Where is Jughead in Riverdale season 5 episode 11? Was he abducted?
By Sabrina Reed
When we left Jughead Jones in Riverdale season 5, he was tripping on mushrooms and cycling through past trauma, some of which involved Betty’s infidelity with Archie in season 4. That was the last we saw of him before Tabitha came to check on the misanthrope and found only a bloody handcuff.
Of course, theories abound over the four month hiatus the show went on after “Chapter Eighty-Six: The Pincushion Man” aired. Was Jughead kidnapped? Was he abducted by mothmen? Was he simply wondering around the Riverdale woods dazed and confused?
Finally, we have answers thanks to the newly released eleventh episode of the season, “Chapter Eighty-Seven: Strange Bedfellows,” and what we’re about to tell you probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.
Here’s what happened to Jughead after he went missing in episode 10.
Where is Jughead in Riverdale season 5 episode 11 “Strange Bedfellows”?
Spoilers ahead of Riverdale season 5 episode 11
Turns out Jughead, while not emotionally fine, is not only alive and kicking, but he was never actually missing. In typical Jones fashion, the dramatic scene he left behind was only the result of him being a dramatic character.
When we see him for the first time since the hiatus, Jughead is staying in Sketch Alley. Dressed in a Superman sweater and an oversized coat, he’s living on the street. It’s unclear how much time has passed since Jughead found his way to the alley, but that’s not uncommon for Riverdale.
A couple of days for some characters can appear to be weeks for others. Time is a concept in the series to be distorted and warped to fit the aesthetic and mood on display. In Jughead’s case it looks like he’s been living in the alley for awhile even though it can’t have been that long since Tabitha left him in the bunker.
Still, the point of Jughead’s stay at the alley is to set him on the path to truly dealing with the trauma he’s experienced over the past seven years including the blank space in his memory he knows is filled with darkness.
The homeless man he befriends in the episode serves as a reminder of Jughead’s past. In the episode we flashback to a time when he talked about a man named Doc who’d looked after him when he was on the street. Jughead watched him get beaten up one night, and he’s ashamed that he did nothing to help his friend.
Now a grown man, he doesn’t let history repeat itself and helps Doc when his life is threatened. It’s an action that prompts Jughead to go back to New York to face his demons in order to remember what happened to him years ago.
Doing so, however, may have put Jughead right in the path of the Lonely Highway Killer though he doesn’t know that yet. What will happen with our favorite misanthropic writer next? We can’t wait to find out!
New episodes of Riverdale season 5 air Wednesdays on The CW at 8 p.m. ET.