What to Expect from Season 4 of the CW’s Riverdale 

See ya gryphons, gargoyles and gargoyle kings. It’s time to make way for flash forwards. Riverdale returns tonight with new episodes.

Thanks to a quick glimpse at the end of the season three finale, we know there’s a frightening future ahead for Betty, Veronica and Archie. (By the way, where in the world is Jughead?)

In addition to this new mystery that slowly unravels over season four, the show will say goodbye to Fred Andrews (played by the late great Luke Perry) and will turn its focus onto the Core Four’s final year of high school.

For those of you who want to sufficiently prep for a full season of Riverdale madness, creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa laid out some resources and references that may or may not give a big hint as to what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Let’s just say you may want to study up on:
-The films of Alfred Hitchcock, especially Strangers on a Train and Rope
-The crime novels of Patricia Highsmith like The Talented Mr. Ripley
-The Donna Tartt book, The Secret of History
–Dead Poet’s Society
–School Ties

Heck, we’re going to throw in Less Than Zero and American Psycho simply because in Riverdale‘s recent New York Comic-Con trailer, Jughead is introduced to some preppy guy named Brett Weston Wallis. That sure sounds a lot like Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote Zero and Psycho. Take a look at the trailer:

Over the summer, the Riverdale cast as well as Aguirre-Sacasa talked about what’s in store for season four.

Camila Mendes

What Mendes Talks About
-Veronica’s Relationship with her parents
-Veronica and Archie
-What Veronica is focusing on this season
-The new principal
-The season four premiere
-Musical episode
-Her pitch for a musical episode
-College for Veronica
-Whether she struggles with having no parental guidance
-What to expect the last year in high school
-Any interaction between Veronica and Jughead
-Veronica the businesswoman this season

Cole Sprouse

What Sprouse Talks Abou
-Where they pick up in season 4
-The Charles of it all
-Jughead’s new storyline
-Whether his new story will take Jughead away from the Core Four
-Jughead’s status with the Serpents

KJ Apa

What Apa Talks About
-Archie and Veronica
-Archie spending time with his mom
-The Core Four
-Archie and Jughead
-Archie’s mental state
-Archie’s post-high school life
-Archie and Cheryl

Lili Reinhart

What Reinhart Talks About
-Betty’s state of mind at beginning of season
-The Core Four
-Betty and Charles
-The Alice reveal at the end of season three
-Lingering effects from Betty’s time dealing with The Farm
-Dark Betty status
-Any light stories she’s looking forward to

Madelaine Petsch

What Petsch Talks About
-Where the action picks up in season four
-Cheryl’s relationship with her family
-The Choni dynamic
-College
-Complications ensuing at an event
-Halloween episode
-The flash forwards
-Crossover potentials
-Prefer knowing more or less about where her character is going
-More college talk
-Dealing with adult situations

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

What Aguirre-Sacasa Talks About
-The season three finale
-The season’s big mystery
-Focusing on emotional storytelling as well as on the characters’ final year of high school
-Senior Year
-Introducing a new school in season four and what that means
-Jughead and the Core Four

The fourth season of Riverdale premieres tonight on the CW at 8/7c. The series premiere of Nancy Drew follows at 9pm.