Here's How Long 'Riverdale' Fans Have To Wait For Season 4 To Come Back

Riverdale Season 4 is taking a few weeks off over the holiday season, leaving fans in major suspense after the mid-season finale's major cliffhanger aired Dec. 12. Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from Riverdale Season 4, Episode 9, "Tangerine." The final episode of the decade appeared to confirm Jughead's death, but left viewers wondering exactly why. Luckily, audiences won't have to wait too long to watch the rest of Season 4 drama unfold, because Riverdale will return to The CW on January 22, 2020.

The mid-season finale saw the Core Four and their classmates navigate some major changes, but the most shocking moments happened in the episode's last moments, when a flash-forward made it seem like Betty might be the person to kill Jughead over spring break. Audiences have seen glimpses of this fateful night since The Season 3 finale, but the mid-season finale's finale scene likely crushed Bughead stans everywhere.

Although the Dec. 12 episode seemed to provide some answers, audiences are still hoping the rest of Season 4 will provide the full story behind that fateful spring break night. There are reasons to believe Jughead isn't actually dead in those time-jump scenes, so perhaps a full explanation of that night will provide more optimistic look at Jughead's fate, and Betty's role in it.

Riverdale will have to address even more questions when it returns in January, because the drama doesn't stop with Jughead. Betty's fate, too, was left in the air; audiences were left wondering if Dark Betty was here to stay after a hypnosis storyline brought this shadowy character back. Betty seemed to get rid of this part of herself during the episode, but after she smashed a mirror in the episode's final moments, things didn't seem so clear, especially when you add Jughead's apparently grim fate into the mix.

Meanwhile, Veronica has been dealing with major dad drama and Archie's got the whole tortured vigilante thing going on, so their experiences promise to be compelling side-stories once the season returns to The CW in the new year.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include the official mid-season premiere date of Riverdale Season 4.