Riverdale: 5 major questions we still have after Prom Night

In true Riverdale fashion, prom night turns into a fight for Betty’s life as she comes face to face with the Gargoyle King and relives her worst nightmare.

Betty can’t even catch a break on prom night. Riverdale leans into the ren-fair fantasy of Gryphons & Gargoyles as Betty and Jughead, decked out in their medieval best, concoct a plan to catch the Gargoyle King in action before the prom court can even be crowned. However, Betty runs into a rerun of her worst nightmare as a demon from her past reappears. Who’s back to haunt Betty?

“Prom Night” delivered the chills and thrills but left a lot of questions unanswered. Let’s dig into the five most pressing questions still lingering from the latest jaw-dropping episode of Riverdale. (Warning: It’s about to get real spoilery in here.)

1. Why is the Black Hood back?

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You could read into this question one of two ways: “WHY is he back?!?” or “Why is he returning now and setting his sights on Betty?” See, one is screamed with a colossal eye-roll and the other is concerned with Hal’s motives, but neither line of questioning is incorrect.

Last season’s ruthless killer’s return (shocker: he didn’t die in the prison van fire!) in conjunction with the Gargoyle King mystery reaching its conclusion raises a few eyebrows, but it’s also a bold move to bring back a character no one liked. On the other hand, now it appears the Black Hood might have played a part in this Gargoyle King and Farm uprising.

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2. Is Mary back for good?

Molly Ringwald returns as Archie’s mother Mary one episode after Luke Perry’s final appearance as Fred. For now, Fred’s absence has been explained as him just being “away,” but Mary opts to stay in Riverdale for a longer period of time to look after Archie given the chilling series of events around town.

However, Archie immediately forges his mother’s signature to compete in a boxing tournament and misses the Naval Academy recruitment meeting she set up for him. Talk about a welcome wagon. The length of Mary’s stay hasn’t been specified, but more Mary and more Molly Ringwald would never be a bad thing.

3. How will Veronica outsmart Hiram?

Much lower on the totem pole in the grand scheme of things, Veronica caught wind of an ill-timed bombshell from Pop. As it turns out, Hiram duped Veronica into thinking she owned both Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit with a fake deed. This could make “diversifying her portfolio” by investing in Archie’s gym all the more troublesome, but it’s also lit a fire under her to continue her lifelong fight with Hiram over ownership — of her assets, her life, and herself. But, uh… How will she do that?

4. Has Betty become a Farmie?

You know Betty Cooper’s in a bad way when she surrenders to The Farm. Betty and Jughead explore multiple dead ends, from a tattoo artist who helps identify Edgar as a potential lead as the Gargoyle King to luring the King into exposing himself at prom. (Coercing Cheryl into changing the theme to renaissance fair like a day before the dance might be Betty’s greatest accomplishment.)

But after being crowned prom queen as planned, she faces off with the Gargoyle King and a hook-wielding Black Hood (a real I Know What You Did Last Summer vibe). She accepts Edgar’s invitation for asylum at The Farm, but will she open her mind to the cult’s teachings?

5. Could the Gargoyle King be Chic?

Just thinking out loud here! The tattoo artist said the man who asked for the Gryphons & Gargoyles cipher ink, before Kurtz, has sandy hair, blue eyes, and a magnetic personality. While it could be the Black Hood (though we know he’s got green eyes), the only other person to fit that description is the missing-in-action Chic — that is, if you believe Edgar isn’t magically hiding his back tattoo.

Hart Denton did tease a potential return a couple months ago, and if the Black Hood is back and needs an accomplice… Let’s just say stranger conspiracy theories have come true.

What did you think of the latest episode? Sound off in the comments!

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.