It’s time for the Miss Teen Riverdale pageant, but this time, the stakes are higher than ever. The CW has released preview for “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two: Miss Teen Riverdale”, the fifteenth episode of Riverdale‘s seventh and final season, and what seems like just a local pageant will be getting national attention with it being broadcast on television — and that is putting a lot of pressure on everyone. In the preview, which you can check out for yourself in the video below, that means there are some qualms from the adults about Ethel participating in the pageant, but from the sound of things, the other girls in Riverdale are ready to try to make things as fair and equitable as possible. The episode is set to air on Wednesday, June 19th. You can also check out the episode synopsis below.
“AND THE WINNER IS… — It’s time for the town’s annual Miss Teen Riverdale pageant and Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) each have their own reasons for entering. However, when Alice (Mädchen Amick) doesn’t allow Ethel (guest star Shannon Purser) to enter the pageant, the girls band together to make sure she has a fighting chance. KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, and Drew Ray Tanner also star. Michael Goi directed the episode written by Aaron Allen & Chrissy Maroon.”
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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.”
Amick’s answer is interesting on a few levels. Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has previously said that the final season won’t be entirely set in the 1950s and in a sense, Amick’s response could be suggesting that — she does mention “dimensions” that are outside of the 1950s, which would arguably cover that. But it is also possible that things have changed since Aguirre-Sacasa made that comment. The series only wrapped filming on the final season last week.
Why Is Riverdale‘s Final Season Set in the 1950s?
As Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told ComicBook.com earlier this year, the time jump allowed for the show to uniquely get back to the Archie Comics heyday of the 1950s.
“It is true, though the Archie started publishing much earlier than the 1950s, the decade that most people associate with Archie comics is the 1950s for whatever reason,” Aguirre-Sacasa explained. “The Archie comics, they’re so nostalgic, and I think when people think of time periods, they think of the 1950. Through the lens of nostalgia. So that was one big thing, absolutely. And even when we’ve done their iconic comic book costumes from the past, even though they were technically the 1940s, whenever anyone would write about it, they’d say, ‘Oh my God, they’re wearing their 1950s outfits.’ So, it was sort of like, ‘Okay, well, that is … ‘And even when we were pitching Riverdale, and this is true, when we were pitching Riverdale to try to do a TV show, the executives would say, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is this a show set in the ’50s?’ And it’s like, ‘No, no, no, it’s set in present day.’ So, there was that.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW. “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two: Miss Teen Riverdale” airs July 19th.
