Does Jughead Actually Die In "Riverdale"?

10 May 2018, 13:32

By Katie Louise Smith

After a wild penultimate episode, Jughead appears to be in grave danger - but does he survive?

Hello, is that the police? Yes, I'd like to report a crime. Riverdale might have just killed off one of their main characters, everything is up in flames and I feel VERY attacked right now over the reveal of the Black Hood.

Yes, a riot has broken out in Riverdale. Reggie is on the run from the Serpents. Sweet Pea is on a mad one. Midge's mum shot Fangs. Fangs is dead. Veronica has rumbled her father's plans. Hermione has hit the bottle - hard. Hiram is playing a very elaborate game of Wizard's Chess with the lives of children. Papa Poutine's son Small Fry is not actually that small. Cheryl has gone full Mockingjay. Fred got shot again. Hal apparently descends from a long line of serial killers. He's also the Black Hood. Alice risked her life so she could straight up END Hal with a perfectly crafted soliloquy about how FP is better in bed. Sheriff Keller is back. Penny Peabody is back. The Ghoulies are back. Betty is 100% gonna need a 12-month therapy programme after all this. And SOMEONE is quite literally hanging on for dear life.

As always, if you haven't seen the episode yet, please DO NOT scroll past this gif of Riverdale's DILF Squad™ in action...

Right then - it's time to talk about Jughead. After being lured into a dangerous situation by Penny Peabody and the Ghoulies and agreeing to fight alongside the Serpents in exchange to Toni Topaz's safety, Juggie ends up sacrificing himself (after making a heartbreaking phone call to Betty) to save his friends. He's beaten within an inch of his life by 30 gang members with Penny doing the honours of slicing his tattoo off his arm, just as he did to her.

At the end of the episode, FP carries his limp body out of the woods with everyone - including the audience at home - staring on in horror. Jughead looks as good as dead and FP looks more broken than he's ever been. The episode ended without any confirmation of Jughead's status and everyone is absolutely LOSING IT.

Cole Sprouse even tweeted that he was "grateful" once the episode had aired, leading everyone to believe that he was done with the show. There's even a very suspicious looking screenshot from the season finale promo trailer that leads fans to believe that the remaining three of the core four are standing at a grave.

'I'm a weirdo' shirt now available on the PopBuzz merch store💻 search 'PopBuzz merch'⌨️ #Riverdale #Jughead

A post shared by PopBuzz (@popbuzz) on Apr 25, 2018 at 5:10am PDT

So... is Jughead dead, or will he live to fight another day?

Fans have been clamouring all over the internet to find any shred of evidence that proves Jughead survives. And so far, there's quite a bit of tea that hints toward a swift recovery. Here's what we know:

1) He's literally mentioned in the synopsis for the next episode: "FP makes a surprising announcement to Jughead and the Serpents." That's obviously not a confirmation but it does hint at some improvement in Jughead's condition.

2) Skeet Ulrich ALLEGEDLY revealed to a fan that one of his favourite scenes of the season took place in the season finale when Jughead is in hospital.

3) The grave pictured in the promo could be one of two things: It could be Fangs' grave. Or it could be one of Jughead's hallucinations. Remember when Fred was shot and he had all those hallucinations while he was in a coma? It could just be Jughead imagining everyone standing over his grave.

4) Cole has been spotted on set for the final episode with bruises on his face. But then again... Drew Tanner (who plays Fangs) was also spotted on set and in costume but as it turns out - Fangs is dead now. (OR IS HE?)

While it's common for TV shows to kill off major characters, surely there's no way that Riverdale would get rid of one of the most popular characters on the show and one half of one of TV's greatest ships so early into their run, right? RIGHT? I need to lie down. I'm scared.