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Betty, Veronica, and Jughead on 'Riverdale'

Here's How Many Episodes 'Riverdale' Season 4 Will Have

Dean Buscher/The CW

Now in its fourth season, Riverdale has kept audiences captivated with the most wild twists and turns for years, so it makes sense that fans want to know how much of the teen drama they have to look forward to each season. So, how many episodes will Riverdale Season 4 have? Fans can rest assured that there's a full slate of episodes ahead.

This TV season, the Archie comics TV universe is expanding beyond the confines of the town of Riverdale. Riverdale is getting a spinoff series called Katy Keene, which is also based on a comic book series many fans might remember from childhood. The new series will follow the adventures of Katy Keene (Lucy Hale) trying to make it in New York City. There will be a familiar face alongside her, too; Riverdale's Josie (Ashleigh Murray) will also be a main character on the show. Katy Keene will premiere midseason, sometime in early 2020. So, some fans were concerned Katy Keene would be taking Riverdale's time slot and shortening its season. However, fans can breathe a sigh of relief: Katy Keene will simply be joining Riverdale in The CW's lineup come 2020, so, according to Decider, Riverdale Season 4 will have its typical total of 22 episodes.

It's a good thing Riverdale Season 4 has all those episodes, because there's a whole lot of plot that the show needs to cover. According to creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the show is returning to its Season 1 roots, so there will be more grounded high school stories again, in addition to the series' more wild elements.

One thing that's had a huge influence on the creation of Season 4 is the death of actor Luke Perry, and thus the death of his character Fred, who was Archie's (KJ Apa) father. Aguirre-Sacasa explained that the loss of his father will always impact Archie in storylines moving forward. He said, "One of the things that's been interesting is, you know, when a tragedy like that happens, everyone grieves and then people move on at different points. But for the person who's at the core of it, they live with it every day. So we don't pretend it didn't happen. It's still very much permeating Archie's story."

Season 4 of Riverdale continues on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.