When Will Riverdale Season 7 Be on Netflix?

Riverdale has transformed quite a bit over the past six years, but in its final season, the drama is going back to where it all started: the 1950s. Taking a page out of the classic Archie Comics, Riverdale Season 7 embraces jukebox culture as its characters navigate the ups and downs of life at the recently integrated Riverdale High. For once, things seem idyllic — there are no serial killers terrorizing the town or organ-harvesting cults to avoid — but this tranquil existence is nothing but a mirage. As Jughead (Cole Sprouse) quickly realizes, a comet sent the longtime friends back to the 1950s, and if they don't make haste, they'll be stuck in this alternate reality forever.

This may sound tame by Riverdale standards, but you can still expect the drama to pull out all the stops as it approaches its series finale. Season 7 will air on The CW throughout the spring and summer before making its debut on Netflix, at which point the show will be available to stream in its entirety. Whether you're a cord-cutter or you prefer to load up on Jingle Jangle and binge-watch the full season, here's everything you need to know about when Riverdale Season 7 is coming to Netflix.

When will Riverdale Season 7 be on Netflix?

Though this isn't the case for all CW titles (including those that have premiered since 2019), Riverdale falls under a longstanding deal that states certain shows will arrive on Netflix in the U.S. eight days after their season finales air on cable. In January, The CW announced that Riverdale will air its series finale on Wednesday, August 23. Given the eight-day rule, we can expect Riverdale Season 7 to land on Netflix on or around Thursday, August 31.

International Netflix subscribers will be able to watch new episodes of Riverdale Season 7 every Thursday, the day after they air on The CW, beginning March 30.

Where is Riverdale currently streaming?

The first six seasons of Riverdale are streaming on Netflix. New episodes of Season 7 will be available to stream next day on The CW website and app, but a cable log-in is required to watch.

What's Riverdale Season 7 about?

Riverdale Season 7 picks up in the immediate aftermath of last season's finale, in which the gang diverted Bailey's Comet (or so they thought), only to find themselves thrust back in time to 1955. With the exception of Jughead, who remembers everything that happened in modern-day Riverdale, the time travel has reset everyone's memories, and they're now living out the lives of their Archie Comics counterparts. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is an all-American hot rodder; Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is the girl next door who begins to question her mother's (Madchen Amick) strict rules; and Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) is the daughter of Hollywood royalty who recently moved to Riverdale under mysterious circumstances.

However, Riverdale is under no delusion that 1950s America was a safe place for all. Beyond Jughead's quest to return the group to the present, Season 7 will tackle various social issues through the narrative arcs of Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan), an activist fighting for Riverdale High's Black student population, Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), the Queen Bee with a secret, and Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), a "square" wrestling with his sexual identity.

The final season will also offer an Elvis-adjacent storyline — Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner) is now a greaser hoping to see his name in lights — so one last musical episode seems all but certain.

How many episodes are in Riverdale Season 7?

Riverdale's seventh and final season will consist of 20 episodes. This episode count is on par with previous seasons, which have run between 19 and 22 episodes.

When do new episodes of Riverdale come out?

New episodes of Riverdale air Wednesdays at 9:00 PM ET/PT on The CW.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.