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Riverdale
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Here’s a promposal for you: are you ready for a brand new season of Riverdale? After months of anticipation, Riverdale is finally returning to our TV screens with the highly anticipated prom episode, “Chapter Seventy-Seven: Climax.” Originally scheduled to be the twentieth episode of Season 4, “Climax” finished filming thanks to COVID safety, and will now air as the Season 5 premiere on Wednesday, January 20 at 8/7c on The CW (or January 21 on Netflix if you’re international).
And it’s been a while since we’ve seen the teens of America’s most dangerous town, so you might be forgiven from forgetting just where we were in the season-long mystery — or where everyone was romantically. Don’t worry, you’ll get right up to speed with “Climax,” which may not have the same table setting one expects from a season premiere, but still works as a big reintroduction to the Town With Pep.
Written by Ace Hasan and Greg Murray, and directed by Pamela Romanowsky, the hour — as usual for Riverdale — packs a ton of action in, big twists in the lives of the teens, and even finds time for an extended cameo from a recently canceled CW show (no, not The Secret Circle, but good guess).
But the big, broad strokes things you need to remember are two-fold. The first is that a new villain previously called The Voyeur, now called The Auteur, has been surreptitiously filming the residents of Riverdale, and is now reenacting murders/crimes from the series, wearing extremely creepy masks that look like the classic comics versions of the Riverdale characters. The second is that during this year’s talent show, Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Archie (KJ Apa) kissed, and kept that fact hidden from Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and Veronica (Camila Mendes).
With that in mind, who wants some teases for the episode? You do, I bet, considering you clicked on this article. If not, turn away, because we’re getting into it, and teasing what we can about “Chapter Seventy-Seven: Climax.”
KOed
If things had gone normally, “Climax” would have probably aired sometime in April — meaning right when the Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene was airing. Things are not normal, so it is now airing over six months after Katy Keene was (sob) canceled. Which makes an extended appearance by Zane Holtz as Katy’s (Lucy Hale) boyfriend KO Kelly weirdly poignant in the episode. From bonding with Archie over their girlfriends to sparring in the ring, the extremely fun — and funny — appearance by Holtz might make for the most enjoyable Archie’s boxing storyline has been since, well… Ever. Someone get KO (and the rest of the Katy Keene cast) over to Riverdale again, ASAP.
Panic! At The Disco
Though Betty and Jughead might be all smiles taking their prom pictures, for most of the hour they’re grappling with the evolving mystery of The Auteur. With some help from not one, but two old enemies (frenemies?), the couple may get closer to the villain than is comfortable. And Betty, in particular, makes some moves that threaten to drag her right back to the darkness she (and fans) thought she left behind.
Maybe This Time...
In the episode’s strongest storyline, Veronica and Archie grapple with their futures post-high school, leading to an incredibly nuanced and heartfelt performances by both Mendes and Apa. Things may be taken a little too far when it comes to the plot as Veronica tries to carry the weight for both of them, but no need to light your torches: the emotional beats hit just right.
Toni's Turn
While Bughead is focused on solving mysteries and Varchie on boxing matches, Choni is all prom, baby! Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch), Queen Bee that she is, has only one thing on her mind. But this time it’s Toni (Vanessa Morgan) who throws a wrench in the gears, not Cheryl. Is Ms. Topaz being too passive? And will Cheryl go from Queen Bee, to Red Queen? They say that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…
One Night Only
One final note here: fans worried that the prom will be lip service, a la last year’s predictably wrecked Junior dance (I mean, who hasn’t been attacked at their Junior Prom by their hook-handed serial killer dad and a giant stick monster)? Don’t fret. Though you won’t see any promposals, you’ll get all the rest of the trappings of the biggest party of the year, from proud parents snapping pictures, to a soundtrack that would make Laney Boggs jealous. It may not be the bulk of the episode, but by Riverdale standards letting the kids enjoy themselves for a little while, slow dance, kiss, and have some fun for once is positively superhuman restraint.
