Tonight’s RIVERDALE ends on a shocking note, but before all of that there are several major developments. Chief among them is the fact that Veronica’s old friend, Nick St. Clair, arrives in Riverdale with his family as they are being recruited by the Lodges to help bring investors on board the SoDale project. In addition, Alice publishes a hit piece in the Riverdale Register blasting the Southside, which causes Jughead to take extreme measures to keep the peace.
During a visit to the set of RIVERDALE in Vancouver this week, we spoke with the cast about tonight’s episode and what they can tease about what’s to come.
“Nick St. Clair is going to be introduced in this week’s episode. He’s played by Graham Phillips,” KJ Apa (Archie Andrews) explained. “Really good actor. We all enjoy working with Graham. He definitely stirs the pot a lot in Riverdale for sure. That first episode is when we fully see why he’s here, why he’s in Riverdale and what he’s trying to do, which is a really, really interesting storyline. Obviously being Veronica’s ex-boyfriend, things can get gnarly there especially because Archie’s, I think, very protective of Veronica. There’s some cool stuff that we played with in that episode that I think is pretty exciting.”
“He’s definitely from an elite background and shares a bit more of that exquisite taste that the Lodges’ have already implemented in our circle,” Ashleigh Murray (Josie). “Let’s just say that he seems enticing, but the Devil comes in many clothes! You never know what you’re dealing with until it’s too late, let’s put it like that.”
The arrival of the St. Clair family in general should come with a warning, according to Marisol Nichols (Hermione Lodge): “I can tell you that the friends that are coming in this next episode to visit make the Lodges look like sweethearts. They are very integral to what the Lodges are trying to do.”
Meanwhile, Jughead is going to great lengths to help stop a brewing war between the Southside and the Northside, but will he have to lose himself to do it? In the trailer for the episode we see Archie questioning whether Jughead will be joining the Serpents. According to Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones),”[In the] first season Jughead was all about staying away [from the Serpents] and consciously objecting against an involvement that would have (1) brought him closer to the other members of the town, but (2) possibly jeopardized him as a person. And I think he’s realizing now that he doesn’t really have the luxury of that choice anymore, to stay away [from the gang]. He has to get involved in the same way that everyone else is involved, and I think his initiation is truly that first step into that decision.”
But how will Jughead’s decisions affect his relationship with Betty moving forward? Sprouse hinted that “It would not be a show about teenagers if there was not some fumbling and some bumbling and some grumbling, but — considering the circumstances of really all of the kids’ lives in Riverdale and how it’s all affecting them and their psychology — I think it’s a wonder something didn’t happen sooner for poor Jughead and poor Betty! Jughead is always influenced to some greater or lesser degree by his feeling outcast, and I think (even with his decisions that disrupt his relationship with Betty) it’s always somewhat informed by his feeling outcast by either her or his immediate environment or Southside or Northside. So I think as long as that kind of thing can be explained to the people he loves in the long run, then it will all make sense.
While Jughead may be making questionable choices that affect his relationship with his loved ones, Betty is also going to be faced with decisions she has to make about the people in her life, all thanks to the Black Hood who doesn’t seem to want to “share her” with other people. “I think the Black Hood puppeteering Betty effects Betty’s relationship with everyone. It completely takes over her life, her emotional state, her mental state, her mental well being,” Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper) hinted. “I guess I can’t say too much, but it puts her relationships in jeopardy.”
Reinhart also explained that conversations with Executive Producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa yielded the conclusion that “the Black Hood and Betty are like the Phantom of the Opera and Christine in a way. He wants to kind of puppeteer her in order to get the town to where he wants it to be in a way, in a very sick and manipulative way. So he is this horrible figure who is wanting to expel Riverdale of its sins and he is using Betty to try and do that.”
But there is one person that Betty is turning to as she’s being manipulated: Archie. The preview below shows that she tells him about the Black Hood and Apa said that “I think Archie’s number one person to go to for help or advice or just someone to talk to has always been Betty for as long as he can remember. It’s exactly the same for Betty. They’re best friends and when shit really hits the fan, Betty goes to Archie and Archie goes to Betty. And it’s also interesting seeing how although both of them have boyfriends and girlfriends they still go to each other for those kinds of things which is cool too.”
RIVERADALE airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
