Everything to Know About ‘Riverdale’ Season 6: Cast, Release Date and More

Credit: The CW

Everything to Know About 'Riverdale' Season 6: Cast, Release Date and More

There's no town like Riverdale, where cult leaders, moth men, serial killers and maple syrup wars are regular occurrences. At least the show's core four — Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), Archie (KJ Apa) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) — don't have to deal with high school on top of all that anymore. In season 5, the show jumped forward in time seven years, with the Riverdale High graduates having gone their separate ways. Jughead moved to New York City, Betty went to the FBI Academy in Virginia, Veronica married Chad (Chris Mason) and Archie went off to war. When the town of Riverdale ran into even more problems than usual, they didn't hesitate to return to save it. Season 6, which will be broken into two parts, chose to continue with the time jump, but it's hard to guess what else might happen as it starts so soon after season 5. Because of coronavirus-related production delays, season 5 aired in two parts, with the second part wrapping up just weeks before season 6 began. "I will say that we’re definitely picking up on a lot of the emotional relationship stories in season 6," showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Decider in August 2021. "So, a lot of the friendships and relationships and redefinition of relationships that we get to at the end of season 5 [will] continue into season 6." [jwplayer ShcrRHML-zhNYySv2] That's a relatively vague statement, but it does hint at the possibility of a continued friendship between Betty and Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook), who's been helping Betty as she searches for her missing sister, Polly (Tiera Skovbye). "We didn’t want to tell a traditional love triangle where Betty and Tabitha were sort of wary or jealous of each other," Aguirre-Sacasa explained. "We felt like them being together as friends and trying to find this person that they both care about would be really, really cool. And I’m really happy to say that we continue that friendship into subsequent episodes." After season 5 wrapped, Aguirre-Sacasa teased the next season with a long series of very interesting emojis, including an alien, a clown, a tornado and a tidal wave. "Really excited about our next batch of episodes," he wrote via Instagram in June 2021. "They’re some of the best we’ve done. And after that, a break. And after that…💥🚀💋🔥💃🏾👯‍♀️🌪🤡👽👀👫👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏽👠🕷🐍🦂🦋🐀🍒🍔❤️‍🩹💍🤰🏼🌊🎰." The only solution is to make like Betty and Jughead and start sleuthing. Keep scrolling to find out everything we know about Riverdale season 6: [podcast_block]

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Who's Coming Back?

Reinhart, Sprouse, Apa, Mendes and Westbrook will all be back alongside Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl), Casey Cott (Kevin Keller), Charles Melton (Reggie Mantle), Vanessa Morgan (Toni Topaz) and Drew Ray Tanner (Fangs).

However, at the beginning of season 5, Aguirre-Sacasa told TVLine that a "major" character who's been on the show since season 1 may face "a possibly tragic fate." All signs pointed to Polly in the fall of 2021, because she still hasn't been found, but Riverdale is known for its misdirects.

Credit: Diyah Pera/The CW

What's It About?

Season 5 focused on solving the mystery of the potential serial killer who either kidnapped or murdered Polly. While some fans thought season 6 would focus on the aftermath of that mystery, the show's creators had a different idea in mind.

The showrunners opted to turn the town of Riverdale on its head to kick off season 6, creating the alternative universe of Rivervale. In this new world, relationships will be put to the test and friendships challaneged as the lead characters try to figure out what's real and what's not.

Credit: Kailey Schwerman/The CW

When Does Part 1 Air?

Season 6, which included five episodes, premiered on November 16, 2021.

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Is Someone Going to Die?

Aguirre-Sacasa hinted in August 2021 that someone could die in the new season. "Forces are gathering for the ultimate battle between Good and Evil as the cameras begin to roll on #Riverdale Season Six," he wrote via Instagram at the time. "But who will stand on which side? And who will live, and who will die? Everything has been a prelude to this."

He added another confusing string of emojis for aspiring sleuths to parse: "🔥🌪🍔⌛️☠️💍👠👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏽🎰🎢🚧🚑🎭🥩👭🏽👼🏽🦸🏻‍♂️💄💋💰💎⚰️." 

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Hiram’s Gone for Now

Mark Consuelos won’t return as a series regular for season 6 after Hiram left town at the end of season 5. His presence will be felt, however, as he put a bomb under Archie’s bed before his exit.

“That will have a huge, immediate, and lasting impact on our characters and story lines moving into season 6,” Aguirre-Sacasa told Deadline after the season 5 finale. “As we were writing the season finale, it felt like we needed one last parting shot from Hiram, and we joked that earlier this season Hiram blew up his jail, then he blew up the Blossom mines … and don’t these things usually come in threes? What if, after all these years, Hiram was finally like, ‘Screw this, I’m just gonna bomb Archie’s house,’ and then he does exactly. Of course, it happens just as Archie and Betty are finally getting together.”

Credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix

Kiernan Shipka Joins

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star announced in October 2021 that she will reprise her role as Sabrina Spellman on season 6 of Riverdale. “From Greendale to Riverdale 😈,” she wrote via Instagram. “See u in Season 6.”

Aguirre-Sacasa then confirmed the news in a statement to TVLine: “We’ve been talking about having Sabrina visit Riverdale since season 1, so it’s thrilling that this is finally happening, as part of our Rivervale special event. It’s also perfect that she shows up to help Cheryl Blossom during her hour of greatest need. Everyone on set lost their minds — I think fans will, too. It’s really fun and special.”

In October 2021, she opened up about reprising her role of Sabrina, telling Collider, "I never really felt like I got to say a proper goodbye to Sabrina when we wrapped, so to be able to revisit her and to see her in a new light, it was like riding a bike."

Credit: Courtesy of Camila Mendes/Instagram

The 100th Episode

The Palm Springs actress shared a selfie via Instagram Story in October 2021 from her trailer, writing, “Day 1 of our 100th episode” alongside five happy-tears emojis.

Credit: Kailey Schwerman/The CW

First Trailer Teases

The CW released its first look at season 6 in October 2021. Based on the teaser, Cheryl’s witchy ways are going to wreak havoc on Riverdale in the form of voodoo dolls and joint magic with Sabrina, who briefly shows up at the end of the trailer. “Look what the black cat dragged in,” Cheryl cheekily says as Sabrina smiles at her.

The clip also hints at an Archie and Betty hookup with Betty, telling her former neighbor, “There’s nothing more that I want than to have your baby.” Their love story, however, won’t be without its hiccups as Betty is later seen covered in blood and joining Cheryl for a seance.

Credit: Nino Muñoz/The CW

When Will Part 2 Air?

Season 6 will return to The CW on Sunday, March 20, at 8 p.m. ET following a three-month hiatus. After exploring Rivervale in part 1 of the season, the new episodes are set to take fans back to the town of Riverdale shortly after a bomb goes off at Archie’s home.

During the midseason premiere, Archie teams up with his pals Betty and Jughead to figure out what happened while dealing with mysterious side effects of the explosion. Meanwhile, Veronica is hoping her father, Hiram, wasn’t involved.

Credit: Katie Yu/The CW

More Choni?

Morgan teased her character Toni Topaz’s relationship status in November 2021, exclusively telling Us Weekly that fans haven’t necessarily seen the last of Toni and Cheryl (Petsch) even though Toni has a child with Fangs (Tanner).

“[Toni and Fangs are] an item. They are loving being parents to baby Anthony,” Morgan told Us at the time. “Now who knows, I know people are really rooting for Choni and there could be that element this season as well. I think it would be really interesting to see how things play out.”

She added: “I think there’s a lot of built-up things that were left unsaid and tension there. I don’t think the chapter’s closed, but we’ll see.”

Credit: The CW

Barchie or Bust?

When fans last saw Betty and Archie at the end of the five-part Rivervale episodes, they narrowly escaped death when the bomb went off at the Andrews’ home. As the series moves forward, fans may finally get a real romance between the longtime BFFs.

“It feels like we've flirted with the idea of Betty and Archie [before]. Again, when we resumed in Riverdale, we kind of realized we've actually never really, really explored what it would be like for them together over a longish haul,” Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly in March 2022. “So let me say this, I think we're going to experience Betty and Archie in a fuller way than we ever have before — romance-wise, friendship-wise, even just plot-wise. Coming out of the events of 605 and 606, Archie and Betty are pretty bonded.”