‘Katy Keene’ Getting Canceled May Seriously Shake Up ’Riverdale’s Season 5 Plans
Sadly, Katy Keene's fashionable adventure in New York City has been cut short by The CW, but a piece of the spinoff's world is technically still alive thanks to Riverdale. Because Katy Keene was so connected to its sister series — only becoming more closely tied to it than ever at the show's end — many fans are left wondering how Katy Keene's cancelation will affect Riverdale Season 5. The spinoff's unexpected end actually has the potential to change some pretty major things the Riverdale writers may have had planned for next season.
On Thursday, July 2, The CW announced Katy Keene would not be picked up for a second season. The news came a little under two months after the show's Season 1 finale aired, ending with several cliffhangers that were clearly meant to set up another season. Although the show is still being shopped around at other networks (HBO Max could be a possibility), Katy Keene's prospects seem pretty dim after The CW pulled the plug. And although the Riverdale team has yet to confirm any big changes as a result of the cancelation, there are a ton of big changes that may happen in Riverdale Season 5 due to Katy Keene no longer being around. Let's break down the major questions fans have right now.
1. Could Josie return to Riverdale?
The biggest connection between Katy Keene and Riverdale is Josie McCoy. Josie was a main character on Riverdale for the first three seasons of the show, but left the series after Season 3 to star in Katy Keene. Because of all her connections to the main series, it would be pretty easy for Riverdale to bring Josie back in Season 5 now that Katy Keene has come to an end.
2. Could more Katy Keene characters come to Riverdale?
In it's sole season, Katy Keene brought in a bunch of Riverdale characters to form bonds with the New York City crew, and even though the show is finished now, Riverdale could still return the favor. Set photos from an episode that has not aired yet already revealed Archie has a fight scene with Katy's estranged boyfriend K.O. Kelley, but the crossovers could be more than just episodic cameos now that Katy Keene is finished. After all, Katy is BFFs with Veronica, and it stands to reason the two besties would reconnect after Veronica goes off to college in New York. The writers really do have a lot to work with if they decide they want to bring Katy Keene's Core Four into the fold on Riverdale.
3. Hiram Lodge probably won't disappear from Riverdale.
The most shocking twist in the Katy Keene finale was the sudden arrival of Hiram Lodge. Riverdale's mob boss stated he would be returning to his roots in Washington Heights to attempt to buy the building Jorge's family lived in. The cliffhanger strongly suggested Hiram would likely play a smaller role in Riverdale Season 5 and instead become a main player in Season 2 of Katy Keene, but now that Season 2 doesn't appear to be happening, Hiram can remain in Riverdale to keep torturing his daughter and her friends.
4. The time jump won't lead to more crossovers anymore.
Fans already know Season 5 of Riverdale is going to be a drastically different one for the show, because showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa confirmed it would employ a time jump. Although Aguirre-Sacasa didn't officially state how big the time jump would be, the whole fandom is pretty confident in assuming the show will skip ahead five years so it won't have to split up the Core Four as they set off for different colleges. That jump also made sense because Katy Keene was set five years in the future in relation to Riverdale Season 4, so Season 5 was poised to sync up the timelines of the two shows and create an environment for even more crossovers. Of course, now those crossovers with Katy Keene are likely a wash since the show has ended.
Riverdale Season 5 is slated to premiere on The CW in January 2021, although that date could change due to production delays in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
