We live for crossovers! Seriously, who hasn’t felt a thrill of excitement when one beloved show mingles with another and give us what feels like a fan fiction wet dream? Whether it’s Supernatural and Scooby-Doo, Supergirl and the Flash, or the classic Flintstones and Jetsons, it usually leads to some ultra-meta hijinks. Much-anticipated crossovers occurred in part 3 in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when she journeyed into Riverdale territory. Crossovers between the two shows was always on the books since CAOS is a part of the Archie Comics collections and a sister show to Riverdale.
*SPOILER WARNING*
The setting of CAOS’s Greendale and the town of Riverdale are separated from one another by the Sweetwater River. The two shows have made the occasional sly allusion to the other. But it wasn’t until early 2020 that the characters finally crossed the river. We see Sabrina and Ambrose journey to the other side to retrieve the Crown of Herod to add their Unholy Regalia. And of course, that was brought to Riverdale by Benjamin Blossom, aka Cheryl’s ancestor. A few easter eggs pop up along the way, including a sign bearing graffiti “JJ Wuz Here” – JJ referring to Jughead Jones. And Ambrose pulling the crown out of a maple tree, which was a nod to the Blossom family’s maple syrup empire.
There are also many actors crossing over from one show to the next. In CAOs, Prudence disguises herself with the help of an illusion called a “glamour” and took the form of Mrs. Dubois, portrayed by the same actress who plays Cheryl’s mom Penelope in Riverdale. The not-so-nice ice cream tuck driver Jimmy Platt, who made an appearance in Sabrina’s Hell trials, was played by Matty Finochio. He also played the Quiz Show Championship host in Riverdale. A CAOS character shows up in a Riverdale scene when Betty investigates a malicious football rivalry between Riverdale High and Stonewall. She gets an inside scoop about football behind the scenes from Baxter High player and reformed bully Billy.
CAOS part 4 also had a few easter eggs concerning Riverdale. We loved Sabrina’s throwback costume that had dressed as her vintage self from the Archie Comics Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. However, the most notable reference to Riverdale shows up in episode 3, The Weird. The latest Eldritch Terror searches for a human host to inhabit. And the human Air BnB it selects is our heroine Sabrina Spellman.
This spells disaster for Sabrina’s new love interest Lucas Hunt portrayed by Ben Ahlers. He manages to snag a date with the very in-demand witch. Their date is cut short when Lucas flees in terror as Sabrina’s tongue turns into something distinctly tentacle-esque. The boy is so traumatized that he packs up and leaves town for Riverdale High. That might not be a better time than Greendale in hindsight. Now we’ll have to wait and see if Lucas will appear on the show and whether he’ll be any less terrified.
Part 4 of CAOS also had some Riverdale actors crossover before they were brutally murdered (on the show, that is). Doralynn Mui, Sarah Desjardins, and Sean Depner, who played Stonewall Prep students, also showed up as trio band The Stoned Philosophers for the battle of the bands episode. Another band, Satanic Panic (the perpetrators who murdered The Stoned Philosopher), also had a Riverdale actor, Conor Stinson O’Gorman. The COAS character he portrayed name was Filth. But his Riverdale character was a boy who made an appearance at the Shadow Lake and in Archie’s hallucination.
Now that CAOS has ended, we’re going to miss the little references between the shows. Like the fact Riverdale has condoms in their school bathrooms. And Hilda was partial to a Pop’s burger and milkshake. We hope Riverdale will give us a little glimpse now and then of some Greendale news. And who knows? Maybe a hellish monster will swim across the river to possess an unsuspecting character in Riverdale someday.
