The CW has released new photos for “The Blackboard Jungle”, Riverdale‘s upcoming midseason premiere. You can check them out in our gallery below.
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As the episode’s promo hinted, it will follow the show’s ensemble in a pretty unique situation, as the students of Southside High are transferred over to Riverdale High.
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The photos indicate quite a vague idea of how that will go, with Jughead and his Serpent friends looking pretty uncomfortable amongst their new peers. Another photo hints at Jughead having some sort of confrontation with Principal Weatherbee, further signifying the show’s return “back to basics.”
“The second half of season 2 gets back to a little bit of Riverdale basics,” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa hinted last month, “which is focused on stories at the school, kind of getting back in deep on the relationships and the friendships.”
“There’s still going to be a pulpy noir crime element to the second half,” Aguirre-Sacasa continued, “but there will be a resurgence of high school hijinks, and getting back to the roots of what Archie’s all about, which is the kids and the school.”
Considering where things left off in the midseason finale, it isn’t too hard to see how that shift will happen. Still, with the mystery surrounding the Black Hood still seeming unsolved, and the mysterious arrival of Chic Cooper (Hart Denton) coming soon, fans can still expect those darker influences to make their way in.
“On the one hand, I want to say that the Black Hood saga is over with episode nine,” Aguirre-Sacasa told ComicBook.com. “We kind of bring it to a close, and new stories and new crime and noir story begins in episode 10, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that… People don’t always stay dead in Riverdale, so we’re definitely going to be dealing with the aftermath of the Black Hood, and kind of the events of the last two or three episodes for a long time.”
Riverdale fans can see where the story continues when “The Blackboard Jungle” airs on January 17th, 2018, at 8/7c on The CW.
