Riverdale Releases New Trailer For Season 5 Return

After a months-long hiatus, Riverdale is finally returning to our television screens in just a matter of weeks. The hit The CW series went on a pre-planned break earlier this year, and fans have been undeniably eager to see exactly how its eccentric plotlines resolve themselves. Luckily, we have our first look at what that could entail, as The CW has released a new teaser trailer for the remaining episodes — and it definitely looks like a wild ride. Among the things revealed in the trailer are the return of Josie and the Pussycats, the fact that Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Penelope Blossom (Nathalie Bolt) have started a ministry, and Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is going to escalate the fight against the person who killed Polly.

While Riverdale has definitely unfolded in some unexpected ways this season, that arguably came with the territory of jumping the series forward five years in time — a narrative decision that has paid off in interesting ways.

"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 year. "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."

You can check out the synopsis for the series' return episode, "Chapter Eighty-Seven: Strange Bedfellows" below!

"RETURN TO RIVERDALE — In the aftermath of the prison break at Hiram's (Mark Consuelos) jail, Archie (KJ Apa) leads the charge to round up the remaining convicts on the loose. Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) reaches out for Betty's (Lili Reinhart) help when she realizes Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is missing. When Penelope (guest star Nathalie Boltt) re-enters the fold, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) becomes suspicious of her true intentions. Camila Mendes, Madchen Amick, Casey Cott, Charles Melton and Drew Ray Tanner also star. Tessa Blake directed the episode written by Aaron Allen."

Riverdale will return with new episodes beginning Wednesday, August 11th, on The CW.