Riverdale has returned with a second season that already sets a much darker, more intense tone than season one. The aftermath of the shooting at Pop Tate’s diner saw Fred Andrews fighting for his life, quickly followed by the brutal strangulation of Archie’s former music teacher and love interest, Miss Grundy. But the killing spree doesn’t stop there; at the end of episode two, the hooded murderer struck again, shooting Moose and Midge when they were busy getting high on the illegal jingle-jangle.
As if the darkness that’s rapidly descending on Riverdale wasn’t enough, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is also in the works at The CW. The series will introduce Sabrina the Teenage Witch to the Riverdale universe, in her own show which is said to be in similar vein to Rosemary’s Baby (dark and creepy, basically). In the Archie Comics universe, Sabrina lives on the other side of Sweetwater River to the town of Riverdale, in Greendale.
Coincidentally, Miss Grundy was also living in Greendale at the time of her murder, which not only opens the list of suspects wider, but also brings in the possibility that the whole storyline is connected in some way to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. It’s strongly suspected by just about everyone that Sabrina will make her debut in Riverdale, sometime toward the end of season 2. There’s 22 episodes to fill, after all, and it’s also logical that the CW would try to draw attention to a new show by firmly connecting it to its sister show, which already has a fervent fanbase. Riverdale Showrunnner, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has previously admitted he almost brought Sabrina in during the season one finale, so connecting her to this ongoing season 2 storyline would make perfect sense.
Other than that one murder taking place across the water, though, there’s no other connection to Greendale thus far. But that’s not to say we won’t be seeing and hearing a lot more from the town in future episodes. Plus, there’s some new characters set to arrive on the show and we know very little about their backstories. The first of these is Chic Cooper, long-lost older brother to Betty and Polly. While we know he was given away at birth, not a lot else is known about him other than he’s said to be “rough around the edges.” Admittedly, it would be quite remarkable if Alice Cooper’s son had been living in the next town over all this time, but we wouldn’t put anything past Riverdale. Is he also a serial killer?
Then there’s Graham Phillips, who will play Veronica’s ex, Nick St. Clair. Again, all we know is that he’s a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and someone who could cause trouble between Veronica and Archie. The actor also has green eyes, something that’s synonymous with the killer. Is Nick biding his time over in Greendale, slowly picking off all those whom Archie holds dear? And if that is the case, will we then see him being introduced alongside Sabrina and maybe other characters such as Harvey, before the killer is actually revealed?
Going through the list of current Riverdale characters and trying to come up with a motive for each of the murders or attempts so far, is tough work. Mary Andrews, for example, has motive for having Fred shot and Miss Grundy killed, but not for murdering Moose and Midge. Hiram Lodge has motive for trying to kill Fred, but why would he go after Miss Grundy or a couple of high schoolers? Riverdale will continue with this story arc throughout the entirety of season 2. It would work perfectly to gradually introduce some of the Greendale residents, and ultimately Sabrina, before we discover there’s a killer in the midst.
Riverdale continues on The CW on Wednesday at 9pm
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