'Riverdale' Showrunner Says Next Week's Episode Is a 'Twist' on Fan Favorite From Season 2

(Warning: This post contains spoilers from “Manhunter,” Wednesday’s episode of “Riverdale” Season 3.)

Welp, “Riverdale” just shook up all its key players and threw them out to different corners of the teen drama’s game board. (Too soon for a Gryphons & Gargoyles reference? Never.)

Wednesday’s installment in The CW’s dark take on Archie Comics ended with Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and Archie (KJ Apa), Veronica (Camila Mendes), and Betty (Lili Reinhart) in three very different places — both emotionally and geographically.

Also Read: 'Sabrina' Creator Says Kiernan Shipka Handpicked Mckenna Grace as Holiday Episode's Little Sabrina

A Gargoyle King-obsessed Jug and a still-wounded, but now exonerated, Archie are on the run. Veronica is heartbroken at home after Archie breaks up with her via phone, telling her even though she’s cleared his name, it’s not safe for anyone if he comes back because her dad still wants him dead.

And Alice has locked Betty up in the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, because she won’t stop poking at the parents’ involvement in the Gryphons & Gargoyles-related deaths mystery — which is where Betty sees that everyone in art class is working on portraits of the Gargoyle King. Great.

“Riverdale” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told TheWrap these very separate paths are setting up his plan for next week’s very separated episode, “The Man in Black,” which he says after the fan-favorite Season 2 episode, “Tales from the Darkside.”

Also Read: Here's Camila Mendes' Idea for 'Riverdale's' Next Special Episode

“The next episode after the one this week is sort of a twist on a version of an episode we did last year that everyone really liked, which was three short stories rather than one woven-together story,” Aguirre-Sacsa told TheWrap Wednesday. “And it does find our characters on their individual journeys to stop the Gargoyle King. I really wanted to play with that [format] again.”

When asked if we’ll get to the identity of the Gargoyle King soon — seeing as we have just two episodes left until “Riverdale” goes on winter break — Roberto just said: “Yes.”

But “soon” is definitely a relative word, especially in a bonkers town.

“Riverdale” airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

15 Midseason TV Shows That Became Hits, From 'The Office' to 'Seinfeld' (Photos)

Not every show can make it into the fall primetime lineup -- and sometimes that's a good thing. Each year, networks have to find fresh programs to fill the midseason holes they face during long hiatuses or as cancellations creep up. And for shows like "Seinfeld," "The Office" and "Riverdale," being up against some easy competition during winter and summer lulls may have set them up to become fan favorites. Check out a sampling below to see some of the most beloved midseason replacements in TV history -- and some that are still airing.

Also Read: 47 Best TV Couples of All Time, From Lucy and Ricky to Jim and Pam (Photos)
NBC/ABC/NBC
1. "Seinfeld" -- Premiered July 5, 1989 on NBC One of the most famous sitcoms of all time debuted in the dead of summer, but that didn't stop the self-proclaimed "show about nothing" from becoming something.

NBC
2. "Happy Days" -- Premiered Jan. 15, 1974 on ABC Maybe a winter launch was what made the Fonz so cool in the first place.

ABC
3. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- Premiered March 10, 1997 on The WB Viewers were introduced to Sunnydale High School's new vampire slayer well after the school year was already underway, but the shortened first season was enough of a hit for it to return for the fall semester.

20th Century Fox
4. "Grey's Anatomy" -- Premiered March 27, 2005 on ABC Shonda Rhimes began teaching us about medicine and love with the interns at Grey Sloan Memorial in the early spring of 2005, and hasn't stopped for 17 seasons and counting.

ABC
5. "Scandal" -- Premiered April 5, 2012 on ABC Rhimes struck midseason gold again when she brought viewers Olivia Pope and associates via another spring TGIT premiere.

ABC
6. "Married... with Children" -- Premiered April 5, 1987 on Fox The Bundys began delighting viewers with their trademark brand of crass humor with a truncated first season in the late 1980s and kept going for 10 more.

Fox
7. "Malcolm in the Middle" -- Premiered Jan. 9, 2000 on Fox Life may be unfair, but the viewership this Frankie Muniz-led comedy saw for its winter debut on Fox was more than generous.
Fox
8. "The Simpsons" -- Dec. 17, 1989 on Fox The Matt Groening-created cartoon premiered just before Christmas and has since become the longest-running scripted primetime TV series in the U.S.

Fox
9. "The Office" -- Premiered March 24, 2005 on NBC Though the first six episodes of "The Office" may not be as universally-beloved as the rest of its nine-season run, we'll take a slow spring start over no Dunder Mifflin at all any day.
NBC
10. "Dawson's Creek" -- Premiered Jan. 20, 1998 on The WB The now-defunct network didn't wait for the end of winter before airing what would become one of the most famous primetime teen soap of all time.
The WB/Getty
11. "Three's Company" -- Premiered March 15, 1977 ABC came knocking on these neighbors' door for a program to fill a spring hole in the late '70s and found a hit.
ABC
12. "3rd Rock From the Sun" -- Premiered Jan. 9, 1996 on NBC This cult classic about a group of aliens masquerading as a family of humans began airing in the winter and found a loyal following of earthlings.

NBC
13. "All in the Family" -- Premiered Jan. 12, 1971 on CBS Archie and Edith Bunker's bickering began just after the New Year in 1971 and was so popular with viewers it spawned three successful spinoffs: "Maude," "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times."

CBS
14. "Dallas" -- Premiered April 2, 1978 Another CBS classic, nighttime drama "Dallas" took off in the midseason.
CBS
15. "Riverdale" -- Premiered Jan. 26, 2017 on The CW The CW got into the Archie universe with its chilling take on the classic comics just as programs were coming back from cooling their heels on hiatus.

The CW

1 of 16

They may not have had the best premiere dates, but they took off anyway

Not every show can make it into the fall primetime lineup -- and sometimes that's a good thing. Each year, networks have to find fresh programs to fill the midseason holes they face during long hiatuses or as cancellations creep up. And for shows like "Seinfeld," "The Office" and "Riverdale," being up against some easy competition during winter and summer lulls may have set them up to become fan favorites. Check out a sampling below to see some of the most beloved midseason replacements in TV history -- and some that are still airing.

Also Read: 47 Best TV Couples of All Time, From Lucy and Ricky to Jim and Pam (Photos)

View In Gallery

15 Midseason TV Shows That Became Hits, From 'The Office' to 'Seinfeld' (Photos)

7DAYFREETRIAL

7
DAY
FREE
TRIAL