WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 5 of Riverdale, "Chapter Eighty-One: The Homecoming," which aired Wednesday on The CW.
After their graduation, Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead all went their separate ways, embarking on different paths that would take them on their respective careers: Archie joined the Army, Betty became an FBI agent, Veronica was a successful stock broker until she retired and Jughead became a professional writer. But now, seven years later, they all return to their home town -- only what they find is not what they expected. Now, Riverdale is a broken shadow of its former self, and it's Archie's plan to bring it back to greatness.
And in order to do that, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Archie all take on new jobs as teachers at their old school.
When Archie first returned to Riverdale in "Chapter Eighty: Purgatory," he was given a tour of a place he no longer recognized: buildings were boarded, homes were abandoned, the streets were no longer safe and Riverdale High was on the verge of shutting down. All of these changes were the result of mayor Hiram Lodge's development of a new neighborhood for the rich and powerful, SoDale. Archie initially called his friends Betty, Veronica and Jughead back to help plan a retirement party for Pop Tate -- but now, he's intent on saving their town, together.
In "Chapter Eighty-One: The Homecoming," Archie starts cleaning up Riverdale by clearing his parent's old house of Ghoulies. Once that is done, he turns his attention to Riverdale High. Luckily, Archie isn't alone in his quest: Alice Cooper and Toni Topaz also want to restore their town, and ensure that the school can be a place where all teenagers are welcome. Luckily, they devise a solution: thanks to Cheryl Blossom's massive donation, Riverdale High is transformed from a public school to a private establishment.
As a result, the board can now appoint any teacher they like. And Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead all rise up to the challenge. The four agree to put their current lives and careers on hold to help revive their town. As the school's four new teachers, the characters now have a reason to stay in Riverdale for the foreseeable future. We don't yet know what each of them will be teaching, but given their backgrounds, they have varied areas of expertise.
Before, they were the kids -- but now, they are the teachers. It's a development that makes a whole lot of sense, and it will be interesting to see how the four fare as teachers, all while they push back against Hiram Lodge and help rebuild Riverdale.
Riverdale stars K.J. Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge, Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle, Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz, Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper and Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate. New episodes of Season 5 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.