The Black Hood is returning to Riverdale much sooner than you think

17 December 2018, 16:28 | Updated: 17 December 2018, 16:37

By Katie Louise Smith

Riverdale's worst serial killer, Hal Cooper, is back back BACK AGAIN and it sounds like he's gonna have a big ol' storyline.

Just when you thought the town of Riverdale had enough on it's plate, what with the Gargoyle King terrorising the residents via board games and Hiram Lodge's big dramatic quarantine moment in the mid-season finale, it looks like an old villain is coming back for more.

Yep, time to stop sinning and get your act together honeyyy because Hal Cooper, aka The Black Hood, will be returning to the show in the new year. Confirmed by Lochlyn Munro on Twitter, it looks like we'll be taking a trip to visit Hal in prison in the tenth episode of the season.

When is the next episode of Riverdale season 3 on?

At the end of season two, we saw Hal Cooper unveiled as the Black Hood and thrown in prison. But just when we thought that was the last we'd seen of Papa Coop, it was soon revealed that his story on the show was far from over.

Lochlyn Munro returns as the Black Hood, Hal Cooper on Riverale
Lochlyn Munro returns as the Black Hood, Hal Cooper on Riverdale. Picture: The CW

According to Lochlyn Munro, who didn't find out he was the Black Hood until THAT episode, Hal has a whole story arc in the third season of the show. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about Hal's role in season 3, Munro says: "Roberto came up to me and adamantly said, “No, it’s not over [for] Hal. We have a whole different story arc planned for that."

"I’m really excited to see what they come up with, so I can really jump into it. Because I now have really embraced this situation with him, and I want to see why he became the guy he is. It gives me more to do, and I look forward to it."

It was teased that Hal would be returning "sooner than you might expect" and now that the actual date of his appearance has been confirmed by Lochlyn on Twitter. Yep, Hal Cooper will be returning to the show on the January 23rd episode - right in the middle of all that Gryphons and Gargoyles drama. How convenient. How interesting. How... suspicious.

Obviously, Hal is still in jail for his Black Hood antics (RIP Midge, you jingle jangle legend) so the chances of us seeing him back behind those Silence of the Lambs glass walls is probably certain. In fact, speaking to Glamour in October, Aguirre-Sacasa teased Hal's return saying, "When we reconnect with him, he's definitely behind bars, behind glass, behind barbed wire. He's in maximum security, that’s for sure."

But who's going to visit him? And what for? Is it Betty? Is it Alice? Is it Hiram? Does he have some scoop about the Gargoyle King that we don't know about? Or some intel on Hiram's big plan? Is he part of Hiram's big plan? Did he ever play Gryphons and Gargoyles back when he was in high school, the same time as all the other parents? Does he have connections at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy? WHAT DOES HE WANT?!

Whatever it is, it sounds like Papa Coop has some real tea on this season's big mystery. SPILL IT, HAL.