Riverdale: “The Preppy Murders” Preview Released

Season 5 of Riverdale officially began on Wednesday night, and fans have been eager to see what the future holds for its Archie Comics-inspired roster of characters. Given the fact that Season 4 came to an early end last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series has had a lot of ground to cover — and now we have our latest look at what’s in store. The CW has released a preview for “Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Preppy Murders”, the second episode of the show’s fifth season.

Now that the malicious events of Riverdale‘s senior prom are officially in the books, there are definitely a lot of questions — including the identity of the auteur, the mysterious person who has been making snuff film-like tapes to stalk the residents of Riverdale. As the episode’s title suggests, it sounds like that could involve some casualties on behalf of the “Preppies”, the students of Stonewall Prep that Jughead Jones (KJ Apa) dealt with in Season 4.

The episode is sure to also help tee up the circumstances surrounding Season 5’s time jump, which was confirmed to be a reality during last summer.

“It’s funny, we had shot almost two-thirds of episode 20, which was going to be our prom episode. And we looked at that footage and tried to see if there was a way we could cobble together that episode,” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa explained back in May. “We actually had shot the prom, where a lot of very dramatic things happen, but we still hadn’t shot some big character moments between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead. So we kind of just couldn’t do that.”

“However, when I saw the cut of 19, what’s great about it is all of the kids are in one big story together united against Mr. Honey. And it does end on a pretty shocking, disturbing cliffhanger,” Aguirre-Sacasa continued. “So, it sort of was like, “Oh wait a minute, this could be a great season finale” and then prom would be a great season premiere next year. So it worked out in kind of the best way possible given everything. Obviously we would have loved to have finished the full season, and the last three episodes are fantastic. But to me, this one is fun. It’s a special conceit and it brings everyone together, which I think people love.”

“GAME CHANGER — Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) investigation into the auteur takes a twisted turn after receiving a call from Bret (guest star Sean Depner). Meanwhile, Archie (KJ Apa) is forced to make an impossible decision when the person responsible for his father’s death needs his help. Elsewhere, Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Hermosa (guest star Mishel Prada) come up with a plan to force Hiram (Mark Consuelos) into early retirement, and Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) makes a business move. Mädchen Amick and Vanessa Morgan also star. Gabriel Correa directed the episode written by Janine Salinas Schoenberg & Devon Turner.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. “Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Preppy Murders” will air on January 27th.