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How to Watch ‘Riverdale’ Season 7 Online for Free

The CW

Hit teen supernatural drama “Riverdale” is back for its seventh and final season, premiering on Wednesday, March 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.

If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of the show on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which both included CW in most markets and come with a free trial.

Those are the two best live stream options if you’re cutting cable, but there are also some other alternatives, so here’s a full guide on the different ways to watch “Riverdale” streaming live online:

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FuboTV

You can watch a live stream of the CW (live in most markets) and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a seven-day free trial:

FuboTV Free Trial

Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch “Riverdale” live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.


DirecTV Stream

DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” CW (live in most markets) is included in every one, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:

DirecTV Stream Free Trial

Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch “Riverdale” live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.


Hulu With Live TV

You can watch a live stream of the CW (live in select markets) and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which also includes access to both ESPN+ and Disney+ at no added cost:

Get Hulu With Live TV

Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch “Riverdale” live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, Nintendo Switch, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.


‘Riverdale’ Season 7 Preview

When we last saw the teens of “Riverdale,” they defeated Percival (Chris O’Shea), but had to come together and combine their superpowers to stop Bailey’s comet from destroying their town. In doing so, the comet took everyone on a massive time jump — but not in the traditional TV sense. The show didn’t jump ahead in time, it jumped backward. All the way back to 1955, plopping everyone back in high school in the 1950s.

In an interview with “Entertainment Weekly” following the season six finale, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said that the idea came about because so many people on the show were nostalgic for the seasons where they were in high school. Notably, “Riverdale” did a time jump at the end of season four so season five picked up seven years in the future when everyone is now out of college.

Aguirra-Sacasa said they felt like they’d already done the high school until they realized they could do it with a twist.

“[I]n thinking about nostalgia and then coming off of our big supernatural, mythic, Steven King-like season, we knew we needed to make our last season really, really special. One thing everyone can agree on is that whenever we have our characters in their iconic comic book outfits from the 1950s, people are delighted. Cole [Sprouse] was so happy when he didn’t have to wear the beanie again but he said to me, ‘But, man, I’ll wear that crown till the day I die.’ So we thought: What if we go back to high school, but instead of high school in the present, we make it high school in the 1950s, which is how a lot of people think of the Archie characters,” said the showrunner.

He added that it is going to feel like a “completely new show,” saying, “Right, it felt like a great way to reset, to introduce new dynamics and new themes and of course, as always, be in dialogue with what has come before. We get to see what we’re going to recreate, what we’re going to reinvent. That’s the exciting thing about this is it’s as close to a blank canvas as you can get without it being a completely new show.”

When the show returns, the logline for the season teases, “To save the future, they must survive the past,” and the season description reads:

Picking up where last season ended, Jughead Jones (Sprouse) finds himself trapped in the 1950s. He has no idea how he got there, nor how to get back to the present. His friends are no help, as they are living seemingly authentic lives, similar to their classic Archie Comics counterparts, unaware that they’ve ever been anywhere but the 1950s.

Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is the classic all-American teen, coming of age, getting into trouble, and learning life lessons; Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is the girl next door, starting to question everything about her perfect life—including her controlling mother Alice (Madchen Amick); Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) is a Hollywood starlet who moved to Riverdale under mysterious circumstances; Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) is the Queen Bee with a withering wit and a secret longing; Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) is an activist fighting for the Black students of recently integrated Riverdale High; Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) is a “square” crooner wrestling with his sexual identity; Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton) is a basketball star from farm country; and Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner) is a greaser who’s destined to be an Elvis-type star.

It isn’t until Jughead is visited by Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook) — Riverdale’s Guardian Angel — that he learns the cosmic truth about their predicament. Will Jughead and the gang be able to return to the present? Or will our characters be trapped in the 1950’s forever? And, if so… is that such a bad thing?

The premiere episode is titled, “Don’t Worry, Darling” and its description reads, “After coming together to stop Bailey’s comet, the gang finds themselves transported back to a simpler time — Riverdale 1955; Archie attempts to impress the new girl Veronica; Toni, Tabitha and Betty take a stand against Principal Featherhead.”

Then on April 5 comes episode two, titled “Skip, Hop and Thump!”. Its description reads, “Riverdale High’s sock hop is around the corner and Archie has his sights set on taking Veronica to the dance; Betty is confused when Kevin appears uninterested in taking things to the next level with her; Jughead takes aim at Pep Comics.”

“Riverdale’s” seventh and final season premieres Wednesday, March 29 at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on The CW.

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