‘Riverdale’: A Quick Recap Before the Show Returns
After over a month on hiatus, Riverdale returns with its musical episode on April 15. Season 4 came with a number of twists and turns. For those who need a refresher, here’s a quick breakdown of how this season’s mystery unfolded.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Riverdale, season 4, episode 16.]
Jughead’s murder on ‘Riverdale’ was part of a secret plan
In the March 11 episode, Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) reveal what really happened on the night of the Ides of March party. Just before Archie (KJ Apa) and Veronica (Camila Mendes) found Betty standing over Jughead’s bloody body in the woods, Donna (Sarah Desjardins) had pulled Betty aside and drugged her into a daze. In an attempt to kill him, Joan (Doralynn Mui) hit Jughead in the head with a rock, and Donna set it up to look like Betty did it.
When Archie and Veronica find Jughead in the woods that night, he’s still alive but unconscious. Realizing this is a Stonewall ploy, Betty calls Charles (Wyatt Nash) and asks him to take care of Jughead. Luckily, Jughead’s beanie saves him from serious injury, and he ends up surviving the blow.
Along with the help of his friends and family, including F. P. (Skeet Ulrich), Mary Andrews (Molly Ringwald), and Alice Cooper (Mädchen Amick), Jughead devises a plan to expose the real mastermind behind the bizarre murders and disappearances at Stonewall Prep.
Mr. Dupont and Donna’s true intentions are exposed
In the last episode, “Chapter Seventy-Three: The Locked Room,” Betty and Jughead lock the Stonewall preppies in a room with Mr. Dupont (Malcolm Stewart) and expose Mr. Dupont as the real villain. With the help of Jughead’s grandfather, Betty and Jughead describe how Mr. Dupont manipulated generations of students and teachers to commit murders in exchange for the multimillion-dollar Baxter Brothers writing contract.
Under Mr. Dupont’s instruction, Mr. Chipping (Sam Witwer) invited Moose (Cody Kearsley) to Stonewall to become the next victim. But when Mr. Chipping couldn’t go through with it, he told Moose to leave and killed himself.
After being confronted about his sordid past, Mr. Dupont jumps out of the window and dies. Later, Betty confronts Donna and tells her she knows that her grandmother was also a victim of Mr. Dupont. She suggests Donna give up the Baxter Brothers contract and leave, and threatens to expose her to the world if she doesn’t.
Jughead heads back to Riverdale High
After exposing Stonewall’s murderous history, Jughead returns to Riverdale High, and surprisingly, no one really seems shocked to see Jughead alive. Upon finding out it was all a charade, Cheryl (Madeline Pesch) tells Betty her chemistry with Archie looked very real.
Later, while the crew is hanging out at Pop’s, Jughead mentions the whole murder plot has really taken away his focus from school. But Betty and Veronica insist they’ll get Archie and Jughead all the tutoring they need to graduate this year.
Kevin, who’s in charge of the variety show this year, joins them at Pop’s, and makes everyone, including Jughead, sign up to perform. As seen in a sneak peek of the upcoming musical episode, which airs April 15, the students are taking on Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
