Riverdale Season 6: Kiernan Shipka Set To Return As Sabrina Spellman

Riverdale season 6 will feature the return of Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina Spellman. The Mad Men actress originated the role in the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which ran for two seasons split into four parts between 2018 and 2020. The series ended on New Year’s Eve in 2020, with an episode that seemed to imply that the character—who is a darker version of the Archie Comics character popularized on the Melissa Joan Hart sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch—had sacrificed herself and would remain in the Sweet Hereafter with her love Nick Scratch.

However, in a supernatural world full of mysticism and magic, anything can happen. Given that The CW’s Riverdale, from which Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was a loose spinoff, has become increasingly supernatural in its own right—including several of the main characters developing their own superpowers—that rule also applies to the world around Archie and his friends. On December 7, 2021, Sabrina made a surprise reappearance on Riverdale season 6 episode 4, “The Witching Hour(s),” providing a boost for the midseason finale before the series went on hiatus, returning on March 20, 2022.

Per TVLine, Sabrina Spellman is set to return for yet another episode of Riverdale season 6. This news was officially confirmed at the Riverdale panel at Paleyfest in Hollywood yesterday. Also confirmed at that panel was the fact that this season’s musical episode would feature songs from American Psycho: The Musical, which was co-written by Duncan Sheik and Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

Although it is unknown in what episode and in what capacity Sabrina will make her return to Riverdale, her services are needed more than ever. As season 6 has progressed, Cheryl Blossom has been trapped in a dreamscape as the evil Abigail possesses her body, a situation that Sabrina may be able to help rectify. However, her involvement could also be part of a plotline that hasn’t even cropped up just yet, as Riverdale is well known for its increasingly bizarre plot twists.

Given the structure of the announcement, it seems like Riverdale won’t be having Shipka return in the same episode as the American Psycho musical special. However, if she was to be part of that episode, the actress would be able to participate with ease. She has already proven her musical ability in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which featured a surprise performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Masquerade” from The Phantom of the Opera at one key moment late in season 1, which paved the way for further musical performances down the road.

Source: TVLine

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