What a dreadful day for Riverdale fans! This week’s episode is the last that’ll air until after the series’ mid-season hiatus — which sadly, is going to last a few months. There are spoilers for Season 5 ahead.
The latest episode, Chapter Eighty-Six: The Pincushion Man, had a rocky ending and left its audience on a major cliffhanger. Is Jughead (Cole Sprouse) missing? It appears so, as the episode ended with him seeing some weird, alien-like stuff while tripping on psychedelic mushrooms.
By the time the cameras return to him, Tabitha (Erin Westbrook) is checking up on him the following morning and she finds his room empty and stained with blood. At least it does appear that he got some much-needed writing completed!
Other mind-boggling twists include a major breakout at Hiram Lodge’s prison where all of the convicts appear to have escaped, Betty Cooper’s (Lili Reinhart) boyfriend Glen revealed that he’s writing his dissertation on the serial killer gene seen in the Cooper family, and Archie (KJ Apa) received news that his general may be corrupt.
Fans aren’t going to get the answers they crave until July 7, 2021 when the series returns to CW.
Why is there a hiatus?
Riverdale suffered from major Covid-19 related production delays and many believe that’s the reason why the series is taking its longest-ever hiatus, one that is over three months.
As of right now, there is little known about the show’s return and there isn’t a confirmed number of episodes for the current season. Many hypothesize that it’ll contain 22 episodes total, like the previous few seasons. However, it may be a shorter season due to delays, like Riverdale’s Season 1 and Season 9 which respectively had 13 and 19 episodes.
Last September, Riverdale writer Ted Sullivan tweeted a response to a fan and said that Season 5 will contain 19 episodes — but, other than that, there has been no additional information or updates given.
Is there a promo for Riverdale Season 5, Episode 11?
Excitingly enough, there is a promo for the unnamed episode of Riverdale that will signify the show’s return in July. This promo is only 20 seconds long but features tons of action-packed footage.
In the promo, Jughead is seen lying unconscious on a floor before the screen cuts to Tabitha saying, “I can’t find Jughead.”
It also shows Archie being held at gunpoint, Cheryl’s mom (Nathalie Boltt) dancing around in a ceremonious robe and a car zooming toward Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe diner.
Riverdale will return July 7, 2021 on The CW.