale, Archie (KJ Apa) returns to find the town is now under Hiram Lodge’s (Mark Consuelos) grip and on the verge of becoming a ghost town. When Toni (Vanessa Morgan) catches him up on what’s been going on, Archie reaches out to the rest of the gang to return home,” The synopsis reads according to ComicBook.
The first episode of season five aired on January 20 and it was titled Chapter Seventy-Seven: Climax. February 3 will bring fans some answers as to what happened during the group’s graduation from Riverdale Highschool based on its title Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation. This episode will also address the absence of F.P Jones played by Skeet Ulrich (Dobbs, Armored) who is reportedly leaving the series.
With new mysteries and a seven-year gap of information to fill the characters and fans in on, Riverdale season five promises to deliver an ambiguous narrative to say the least. Stay tuned for more information on Riverdale as the season progresses.