The CW’s Riverdale wrapped up its freshman season last night with a entertaining, frustrating and revealing finale that exposed new secrets, set characters on new paths, and ended with a shocking cliffhanger.
With all of the events from last night’s episode, what can we expect from season two?
Does Fred Andrews die?
The episode’s surprise cliffhanger saw an intruder at Pop’s Diner shoot Fred Andrews, and the episode end with Jughead narrating that nothing in Riverdale is random, so the opening mystery next season will be about who shot Fred. As to the question of whether he dies, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa tells Entertainment Weekly that it’s something we’ll find out in the opening episode of season two, but he also told MTV that the moment will be Archie’s Batman origin story, “or when Peter Parker learns about his uncle Ben’s death at the hands of the burglar.”
That suggests that Fred probably will die, and that Archie may finally become a more interesting character in his own story. Aguirre-Sacasa also said that he’d do everything in his power to bring back Molly Ringwald as Archie’s mom next season, which may be necessary if Fred Andrews is no longer around.
Who Shot Fred Andrews?
As for who shot Fred Andrews? Hiram Lodge is at the top of the list of suspects. Fred slept with Hiram’s wife and Fred refused to back out of a deal with the Lodges that the Lodges tried to extricate him from. The fact that Hiram Lodge is the lead suspect, however, almost certainly means that he didn’t kill Fred. It could be the Serpents, too, although my guess is that Aguirre-Sacasa hasn’t figured it out yet. “I think what we’re going to discover is it might have been a random robbery, and there are a lot of possible suspects for who shot Fred Andrews,” he told MTV.
Will we meet Betty’s secret brother?
We also learn that Alice Cooper has a secret of her own. As a teenager, when her husband asked her to get an abortion, she declined, had a baby, and gave it up for adoption, which means that Betty has a brother who is in his mid-20s. Will we meet him next season? Aguirre-Sacasa, referring to Chekhov, says that he wouldn’t introduce the idea of a character without producing the character, and that it might be Chic Cooper from the comic books.
Has Jughead joined the South Side Serpents?
Because Jughead’s father refused to rat on the South Side Serpents, Jughead is forced to transfer to a new school and live with a foster family. However, the South Side Serpents agree to have his back and give him a Serpents jacket, which Jughead enthusiastically puts on, while Betty looks on sheepishly. She may learn to love South Side Serpent Jughead Jones next season, as she embraces her own dark side, according to Aguirre-Sacasa. “Without saying too much, the idea of Jughead joining the Serpents is very provocative. Even more of a Riverdale subversion would be the perfect girl-next-door joining the Serpents, so that’s something we’re going to play with as well!”
What will happen to Cheryl Blossom?
In the finale, Cheryl attempted suicide but was rescued by Archie. However, in the end, she decides to set the Blossom mansion on faire. Sneakily, this may be next year’s most interesting storyline, because apparently the Blossom mansion is only half burned down. “It’s just Penelope and Cheryl living in that half-burned mansion which is a little like Crimson Peak. It’s going to be a very dark, twisted version of Grey Gardens or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” according to Aguirre-Sacasa.
