Riverdale is quickly coming to an end and, after this week’s “A Different Kind of Cat”, just three episodes remain in the fan-favorite series’ seventh and final season with the gang still living in the 1950s. But the season premiere saw Angel Tabitha tell Jughead that they were tasked with getting the world to bend towards justice — just before Jughead’s memories are erased — and it seems like things might just be heading that direction. The CW has released a synopsis for “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six: The Golden Age of Television”, the penultimate episode of Riverdale and from the sound of things, as secrets start to come to light, some major choices will be made that impact everything. The episode will air on August 16th. You can check it out for yourself below.
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“BENDING TOWARDS JUSTICE — As the town’s past secrets start to bubble to the surface, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and the gang are forced to make a difficult decision that will change each of their lives forever. KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, Mädchen Amick, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, Vanessa Morgan, and Drew Ray Tanner star. Tara Dafoe directed the episode written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Tessa Leigh Williams.”
The Moral Conflict of the 1950s Has Been a Major Aspect of Riverdale‘s Final Season
Speaking with ComicBook.com at the start of Riverdale’s final season, series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained why putting the show in the 1950s was perfect for the final season, for the nostalgia that time period holds for Archie Comics — a time period many fans associate with Archie — but because that was the decade where the idea of the teenager as we know it today was first formed, not to mention that the decade was also the beginning of a lot of social issues and conflict that remain resonant today.
“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,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “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.”
Will Riverdale Return to the Present Day?
While the season premiere made it seem like the end goal was for the gang to find a way to set the universe right so that they could return to the present day, series star Mädchen Amick has cast doubt on the series making it back to the present day — at least in a way that fans might expect.
“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.”
When is Riverdale‘s Series Finale?
In May, The CW announced the series finale dates for both Riverdale and Nancy Drew. Both shows will air their series finales on Wednesday, August 23rd. Nancy Drew‘s finale will air at 8/7c with Riverdale‘s airing at 9/8c.
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW. “Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six: The “Golden Age of Television airs August 16th.
