(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episodes 303 of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.”)
Welp, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” fans almost got the “Riverdale” crossover they’ve been hoping for since the Netflix series launched in October 2018, when Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) and her cousin Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) briefly left their home of Greendale to travel to the neighboring town of Riverdale in Episode 3 of Season 3, which launched Friday.
They made the journey in order to tap a maple tree owned by Cheryl Blossom’s (Madelaine Petsch) family to collect King Herod’s crown as part of Sabrina’s race with Caliban (Sam Corlett) to collect the Unholy Regalia.
But just because Sabrina physically crossed over into Riverdale, does not a “Sabrina”-“Riverdale” crossover episode make, since she didn’t interact with Archie (KJ Apa) or anyone else from The CW drama.
We know you’re disappointed, but Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is showrunner on both “Archieverse” series and the Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics, tells TheWrap he had his reasons — and still hasn’t given up on doing an actual crossover episode.
“I think what [that scene] speaks to is my deep desire to do a true crossover,” Aguirre-Sacasa told TheWrap. “I also love Easter eggs and I love sly references to the characters. So it’s funny, when we were trying to figure out where Herod’s crown could be hidden, it was like, what about Riverdale? Sure! And it could be in a maple tree. So I think it’s more a fun Easter egg and more a fun meta-reference.”
Aguirre-Sacasa also couldn’t help himself from slipping in Sabrina and Ambrose mentioning their deep fear of entering Riverdale — when they are currently dealing with Hell and the literal Devil.
“I love that,” he told us, laughing. “I love that Riverdale, everyone is terrified of Riverdale.”
“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 3 is streaming now on Netflix. Check back with TheWrap for more from our interview with Aguirre-Sacasa throughout the weekend — once you finish all eight episodes, of course.