WMG / Riverdale

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Pre-premiere theories

Ethel is a relative of Barb from Stranger Things

Shannon Purser, who played Barb, has been cast as Ethel and has appeared in a few episodes.

There'll be some ambiguously supernatural elements, at least questionable at first

Sabrina Spellman was mentioned to be appearing at the end of the initial season, though (and YMMV on this) I get the impression that to some extent, this might be partially responsible for how this version of Archie turned out to be dark and dramatic.

• Nothing supernatural in Season 1. The closest we get is Cheryl seeing images of Jason, which is during a dream and her suicide attempt.
• In season two however, in Chapter Twenty has Archie and Jughead visit Greendale. Whilst their Archie witnesses a bloodstained and possibly undead deer walk across his path, the two of them transport covered in chains crate marked with H. P. Lovecraft and mentions a polar expiditon in the 1920's, and Jughead takes a ride with a creepy man who warns him of Eternal Recurrence in relation to the Black Hood Attacks and the Riverdale Reaper attacks decades earlier. So yeah its now confirmed.
• Confirmed with the season 3 plot.

Riverdale is set in the same universe as Gossip Girl.

Because why not?

Archie and Jughead's falling out was due to acephobia

While Jughead hasn't been confirmed asexual in the show, Cole Sprouse has brought up the comic storyline several times in the interviews. The cast has also mentioned drawing some influence from the 2015 Archie Comics series, and the Jughead series had a brief moment where Archie did insult Jughead for being asexual ("Look, I'm not going apologize for being a normal guy, I—"). The show will have had something like this happen before the pilot, except in this case instead of being apologized for shortly after it caused their friendship to break entirely.

• This doesn't appear to be the case if one takes into consideration a recent (as of this posting) trailer on the Facebook page. It appears that the falling out is caused by Archie keeping possibly valuable information about Jason from not only from the police but also from Jughead, who is actively trying to solve the case, to protect Miss Grundy (who seems to be using him.) Jughead is understandably pissed.
  • All this however doesn't mean such themes won't be explored later.
  • Jossed It from Jughead's Dad stealing from Archie's Dad's company
  • Double jossed, as it seems this version of Jughead isn't ace.

The Blossom siblings have a Surprise Incest relationship.

This may seem like a weird theory to some of you, but in Afterlife with Archie their relationship was heavily implied to be incestuous (and not consensual on Cheryl's part). Supporting this is them holding each others hands in the trailer.

• Jossed. Madelaine Petsch dispelled these rumours. The reason the love seemed so very (and, admittedly, unnaturally) deep was because Jason was the first and only person who ever genuinely cared about Cheryl. He was 'her mother, her father, her best friend, and her brother' all in one. "He was like her person."

If the above is true then it will be revealed that it was Cheryl that killed him.

Likely in self-defense if he tried to push it too far. ...Only for this event to then connect Riverdale to something/someone much darker, or to reveal something that's been hidden about Riverdale for a long time.

• Jossed. It wasn't Cheryl.

Archie is going to be completely self-absorbed in this continuity and the only thing he actually has going for him is his looks.

Part of his character development will be about him becoming less of an ass.

• Jossed. He screws up a lot, but cares about others.

The reason Archie will go to Jughead for help is... because he needs a drummer in his band.

That's it. He'll bribe Jughead with food and this will give them potential to fix their friendship.

• Jossed. The Archies aren't even formed before they reconcile.

Ethel will be a lesbian

It's been reported that Ethel will be romantically drawn to somebody other than Jughead. This other person could be a girl. The fact that Purser previously played Barb on Stranger Things, who has gained a significant queer following of her own, does support this somewhat.

• Seemingly Jossed. The other love interest turned out to be Ben Button.

Betty and Veronica will decide to get together instead if Archie jerks them around too much.

It's been confirmed the two will likely kiss during a party, probably for shits and giggles. Perhaps this will open up potential feeling between the two.

• Jossed, so far. Betty is dating Jughead and Veronica is dating Archie.

Dylan Sprouse will appear for an episode as Jughead's cousin.

In the comics Jughead has a cousin that looks just like him but is also a complete opposite in terms of personality. This would be great for a potentially more comedic episode and would be a good way of Making Use of the Twin.

• Seems unlikely since Cole doesn't want Dylan to appear on Riverdale since he's trying to be his own individual with his acting career while Dylan's mainly found other career outside of acting.

The reason Archie will be so indecisive over picking Betty or Veronica will be because he has lingering feelings towards Miss Grundy

It's been confirmed the two have had at least one sexual encounter. Perhaps Archie thinks Sex Equals Love or maybe she's leading him on.

Miss Grundy didn't have all the information

Playing something of a devil's advocate here but maybe Miss Grundy is new to the district and met Archie over summer. Therefor she initiated a relationship with him being unaware of how much younger he was than her, and definitely being unaware he'd be her student in the upcoming school year. Perhaps during the show she'll try to push Archie away out of fear that she'd lose her job, could be sent to jail and (maybe) out of disgust over what happened.

• Seems to be jossed with a recently (as of this writing) posted trailer on the shows Facebook page. Miss Grundy and Archie are shown on a picnic together, meaning she's likely actively engaging Archie in a relationship. Yuck!

The reason Jughead is so invested in the murder is because he and Jason were friends to some extent.

Jughead and Jason are both known as pranksters in the comics, which makes it believable that they could be adapted into being friends. Likewise Reggie, who's also a prankster, might have also been Jason's friend.

• Jossed. Jughead only seems to have known Jason in passing, and since we discover he has a history of being bullied, predominantly by the football team, it seems unlikely that he was friends with any of the players other than Archie.

Jughead will go to the school Halloween dance/festival as Zombie in a homage to Afterlife with Archie

It's been confirmed that there's going to be a Halloween episode and that there'll be references to the Archie-Horror line as well as other pop-culture things. During the episode Jughead will go around acting like a real zombie to scare the begeezus out of everyone with how in character he is, but won't be an actual zombie and the show will remain a murder mystery.

• Jossed. He spent the entire Halloween episode locked in a box at Stonewall Prep.

Someone will refer to Jason's death...

As a weird mystery.

At some point in the series, Cheryl will sleep with Dilton.

As a Mythology Gag to when the characters dated.

• Jossed Cheryl is with Toni and Dilton died in the season three premiere.

Even though what Miss Grundy is doing is wrong and disgusting on a multitude of levels the show is going to portray her as sympathetic.

Why? Double standards of course! Let's see, a teacher who is approximately between 1 & 1/2 to 2 decades older than her student (who we assume is between the ages of 15-18) engages in a sexual romance with said student. Not only is there uneven power play at work, but the age discrepancy is quite large and full of gross implications. If this was a male teacher with a female student you just know the character would be (rightfully) portrayed as a sick pervert and the student as a naive youth who was fooled. However, since the genders are reversed Miss Grundy will be portrayed sympathetically and the writers will be trying to make us feel bad for her even though what she is doing (engaging a sexual romance with a student and convincing him not to go to police with valuable information about another student's murder) is so, so very wrong. Meanwhile we'll all be doing our best not to vomit over the whole thing.

• Actually seems to be somewhat Jossed as of episode two. Jughead, at the very least, has called it out as being wrong.
• Definitely seems Jossed as of episode 3 and 4, with most characters trying to get through to Archie that he is being groomed and manipulated, along with one character straight up calling Grundy a child predator.

Jughead will do something to expose Miss Grundy for what she's been doing with Archie.

Perhaps taking pictures of her and Archie making out or something similar, and then sending it to the news/the principle or uploading it to the internet so that she'll at least get fired and at most get sent to jail for having sex with a student. Anything to get her out of the way so that Archie doesn't have a reason to not tell anyone about what he knows about Jason's death.

• Jossed. He does nothing

Alternatively to the above...

Archie will get fed up with being forced to keep what he knows a secret and confide in Jughead, who Archie may or may not know is trying to solve the case. This will be what leads Jughead to having a vendetta against Miss Grundy; In his eyes, she's just as much a criminal as the person who killed Jason.

• Jossed. Jughead finds out by himself

In the case double standards aren't at play with Miss Grundy's storyline...

She'll be portrayed as not actually being being interested in Archie for the long run, but only sticking with him in hopes to keep his mouth shut, as anything he says to the police will reveal they've been having sex, or otherwise together when they shouldn't be. To her Archie is just a quick fix for sex.

• Semi Confirmed

Should Jughead be as morally ambiguous as the trailers and interviews set him up to be Betty will be his Morality Pet during his darkest moments

Betty is almost always a good girl in any continuity, and she's one of the few girls that Jughead consistently likes as friend throughout many continuities. It seems plausible that if she gets involved with the investigation that she'll be the one who prevents him from going to far should he get pushed to that point.

• Jossed. Jughead and Betty usually go hand-in-hand in how far they take things.

Jughead isn't as normal as he seems.

Jughead is consistently a vocal point, if not the vocal point for the weirdness that happens in any Archie continuity. Let's list the ways for various continuities... He can actually "see" with his eyes closed, is a member of the time police, has in fact been an investigator at a point, runs a restuarant in an alternate dimensional plane, can make real life interact with his paintings... and that's not even getting into the fact that in one continuity he's a superhero... and in another he's patient zero for a zombie outbreak. Point is, Jughead is weird and something is bound to come up that will make him extraordinarily different from other characters.

• Would being homeless and reading Kafka in his spare time count?
  • Maybe, though that can be chalked up to his family issues in the first case, and his hipster-y tendencies in the second.

Ethel won't be a lesbian... she'll be bisexual.

Because she is a character who has a firmly established attraction towards men and becaude, y'know, bisexual people exist. It would be good to get some bi representation out there that isn't just purely fanservice.

Miss Grundy slept with Jason

That's why she's so intent on Archie keeping secrets for her - she may not have killed Jason, but she doesn't have an alibi for his death. Plus people might look at the fling she had with Archie and start thinking that she Has a Type.

• Well she did admit to giving him "private lessons".

Moose killed Jason.

However, it was an Accidental Murder and he regretted it. Dilton, presuming they are friends like normal, covered it up to help him. The reason Ms. Grundy doesn't want Archie to reveal whatever he saw is because, like in the above theory, she slept with Jason before his death and has no alibi. It would be the word of a teacher who has had sexual relationships with students against the school's whiz kid and the star athlete.

• Jossed.

Ethel killed Jason

She liked him and he led her on for a while just to harshly reject her in the way that would devastate her the most. Then she killed him in a blind rage at being used.

• Jossed.

Valerie and Melody killed Jason

But they've convinced Josie that they didn't.

• Jossed.

Cheryl got someone to kill Jason on her behalf

Cheryl told them Jason was abusing her and that she needed to be saved. Whether or not she would be lying to them could vary, but in either case, she would feel unable to do it herself for emotional reasons.

• Jossed.

This show's Miss Grundy isn't the Miss Grundy from the comics.

She's her niece or her cousin or something. Maybe this'll be introduced as an Author's Saving Throw to fans who don't like the Age Lift, or maybe it'll be the plan from the get-go.

• Maybe she's a Decomposite Character. She has the name Grundy and is a teacher, while an older woman more similar to the traditional Ms. Grundy is shown to be a another teacher at the school.
• Possibly Confirmed, as of the trailer for 1x04.
• Alternative theory: She's actually Sabrina who is hiding from a cult.
• Confirmed. The real Miss Grundy died 7 years ago, and she took her identity

Sabrina Spellman will likely not appear in the series...

...because if she does, Melissa Joan Hart won't be very happy, she'll be viewed by fans as The Scrappy just like Venus de Milo from Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, and the quality of the show will go down just like Heroes, becoming yet another instance of Jumping the Shark.

• Sabrina isn't a Cousin Oliver like Venus was and fans seem to be rooting for her to show up at some point, not discouraging it.
• Why would Melissa Joan Hart give a damn? The sitcom was years ago and it isn't like the CW are subject to her will.
• The quality of the show isn't dependent on one specific character appearing or not.
• Confirmed. She's on Netflix instead of the CW and Melissa Joan Hart has given the new Sabrina her complete blessing.

Season 1

Betty's father killed Jason.

The show is going to make it overly obvious that her mother did it, only for a reveal to happen that it was her father.

• Jossed.

Betty's sister killed Jason

Polly managed to get away from her group home and attacked Jason. Now Betty may even be helping her cover it up.

• Jossed.

Betty only got together with Jughead to make Archie jealous

It was a misguided attempt to get Archie to admit his feelings for her. Jughead's only going along with it because he feels bad for her and to spite Archie, hence why he looks so uncomfortable with her.

• Seemingly Jossed; Jughead and Betty develop a stronger friendship through their joint murder investigation at the Blue and Gold together and spend more time together than either seems to spend with Archie. When they do kiss it seems to be something that Jughead has wanted to do for a while given how nervous he was. She reciprocates in the next episode and they seem to have developed a strong emotional connection.
• If it was an attempt to make Archie jealous, there were an awful lot of interactions outside his presence going on for something like that. Betty is also the crowning example of a good person, so that's not likely something she would do to Archie or Jughead. Finally, the show seems to so far be content with allowing the two to be friends and hasn't really revisited the romantic tension on Betty's end.

Jason's death has something to do with Cheryl, Betty's sister, and her sister's subsequent mental breakdown

It's already known that The Coopers (or atleast Alice Cooper, Betty's mom) dislike the Blossoms, due to a failed relationship between Polly Cooper and Jason Blossom that took its toll on Polly's mental health and landed her in a group home. And during the scene at the cheerleading tryouts, it's almost implied that Cheryl was egging on Betty because she wanted someone to get mad and hold her brother accountable for whatever it was he did to Polly. Maybe she was friends with Polly at some point in time. Whatever the case, Jason's death may have had something to do with it and Cheryl may have been an accomplice.

• Jossed. Polly is not in a group home because of a mental breakdown, but because she is pregnant with Jason Blossom's baby. She was unaware that Jason had died until Betty told her.

Jason's death was a necromantic ritual gone wrong.

Alice Cooper claims the Blossom family made a Deal with the Devil, and suggests that they killed Jason themselves for more power. Cheryl has a breakdown and says that Jason was supposed to come back, and then at the end of the second episode, confesses to his murder. So it's possible that Jason was supposed to Come Back Strong, but the ritual failed for some reason.

• Jossed.

Someone wanted to kill Jason, and the Blossoms knew it.

The plan was to fake a "drowning" so whoever wanted to kill him would be thrown off, and for Jason to come out of hiding when the would-be killer was caught. That's why Cheryl doesn't seem genuinely upset in the first episode — it's Bad "Bad Acting"! She breaks down for real when his body is found with a bullet in his head because up until now, she thought the plan had gone off without a hitch and she'd see her brother again soon. Now, she realizes he is never coming home. And on top of everything else, the threat got to him after all, and is still out there. * Jossed his father killed him because he tried to runaway from the family business

Jason was held prisoner before being killed.

The Blossoms clearly have more than a few skeletons in the closet and the killer is someone that was hurt because of them in the past. Whoever is responsible captured Jason and held him hostage in order to force the Blossoms to confess their sins to the whole town. Jason managed to escape but the kidnapper decided to shoot him dead to show the Blossoms he was serious.

• Seemingly confirmed in the second episode. The coroner Betty's mom visits notes Jason's wrists have abrasions that look like he was tied up. The end of the episode says that Jason didn't die until a week after July 4. And the coroner also noted the corpse showed traces of being frozen, suggesting the killer kept the body captive in cold storage.

Ms. Grundy is actually Madam Satan

Kevin passingly mentioned Madam Satan and Sabrina is rumored to appear later in the season. What better reason for her to appear than to face off with her recent comic book arch nemesis?

• Jossed; she's another character featured on Sabrina

Alice Cooper is hiding Polly away because she knows that Alice was involved in Jason's death

She clearly refuses to let Betty see her or even know where she is. Plus there's Betty comment about how her mother sent Polly into a mental breakdown. Given how controlling and shady she is, it's not impossible to believe that she has Polly hidden away - under a fake name - to stop the truth from getting out.

• Jossed Polly was locked up at Sisters Of Quite Mercy when Jason was murder because he knocked her up

Jughead is homeless

He seems to constantly repeat the same outfits, and we also know that Skeet Ulrich will be playing a character called 'FP Jones', the leader of a gang. Assuming, as many have suspected, that this character is Jughead's dad, it's really not out of the question that Jughead is living on the streets, either because he's been kicked out of the house or has left for other reasons.

• Sadly confirmed, both parts

Jason and Polly share a father

And that's why Betty's mom was completely against the relationship. She had an affair with Mr. Blossom, and ended up with Polly.

• Jossed. They're cousins.

Polly doesn't exist.

More specifically, Polly is Betty. And "Polly" shot Jason as well. Or maybe "Polly" is the personality we usually see...

• Polly was a known person around Riverdale to have dated Jason and attend Riverdale High. Why would Cheryl or anyone treat Polly like a different person if it was just Betty pretending to be her? There's still a chance Betty when acting like Polly killed Jason but it doesn't seem believable that there is no Polly at all.
• Not to mention that A) a separate actress has been cast as Polly and B) Lili Reinhart (Betty's actress) has said that isn't what's going on.
• Super jossed. We've met Polly.

Veronica's dad is a mob boss

He'll run from prison and reveal himself as the Big Bad.

• Semi-jossed, semi-confirmed. Though he's not a mob boss as far as we know, he is still orchestrating Lodge Industries' affairs from prison, and is not above doing things like hiring thugs to bust up Fred's work site and beat up teenagers out of jealousy when he discovers Fred and Hermione's romance. While he had nothing to do with Jason's death, it is heavily implied that Hiram is not a good guy, and his return from prison is treated very ominously. He wasn't the big bad of season 1, as that honor ultimately went to Clifford Blossom, but if he has a role in season 2, it is unlikely to be a positive one.
• Confirmed.

Either Betty or her mother killed Jason.

Betty obviously has something going on with her (see: Adderall prescription, repressed emotions, anger triggered anytime someone brings up Polly, the whole Chuck incident, etc). And her mom is just straight up creepy and abusive and antagonistic towards literally everyone, even her own daughters. One of them killed Jason.

• Jossed. It was his own father.

Archie is going to wind up being a Spanner in the Works

For whoever the killer is because Archie connects the dots that show who's responsible. Either he'll be used by the killer in a gambit to get away but unknowingly clues Archie in or he'll be helping Jughead and Betty solve the case and see something in their facts that ties everything together.

• Jossed. Archie does aid in in finding the killer but only a small level.

Jughead's snooping will make him a target

Assuming Jason's death was deliberate and not accidental, there's bound to be things the killer doesn't want to get out but Jughead will eventually find a big clue to their identity and this will lead the killer to try and shut him up. Permanently.

• Semi-Confirmed. Clifford Blossom threatened to kill him, but more so to get his father whose under his pay grade to confess to killing Jason.

The killer wanted Jason's body to be found

Since it was stated that the lake was searched for Jason's body with no results he must have ended up in there some other way. Either the killer just dumped him after they were finished torturing/killing Jason or the killer intentionally placed the body where they knew it would be found(and honestly Jason's body does look more like it was staged rather than being washed ashore).

• Semi-Confirmed, semi-jossed. FP disposed of the body in the lake, so there is a chance that he did that after the search to make the police think Jason's body finally washed ashore. Although he could have also dumped the body in the lake, hoping it wouldn't be found.

Jason got Polly pregnant

Polly isn't in a group home, she was sent away to hide the pregnancy since she didn't want to abort though her mother probably tried to get her to. The mental breakdown story was a lie Alice Cooper cooked up to protect her own reputation, even going so far as to keep Betty out of the loop.

Alternately the mental breakdown story is real and the pregnancy may have been part of what lead to it in the first place.

• Confirmed in episode 6

Chuck undergoes Character Development

Chuck, after the events of episode 3, becomes disillusioned with football, that he goes to art as a new hobby turning to passion.

• Confirmed.

Jughead's family situation

It seems likely that Jughead's family was not as well off as the Andrew's or the Cooper's even before Juggie ended up living in the twilight drive in, going from his comment about how he and Jellybean used to have to sneak into the theatre due to not having enough money for the whole family to get tickets. Most likely things got worse after Mr. Andrews fired Mr. Jones, leading Mr. Jones to join (or return to) the local gang in order to make more money. Unfortunately Mrs. Jones didn't like that and left with Jellybean (Jughead may not have wanted to leave his friends or his mother was unable to take him with her for some reason). Afterwards Jughead tried living with his dad at first but found he didn't like or want to be involved/connected to his dad's gang activities or his dad didn't want him mixed up with the gang.

Alternately Mr. Jones was always in the gang and a terrible father/husband leading Mrs. Jones to leave as above but until recently Jughead didn't (or wouldn't) realize just how bad a guy he is. Jughead may also hold some resentment towards his mother for what he perceives as her abandoning him, which may be why he doesn't reach out to her if she is still alive despite his obvious affection for Jellybean.

• Somewhat confirmed. Jughead's mother left with Jellybean because of FP Jones' alcoholism and his inability to provide for the family, but she is still in contact with Jughead. Jughead doesn't live with his dad because he too is unable to put up with FP Jones' antics any longer.

Jughead ends up living with a friend

This may seem like a no brainer, since it's obvious that Jughead's friends aren't going to let him sleep under a bridge once they find out how bad his current living situation is.
However while the obvious choice would be Archie (since I doubt Alice Cooper Would even let him in her house-and honestly who would want to live with that woman if they didn't have to?- and Veronica's got her own family drama to deal with) but he may end up staying with Kevin or someone else because...

• Confirmed. He is temporarily staying with Archie at the Andrews house

Jughead blames Mr. Andrews for what happened to his family

Going by the scene where Jughead tries to talk Mr. Andrews into not demolishing the twilight drive in, it's obvious he's still angry over his father's firing even though the man in question would later knowingly help his son's home be destroyed for money (and Mr. Andrews having a legitimate reason for the firing). In fact Jughead and his dad don't seem close, treating each other with something approaching cool indifference yet Jughead would rather squat in a theatre projection booth than go to his friend for help.

Most likely when Mr. Jones got fired Jughead still had some faith in his dad and expected Archie to back him up but Archie being Archie chose to try and be neutral since he could see his dad's point as well (alternately Archie may have been the one who turned Mr. Jones in for stealing). Jughead likely felt betrayed and this lead to an argument that either ended the friendship completely or caused the two to drift apart (the road trip they were supposed to go on during the July 4th long weekend may have been an attempt to reconcile). Though they've started to patch things up and Jughead's come to realize what kind of man his father really is, Juggie still holds some resentment towards Mr. Andrews out of pure stubbornness and therefore may not accept if/when Archie asks him stay at the Andrew's house (at least at first).

• Somewhat jossed somewhat confirmed. Mr. Andrews and FP Jones started Andrews construction together but he started stealing supplies and kept getting into jail so Fred bought out FP's share and later fired him. Jughead isn't thrilled about this but he doesn't have much faith left in his father to stay sober and get himself back together

Jughead was planning to look for his mother and sister during the July 4th road trip

But never got the chance because Archie bailed on him.

• Jossed. He knows where they're living, as he tried to go live with them before his mother rejected the possibility.

The South Side Serpents killed Jason

Someone hired them to kill him, possibly Alice Cooper, possibly Hiram Lodge.

• Possibly confirmed that either the serpents, or Jughead's dad specifically, are involved somehow. There is a shot at the end of 1.07 of Jason's letter jacket in Mr. Jones' closet, having somehow gotten there from the trunk of the burned car. Either he was framed, hired to burn the car for the killer, or was involved in the death.
• Jossed, but still partly correct since they were involved, but weren't expecting Clifford to kill him.

Josie's going to suffer some serious Broken Pedestal towards her mother pretty soon.

Josie's rough around the edges, but she does not strike me as someone who'd be cool with her mother taking bribes and working with the Southside Serpents.

• Jossed. Josie never seemed to have found out about the bribes and has left the show as of season three.

Eugene from The New Archies will appear as Chuck's brother

And will fill the roll of the traditional Chuck, being an aspiring comic book artist and an Only Sane Man (in reference to his original incarnation's intelligence). It could work as an effective Author's Saving Throw. Maybe not in this season, but perhaps in a second one.

• Semi-Jossed since Chuck has taken up art and he hasn't even mention a brother.

Many scenes in the show are fabricated and embellished by Jughead in his novel to make them more interesting

Grundy wearing heart-shaped glasses and sucking on a lollipop when she meets Archie? The Blossoms dressing like they are in the 1950s and sharing a milkshake? All fabricated and embellished. The entire show is Jughead's novel and as such he is embellishing the events to make them more extreme than they really on. Later on we'll see how things actually went down and they will be more grounded and realistic.

Jason's death and the Lodges' stranglehold of Riverdale are connected.

Jason learned that Veronica's dad plans to teardown the town and remake it in his own image. He tried to get back to tell everyone about it, but was killed to keep quiet. Those same people ripped off the pictures in the Sheriff's office at the of "The Last Picture Show".

• Those same people may have also burned the car Jason and Polly were gonna drive away with.
• Probably more likely that Jason was an unfortunately cherry-picked victim in a plot to devalue the town to make buying it up cheaper. Having the son of a wealthy, old family murdered would cause a massive stir and whoever orchestrated the plan knew the Blossoms were guaranteed to kick up a storm and the story would reach. Walking into the woods alone likely just made him an easy target for a hired gun — such as Jughead's dad, whose closet, as of 1.07, contains Jason's letter jacket.

Jason was killed because of a drug deal gone wrong

It's mentioned by a classmate that he was selling weak prescription pills in addition to his things. Depending on how much he sold, he either worked for the Southside Serpents or did his own thing independently. The Serpents see the heir of Riverdale's richest family selling drugs, they figure he has more than enough money to continue the supply and they try to keep him trapped. Jason could have been running away, going so far as to fake his own death, so that the Serpents wouldn't come looking for him. Unfortunately, he got caught and was coldly dealt with.

• This is looking like a likely theory, since the leader of the serpents has Jason's letter jacket in is possession as of episode seven.
• He may not have wanted to smuggle in drugs like his father, which could have been why he planned to run away.

Polly and Betty's father abused Polly

That was why she had the breakdown and tried to kill herself. Except for her being in the playbook and the fight that only Mr. Cooper has mentioned so far, their relationship seemed to be normal, no one saw anything horrible happening. And it was Mr. Cooper who told Betty about their fight and her suicide attempt. He'd be quick to send her away if she was hurting herself because of it or trying to tell people. And the way he watched home movies of Polly, it seemed more than just fatherly love.

• Jossed; there's no evidence he abused her and the attempt suicide story he told Betty was a lie.

The Blossom parents killed Jason because they found out about his plan to fake his own death

• Semi-confirmed. Clifford killed Jason because he wasn't going to work in the drug trade for the family.

Jason was planning to run away with Polly.

The plan was, he'd help her sneak out of the group home, and then they'd run away to some far-off town to get married and change identities. This explains why Jason needed cash, and why he didn't get it from his family (either from borrowing or stealing) — they'd need money, but they wouldn't want it to be traced. (It also explains why credit cards or getting money from the bank would be out of the question.) Polly's condition worsened when Jason died because she realized she wouldn't be able to escape her confinement in the institution after all, and would likely be there for a very long time.

• Both confirmed and jossed. Jason and Polly were planning to run away together, but Polly was sent to the group home the day they were supposed to leave and subsequently was kept in the dark about his death by her parents/the orderlies.

Cheryl's great-grandfather didn't murder Betty's.

It was the other way around. Obviously, the scheme backfired somehow, but the Blossoms still hate the Coopers for it. Would you really put it past Betty's parents to lie about something like that to justify their hatred of the family?

• Jossed. It turns out the secret was that it was a Cain and Abel situation.

Penelope will develop a fixation on Archie due to his resemblance to Jason.

And it will be super creepy. Alice will try to use it to make Archie look bad to Betty (which will fail of course).

• Jossed. A weird moment did happen when she caressed his face, telling him he looked like Jason but since then nothing of that sort has happened.

Penelope was forcing herself on Jason, which is why he ran away.

Given the creepy way she caressed Archie while remembering Jason, Penelope was probably attracted to her son in a sexual way, which is why he rand away and why she treats Cheryl like shit. She was jealous of her daughter, and most likely would have killed Polly had she learned about her engagement to Jason.

• Jossed.

Betty has forgotten something important in one of her 'episodes'.

In "Body Double", Betty temporarily believes herself to be Polly and Chuck to be Jason. Afterwards, she doesn't remember it. Betty might have witnessed something—maybe she saw Jason's kidnapping, or had a conversation with him even—but forgot about it afterwards. It's also possible that Alice and/or Hal are aware that she's forgotten, and they want to keep it that way. Whatever it is, the mention of Polly is what stirs up the memories.

• Jossed.

Alice is going to go Mama Bear for good reason at some point.

The cast all agree that Alice does genuinely love Betty underneath all the abuse she makes her go through. While she now controls what Betty wears, does, and hangs out with, there will be a moment in the show that she'll go full Mama Bear mode, and will likely be a Moment of Awesome.

Two or more characters are going to be revealed to be related.

• Confirmed. Betty, Cheryl, Polly and Jason have been confirmed to be third cousins, twice removed and Hal, Clifford and Claudius are cousins, once removed. In addition to that, many surprise relatives of our main characters have showed up such as: Claudius Blossom (Cheryl's uncle and Cliffords's twin brother), Charles Smith (Betty and Polly's half-brother), Frank Andrews (Archie's uncle and Fred's estranged brother) and Hermosa Lodge (Veronica's half sister and Hiram's illegitimate daughter).

Fred isn't Archie's father

While we don't have very many details about it yet, it's clear that Fred and Mary had a falling out and are emotionally separated enough that he essentially considers himself divorced. It is possible that one of the driving forces behind the separation was Fred discovering that Mary had been unfaithful. At that point, though, he would still consider Archie his son regardless of actual parentage. Thus Archie's actual father could be:

• Clifford Blossom. Mary may've been drawn to the Blossom family due to their wealth, the same way Hermione was drawn to Hiram, and had a brief affair with him. Thus Penelope's comment to Archie isn't just standard Blossom creepiness.
  • That would mean that the Blossoms know this, that it didn't hurt Clifford and Penelope's marriage, that Cheryl may actually be considering macking on her half-brother in Episode 9 (If the teasers are to be believed), and that Mary was dumb enough to think a man with a wife would leave her to romance a married woman, all while Penelope may have already been pregnant with the twins (It is unclear how far apart Cheryl and Jason are from Archie month-wise).
  • Given that Clifford and Penelope were actively trying to make Archie their daughter's arm candy and get him in her pants for their benefit, this is probably jossed. 'Probably' in the sense that Clifford never said "I never banged Mrs. Andrews up" while tied up with Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.
  • And given the strange Mrs. Robinson vibes from Penelope...No...just...no. The Blossoms are screwed up, but we should give her enough credit as to not to assume she has an attraction to someone who is her own husband's son.
• Somebody of Samoan or Pacific Islander decent, to match KJ Apa's heritage.
• Zendaya
  • SHUT UP!!!!!
• Mad Doctor Doom
  • And Chester. Somehow.
• Super Jossed.

Polly didn't just escape, someone helped her.

• Jossed. Polly escaped on her own.

Betty's dissociation in 1.03 was caused by the pills her mother pushes on her

While Betty has some clear mental problems (depression seeming the most noticeable), her mother pushes Adderall on Betty, who both doesn't seem to want to take it and may not need to take it at all, to maintain the "perfect" daughter who overachieves and never disappoints. While Adderall isn't particularly known for causing dissociation, the stress of her parents' pressure on her/emotional abuse of her/dismissal of her desires (from lipstick colours to friendships) and her sister's absence - in addition to the stimulants present in Adderall could have pushed Betty over the edge. It also doesn't seem entirely unlikely that Alice Cooper may have pushed more than Adderall on Betty - she seems like the kind of person who, when manipulations failed, would push other types of psychiatric meds Betty may not need on her in order to create the illusion of perfection - rather than, you know, reflecting on her own abusive mothering or trying to understand the root of Betty's problems and addressing them accordingly (with medication or not).

Fake Grundy is behind everything, and out for vengeance

Because Jason wasn't killed right on July 4th, or with the original gunshot heard by Archie, Grundy, and Dilton, we don't actually know when he was taken or even how far he was able to get. Grundy could have freaked out and asked Archie to leave, and then later came back and took Jason, giving him all the torture we later found out about. Her relationship with Archie was in preparation for this—manipulating an innocent boy into wanting to protect her and vouch for her. Then when everything came out, she could bank on the various families involved not wanting to be involved in something so scandalous and convince them that it's better for her to be "shamed" out of town. By the time the police suspect she had deeper involvement, she'd already be in a different state.

But why? Maybe it has something to do with the Real Grundy. It's been said several times how pretty much every parent in town went to school together, and the original Ms. Grundy could've been a teacher at Riverdale High many years ago. But either the parents did something to her, or she witnessed something they that traumatized her. Either way it was covered up (which is why no parent would ever mention it) and Grundy almost took the secret to her grave. However on her death bed she told her granddaughter (Fake Grundy), and the latter decided to kill Jason and hope for the ensuing chaos to tear the town apart.

• Jossed. The Southside Serpents held Jason hostage and then Clifford killed him.

Dilton's character shift is because of bullying

Since this is a Darker and Edgier universe, it's likely that Dilton was bullied worse here than in the comics. Moose may have been his protector for a bit, but of course Kids Are Cruel and he may've been teased for guarding his "boyfriend"—and since he does have insecurities about that in this show, that may've made him part ways. Therefore while growing up, Dilton decided he had to toughen up - thus becoming the crazy survivalist we see today.

• Could be true but we will never know because he died.

At some point in this season, Jughead will snap

In episode 7 while his father was explaining why it's best that Jughead stay with the Andrews, Jughead seemed like he was somewhere between crying bitterly and decking his dad. It's not that Jughead has any real anger issues - he's moody, sure, but he seems to express is with sarcasm and he definitely doesn't seem like the violent sort, but it doesn't feel unlikely that someone may push Jughead a little too far to the point that he physically retaliates. Most likely, it would either have something to do with Archie or Betty, the two people in Riverdale he loves the most and would feel the most protective of - he seems a little less inclined to defend himself from verbal attacks generally, so it feels like any violent reaction he'd have would be in defence of his friends

• Somewhat confirmed. Jughead, after a highly emotional argument with Betty that has already put him on edge, gets into a fight with Chuck after the latter insults Betty and uses her mental health issues against her.

Archie was the intended victim of the murder

He looks very similar, they both have the same varsity jackets, at least two Blossom family members have acknowledged how similar they look. He's pretty harmless so far, but the person who mistook him for Jason when killing him could have been confused before, and thought he was the one dealing drugs and adding to the team's playbook. Or it could have been about something like his dad firing Jughead's dad.

• Could very well be possible. May explain why Jason wasn't killed for a week. If they kidnapped him and later realized their mistake, they might panic thinking Jason would tell his parents, not knowing he was planning to run. As of the last shot of episode seven, it's confirmed the serpents (specifically Jughead's dad) are involved and is probably why he urged Jughead to stay with Archie and Fred — to keep him out of it.
• Jossed. Clifford would recognize his own son.

Jason's killer will be revealed/pretty obvious by the season finale, but someone else will be killed

And they don't have the same killer...

• Possibly confirmed, but only if Fred dies.
• Sort of confirmed Fred survives, after spending the entire episode in a purgatory like state between life and death, but Fake Grundy/Jennifer is strangled to death by his assailant at the end of the episode.

Riverdale is a stealth remake of Watchmen.

The story opens with a character's offscreen murder and finding his killer becomes the Macguffin which moves the story, a story which deconstructs classic comic books by portraying deeply flawed characters living in a crapsack world, though that may influenced by the perspective of their judgmental, paranoid narrators with tendencies to write in hyperbole (Jughead's novel as Rorschach's journal.) If the parallelism continues we can expect a few things. Sabrina, when she appears, will fill the Captain Manhatten role, the only being with supernatural abilities in an otherwise "realistic" setting. And Jason's death will have been a necessary but minor part of his killer's far larger plan.

• Jossed. Jason’s death was pretty senseless, and by the time Sabrina showed up in season 6 everyone had powers.

Someone in the Jones family is ill.

In episode 7 when FP mentions things he had to provide for, he mentions hospital bills, and probably something other than FP's alcoholism is the cause of those bills.

• Seems unlikely, as we have now met Gladys, Jellybean and Forsythe Pendelton Jones Sr. and they are all well. There could be other Jones' but it seems unlikely. The hospital bills could be in regards to Jellybean's birth or someone might have had an accident.

Jughead will still be on the asexuality spectrum in this continuity

It seems that they may not have been able to address this part of Jughead's characterization because the show officially had its pilot ordered in January 2016 (and had been in production as early as 2013-2014) before Jughead was revealed as ace-spectrum in the 2015 reboot^note Chip Zdarsky confirmed Jughead as ace in Jughead's on-going, and gave a Shrug of God for whether he was aromantic or not, saying the current Jughead was uninterested in love, but an older Jughead would be more open to the concept. It's not impossible that they will acknowledge Jughead's asexuality in the second season or even near the end of the first, especially considering Cole Sprouse's interest in exploring this facet of Jughead's character. Since the new comic series was being published in tandem with their filming and production, it doesn't seem likely they used anything other than the classic comics for their characterization - but now they have a lot more material in the reboot to work with, so it would be silly if they didn't at least explore the concept.

That said, Jughead has not shown any kind of romantic interest in any people other than Betty, with no references to past crushes, and his interest in her seems to surprise Archie, meaning she may actually be the first person he's expressed any romantic interest in. His feelings for her seem heavily based in their strong emotional bond and her warm/kind nature, rather than anything physical. It's possible they may reveal Jughead as ace-spectrum in coming episodes (or more likely in the second season) - and, if he and Betty are still together during this reveal, they will discuss where to go from there with their relationship - and either set comfortable boundaries or may mutually decide to break up.

There will be a lot, a LOT of Love triangle stories, some of which, will cross with each other.

• Outside of the classic Betty/Archie/Veronica one there could be some others like:
  • Jughead/Betty/Archie: Betty's Archie to Jughead's Betty and Archie's Veronica
  • Reggie/Veronica/Archie: Veronica's Archie to Archie's Betty and Reggie's Veronica
• Confirmed. All these live triangles happen: Jughead/Betty/Archie is a major theme of the early season, Reggie/Veronica/Archie happens in season 5 or 6 when Veronica cheats on Reggie with Archie and Betty/Archie/Veronica is a recurring theme throughout the entire series. The show even Lampshades this by announcing in the finale that the characters are in a quad; Archie/Bettie/Veronica/Jughead.

Due to being kicked out of the football team, Chuck Clayton will develop a passion for drawing and he will become much more like comic book Chuck

I mean, everybody in the school knows he's a scumbag and maybe he'll learn a lesson and rethink his decisions, start to try to respect women and developing a passion for drawing and writing comic books. I mean the turned an easygoing black character into a womanizing jerk who treats his dates as trophies and slut-shames them online.

• Jossed as of Episode 10. He makes his return to school after suspension without having really changed much and is more than willing to try to get back at Betty and her friends by trying to humiliate her in front of all her peers by revealing her darker side.
• However, as of episode 20, he does at least appear to be making a Heel–Face Turn, revealing that he's started taking art classes and would like to draw comic books or illustrate children's books. At least until Mayor McCoy tears him and Josie apart.

Alice's hate for the Blossoms is out of anti-Romani sentiment

While Hal hates the Blossoms due to his family feud with them, and his hatred of them tends to come up in a more restrained, personal hatred, to be expected from someone perpetuating a familial feud, Alice talks about them as if they've got some kind of demonic power behind them, lighting incense to 'cleanse' a bedroom after Cheryl has been in it, and accusing them of committing satanic acts in their home. We learn in episode 8 that the Blossoms, at least Penelope Blossom, descend from Romani (with Cheryl saying her grandmother has 'gypsy blood'), and Alice's response to seeing Cheryl's grandmother doing a small ritual of sorts to predict the sex is to call them 'occultists', expressing disgust at this.Given that, realistically, there's no reason for her to have any hate for them as its Hal's family that has the feud with them, never mind the extent we see (even if it does prove to be not as bad as Hal's own hate), its possible her hate is down to just bigotry towards Romani and Penelope's status as one. It could actually be the basis of her and Hal's initial relationship, if they bonded over a mutual hatred of Cliff and Penelope for their own respective reasons.

• More than likely it would be Clifford with the Romani blood. Rose's surname is Blossom, not whatever Penelope's maiden name is.

Archie's mother is related to the Blossoms

Archie doesn't know yet, but Cheryl does...

• Seems unlikely.

Alice and Cliff Blossom were secretly involved back when they were younger

And Cliff left Alice for Penelope. It would explain why she's so invested in the feud. Episode 10 implies she grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, so maybe she saw Cliff as her way out. To add to this Alice also got pregnant with Cliff's baby but unlike Jason, Cliff did not step up. Hal convinced her to get an abortion, which was implied when they were arguing about him trying to make Polly have one. Alice may have been seeing both of them at the same time and was unsure of the paternity or thought that Hal, who hung around her waiting for his chance, would take care of them. Either way, the baby was wanted but Hal didn't want to risk raising a Blossom pawn.

• Jossed. Alice didn't have an abortion. Hal convinced her to give the baby up for adoption. Even then, she said nothing to suggest her pregnancy had anything to do with the Blossoms.

Clifford has been with every woman in town, and gotten them all pregnant at once

Given how popular the idea that Clifford had sex with all the moms, we might as well bring it to the most extreme conclusion. Clifford is everyone's real dad, including Veronica, Chuck, Josie, Valerie, Reggie, Dilton and Joaquin. No woman can resist his...charms, I guess. The whole town is his harem and no one mentions it because...reasons, I guess.

• Super Jossed.

F. P. and Alice were once friends

But she moved up in the world (or at least tried) and he didn't, causing them to grow apart and develop some hostility towards each other.

• Confirmed
  • Double Confirmed as they used to hook up in High School and that resulted in the birth of Charles and after the events of acension night they all went separate ways.

Polly will find a Second Love

Or at least find someone who will want to provide for her babies with no ulterior motives.

• Seems unlikely as Polly is in an Asylum and for some reason the twins still reside with Cheryl.
  • Jossed. She didn't find love again before her death.

The Archies will be formed as a result of Betty's jealousy towards Archie and Veronica

In the promo for To Riverdale And Back Again, Betty seems jealous of Archie and Veronica performing "Kids in America" and in an effort to get closer to Archie, she will convince him to start a band with her, Veronica, Jughead and possibly Reggie as a Sixth Ranger.

• Jossed, as it turns out Betty was not jealous of Archie and Veronica at all, and has shown little to no interest in music, her main passion being writing and journalism.
  • Double Jossed, as The Archies were formed in season 4 for a Battle of The Bands episode.

F.P knew he was going to be framed as part of a deal with Hiram, but tried to back out at the last minute

Not because he's the perfect scapegoat, but because it had been planned in advance by him and Hiram Lodge. In exchange for agreeing to plead guilty for Jason's murder (and denying any and all dealings with Hermione), Jughead and his mom and little sister will be financially taken care of. However, F.P got cold feet and decided to get out of Riverdale with Jughead and reunite with his wife and daughter. Hiram got wind of his plans and had someone plant the gun in F.P's trailer.

• Partially confirmed. F.P confessed to Jason's murder because the real murderer - Clifford Blossom - threatened to kill Jughead if he didn't go along with it.

Possible actresses for Sabrina (if she does appear in Riverdale)...

• Sasha Pieterse
• Dove Cameron
• Skyler Samuels
• Jennette McCurdy
• Jamie Lynn Spears
• Maddie Bassoon
• Katie Leclerc
• Stefanie Scott
• Chloë Grace Moretz
• Margot Robbie
• A complete unknown, who will then be propelled to stardom with Madelaine, Lili, and Camila.
• Zendaya *Laughs maniacally and runs off into the night*
• Nobody
• Cool Cat
• Jossed. Her actress is Kiernan Shipka

Pre-Season 2

Fred will survive being shot

But he will be hospitalized for most of Season 2, justifying him being Out of Focus. Think about it; If Fred dies it would be easy for Mary to have Archie live with her in Chicago. If Fred lives, Archie can justify staying in Riverdale as being there to support Fred, and possibly get Mary to temporarily stay in Riverdale as well.

• Confirmed.

The robber was never after Pop's money and was actually hired to kill Fred

And the person who hired the "robber" was Hiram, who wanted Fred out of the picture after all so he could buy out his construction company more easily.

• Or perhaps he was hired to kill Archie, and fled since the hit went wrong.
  • Jossed while he wasn't robbing the place, the Black Hood was targeting Fred for what he believed a Moral Crime of Adultery, and has gone on since then and targeted Fake Grundy for Statutory and Moose and Midge for drug use.

Cheryl will either be arrested or institutionalized in Season 2

She burned down her own house! The only alternative is that Penelope won't let people know she did it.

• Semi-Jossed, semi-confirmed. She never faced consequences for her actions but Penelope did have her locked up with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy for conversion therapy, which she escaped an episode later with the help of Toni, Veronica and Kevin.

Cheryl is bisexual

Madelaine Petsch has said on numerous occasions that she'd like to have Cheryl explore her sexuality. She recently stated that she'd like for her to be bisexual, because she doesn't want it to be this black-and-white world "where everyone is either straight or gay". She's also spoken to the writers about this, and it's been confirmed that she will have a 'surprising love interest' in season two.

• Jossed. She is canonically lesbian.

The Mystery Gang will be involved in an episode.

We have Josie and the Pussycats as an established musical group in the Riverdale universe. Scooby Doo and the gang, in the original series, did solve mysteries with The Pussycats, so there's already a sort of rapport or familiarity to build off of. And rebooting the rapport isn't uncommon, as there was no issue for bringing The Hex Girls from "The Witch's Ghost" to both "The Legend of the Vampire" and the series "Mystery Incorporated". As "Mystery Inc!" rewrote the universe itself at the end of "Mystery Incorporated", it makes sense for them to find their way to the small town of Riverdale and stumble upon The Pussycats before they become famous, and establish a form of rapport. And it's the least that these meddling kids could do to help Archie and his friends solve a mystery!

• But "Josie and the Pussycats," was an Archie property being adapted by Hanna-Barbera, and thus existed somewhat outside the Archie continuity, Scoobie Doo and Mystery Inc! are a Hanna Barbera property, and aren't really related to the Archies. It is possible, but highly unlikely.

New characters for Season Two

List possibilities below:

• Chic, Betty and Polly's secret brother. I only put his first name since he will likely have a different last name since he was put up for adoption.
  • Confirmed.
• Midge Klump. Since we never really met her in Season One.
  • Confirmed.
• Jellybean and her and Jughead's mother. We meet them later in Season 3
• Other faculty members of Riverdale High like Mr. Flutesnoot, Miss Beazly, and Mr. Svenson.
  • Confirmed. We meet Mr. Svenson in season two and finally, the school's guidance counselor Ms. Burble in season four.
• Fangs Fogarty. He'll be one of Jughead's new classmates at Southside High.
  • Confirmed.
• Cricket O'Dell.
  • She appears in Katy Keene
• Raj Patel.
  • He appears in Katy Keene
• Ambrose Pipps.
• Frankie Valdez.
• Mad Doctor Doom and Chester. Unlikely, but he could be changed to fit the show's world.
• Alan M.
• Wilbur Wilkin. His comics were contemporaries of the Archie line.
  • Confirmed, kind of - Archie uses the name as an alias.
• Nancy Woods
  • She appears in Season 5
• Toni Topaz
  • Confirmed.
• Berdie
• Adam the Alien
• Crystal the New Age Girl
• Paul "Souphead" Jones
• Bingo Wilkin. In addition to being a contemporary of Archie, he is Jughead's cousin.
• Cousin Leroy
• Marcy Mcdermont, Veronica's nerdy cousin
• Harper Lodge
• Jinx Malloy
• Wendy Weatherize
• Brigitte Reilly
• Kevin's mother and sisters
• Trula Twyst
  • She appears in Katy Keene
• Devon Walters
• Tomoko Yoshida, since she's already been name dropped
• Sue Stringly
• Evelyn Evernever. We meet her in Season 3
• Alexander and Alexandra Cabot
  • They appear in Katy Keene, but Alexandra makes a guest appearance in the fifth season of Riverdale.
• Li'l Jinx
• Katy Keene, on a poster or something similar
  • She went on to have her own series which which takes place a few years after Riverdale's high school years.
• Pepper Smith
  • she Appeared on Katy Keene.
• Fred Mirth

There is some form of redemption for Chuck

He's probably too far gone at this point and some may think that he's too unlikable in the show to redeem but it would be sweet to see him return to his original personality. Maybe his father abused him, causing him to act like such a slut-shaming jerk, and,if Nancy ever appears, she'll somehow help him out of it.

• Confirmed. he gets a small redemption arc in "Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside" but his attempts to prove this to everyone get thwarted by Mrs. McCoy and Cheryl. He then again makes and attempt to redeem himself with the entire gang in "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember", and this time it seems to work although he hasn't appeared on the show since.

Reggie will be a main antagonist in the next season

Either as just a simple bully or involved with the guy who shot Fred.

• Jossed as Reggie at his worst, is just being Reggie, and has actually joined Archie's watchgroup "The Red Circle," in protecting the student body from the Black Hood.

The infamous "S t-shirt" that Jughead always wears is the logo for Southside High

Or is somehow related to the Southside

The next season won't be about solving a mystery...

But instead we'll know who's the culprit right from the start and the mission will be to prove to the town that he/she is guilty.

• It seems like they're obscuring the shooter's identity, as in the trailers he's still wearing his mask. Not saying this is jossed though.
• Jossed. We definitely don't know who the culprit is from the first episode. The closest we get is hints.

Pop Tate has some kind of mysterious past that haunts him.

His lines in the Season 2 trailer are very...ominous. Perhaps there's more about this Pop Tate that's different than just the Race Lift.

• Ironically, confirmed, though it doesn't actually play into the show at all. The show's tie-in comics imply that Pop made a Deal with the Devil to keep the diner open.

The "Sugar Man" won't be...

A drug dealer or a creepypasta/supernatural element. Remember the old song "Sugar,Sugar"? Well it'll be a person who might've non-consencually made that song their life motto with someone in the show...

• But "Sugar Man" is a creepypasta character, and if he was just a normal, if strange, human being, what would be the point of the guy being a presence in the lives of the young Blossom twins? Unless...aw shit.
• So, this suggests that "Sugar Man" is a Stalker with a Crush or even a rapist. But if that's the case, why reference the creepypasta?
• Um.. yeah. That's what I meant.
  • But that doesn't account for the following: why would Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa tease Sugar Man the way he did (as a unique boogeyman-ish threat) if he was "simply" a child rapist? Why base the rapist on a creepypasta? and lastly, why would he hype up "We have a rapist!" as a selling point to Season 2 after Season 1 already featured plenty of dark elements such as suicide? Sexual assault doesn't really stick out as anything particularly special to highlight as something new and mysterious.
• Jossed. The "Sugar Man" is a title given to the late Clifford Blossom's main drug supplier, apparently being a sort of Legacy Character for their role in Riverdale's drug dealing circles. It definitely had nothing with being a rapist and Penelope turned him into a boogeyman-esque story to try and keep a young Cheryl and Jason from catching wind of their father's illegal activities.

Jennifer Gibson(aka Fake Grundy)'s abusive husband will appear

He's trying to hunt her down, possibly to murder her. He'll end up in Riverdale, having caught wind of her having lived there under the false name, where someone blabs about her tryst with Archie. This sends him after our heroes, as he's jealous that she would sleep with somebody other than him.

• Jossed; she's dead and he has no point of coming to the show now.

Season 2

Black Hood is not a Southside Serpent

Because having him be from the local biker gang would be too easy and too obvious. Most likely he's a resident of the town who has grown tired of the corruption in Riverdale/had a mental break and going around killing sinners( Grundy slept with her students, Moose cheated on Midge and did drugs, Midge bought drugs, Fred is an adulterer and may be hiding more secrets). Now that doesn't mean he isn't from the south side( I doubt everyone there is a serpent and just because no one on the south side has been targeted yet doesn't mean they won't be) he could be from either side, though I have a hunch that he's from the north the so called "good" side of town and possibly the catalyst for the civil war the show runner keeps hinting at.Hell Black Hood could be intentionally trying to make it look like the serpents in order to get rid of the gang either though jail time for all of them or getting them run out of town while Ms.Grundy was personal.

• Possibly confirmed, Chapter 18 heavily implies he also hates the Serpents.
• Confirmed. He's Mister Svenson, who isn't even from the Southside, despite what the character page says.
• Double Confirmed Double confirmed Hal Cooper was not ever a Serpent.

There are multiple Black Hoods.

It'd be a cool twist, and a handy way to use multiple actors and keep the fanbase guessing. Much harder to figure out who your murderers are than just one man. Plus, it expands the list of suspects to more than just "people with green eyes."

• Supported in Chapter 18, when Sheriff Keller reveals the hand writing in the two letters from the black hood do no match.
• Triplet Confirmed Hal admitted to Betty and Alice that he manipulated Joseph Svenson into taking the fall while telling them the Copy Cat Black Hood isn't with him. Jughead later figures out that that the copycat was a former scorned serpent killed in a police standoff shortly after he shoot up the town hall meeting heavily implied to be pay by Hiram Lodge to take advantage of the chaos.

Black Hood is Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher

The current storyline will be an adaptation of Archie Meets the Punisher, where Frank Castle comes to Riverdale to hunt drug dealers.

• Interesting theory, but given the mountain of licensing issues that would arise from a Marvel character, more so an MCU based character, a subsidiary of The Disney corporation who currently has his own series on Netflix, appearing on The CW, a Warner Bros. property, it's very, very unlikely. Not to mention the fact that Warner Bros. holds the rights to DC Comics, chances are they aren't gonna allow promotion for their direct competition.
• Alternatively, they'll reference the Punisher by having the Black Hood's real name be similar to Frank Castle, possibly using This Is My Name on Foreign like Franz Schloss, Franciszek Zamek, Ferenc Kastély, or something to that effect.
• Super Jossed

The show takes place in the same universe as Archer

At some time in the future, Cheryl and the remaining Blossoms will change their name to Tunt and get into the hotel business. The main supports for this are the instability of both redheaded, rich Cheryls and the tendency of both shows to blur the line between past and present; Riverdale almost takes place in a 50s with cellphones, Archer almost takes place in a 60s with cellphones.

Archie will end up saving Kevin from an attack by The Black Hood

The Black Hood is targeting people they believe to be in the moral wrong, (shot Fred due to implications of adultery with the married Hermione Lodge, killed Miss Grundy for her status as a statutory rapist and attacked Moose and Midge for partaking in drug use) it could be assumed they probably aren't to fond of homosexuality. Given all the warnings and concerns that Kevin is receiving from both Betty and Sheriff Keller for his promiscuity in the woods at night, especially given the dangers that have arrived in Riverdale, it could be building to the infamous assassination attempt on his life in the comics due to homophobia, and Archie shielding his friend, and dying from the bullet meant for Kevin. It would definitely make one hell of a mid season Cliffhanger, before the winter break. Of course unlike the comics since its only the second season Archie's gonna live.

• Jossed never even happened

The Black Hood's "Sin" and "Punishment" motivations will be a reference to the time when Archie Comics was a Christian Evangelism Comic.

Namely, the Hood will represent the yearnings for a lack of change and punishment of "sin" (read: anything not included in a fundamentalist Christian moral code) which are becoming more exposed in the far right wing agenda. He wants Riverdale to "repent", and if that means gunning down those who fornicate and have checkered pasts, then the Hood is willing to do that - he has deemed them guilty, and that is all that matters to him.

• Semi-confirmed, semi-jossed. Hal Cooper's motivation for killing people was that he deemed them sinners but it doesn't seem to be a reference to that comic.

The janitor is Josie's stalker and Cheryl is innocent.

Cheryl drawing a picture of her and Josie is not proof that she was the one who left the drawing and pig's heart. It is also possible that the person who left the drawing and heart is not the same person who has been leaving creepy things in Josie's locker. The janitor is the only staff member consistently around after hours. He could have stolen Josie's locker combination from Weatherbee's office, since no one would be around and he would likely have all the necessary keys. The camera keeps focusing on him whenever Josie talks about her stalker, most notably in the scene where she and Cheryl accuse Chuck.

• Jossed. Cheryl was the stalker, and the janitor wasn't actually predatory at all.

Riverdale is in the Arrowverse

Well Riverdale won't crossover with any of the Arrowverse shows, but someone might name drop The Flash or any of the Arrowverse heroes. It would make sense, as the same producers that work on the Arrowverse work on Riverdale as well.

• Veronica accuses her mother of trying to turn Riverdale into Gotham City when she puts a bounty out on the Black Hood. This could just be a pop culture reference, or maybe....
• Also Cheryl channels her inner Arrow whenever she shots arrows into people

Moose will tell someone to "Stay out of Riverdale!".

Just cuz!

• He say it to Hiram Lodge if Archie and his friends band together and kidnapped him, throw him out of town and threaten him (and maybe along with the rest of the Big Bad Ensemble) never to come back.
• Jossed. Moose, as per usual, takes a backseat during riot night and Hiram is never driven out of town. Then in the middle of season three, he leaves Riverdale for good and attends Stonewall Prep until he is outed and joins the Army.

Fangs isn't dead

After getting shot and with half the town still out for his blood, the sheriff's office have put him in protective custody and faked his death until things calm dow. After all, we never actually saw him die.

• Confirmed! Fangs' death was misreported to the Serpents to goad them into fighting a losing battle with the Ghoulies. Fangs is seen alive, though injured, at the end of the season.

Pre-Season 3

Riverdale will see a rise in vigilante justice next season

With both the police and the gangs firmly in Hiram's pocket, nobody is going to have any official protection should something happen to them. Seeing town golden boy Archie Andrews arrested for murder is going to also create a lot of tension, unease, and distrust of the authorities. Inspired by Archie's mishandled Red and Dark circle movements, individuals will craft vigilante identities for themselves to protect their town and loved ones. Cheryl's a good bet considering she basically became the Red Arrow in Chapter 34.

• Adding to this, Hiram will be forced to hire criminals, hitmen or serial killers (including Mr. Cooper/Black Hood) to stop these vigilantes. It may get to the point where Hiram can't control them.
• Adding further, the criminals will be picked to be over the top, crazy people who Hiram figures will be easy to predict and control...and they're decidedly not. The Wham Line will be when Hiram orders the analogue for The Joker to stand down. The Clown immediately retorts, "I think...not."

The Cabots will be brought in to fight the Lodges

The teens have plenty of pep to fight Hiram with, but not a lot of resources. Veronica will contact one of the rich families that she's on good terms with, the Cabots, in order to gain some capital against her father. Alex Cabot III could even be an ex of Josie's, and therefore Veronica could bring them in via Josie and give her a decent plot-line for once.

• Jossed. Alexander and Alexandra are both main characters in the Spin off Katy Keene, however Alexandra makes a guest appearance in the fifth season of Riverdale and makes an investment in Pop’s.

Someone else will become the Black Hood.

Maybe a hired assassin, similar to Jason Todd as the Red Hood.

• Jossed.

Season 3

Moose is not bisexual, he is gay.

It has been made quite clear from the beginning that Moose is not straight, though it has never been stated how exactly he identifies. Most fans assume that he is bisexual due to his relationship with Midge, but it could be that he is gay and Midge was either his beard or he just forced himself to date her due to denial and/or compulsory heterosexuality.

• Jossed. Moose revealed in the third episode of season four that he is bisexual.

Riverdale is Jughead's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet

Since the series of 'Riverdale' is portrayed as his novel adaptation, then it seems that it's a modern mystery version of Romeo and Juliet with him as Romeo and Betty as Juliet, with the Northside/Southside conflict, which would also explain why Northsiders tend to wear quite warm colours (red, pink etc.) while Southsiders wear more blue and green with their black- colour motifs.Cheryl would be the Tybalt of the series- hot headed, quick to lashing out, and also the cousin of Betty (who's Juliet in this adaption), while Toni would be the Benvolio as she is calmer and more pragmatic. Sweet Pea would be Mercutio- aggressive but protective of his peers. All other characters are original so that Jughead could work with an ensemble cast.

The Gargoyle King is a Predator.

The current G&G storyline will turn into an adaptation of the Archie vs. Predator comic.

• Jossed. Penelope turned out to be the Gargoyle King (with the assistance of Hal Cooper and Chic). She did it to get revenge on the parents of Riverdale who she feels wronged her.

Kevin is going to snap and become the next serial killer in Riverdale

Kevin is increasingly The Woobie. He can't keep a boyfriend. The gay dating pool in Riverdale seems almost non-existent. His supposed friends mostly ignore him unless they want something from him. He now has a fake smile painted on his face most of the time and projects obviously forced cheerfulness — and nobody cares. One of the season three promo pics showed the gang all standing on one side of a stream, and Kevin standing alone on the other side. With Moose leaving town and ending their relationship just as Kevin's father gets remarried, it may be too much of an emotional ordeal and Kevin may decide to start taking revenge on Riverdale.

Pre-Season 4

Veronica will explicitly come out as bisexual in either Season Three or Season Four.

• The heavy subtext (mostly on her end) with Betty in Season One's earlier episodes already made most viewers suspect Veronica of being bisexual. Now in Season Three, she's shown reading "The Girls In 3-B", a lesbian erotica, and singing a romantic song with Toni while the latter looks on and is clearly intimidated or jealous. Perhaps the show is putting little clues now to foreshadow the reveal or Veronica's coming out?

Jughead won't die despite what's shown in The Stingers.

He's faking his death in a plan to apprehend his would-be killers. His friends may or may not be in on the charade. The stinger in the season 3 finale is actually Archie, Betty and Veronica saying good-bye to the old Jughead.

• Absolutely confirmed in "To Die For"! Though the part where the three said good-bye to Jughead is part of the Batman Gambit.

Season 4

Season 4 will end with the reveal that that episode 2 on was all part of Jughead's book the perfect murder

Episode 1 was real. Fred's death really happened. Everything after that was part of the book. Seems like the most accurate way to explain Jughead's hinted death.

Jughead won't die, it's his identical twin cousin "Souphead"

If the two characters ever appear together he will be played by Dylan Sprouse.

• Jossed, Jughead IS alive, he and Betty faked his death in an attempt to expose Stonewall Academy.

Pre-Season 5

Penelope is an unbaptized Witch

In Part 1 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina The Spellman Family made funeral arrangement for a Boy who was recently murdered. He was adopted because his parents who are mortals couldn't have children on their own, and later it was discovered by Ambrose that the boy was a warlock who even had a familiar. And now I think what if there are more orphaned witches, who weren't raised by a coven like the weird sisters were.Like the orphans who lived at the Sisters of Quite Mercy for Example, there is also the fact that Penelope has very Witchlike aura.

Season 5

The coming time-skip

It's recently been confirmed that season 5 will include a time skip, which was originally planned to follow season 4 before production was delayed due to Covid. Probably most of the teens will go their separate ways for college after graduation and will reunite in Riverdale after the time skip to solve a new mystery. Covid and the events of Katy Keene will be referenced as having taken place during the time skip, which may be as much as five years, and characters from the spinoff will make cameos to resolve storylines left dangling by the other series cancellation.

Veronica will turn out to be like Hiram as an adult

We all now that the character will suffer some drastic personality transformations. I think she will be a Distaff Counterpart of Hiram as an adult. Maybe she won't necessary start be a gangster like him, but she will become amoral, a Control Freak and manipulative, but unlike Hiram is not because she wanted to be like this, but maybe she had no choice for a reason or another. And maybe, in her new marriage, she will have this dynamic with her husband, where her husband is the Hermione.

The introduction of the CAOS Characters

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said in an Interview that he is working on bringing the CAOS characters into Riverdale. It also was very recently announced that Adeline Rudolph would join the show as Minerva Marble persuasive art appraiser. Since she's an Art Appraiser it means that she will spend time with Cheryl who has started to paint portraits. But Minerva isn't actually interested in artworks because she's actually Agatha who tries to get her hands on the supernatural artifacts that Cheryl's family had acquired over the centuries. I mean they had Herods Crown and kept it in a Maple Tree.

The season 5 musical episode

Archie and gang will put together a music festival to try to draw tourism back to Riverdale and help save the town. The headliners will be Josie and the Pussycats.

• Confirmed, Josie puts on a concert to raise funds to reincorporate Riverdale in Chapter 91: The Return of the Pussycats

At some point Minerva is going to lure Cheryl into a basement and reveal that she was Agatha All Along.

It will happen after this witch named Selma Saberhagen appears and tells Cheryl that she's a reincarnated witch.

It really was a botched robbery at the end of Season 1; Archie got shot and everything after that is a coma dream, a Dying Dream or a self-protecting bardo world

Things have been getting weirder and weirder as Archie finds it harder and harder to ignore the fact that he has left his mundane world. If a psychopomp shows up, they may very well take the form of Super Duck, Archie Comics' Donald Duck ripoff who was taller than Donald and wore lederhosen.

Pre-Season 7

The final season won't be entirely set in the 50s

The first few episodes? Sure, just to keep audiences on their toes. But soon it will be revealed that Jughead is simply projecting his conciousness into a Jughead from another alternate universe, and he and his friends will have to guide him back to the prime Riverdale universe while he travels through alternate timelines like Archie 1, Archie 3000, and The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E..

The weird-ass sixth season is actually the plot of Jughead's new book he's pitching to an agent.

Or perhaps he's trying to break into TV writing with an idea for a series about a little town called "Rivervale" in which weird things happen each week. The producer is unimpressed, so he declares his self-insert protagonist has no choice but to blow his brains out...then does it, then and there. It then cuts to Archie with a head injury sustained while narrowly escaping Hiram's bomb, waking in a hospital bed, confused, from a deranged coma dream.

Season 7 will explore the concept of a sliding timeline.

It's something the original comics are famous for, after all.

Season 7

The entire series was written by Elderly Betty in her declining years

In the 1950s timeline, Betty became a published author. In her later years she wrote a TV series set in a present-day version of her hometown of Riverdale with characters based on her old friends. While this series started out as a murder mystery; as Elderly Betty’s dementia set in the storyline got increasingly disjointed (from multiple serial killers to mind controlling RPGs to organ harvesting cults, etc.) The isolation and fear from the COVID lockdowns took a real toll on Elderly Betty’s mental health which is reflected in the weirdness of the final seasons (Magic&Multiverses.) By the end Elderly Betty’s mind was so far gone that she wasn’t even writing fiction anymore, she was just trying to record whatever she could remember from her own high school experience, which her editors turned into season 7 by incorporating the time travel element.

In the finale, not every member of the old gang has died.

Barring some sort of mishap, Jughead's sister Jellybean "J.B." Jones is likely still living. She's not a baby here, as in the comics, but she's a good five years younger than her brother, which would put her at mid- to late seventies in the new timeline. It's possible the Jones sibs became estranged over the years after J.B. moved back to Toledo with her mother, and Betty never attempted to get in touch with her, or tried but failed. She was never an A-list character, sure, but on the whole, is she any more useless or obscure than Penny Peabody or Evelyn Evernever?