Hold onto your crowns, Riverdale fans, because Archie (KJ Apa) and his friends are all on the chopping block.
The CW’s Archie Comics drama has already been renewed for a second season, but someone’s not making it out of season one alive. When Nerdist and other press sat down with executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to talk the next two episodes of Riverdale, he revealed that the rumors about another death on the show before season one ends are — gasp! — true.
“Yes, there is truth to that rumor,” Aguirre-Sacasa revealed to the room of reporters with a smile. But he shut down when pressed more about it, like if the identity of the victim was one of the cast members in the room like Apa, Luke Perry who plays Fred Andrews, Cole Sprouse who plays Jughead, or Skeet Ulrich who plays Jughead’s dad FP.
“I can’t say that,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “The rumored death, if the rumored death happens, it would set up season two.”
The death is likely happening in the season one finale, but at this point, all bets are off on who the unlucky character will be. Though my guess is that it will be whoever ends up being revealed as Jason Blossom’s (Trevor Stines) killer, right? Start the speculation now!
“Gosh, what can I tease you about [the finale]?” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “One really nice thing is that Lee Toland Krieger who directed the pilot and did episode 2 and 3 came back for the finale and has our biggest set piece by far. It has all the different elements that are great about the show combined into one meaning there’s music in it, there’s romance, there’s suspense and horror. All the different things make it the ultimate Riverdale episode.”
But what the showrunner is most excited about in the finale is how the episode “will focus on the relationships.”
“A lot of it will focus on Betty [Lili Reinhart] and Jughead and Archie and Veronica [Camila Mendes],” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “Greg Berlanti, my boss, our boss, the godfather of all this, says, ‘Make sure in the finale you leave enough time and you can focus on the characters.’ It was a really good insight, and for all the crazy stuff that happens up to and into the finale, one thing I’m really proud of is that there are quiet moments and there are quiet scenes between the kids, because that’s what it was like in the pilot. In the pilot it was like, there’s a dance and that’s the story, you know what I mean? You have glimmers of the mystery. It was nice to be able to get back to that.”
Before we can start theorizing on what’s going down in the season finale, there are still three other episodes left to get through. This week’s hour, “The Lost Weekend,” is one of the season’s best chapters, and that’s mostly because it focuses on Jughead and his aversion to celebrating his birthday. Of course, his new girlfriend Betty isn’t going to let that stop her from throwing Juggie a little party anyway. But why does Jughead hate his birthday so much?
“I think just because the attention is all on him,” Sprouse said. “I think there are probably some deeper underlying psychoses behind it, but I think he’s one of those characters that is a little bit vain, and considers himself, honestly, to be better than the people he surrounds himself with. When he’s thrust into this supernormal, kind of conformist idea of an American party, that complicates a lot of that. I also think he’s an introvert, so he’s nervous around large groups of people. I think the attention being all on him is something he would legitimately have a distaste for.”
“And FP took birthday spankings way too far,” Ulrich joked, giving Sprouse a fatherly push as the two men laughed.
“Way too far,” Sprouse agreed with a laugh. “’17 spankings for 17 years!'”
This week’s episode also marks a big moment for Archie and his dad when his mom Mary (Molly Ringwald) surprisingly shows up in Riverdale after moving to Chicago two years ago. Archie’s parents are separated, and the word “divorce” will start getting thrown around no matter how much Archie hates it.
Casting teen idol Ringwald in the role of Mary Andrews wasn’t a piece of stunt casting, according to Aguirre-Sacasa.
“We’re so blessed by all of the actors in the show and everyone who’s up here was cast because they felt like the perfect embodiment of this character in the show,” he said. “So it’s nice that Luke did a really popular show that I liked and that a lot of our audience liked. It’s great that Skeet played these roles in iconic movies that I loved. But really, it’s about what they brought to the table for the roles of Fred and FP and the relationships that they’re creating with their sons. It’s nice that people feel warmly toward the characters of Archie and it is nice when Mary appears and it’s Molly Ringwald. I think people are like, ‘Oh good, it’s Molly Ringwald,’ and I like that. So that does give us a shorthand, but it all has to work on every level for me at least.”
Are you excited to see Jughead’s birthday? What do you think of Ringwald joining the show in such a big way? And most importantly, who’s getting killed off?! Tweet me at @SydneyBucksbaum and let’s discuss all things Riverdale!
Images: The CW
Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
