The Riverdale students are entering their senior year. Here are the classic tropes we want to see on the show.
In past seasons, Riverdale has tackled gangs, filicide, serial killers, organ harvesting, and countless other crazy things. However, now that everyone’s in their senior year, things are finally heating up.
The senior year of high school has set the stage for so many iconic movies and TV shows. It’s the perfect foundation for a coming of age story, with everyone leaving something behind to chase the unknown. Stress is high, emotions are all over the place, and tropes are bountiful.
Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has promised that we’ll be spending more time at school in this season of Riverdale, and with so many senior year tropes to be explored, we’re all for it. Here are 8 classic senior year storylines we hope we see in Riverdale season 4.
Prom
We’ve already seen the characters of Riverdale attend school dances, and even their junior prom, but these pale in comparison to the legendary senior prom. This is an event that high school students plan for from the first moment they walk through the doors.
If we’re being honest, senior prom very rarely lives up to the expectations that we’ve developed over years of watching fictional characters have these mythic nights, but that doesn’t mean that a Riverdale prom can’t!
We want to see epic prom invites, both gorgeous and gaudy outfits, a weird choreographed dance segment, and of course, a vicious competition for prom king and queen. Maybe Cheryl will even take someone under her wing to groom them as prom king or queen. And obviously, since it’s Riverdale, there has to be a little murder in the mix.
Valedictorian Speech
After everything they’ve been through, the Riverdale characters definitely need a great graduation ceremony to celebrate making it this far. If we’ve learned anything from pop culture, the best part of any graduation is the valedictorian speech, and we can’t wait to hear what Riverdale High’s valedictorian has to say to this crop of students.
We already know that Betty can deliver a pretty savvy speech, Black Hood inspiration aside, so we think she would be a perfect choice. That being said, Aguirre-Sacasa revealed at SDCC that Jughead will be going to a prep school in Riverdale season 4, so there’s no reason that Betty and Jughead couldn’t both be valedictorians! A joint Bughead speech montage would be the best case scenario.
Spring Break
We’ve already seen a snippet from the Riverdale season 4 spring break in the season 3 finale, and honestly, it doesn’t look that fun, unless you’re into fires to hide evidence and vows of secrecy.
Before things all go to hell, as we already know they will, we hope we get to see the core four, and the rest of the Riverdale characters live it up just a little bit. If only because it just might be somebody’s last chance to party. Where is Jughead?!
College Weekends
If they don’t get to party on spring break, we hope the Riverdale characters at least get to party over a college weekend, or two! Not only will a college weekend give us a chance to see our favorite characters interact with a new, older crowd, it will also give us an idea about where they’re headed in the future.
Some characters may thrive, while some might realize that they peaked in high school. Again, knowing Riverdale, they’ll probably find a clue to solve the latest murder on their college weekend too. Work hard, play hard, right?
Interschool Rivalry
Riverdale has always been heavily laden with rivalries, and we hope senior year is no exception. With Jughead heading off to a different school, the stage has already been set for epic rival football games, cheerleading competitions, and just general power struggles.
Some of the more intuitive Riverdale characters might start to realize that senior year could be their last chance to be on top, and we’re guessing any threat to that status won’t be taken kindly. We can’t wait to see how that plays out.
College Applications
Just like the college weekend, this will give us a good idea of where our favorite Riverdale characters could be headed in the future. It will also be interesting to see which characters really struggle with their essays, and which characters are confident about what they bring to the table.
College applications always lead to characters discovering things about themselves and the path that they’ve set themselves on. They can also lead to characters deciding that they need to make some big changes, leading to some shakeups in the show.
Yearbook Superlatives
Yearbook superlatives can a fun celebration of who characters are and what they’ve offered to the series and the characters around them. They can also be grounds for huge rivalries and fighting. Either way, we’re here for it.
Goodbyes
The end of high school is a big deal. It’s a huge chapter of your life coming to a close that results in many people going their separate ways. The stakes are high, and emotions are higher. We can’t wait to see some of the heartfelt goodbyes that come out of this!
Will there be some yearbook declarations of love? Will scores be settled? Will some characters decide to leave Riverdale behind? How will those that stay react to that? So many questions, so long to wait.