Warning: Spoilers for last night’s season finale of Riverdale.
Have you been keeping up with Riverdale? The teen-drama/gothic maple syrup horror aired its season finale last night, and while we’ve resolved the inciting incident of Jason Blossom’s death, we know that Jughead’s upcoming true crime novel is far from being finished.
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the wild ride that was the season finale, and how it sets up conflicts for season two.
The biggest cliffhanger is the shooting of Fred Andrews, which Jughead tells us was somehow planned. Aguirre-Sacasa calls this a kind of origin-story moment for the young Archie who’s been mostly flat and static as a character the first season, to the point of incredible dullness.  “It’s like the moment when Bruce Wayne sees his parents gunned down in Crime Alley or when Peter Parker learns that that his Uncle Ben was murdered by a burglar,” he says. “It absolutely changes Archie and sends him on his season-long journey, which — without giving too much away — starts in a really dark place: revenge.”
It’s about time that Archie’s gotten some real storylines besides stage fright, but we hope it doesn’t come as a result of losing one of the few good parents in Riverdale. Fred, it seems, will be the “Jason” of season two. Don’t worry if you think Arhcie is going to go full gritty reboot though, Aguirre-Sacasa assures us, “Then he starts to turn back towards the light, which is honestly being a true hero.”
Another big plot point is how Jughead and Betty’s relationship will change with the outcast hat-boy heading to a new school and joining the Southside Serpents. “There’s a chance Jughead will be trying to live a double life, one with Betty and one with the Serpents,” says the showrunner. The Southside Serpents definitely became more sympathetic figures in the latter half of the season, and as we know from Joaquin they’re not all bad. Aguirre-Sacasa implies Jughead will find his people there, which eventually will “play into that bigger, more contentious divide happening” between Southside and the rest of the town he describes as a “civil war.” Well, with Betty’s mom being from the Southside, things will definitely be interesting. Speaking of Southside parents, hopefully FP won’t just be sitting in a cell during the war.
And how can we forget our favorite red-haired drama queen Cheryl? “Cheryl is baptized in ice and purified in fire,” explains Aguirre-Sacasa. We’re going to see Cheryl and her mom figure out a new power dynamic as their family has lost both their patriarch and golden-boy. More Cheryl is always good. We’re also anticipating the arrival of Hiram Lodge, which might complicate the relationship between Veronica and Archie. Naturally.
What did you think about how the season finale set things up? What do you want to see in season 2? And where is Sabrina?
(Image: CW)
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