Home TV Shows ‘Riverdale’ Season 5 Episode 1 Preview: Photos, Trailer, Plot and Cast

‘Riverdale’ Season 5 Episode 1 Preview: Photos, Trailer, Plot and Cast

January 4, 2021

Season five of The CW’s Riverdale begins with the gang still in high school and preparing for their senior prom. Episode 1, “Climax,” which picks up the story after an abbreviated season four (due to the Covid-19 pandemic), was directed by Pamela Romanowsky from a script by Ace Hasan and Greg Murray and will air on January 20, 2021 at 8pm ET/PT.

The cast of season five includes KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones. Madelaine Petsch is Cheryl Blossom, Marisol Nichols is Hermione Lodge, Mӓdchen Amick is Alice Cooper, Casey Cott is Kevin Keller, Mark Consuelos is Hiram Lodge, Skeet Ulrich is FP Jones, Charles Melton is Reggie Mantle, Drew Ray Tanner is Fangs Fogarty, and Vanessa Morgan plays Toni Topaz.

“Chapter Seventy-Seven: Climax” Plot: PROM NIGHT INTERRUPTED — Betty (Reinhart) and Jughead’s (Sprouse) investigation into the auteur leads them to the discovery of a secret underground for red-band screenings. Elsewhere, in order to impress the visiting Naval Academy Commandant, Archie (Apa) agrees to participate in a boxing exhibition against another candidate – KO Kelly (guest star Zane Holtz).

Meanwhile, as Cheryl (Petsch) prepares for prom, she stumbles upon a major secret that Toni’s (Morgan) been keeping from her.

Season 5 Description, Courtesy of The CW:

The fourth season of Riverdale began with a funeral and tribute to Archie’s late father, the beloved Fred Andrews (Luke Perry). Throughout the season, Archie (KJ Apa) tried to live up to his father’s memory by mentoring youths at his Community Center with the help of his pals Reggie and Munroe Moore. But the shadow of that tragedy loomed over Archie—and only darkened when Fred’s brother Frank arrived, bringing unforeseen complications with him, much to the chagrin of Archie’s mother (Molly Ringwald).

Meanwhile, after Betty saved her mom and sister from the Farm cult, she joined her brother Charles’s Junior F.B.I. Training Program. Veronica found herself locked in a season-long battle with her father Hiram and half-sister Hermosa over her burgeoning maple rum business. And, at the urging on FP, Jughead enrolled in a new school, Stonewall Prep, only to be caught up in a mystery that involved his grandfather, the secret author of a series of teen detective novels called “The Baxter Brothers.” His classmates turned out to be killers—and it was up to Betty and Jughead (pretending to be dead) to solve the murder of…Jughead Jones!

At Thistlehouse, Cheryl was trapped in a gothic nightmare, fighting her demons, literal and metaphoric, with the loving support of her girlfriend Toni. She finally put her brother Jason to rest while maintaining her control over the Vixens as resident HBIC against Principal Honey (Kerr Smith). Kevin got dragged into an illicit tickle scheme, but still found time to put on a Variety Show with hit songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

And throughout the season, disturbing unmarked videotapes kept appearing on our characters’ doorsteps, ensuring that there would be one more mystery to solve.

Season five of Riverdale will begin with our characters’ final days as students at Riverdale High. From an epic Senior Prom to a bittersweet Graduation, there are a lot of emotional moments and goodbyes yet to come — with some couples breaking up, as everyone goes their separate ways to college — or elsewhere. Then, we will redock with our gang as young adults, all returning to Riverdale to escape their troubled pasts. And life — and romance — will only be more complicated now that they’re in their twenties…