Will Riverdale season 6 focus on Cheryl Blossom and the maple groves?

The CW’s wonky schedule, due to COVID-related production delays, has given us an unexpected gift, Netflix Lifers.

While Riverdale is still airing its fifth season on the network, we can now start speculating over the sixth season’s plot. How? Showrunner Robert Aguirre-Sacasa has announced Riverdale season 6 has officially started filming, and he dropped the key art for the season, too!

RAS took to Instagram to break the news, leaving the following caption on his post:

"Forces are gathering for the ultimate battle between Good and Evil as the cameras begin to roll on #Riverdale Season Six. But who will stand on which side? And who will live, and who will die? Everything has been a prelude to this. 🔥🌪🍔⌛️☠️💍👠👨🏼‍🤝‍👨🏽🎰🎢🚧🚑🎭🥩👭🏽👼🏽🦸🏻‍♂️💄💋💰💎⚰️"

I’m sure fans of the show will be deciphering that long string of emojis for the next two and a half months until season 6 premieres Tuesday, November 16. But, going solely off the key art, I have my own theory of what to expect and it all centers on the Cherry Bombshell herself, Cheryl Blossom.

Will Cheryl Blossom be the center of Riverdale season 6’s plot?

Spoilers ahead of Riverdale season 5

The Blossom maple groves have been a central plot in Riverdale for the entirety of its run thus far. It’s latest significance has been a battle between the Blossoms and Hiram Lodge.

The town’s notorious Big Bad has tried to buy the property from the family to no avail, he even had Reggie attempt to burn the groves down but that, too, was fruitless. The Blossom managed to save the maples by praying which introduced their current plot as religious figures and leaders of a newly minted church.

There’s a twisted element involving Jason Blossom as the deity at the center of their faith that’s got eyebrows raising about this family once again, but they are currently a part of the faithful and anointed in this deceased teen’s light.

Long story short, the battle between Good and Evil RAS points to could be centered on the palladium that Hiram has been working decades to uncover.

Season 5 treated viewers to the gangster’s origin story in “Chapter Eighty-Eight: Citizen Lodge” which told of his father’s quest for the metal, and Hiram’s compulsion to finish the work he started. With family legacies on the line, this fight is only set to get worse as the fifth season progresses and it could push us into the next leg of Riverdale‘s journey.

As this show has proven time and again, there are no rules when it comes to the happenings in the town with pep. So, the Blossom maple groves could be a spot of supernatural activity in Riverdale. There also could be more to palladium than we know. And, in my heart of hearts, I’m hoping this leads to the mother of all Archieverse crossovers with Sabrina Spellman finally stepping foot in this universe.

Riverdale season 6 is set to be a 5-episode event. Fans, myself included, are expecting big things. If the worlds of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale collided in this next season, it would be an unholy union the likes of which the internet will be buzzing about for years to come.

Considering season 5 already has the Blossoms steeped in a religion that began by praying at a dark altar and summoned wind to divert a fire, it feels like we’re knocking at the door of a CAOS crossover. For now, all we can do is speculate, but it’s looking pretty likely that whatever Riverdale season 6 is about, Cheryl Blossom will be at the center of it.

New episodes of Riverdale season 5 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW. We’ll keep you posted on when the fifth season will make its debut on Netflix US. Stay tuned to Netflix Life.