TV Riverdale penultimate episode reveals we're staying in the 1950s No one is going back to the future. By Samantha Highfill Samantha Highfill Samantha is a writer based in Los Angeles. Television is her one true love, and she tweets about it. A lot. EW's editorial guidelines Published on August 16, 2023 10:00PM EDT Warning: This post contains spoilers from the penultimate episode of Riverdale, "The Golden Age of Television." Angel Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) is back... and she has news from the future. After Riverdale fans have spent much of the final season wondering when the teens would make their way back to 2023, Angel Tabitha appeared in the penultimate episode of the series to reveal that they won't. The good news is that Tabitha found a way to fix the timelines, but the bad (or good?) news is that she fixed them by weaving together every timeline into one. Specifically, she weaved them all into the 1950s timeline that everyone is currently living in. Erinn Westbrook and Cole Sprouse on 'Riverdale'. Colin Bentley/The CW Translation: This series is ending with Veronica's (Camila Mendes) bangs and with Archie (KJ Apa) saying things like "golly." But Tabitha did offer each character the chance to remember their (future) pasts. Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) chose to remember it all, whereas the rest of the gang asked to only remember the good stuff — so no serial killers (and no bears). And with those memories, they continue their lives in the '50s... at least for one more episode. All we know about the series finale at this point is that it will feature an 86-year-old Betty as she remembers her senior year of high school. So in some ways, the show will go back to present day. Only this time, Betty will be very old. The Riverdale series finale airs Wednesday, August 23, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the CW. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Related content: Here's your first look at the Riverdale series finale Lili Reinhart on Riverdale dream sequence: 'I really have had to kiss everyone this season' Riverdale star Lili Reinhart says Betty gets 'hornier and hornier' this season