Riverdale: Jughead Will Go to Boarding School in Season 4

The CW's Riverdale is always packed with wild twists and turns, particularly in moments when one thinks they finally have a handle on what's going on. Take the Season 3 finale for example. The Core Four manage to survive the night -- and Penelope Blossom's murderous game -- while The Farm is also finally outed for what it is, a sinister organ-harvesting cult. But just as everything seems to be settling into some sense of normal, a flash forward reveals a sinister scene in the woods with Archie, Betty, and Veronica covered in blood burning Jughead's beanie, hinting at a grim fate for Jughead. While it's not clear what that ominous scene is all about, there is a clue as to how they get there -- Jughead will be headed off to boarding school in Season 4.

During the show's panel at San Diego Comic-Con last week, Jughead actor Cole Sprouse explained that Jughead will be heading off to a posh boarding school in Season 4, something that creates the setting of the flash forward.

"Jughead gets whisked away on a scholarship to a very sort of Gossip Girl Upper East Side preppy, pretentious, richy-rich silver spoon [school] and he's going to be the new blood," Sprouse said. "But yeah, I think it's fun. And the school also kind of serves -- I assume, maybe I'm just speaking out of turn here -- but it serves as the setting for the flash-forward."

Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa backed up Sprouse's statement, noting that Jughead's new school will also be a big rival for Riverdale High.

"Yeah," Aguirre-Sacasa said. "One of the biggest mysteries of the season is kind of centered around Jughead at the new school, which is going to be a big rival school for Riverdale High. So Archie and the Bulldogs will be having a football game against the Stonewall Stags."

A sports rivalry is also just one of the very "senior year" type things fans of Riverdale can expect in Season 4. The Archies will also finally make their debut in a Battle of the Bands type competition.

"When I originally pitched the TV series in my mind the end of Season 1 was going to be a big battle of the bands between The Archies and The Pussycats and of course, the show then became what it became and as we were getting ready to do a bunch of stories set in the high school because it's senior year, I was like, 'it's this year or never' so we're doing a Battle of the Bands episode which I think will be really, really fun," Aguirre-Sacasa said.

Riverdale's fourth season will begin Wednesday, October 9th, at 8/7c on The CW.