Hopes for the ‘Riverdale’ Season 5 Time Jump: 9 Dos & Don’ts
The students of Riverdale High are about to — surprisingly, for some — graduate, but the CW drama won’t be following them to college.
As many suspected, Riverdale will feature a time jump in Season 5. “What we’re doing is picking up right where we left off for the first three episodes, and then doing a time jump … after those three episodes,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed to TVLine.
So we’ll get to see prom and graduation — two important rites of passage for seniors — and then the teens will be off to college. The exact time jump has yet to be revealed, but it seems likely that it’ll take care of the college years. Though a premiere date has yet to be set, we’re already looking ahead to what we do and don’t want to see when Season 5 picks up in Episode 4 below.
Riverdale, Season 5, TBA, The CW
DO: A somewhat realistic reason brings everyone back together
Obviously something’s going to draw everyone back to their hometown. Will it be a murder? Probably. Will it be crazy? Yes. But don’t have it be even more ridiculous than the organ-harvesting cult with a leader who built a rocket. Let everyone return to Riverdale for something else — tragically, a funeral, or, on the brighter side, a reunion — and then have them hit over the head with the usual hijinks of the show.
DON'T: Keep high school secrets all that time
It’s likely that Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Archie Andrews’ (KJ Apa) kiss will come out at some point in the three episodes before the time jump — a.k.a. when they’re still in high school — but if it doesn’t, don’t let that or any other secrets somehow stay conveniently hidden in the years that pass. After all, they would have to be pretty big for the characters to have dramatic reactions years later (and that kiss does not count as such).
DON'T: Bring back everyone
We already know that at least two of the parents won’t be around on a permanent basis after the time jump (Skeet Ulrich’s FP Jones and Marisol Nichols’ Hermione Lodge). And while it would be sad to see anyone else go, there have to be some characters who don’t come back after college, no matter what’s going on (at least not permanently).
DO: Bring Katy Keene to Riverdale
Embrace the time jump! We’ve seen a few Riverdale characters over on the spinoff, but let’s seen some Katy characters — including a return from Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) — in Season 5, especially after its cancellation.
DON'T: Introduce obvious temporary love interests
While we should definitely see some of the characters in new relationships after the time jump, don’t go the easy route and introduce new love interests we know won’t last. (For example, for any of the Core Four; dating or casual relationships in the years that passed is different.) Why not do something different and have characters be single — and perhaps even stay that way for a while — when we meet them again if high school relationships fall apart?
DO: Show career successes and failures
Not everyone is going to accomplish what they hope to when they leave high school in college (and after). But some might, and others may be surprised. Show us what did and didn’t work out for the characters.
DO: Take time to settle back into the craziness of Riverdale
It will get crazy, even if we’d prefer that’s not what brings everyone back. But these characters will have, for the most part probably, spent time away from the town, with normal lives. Let’s see them struggle a bit as they come back together. Let’s see some of them fight against being pulled back into the murder and mayhem.
DO: Introduce unlikely friendships
Why not have at least two characters — who barely spent any time together in high school — stay in town or nearby and form an unlikely friendship over the years? A romantic relationship would be the easy way to go; avoid that.
DO: Make the parents expect more of their kids
Let’s face it: the kids have gotten away with some ridiculous stuff over the years, but they have to have grown up during the time jump. Show the parents expecting that maturity and accepting nothing less.
