Riverdale will end its seventh and final season tonight, bringing to a close one of the strangest and most beloved comic book shows in TV history. Based on the characters from Archie Comics, Riverdale brought fans through seven seasons and dozens of wild adventures, with time jumps, time travel, witchcraft, bear-fighting, and more. Now, it’s time to say goodbye, and series star Lili Reinhart (who plays Betty Cooper on the show) says it’s a bittersweet moment. Saying that she loves Betty, and is honored to have played her, Reinhart revealed her inner turmoil over the end of the series.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly back in March, Reinhart had not shot the series finale yet. Still, she was already starting to go through some stages of grief.
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“In January, I was going through this period where I was really upset and crying almost every other day thinking about it,” Reinhart told EW (no new interviews are happening this week, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike). “But then like all of February I was feeling okay, and all of March I’ve been feeling okay about it. It comes in waves. Every show that’s been on for a long time has to deal with this. It’s going to be incredibly sad. I know I will never be on a show that’s seven seasons long ever again.”
In the time since Riverdale premiered, many of the show’s young stars have seen their profiles increase significantly. At the start of the series, only Cole Sprouse was a well-known name, but in the last five years, Reinhart has appeared in movies like Charlie’s Angels, Hustlers, and Look Both Ways.
The star will play an older version of herself in the finale, looking back on her high school days and recovering from the bizarre, time-tossed adventure that has been the show’s seventh and final season. You can see the synopsis for tonight’s finale below:
“NOW LEAVING RIVERDALE — Back in present day and longing for her former life in Riverdale, 86-year-old Betty (Lili Reinhart) turns to a special friend to help her relive her last day of senior year with her friends as they were, their memories restored. KJ Apa, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, Mädchen Amick, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, Vanessa Morgan and Drew Ray Tanner also star. The episode was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.”
Riverdale‘s series finale airs Wednesday, August 23rd at 9/8c on The CW.
