The wait is finally over! Riverdale’s fifth season released 8 pm on Wednesday, January 20. This much anticipated season contained a time jump for the characters, having them advance seven years into the future.  This time jump skipped the main characters’ college years and found them already into their early adult lives, where they will all have gone their separate ways. 

The first three episodes will pick up from where the show left off, because season four ended production early due to Covid-19. These three episodes will finally answer the questions about Mr. Honey and who is behind the masks. 

Fans are saddened with the departure of Skeet Ulrich as Jughead Jones’s father, however, they are excited to see the new characters who will be introduced. This show has been one to receive mixed reviews, with people either loving it or thinking it is stupid, however it still receives high viewership.  I personally began watching because Cole Sprouse was in it, and continued because it is a show I put under my “busy show” categories. It is something I can have on the TV while doing homework, or cleaning, because even though I pay attention, I do not have to be laser-focused. Hopefully, season five will provide good storyline content and hold my attention. 

The first episode of season five started off with Betty and Jughead investigating the mystery tapes, which were a focus of last season. They end up visiting a snuff film party to try to find the director who is threatening them with theapes. Another moment brings Archie into the spotlight when he competes in a boxing match so he can get into the naval academy, however, he lost the fight. Then the students had their senior prom. Cheryl and Toni won prom queens, but the dance was interrupted by another snuff tape being projected on the wall. At the end of the episode, Cheryl and Toni were trying to figure out how to stay together since Toni’s family hates Cheryl’s, and at the same time Archie admits to Veronica he still loves Betty, causing their breakup. The last scene is Archie receiving a tape on his doorstep, while the Black Hood is holding at  gunpoint. Although this episode will most likely lead to more interesting plot developments, I was a little bored. The show is beginning to get repetitive and I am hoping it starts to pick up the pace a little. 

The second episode was much better than the first one, because it went into more detail about what was happening, and revealed the questions viewers had. It turns out, Jellybean, Jughead’s younger sister, was the one behind the videotapes, getting her friends involved with making grotesque snuff films based on her brother and his friends’ lives. This reveal was not too shocking, because when season four ended due to Covid-19, many fans were already speculating that she was behind the tapes. 

However, the reveal of the murderer was not only shocking, for me personally it was upsetting. The murderer was Charles, Jughead and Betty’s half-sibling who was first introduced as an FBI agent who had the serial killer gene, the same as Betty. This episode revealed he uses his gene to murder “bad people”, those who have harmed those he loved. Unfortunately, he will now be sent to jail for the rest of his life, which is disappointing because he was a great addition to the show and I am sad for his departure. Other than these two reveals, nothing major occurred, and the next episode is the last one before the time jump, which will center around the characters graduation.