The Blossoms’ family secrets drove most of Riverdale ’s first outing, but when the show returns for season 2, the mystery will shift to Betty (who is also technically a Blossom). Season 1 saw her transform from wholesome girl next door to dauntless fireball as she moved on from her unrequited crush on Archie, found love with Jughead, stood up to her domineering mother, and fought for what she believed in.
But Betty’s newfound strength will be splintered when Riverdale comes back. With Jughead now entangled with the felonious Southside serpents and set to move to Southside High, their relationship will be on shaky ground — and it won’t be the only one. She’ll have tension with Veronica Lodge, her comic book rival turned on-screen BFF, while Jughead and Archie will also be at odds. We already know that season 2 will have a “new looming threat,” but apparently, Betty will have a large stake in the conflict during the first batch of episodes.
Per Collider, actress Lili Reinhart, who plays Betty, revealed during the Riverdale Comic-Con panel that she’ll be at the core of the mystery for the first half of the season, and viewers will see a more vulnerable, hopeless side to the character:
She also confirmed that a romance between her and Archie won’t be revisited this time around, but that there will be other strains on her friendship with Veronica early on. Their dispute will apparently arise from a place of love and protection, but won’t be taken that way. “They are put to the test a little bit,” Reinhart explained, while co-star Camila Mendes added that “the audience will be hurt” while watching it unfold.
“She’s thrown into something that she never imagined and her circumstances break her.”
And as Betty’s relationships are put to the test, so too will Jughead and Archie’s. “Archie becomes this force of pure morality, vigilance, and righteousness and Jughead becomes a kind of character that knows that sometimes you have to do bad to do good,” Cole Sprouse teased. The one pair who won’t be in rocky territory? Veronica and Archie, who will be picking up speed, not slowing down. Elsewhere, an even crueler Cheryl will get a new love interest, Archie will “go as far as he can” to avenge his father’s shooting (and potential death), and the show will delve deeper into the crime that seeps through its seedy underbelly, including the town’s problem with drug trafficking.
From the sounds of it, Riverdale is only getting darker and more dangerous, but as Archie and co. drift further apart, they might not be in the position to hold things together.
Riverdale returns on Wednesday, October 11 on The CW.
Next: Riverdale Season 2 Teaser Picks Up After Season 1 Cliffhanger
Source: Collider
