An average Riverdale episode is pretty out there compared to most shows on TV right now, so when KJ Apa teases “a shitshow” for the second half of the third season, we have no idea of what to expect.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that is separating the kids from their parents and separating the parents from each other,” Apa told HuffPost in a recent interview. Thanks to some stringent media training, Apa doesn’t give too much away, but he leaves us wondering about the fate of his character and the rest of the cast.
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Season three has been...a lot. Fans of the show have seen an entirely different (and single) side to Archie Andrews (Apa) after he is separated from his town, his girlfriend, and his tight-knit friend group when he was sent to juvenile detention for a murder he didn’t commit.
Gone are the days when all Archie had to worry about was how to balance his sensitive artistic side with his high school athletic career. Season 3 has seen a much grittier —and far more shirtless — Archie, and Apa says his character’s life won’t get simpler by coming home to Riverdale.
“When he comes back, there’s definitely a change in attitude...he’s dealing with high school issues that kind of compared to what he was dealing with previously, aren’t really that important or serious when put in context,” Apa said to HuffPost. Then again, when was life in Riverdale ever simple? At its most peaceful, there were still gang wars, serial killers, and Jingle Jangle to contend with. Now, Hiram Lodge controls the town and the deadly game of Gryphons and Gargoyles is all the rage.
If Apa had it his way, Archie would continue fighting now that he has escaped prison. “I think that would be a really cool storyline and something good for him to focus on that’s physical as well, because I really enjoy doing action on the show,” Apa said. “I think taking that prison fighting and somehow managing to bring that to Riverdale would be cool.”
Luckily, we don’t have to wait very long to find out Archie’s fate. Riverdale returns from a brief winter break on January 16, 2019.