There are still a few months until the fourth season of The CW’s dark Archie Comics reinvention Riverdale hits our TV screens. But with this year’s San Diego Comic-Con hosting cast and crew, we now know a lot more about what will go down with the gang enters Senior Year.

Joining the panel in Comic-Con’s massive Hall H for the conventions final day were cast members Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, KJ Apa, Camila Mendes and Madelaine Petsch, as well as showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who were all on hand to preview the madness that is to come. Or rather, the calm before the storm, because after a bonkers season that included a stick monster terrorizing the town, and a cult that was secretly harvesting organs, the show is getting back to basics. That means high school, romance, and all the trappings of the final year of school, from applying to college, to graduation.

Don’t worry, though, there’s still some serious darkness weaved into the world. In the Season 3 finale, the show flashed forward to Spring Break, with Betty Cooper (Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Mendes), and Archie Andrews (Apa) standing in their underwear in front of a bonfire, covered in blood. Noticeably absent was Jughead Jones (Sprouse), and fans around the world screeched in horror as Betty urged Archie to burn Jughead’s iconic beanie.

That’s not the only bizarre cliffhanger teased in the finale. A good chunk of the cast, including Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick) and Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner), as well as cult leaders Evelyn Evernever (Zoë de Grand’Maison) and Edgar Evernever (Chad Michael Murray) had “ascended,” leaving their clothes and a sobbing Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) behind. Enter Charles Smith (Wyatt Nash), the half-brother of both Betty and Jughead, who is an FBI Agent trying to track down Edgar and company to shake things up. Oh, and Cheryl (Petsch) is hiding the dead body of her brother Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) in her house.

But first, the show needs to deal with the real life passing of star Luke Perry, who played Fred Andrews on the show and died suddenly of a stroke before the conclusion of filming Season 3. The Season 4 premiere, titled “In Memoriam,” will be a tribute to Perry, and weave this tragedy in with the ongoing plot of the show.

With all that in mind, here’s what we learned from the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel:

Shannen Doherty will be joining the premiere episode in a “pivotal, super-emotional role,” according to Aguirre-Sacasa. Doherty and Perry co-starred on Beverly Hills, 90210 together, and until his passing were friends for almost 30 years.

Kerr Smith, best known for his roles on Dawson’s Creek and Charmed, will take on the recurring role of new Riverdale High principal Mr. Honey. He’s more of a “hard-ass” than Weatherbee was, so look out, murder teens!

Speaking of teens, in response to a question about more plus-size representation, Aguirre-Sacasa noted that we’ll be meeting more high school students this year, and to “stay tuned.”

Jughead will be heading to a prep school for rich kids this year, and discover what it’s like to be a pretentious kid in a school full of pretentious kids. Their sportsball team is called the Stonewall Stags, which, uh…

Though we’ve had episodes that tie into Halloween in the past, there hasn’t been a straight up episode set on the spooky holiday. That changes this year. The Halloween episode will be the fourth one to air, meaning it’ll air on October 30. And as far as costumes, they’re looking into getting clearance for Cheryl and Toni to dress as DC characters, which shouldn’t be too much of a stretch since they’ve already done Catwoman and Red Arrow.

After stepping in to help out after Perry’s passing last season, Molly Ringwald will be back for Season 4 as Mary Andrews in a more regular role.

Ashleigh Murray will be returning as Josie McCoy for the season premiere, presumably to support Archie, before hopping back over to her spinoff show Katy Keene.

Want to know what’s up with that Season 3 finale flash-forward? You’ll have to wait until the Season 4 midseason finale. Sorry!

Though Cheryl isn’t in a great mental place this season (what with the dead body of her brother in the basement at all, she’s taking care of Polly Cooper’s (Tiera Skovbye) twins, which seems like a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, Petsch noted that she’s excited about the Halloween episode because Cheryl is a “gothic queen.”

The Core Four (Betty, Jughead, Veronica and Archie) will be starting a band this season called… Wait for it… The Archies! Archie is lead guitar/lead singer, Betty is on tambourine, Jughead is on drums, and Veronica is on the keyboard. There will be a full-on battle of the bands episode, presumably happening before Jughead dies. I’m kidding.

Separate from the battle of the bands episode, there will be another musical episode a la “Carrie” and “Heathers.”

Despite heading back to high school, they’re opening yet another business: Veronica and Betty will begin peddling maple syrup rum. Sure! Why not!

The Farm storyline will finally wrap up in Episode 3 of the season. So if you’re keeping track: Episode 1, “In Memoriam”; Episode 2, meet the new principal; Episode 3, The Farm ends; Episode 4, Halloween.

On the romance front: Cheryl and Toni, a.k.a. Choni is solid, and Petsch thinks they’re “endgame”; Veronica and Archie, a.k.a. Varchie is also solid; FP (Skeet Ulrich) and Alice (Mädchen Amick) might finally kiss; Kevin is going to see an old flame (Moose, we presume?); and there are hints that Betty and Jughead, a.k.a. Bughead, might get a little rocky, what with not seeing each other all week, and Jughead dying I’M KIDDING.

On the friendship front, there’ll be some actual time spent between Betty and Kevin in Episode 2, while Mendes is pushing for more Veronica and Betty hang-outs.

Want to see a crossover with the expanding Archieverse? Well, keep waiting. No Sabrina crossover will be happening yet, but you may see some characters pop up on Katy Keene (which, of note, takes place a few years in the future).

Riverdale returns to The CW on Wednesday, October 9 at 8/7c.

Where to stream Riverdale