What does Riverdale season 5 have in store for Jughead Jones?
Riverdale season 5 is only weeks away. The veteran TV show has been off our screens since May but it will officially return to The CW on Wednesday, January 20.
Riverdale season 4 was certainly a memorable year for the whole gang, but it was Jughead Jones who arguably had the most eventful one as he overcame vile new students at Stonewall Prep, unearthed a decades-old mystery and found himself at the center of another.
But what lies ahead for the town’s student-turned-sleuth-turned-author? Yes, more dark days undoubtedly await the town of Riverdale but can Jughead (or Betty, Archie, Veronica and the rest of the gang) weather that storm? All intriguing questions that we will explore in our character previews leading up the show’s return.
With that, let’s kick things off with Jughead himself and see what this year has planned for him.
Where we left off with Jughead in season 4
As we briefly touched upon above, the fourth season of Riverdale was rather unnerving for Jughead as his new beginning at Stonewall Prep saw him come across corruption in both the faculty and his classmates and wind up at the center of a whodunit after he was seemingly killed.
Thankfully, Jughead was fine and the whole thing (well, most of it) was a rouse to solve the Stonewall mystery – something he and his friends managed to do in the end. That didn’t, however, solve the videotape mystery looming over Riverdale nor address Betty’s straying (which he remains completely unaware of).
What should happen
Though many of season 4’s arcs weren’t able to be wrapped up because of the suspension of production, Jughead’s Stonewall Prep narrative did seemingly come to an end. While it did fall a little short of expectations because of the fact that it was reduced to little more than table setting for the inexplicable-but-short-lived Betty/Archie plot thread, it had a relatively solid conclusion when Jughead served up his best Jessica Fletcher impression and solved the crimes.
With the remaining few episodes of season 4 still due to be tackled, it’s inevitable that Jughead will find himself at the heart of the videotape mystery as he and Betty will undoubtedly play a major role in solving it – and figuring out if their principal Mr. Honey is really dead.
Now, that leaves the Archie and Betty nonsense which has yet to be tackled. As problematic, out-of-character and completely unbelievable as the plot-driven contrivance was, it can – if nothing else – serve a purpose to season 5. We know that a time-jump is on the horizon and will indeed take place within the first few episodes. That time jump will involve our gang going their separate ways before reuniting for a new mystery. And, as much as this writer hates to even toy with the idea, breaking Betty and Jughead up ahead of the time-jump could work.
Before you get understandably angry at such a dreadful thought, think of it this way: Jughead will feel incredibly betrayed by Betty after what she’s done – and rightly so. But this would allow their separation to take place off-screen, and thus allow them to spend their time on-screen finding their way back to each other as mature adults.
Again, it’s not ideal but it at least gives purpose to last season’s most contrived storyline, allowing Betty to recognize her mistake, suffer the consequences and eventually atone for them. It would also reaffirm that, no matter what happens, Bughead is stronger than anything.
As for the rest? Well, that’s easy: Jughead needs to play a lead role in solving the next mystery that the show poses the gang with – and the fact that he’d be doing so as a mature, older and wiser Jughead would make for an intriguing experience.
What will happen
Predicting what’s going to happen on any show isn’t the easiest of tasks, but the fact that we’re talking about Riverdale here makes it that much harder. The show has a reputation for offering up the most sensationalized stories on television today, meaning that even the smallest of plot threads could evolve into something ridiculously boisterous and in-your-face.
The layout of Jug’s arc in Riverdale season 5 will go something similar to how we discussed in the previous slide. He will, at some point, find out about Betty kissing Archie and contemplating the future of their relationship. The fact that she decided not to go down the full-blown affair route may leave him in a more forgiving mood, but the fact that she didn’t tell him about it and that she considered straying with Archie – a young Jughead’s worst nightmare – could also have explosive consequences. This will no doubt have an impact on his friendship with Archie too, perhaps rendering it irreparable ahead of the time-jump as well.
That being said, Riverdale has a problem with aftermath as a lot of the earth-shattering events either wrap up without much lasting effect on the characters or they play out in a flat, going-through-the-motions kind of manner. So don’t be surprised if all this build-up is for nothing.
Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not, because it would retcon the Archie/Betty whatever-that-was out-of-existence, allowing the show to focus on less-forced storylines, but it does feel like it needs to be addressed before we can fully move on.
All in all, an older, broodier and angrier Jughead – perhaps even a published author Jughead – will play a major role in helping his friends solve whatever it is they find themselves up against this time and he and Betty may well find their way back to each other in the process.
Regardless of what happens, Bughead will remain endgame in Riverdale season 5.
Are you looking forward to Riverdale season 5? What do you think Jughead will get up to? Let us know in the comments below!