Riverdale’s Final Season Will Remain in the 1950s

Riverdale is current in its seventh and final season on The CW and it’s a season that has looked very different from those before it. Season 7 has been set exclusively in the 1950s thanks to the events of the Season 6 finale with Bailey’s Comet creating an apocalyptic level event and Riverdale ending up shunted off into an alternative timeline as a hail Mary move to save it until things can be set right. It’s a setting that has lent itself to some very interesting stories, but with the series heading into its remaining episodes, fans have been wondering if the show will make its way back to present day. According to series star Madchen Amick — who also directed this week’s episode, “The Crucible” — the show won’t be leaving the 1950s — but that’s not exactly the whole story.

“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.”

Amick’s answer is interesting on a few levels. Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has previously said that the final season won’t be entirely set in the 1950s and in a sense, Amick’s response could be suggesting that — she does mention “dimensions” that are outside of the 1950s, which would arguably cover that. But it is also possible that things have changed since Aguirre-Sacasa made that comment. The series only wrapped filming on the final season earlier this week.

Why the 1950s is the Perfect Setting for Riverdale‘s Final Season

However, Riverdale ends up, Aguirre-Sacasa previously told ComicBook.com that the 1950s was the perfect setting for the fan-favorite series’ final season, both for the nostalgia and for the society and cultural elements of that time period and how they lend themselves to the story.

“It is true, though the Archie started publishing much earlier than the 1950s, the decade that most people associate with Archie comics is the 1950s for whatever reason. The Archie comics, they’re so nostalgic, and I think when people think of time periods, they think of the 1950. Through the lens of nostalgia. So that was one big thing,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “Absolutely. And even when we’ve done their iconic comic book costumes from the past, even though they were technically the 1940s, whenever anyone would write about it, they’d say, ‘Oh my God, they’re wearing their 1950s outfits.’ So, it was sort of like, ‘Okay, well, that is … ‘And even when we were pitching Riverdale, and this is true, when we were pitching Riverdale to try to do a TV show, the executives would say, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is this a show set in the ’50s?’ And it’s like, ‘No, no, no, it’s set in present day.’  So, there was that.”

He continued, “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. 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.”

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.

What do you think about Riverdale’s final season thus far? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section?