“Riverdale” has been making audiences say “WTF?!” since it first aired in 2017, and the latest season was no different. More than 1 million viewers tuned in for the Season 3 finale back in May for a whirlwind episode of survival, jaw-dropping plot twists and a maddening cliffhanger to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Often, it feels as though “Riverdale” leaves fans with just as many questions as it answers at each episode’s conclusion. This only adds to the CW drama’s addicting quality, and has thus made it a catalyst for elaborate fan theories concerning the show’s direction. Due to the series’ massive popularity and cult-like following, one dive into social media platforms or online forums like Reddit provides insight as to just how intricate these predictions can get.
While there is no news as to when Season 4 will hit television screens, here are five fan theories about what may happen next on “Riverdale” to hold viewers over in the meantime.
1. Goodbye, Alice Cooper
Alice, the bad—s mother of Betty Cooper, used to be everyone’s favorite character. Well, at least until the latest season.
After finding out her husband was a notorious serial killer, the Black Hood, Alice began her descent into a downward spiral that involved joining a cult, getting together with and subsequently getting dumped by Jughead’s mega-hot dad, F.P .Jones, and betraying her own daughter by selling her childhood home and donating her college-fund to the aforementioned cult, The Farm.
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If this change in character wasn’t enough for viewers to begin hating Alice, then the last-minute reveal that the entire thing was a ruse — and she had had been working undercover for the FBI all along — was enough to shake even her most loyal devotees. Fans all over couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around why the writers would take such an elaborate turn with Alice’s character, only to wipe it all away at the end.
Plus, wouldn’t it be strange for Alice to put her own daughter through the torture of thinking her mom was a lunatic cult member just as a favor to the FBI? Some fans, including Reddit user koyla555, think the only way to right this wrong is by writing Alice’s character out of the show altogether. And what’s the best way to do this? Kill her off in Farm’s group-wide ascension, also known as mass suicide.
One can only hope that this won’t be the case and there is some reasonable answer for Alice’s recent behavior that can save her from this grim fate. After all, what would “Riverdale” be without its Southside Serpent queen?
2. Charles Isn’t Who He Says He Is
In the same moment Alice Cooper’s FBI cover was blown, a new character was introduced: Charles. Charles is also an FBI agent, but he happens to be the love-child of Alice Cooper and F.P. Jones, making him the half-brother of both Betty and Jughead (weird, right?). And the real kicker is: everyone thought he was dead. It was an interesting twist to tie together the last episode, but some fans aren’t so sure Charles is who he appears to be.
Who is Charles if not Bughead’s crime-fighting half-brother, then? Some fans have decided that he doesn’t actually work for the FBI, while others theorize that he isn’t quite a half-brother at all. Maybe, it is all a set-up to lure Betty, Jughead, Veronica and Archie into yet another winding path toward trouble.
What fans are sure of, however, is that he certainly is not the good guy he has made himself out to be. Could the town of Riverdale be getting yet another villain to watch out for? After all, they are short one serial killer.
3. Super Betty to the Rescue (or Not)
It was looking like Dark Betty might make a comeback when The Farm revealed that America’s sweetheart, Betty Cooper, came back positive on a test for serial-killer genes. Although many fans are still unsure what Betty having serial-killer genes would entail, or what that even means, others think Cooper doesn’t have the genes at all.
Fan account @bughead_riverdale_theories suggests that perhaps rather than the genes of a killer, Betty Cooper possesses metahuman powers (obligatory “Flash” reference), kind of like a superhero.
Some might need more proof to believe this conspiracy theory, but it sure would make for an interesting twist next season. Betty promised herself that she would never end up like her murderous father, the Black Hood, so perhaps she would use her new-found powers for good? Still, if she became a villain, it might be a little more fun. Telekinetic prom massacre a la Carrie White, anyone?
4. Necromancy?
This one is a little far-fetched, but at this point, it seems as though nothing is impossible in the world of “Riverdale.” The series began with the disappearance and murder of Jason Blossom, but he made a gory comeback in the finale of Season 3 when his twin sister, Cheryl, found his dead body at The Farm.
The first matter that needs to be addressed is what on earth The Farm was planning to do with the corpse of a teenage boy. At the end of the latest season, it was revealed that The Farm was an underground organ harvesting scheme (again, weird on another level). It also appeared that Penelope Blossom might have been working alongside The Farm.
A morbid theory by Instagram user @riverdale_opinionz predicts that perhaps Penelope might be using The Farm’s followers’ organs to somehow bring her deceased son back to life.
Now that we know “Riverdale” and its creators’ latest series, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” exist in the same universe, maybe this theory isn’t too far off after all.
5. The Core Four Commit a Murder
All anyone seems to really care about discussing is the flash-forward at the end of Season 3 that shows Betty, Archie and Veronica all covered in blood and throwing their clothes into a fire. What’s more is the image of Jughead’s iconic hat being thrown into the flames, its owner nowhere to be found.
The addition of this scene at the end of the episode was the perfect thing to get fans excited for the next season, but it also got everyone’s gears turning about what could have led to this tragic event.
It seems as though between sadistic cult leader Edgar Evernever, and the unholy trinity of Hiram, Chic, Penelope and possibly Charles, the core four have their share of enemies. Many fans have begun to speculate that, at some point next season, show producers will murder one of these billboard names. Whether it’s in cold-blood or self-defense, even the savviest of theorists aren’t sure, but no outcome other than death would call for such a gruesome scene.
The theories become more complex when it comes to figuring out why Jughead wasn’t shown in this scene, and, more importantly, why his friends didn’t seem to be freaking out about it. While some fans think perhaps Jughead had to flee, because he was the one who committed the murder, others think he might be dead.
Luckily, no one seems to think “Riverdale” would go as far as to kill off everyone’s favorite e-boy, but if theory number three proves true, maybe even death wouldn’t stop Jughead from continuing to appear on the show.
While die-hard fans might be able to make educated guesses based on the show’s general set-up of horror and mystery, no one can ever really guess the plot twists that “Riverdale” pulls out from time to time.
And who knows, maybe some of the more far-fetched theories will make it onto the next season. My money is on Reddit-user burnnoticelover’s theory that Pop’s milkshakes are laced with protein powder, and that’s why everyone in Riverdale is so ripped. Now that just makes sense.
