Riverdale Fears the Bomb in "For a Better Tomorrow" Preview

Riverdale might want to duck and cover. The CW has released a preview for "Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five: For a Better Tomorrow", the eighteenth episode of Riverdale's seventh and final season and from the looks of things, the Town With Pep will be facing the threat of a nuclear bomb. The preview — which you can check out for yourself below — sees everyone at Riverdale High worried about the bomb and even seems to suggest that a blast could be imminent. However, the previously released synopsis also suggests this all could just be part of a larger bit of Cold War paranoia and it's just the start of the issues the gang will deal with in the episode. You can check out the synopsis below as well.

"COLD WAR PARANOIA – As the gang gets swept up in Cold War paranoia, a new mystery brewing in Riverdale leads Jughead (Cole Sprouse) to suspect it may have ties to a string of suspicious murders in town.  Archie (KJ Apa) reconsiders his future after Uncle Frank (guest star Ryan Robbins) gives him a hard time about his poetry writing, and a shocking discovery involving her family shakes Betty (Lili Reinhart) to her core.   Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, Madchen Amick, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, Vanessa Morgan, and Drew Ray Tanner also star.  Greg Smith directed the episode written by Ted Sullivan & Greg Murray."

Will Riverdale Return to the Present Before Series' End?

With the 1950s setting this season of Riverdale technically reflecting them being in an alternative timeline following the events of Season 6, fans have wondered if the series will end with them returning to the present day, something Aguirre-Sacasa has previously suggested. Unfortunately, series star Mädchen Amick recently cast some doubt on that — sort of.

"I don't know if I should answer," Amick told Decider when asked about the setting. "No, we don't get out of the 1950s. So, I guess maybe that is a big spoiler. I will say you do experience the characters in different… dimensions, that you get to see a lot of closures that are outside of the 1950s. I can tease it that way. I think that's saying enough."

The Moral Conflict of the 1950s Has Been a Major Aspect of Riverdale's Final Season

Speaking with ComicBook.com at the start of Riverdale's final season, series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained why putting the show in the 1950s was perfect for the final season, for the nostalgia that time period holds for Archie Comics — a time period many fans associate with Archie — but because that was the decade where the idea of the teenager as we know it today was first formed, not to mention that the decade was also the beginning of a lot of social issues and conflict that remain resonant today.

"The other big thing that felt really resonant is the 1950s were when the modern idea of the teenager was born. Teenagers really didn't ... Teenagers as we know them, and as consumers of popular culture, as consumers of movies and television and comic books and things like that, that really ... The birth of the American of the modern American teenager was the 1950s as well. So, it felt like, "Oh, well that's Archie." I mean, that is Archie. So, it felt like this is the time period, this is actually the time period. So those were also things that kind of resonated with us and why we landed on this time period," Aguirre-Sacasa said. "Also later ... and the world is roiling later in the '60s with counterculture, with the civil rights movement, with the sort of a gay liberation movement and things like that. And it felt like in terms of our thematic, which is the wholesome sweet innocent facade, and then the darker, more dangerous, more fraught themes and issues bubbling underneath, it felt like the '50s sort of suited that to a T."

When is Riverdale's Series Finale?

In May, The CW announced the series finale dates for both Riverdale and Nancy Drew. Both shows will air their series finales on Wednesday, August 23rd. Nancy Drew's finale will air at 8/7c with Riverdale's airing at 9/8c.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW. "Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five: For A Better Tomorrow" airs August 9th.