‘Riverdale’: Everything We Learned About Season 4 at New York Comic Con

The Riverdale Season 4 premiere is mere days away, and in advance of Wednesday’s (October 9) debut, the parents from The Town With Pep hit up Madison Square Garden as part of New York Comic Con to tease what to expect from the upcoming season. In attendance were Mädchen Amick (who plays Alice Cooper), Skeet Ulrich (FP Jones), Marisol Nichols (Hermione Lodge), Mark Consuelos (Hiram Lodge), Molly Ringwald (Mary Andrews) and showrunner/EP Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

For those a little behind on the ol’ Riverdale, here’s the skinny on what’s going on with the parents — and the show. When Season 3 ended, Hiram was in jail for various crimes against the town; though he was sent to a jail he, himself, owns. So basically, he’s now the Kingpin from Daredevil, minus the obsession with omelettes. Veronica Lodge’s (Camila Mendes) other parent Hermione was also sent to jail, due to shenanigans from Hiram.





Meanwhile, Alice had spent all season as an acolyte of The Farm, an organ-stealing cult that “ascended” in the season finale — meaning disappeared and left their clothes behind. Turns out Alice was actually a double agent working for the FBI the whole time; though she’s still missing, regardless. And FP Jones is now the sheriff, though his wife Gladys (Gina Gershon) left town, leaving him his daughter Jellybean (Trinity Likins) which should make things more complicated. Oh, and FP and Alice have a secret son together, Charles Smith (Wyatt Nash), who is the FBI Agent Alice was working for.

Lastly, there’s Mary Andrews. In the show, Mary is separated from her husband Fred (Luke Perry) and works as a lawyer in Chicago. In the real world, Perry suddenly passed away in March, and Ringwald stepped into the gap left by Perry in the show to help Season 3 end, without mentioning the real life tragedy.





That changes in the Season 4 premiere, which deals with the death of both Perry, and Fred, head on. The episode, “In Memoriam,” was written by Aguirre-Sacasa, and takes place a few weeks after the end of Season 3, over July 3 and 4. It’ll eschew the usual “previously on,” and though it does have ties to the season, it won’t be until the second episode, “Fast Times at Riverdale High,” that Season 4 kicks off in earnest.

With that in mind, here’s what we learned during the Season 4 panel at New York Comic Con.

The panel first kicked off with new footage from Season 4, as Jughead (Cole Sprouse) heads to prep school, and Betty (Lili Reinhart) investigates cult The Farm, and her brother. Other highlights include Archie (KJ Apa) setting up the local gym as a community center to pay tribute to Fred, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) dressed as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn for Halloween, Archie dressing up as a superhero — Pureheart the Powerful from the comics — and what sure looked like a FP/Alice kiss.





Then, the cast hit the stage, first to discuss the passing of Luke Perry. “You’re right back in the incident when you’re back on set,” said Nichols. “You feel him around, his spirit is still there, still with us.”

Though Fred passes away in the first episode, by episode 2 — which picks up on the first day of school — you’ll see the kids getting back to normal, though Archie will still be impacted by Fred’s passing. Oh, and though Ringwald’s Mary was in and out for the previous seasons, but Episode 7 she’ll be fully in it. Aguirre-Sacasa noted that the Thanksgiving episode is a big one for Mary, ending in her saying, “This is the craziest Thanksgiving ever, Archie,” to which he quips, “Welcome to Riverdale, Mom.”





There will also be a prom episode later in the season, since it is Senior Year, And Episode 5 will be a big episode for the Lodges, as they’re put on trial with Mary working one side of the court. Aguirre-Sacasa joked that Mary is an all purpose lawyer, quipping that they always write lines like, “Well, I’m not a copyright lawyer, but…”

Episode 3, meanwhile, will settle The Farm storyline from last season, which Amick called, “a great redemption for Alice,” after her betrayals last season.

One episode with the adults you may never see, though? Aguirre-Sacasa would love to do a key party episode with the adults, though it never works out.

Discussing the romantic relationships on the season, Consuelos and Nichols noted that after starting as a “business relationship,” they’ll be exploring the more romantic side of the Lodges. But get ready for a swerve, as Veronica’s older sister will be coming to town, played by Vida star Mishel Prada, and she is not Hermione’s daughter. The cast said that she is more like Hiram, and more dangerous, because “she’s a woman.”

Moving on the FP and Alice, they’ll be moving in together this year with both the Cooper and Jones families living under one roof. Talking about shirtless scenes, the cast noted that FP is usually more layered up, than not, with Amick quipping, “Alice is gonna unlayer him.” Still, FP will be dealing with his own issues this year, as his father returns to town in the midseason finale, and there’s an overall mystery about who the elder Forsythe Jones is, and what his returns. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Ulrich said mysteriously.

Oh, and don’t forget about Charles, who will be sticking around this season. There will be a ‘ship attached to him (no spoilers),

Turning to Mary, Molly Ringwald is still recurring on the show, though Ringwald said, “more often than not,” as they continue to figure out contracts behind the scenes. We’ll also slowly find out more about Mary’s time in Chicago, there is a story to tell – though fans who have noticed Mary has a lot of female friends from Sarah Florence college probably have a fair idea of what’s going on.

Other details dropped at the panel include plans for another musical episode (though no details yet) as well as a Veronica/Archie duet by the end of the season — and plans to try and get the parents to sing. They’ll also address what happened to Betty’s money, which was stolen by The Farm, in Episode 8. And for Cheryl, her arc, which Aguirre-Sacasa says began with the death of her brother in the first episode, will reach it’s climax and resolution in Episode 9. Also? No plans to break Cheryl and Toni up, “they’re going strong.”

And those eager for a crossover with other Archie-verse shows? Though no specific plans yet, Aguirre-Sacasa says that when it comes to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina they are “seeding clues left and right,” and you should stay tuned throughout the season.

Riverdale returns on Wednesday, October 6 at 9/8c.





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