Riverdale “Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key” Synopsis Released

The CW has released the official synopsis for “Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key”, the upcoming eighth episode of Riverdale‘s fifth season. The episode is set to air on Wednesday, March 17th. Now that the remaining storylines from Season 4 have been wrapped up, Riverdale has jumped seven years ahead, seeing Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) return to their hometown now just a shell of what it once was thanks to the machinations of Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos). It’s something that prompts them all to come together to teach at Riverdale High School in order to save it, though there are certainly more challenges ahead. You can check out the synopsis below.

THE QUEEN OF CHAOS STRIKES AGAIN — A big announcement forces everyone to take stock of their current lives. Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) sets a risky plan in motion after learning some surprising news about Toni (Vanessa Morgan). Jughead (Cole Sprouse) tries to make sense of a strange encounter he had. Kevin (Casey Cott) and Fangs (Drew Ray Tanner) make a big decision about their future together. KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Mädchen Amick and Charles Melton also star. Rachel Talalay directed the episode written by Arabella Anderson.

Taking stock of their current lives is something that could be a complicated task for the show’s core characters. Each of them have some complex situations that they are navigating. Jughead is dealing with trying to make a comeback as a writer and get himself out of debt with debt collectors. Veronica is dealing with an unhappy and controlling marriage. Betty is dealing with PTSD from her encounter with a serial killer while working with the FBI. And that’s not to mention the challenges they’ve each faced since returning to Riverdale.

“On a practical level we really wanted to — I call them still the kids [Laughs] — but for the kids to be playing characters closer to their age,” Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained to Entertainment Tonight earlier this month. “And I think one of the hallmarks of Riverdale has been that it isn’t a procedural. Every episode is its own genre and it’s constantly reinventing itself and it felt like if we had stayed in high school, we might run the risk of playing the same beats and the same stories over and over again. So I think the idea was that it would sort of be a creative boost for the writers, a creative boost for the actors, and after four years of very gonzo, intricate, incestuous plotting, it was like, “Oh!” Well, we can just drop everyone into new storylines that feel organic to the characters, but allow us to feel like we can move a little more nimbly. Without the burden of, you know, Bughead dating or the burden of Archie still wrestling with the immediate death of his father. It felt like a way to freshen everything up and I feel like that was the big goal.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key” will air on March 17th.