May’s season finale of Riverdale season 2 was epic to say the least. The fate of Jughead Jones and the little town that could (with an engine of steel) has been revealed. But we’re left with so many burning questions, and more importantly, we need to know if Riverdale season 3 is in the works.
Recap on Riverdale season 2 finale
Jughead (thank Heavens) is alive — and, as it turns out, so is Fangs. Kevin and Midge-grieving Moose share a kiss in the school bathroom, and Cheryl makes her emancipation final. Veronica schemes against her ultra-scheming, I-can-buy-anything-I-want father when she finds out that he may have put Hermione in harm’s way, he fired FP from Pop’s and he’s out to buy the last piece of South Side land he doesn’t own: the White Worm (aka the go-to Serpent hangout). Veronica purchases the bar only to trade it for ownership of Pop’s, sacrificing her share of the family business, her allowance (aka bloody money) from “daddy” and, ultimately, his respect.
It’s a smart move, but (surprise!) her efforts to stop her father from wreaking havoc on the town fail when we get a glimpse of what’s to come: Hiram has created a network of puppets who will bring more crime to the South Side than ever before. Drugs will run through the prison he’s set to build, where the Ghoulies will be watchdogs under Penny Peabody’s reign. Hiram has also promised Cheryl’s mother a brothel, and Sheriff Minetta is in on it.
Betty confronts her father behind bars (aka the Black Hood), telling him there’s “no more darkness” and that she’s done with him forever — though he doesn’t take this very well, promising that he’ll find her even if she changes the locks or moves across the country. Polly is back with her cubby-cheeked twins and gives us the creeps when she tells Mrs. Cooper she can connect her with a “friend” back at The Farm to help her find joy again.
FP announces his official resignation from the Serpents. Jughead becomes the Serpent King, asks Betty to be his queen (though it sounds awfully similar to a marriage proposal) and dubs Cheryl an honorary member of the South Side gang. She gets her own jacket — red, of course — and Toni is all for it.
We find out that the second Black Hood was Tall Boy, and that Hiram allegedly hired him to attack Mr. Andrews, who lost the mayoral race against Hermione. Archie, naturally, goes to threaten Hiram, which doesn’t go well. The next day our favorite redhead heartthrob/student body president (yes, he wins!) is arrested for the murder of Shadow Lake resident Cassidy Bullock. It’s another one of Hiram’s schemes.
Was Tall Boy really the other Black Hood? Where is Chic? (Because we still don’t know.) Is a Riverdale wedding something to look forward to? Will Archie make it out of this framing fiasco alive? There’s so much left unwritten.
Is there a Riverdale season 3?
Good news Riverdale fans: it’s coming back to The CW sometime this fall.
We know that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Toni (Vanessa Morgan) and Reggie (Charles Melton) on Riverdale season 3. They’ve been promoted to series regulars, according to TV Insider.
Riverdale season 3 will also show Hermione in a personal and political dilemma, having to choose between what’s right for the town and what her husband sees fit. “We are going to see Hermione in a very tricky position,” executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told TVLine. “She’s in the mayor’s office, on very shifting ground with Hiram.”
In terms of Jughead’s potential proposal to Betty, the executive producer told TVLine, “We define what that is in the season premiere coming back. But it does feel like it’s not just, ‘Join the Serpents.’ It does feel like there’s a romantic component to it, doesn’t it?” (Way to make us more curious there Roberto!)
Aguirre-Sacasa also offered one very crucial fact that we ought to remember: “No one is ever completely dead.”
Riverdale season 3 returns to The CW on Wednesday, October 10, at 8:00 p.m. ET. For everything we know about the new season, click through to our guide on Riverdale season 3.
