Riverdale Showrunner Teases New Career for Archie in Season 5 Behind the Scenes Photo

Riverdale returns just over a month from now on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 and thanks to the new [...]

By Nicole Drum

Riverdale returns just over a month from now on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 and thanks to the new Season 5 trailer The CW released today, fans are more excited than ever to see the series make its way back to the screen and while the trailer gave fans plenty to consider and speculate about until the series returns, thanks to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa fans have another look at what to expect in the upcoming season and it includes a "fiery" profession change for Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa)

On Instagram, Aguirre-Sacasa shared a behind-the-scenes image from work on the show's fifth season revealing Archie shirtless in components of a fireman's uniform. Aguirre-Sacasa captioned the photo "Did somebody say fire?" #Riverdale returns to the CW on 1/20/2021" along with a string of emoji.

Since the photo's release, some eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that it appears that Archie is in Betty's (Lili Reinhart) bedroom, fueling speculation that the shocking "Barchie" kiss in Season 4 may end up having further reaching implications than fans may have originally thought. Still others have wondered where in the Season 5 timeline this moment takes place, considering that the series will have a significant time jump in Season 5, something Reinhart spoke about earlier this year.

"Season 5 we're actually doing, I believe, a seven-year time jump into the future so we're not going to be teenagers anymore," Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper on the series, revealed in an interview earlier this year. "I'm really psyched about it. I think it'll be nice to play an adult. But I also really appreciate that Roberto, our showrunner, was like, 'Yeah, let's revamp.' You know, we're not just stuck in high school for seven seasons."

Fans don't have to worry about the show skipping out on wrapping up the stories form Season 4 that were cut short due to the COVID-19 production shutdown, however. The first episodes of Season 5 will deal with those things.

"It's funny, we had shot almost two-thirds of episode 20, which was going to be our prom episode. And we looked at that footage and tried to see if there was a way we could cobble together that episode," Aguirre-Sacasa explained back in May. "We actually had shot the prom, where a lot of very dramatic things happen, but we still hadn't shot some big character moments between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead. So, we kind of just couldn't do that."

"However, when I saw the cut of 19, what's great about it is all of the kids are in one big story together united against Mr. Honey. And it does end on a pretty shocking, disturbing cliffhanger," Aguirre-Sacasa continued. "So, it sort of was like, "Oh wait a minute, this could be a great season finale" and then prom would be a great season premiere next year. So, it worked out in kind of the best way possible given everything. Obviously we would have loved to have finished the full season, and the last three episodes are fantastic. But to me, this one is fun. It's a special conceit and it brings everyone together, which I think people love."

Season 5 of Riverdale is expected to debut on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, on The CW.

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