The CW has released a new preview for “Chapter Ninety-Four: Next to Normal”, the penultimate episode of Riverdale’s fifth season. The episode is expected to feature the latest musical-themed detour for the long-running drama series, with Alice Cooper (Madchen Amick) apparently creating “an imaginary musical fantasy world” in which her family hasn’t undergone its various traumas. Given the state of the Cooper family, which includes multiple serial killers and serial killer victims — including Polly Cooper (Tiera Skovbye), who was confirmed to have been killed by the Mothmen in this week’s episode — it will be interesting to see exactly what that new world entails, and how Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) responds to it.
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The episode is also set to see Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) considering whether or not they should move in together, and Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook) asking Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) to pretend to be her boyfriend for a dinner with her parents. With the show’s Season 6 premiere right around the corner, these various storylines are sure to take some dramatic turns.
“[Going into] Season 6, Archie is a sort of everyman hero and going on an everyman hero’s journey and there are still elements from the comic books that are very true to the series — Veronica is a daddy’s girl, for instance,” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa recently told CBR. “It’s a matter of letting the characters and stories expand organically and the biggest difference is that now the characters have gotten older. They’re in their 20s now and that sort of changes the DNA of the show a little bit and allows us to have Archie and Jughead sitting around drinking beer and it’s totally natural because they’re not teenagers now and we’re not breaking any rules. It’s a very porous boundary that we’re operating in and discovering it episode-by-episode.”
You can check out the synopsis for “Chapter Ninety-Four: Next to Normal” below!
“MOTHER’S DAY IN RIVERDALE – Refusing to accept what’s going on around her, Alice (Mädchen Amick) creates an imaginary musical fantasy world in which the Coopers are one big happy family again. But as her mother continues to spiral, Betty (Lili Reinhart) does her best to pull her back to reality. Meanwhile, Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) ropes Jughead (Cole Sprouse) into a family dinner with her parents, and Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Archie (KJ Apa) make a big decision about their future. Madelaine Petsch, Casey Cott, Vanessa Morgan, Charles Melton and Drew Ray Tanner also star. Ronald Paul Richard directed the episode written by Tessa Leigh Williams.”
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “Next to Normal” will air on September 29th.
