We have made it to the final episode of Riverdale‘s sixth season and it is a lot. The town prepares for Bailey’s Comet and what could be their last day on Earth, but they don’t go down without a fight. And the end result will leave you shocked.
Keep reading to see what happened in the season 6 finale, “Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Night of the Comet.”
Ground Zero
In less than 18 hours, Bailey’s Comet is going to “obliterate” Riverdale, courtesy of Percival Pickens. There’s an invisible barrier at the town’s limits so while people can come into Riverdale, no one can leave. The gang isn’t giving up yet, however. Cheryl mentions she knows someone they can consult with who has ancient knowledge that rivals Percival’s. In the meantime, Archie, Frank, and co. will dig in the mines to try to bypass the barrier.
Meanwhile, everyone is unsettled about the comet, making last amends. Alice apologizes to her daughters for not being the best mother and Reggie gives Veronica back Hiram’s portrait that he stole out of Percival’s shop before it went up in flames.
Franchising
As Jughead and Tabitha have come to terms with their (mostly Jughead’s) impending doom, Alexandra Cabot surprisingly walks through Pop’s doors.
“I am here to make all of your dreams come true.”
Xandra tells the duo she just closed a deal to buy the facilities once owned by Tommy’s Comet, a restaurant chain that went belly up. This means they can take them over and make them Pop’s Diners across the country. Investors are lined up and they are good on financials. Xandra just needs an immediate yes from Tabitha. Due to the oncoming comet, Tabitha is hesitant, but of course, she doesn’t mention the comet. Xandra gives her 10 hours to decide on the opportunity of a lifetime.
Jughead tries to talk Tabitha into franchising Pop’s but she isn’t committing to anything as long as there is a comet hurtling toward them. But she appreciates him being the Jack to her Rose. It’s then she finds out that Jughead has never seen one of her favorite movies of all time, Titanic. So they spend their final day watching the movie.
Tabitha signs on the dotted line to franchise Pop’s. Alexandra plans on starting the partnership the next day bright and early, but it’s hard for anyone to be excited for the future considering they may not have one.
Seeking Wisdom
Cheryl and Heather call upon Abigail for help and Cheryl promises to free her from the doll. Abigail tells them that her beloved Thomasina was not only a witch but an astronomer who showed her Bailey’s Comet, telling her that it’s made of ice. Abigail tells Cheryl that when the comet gets close enough to Earth to use her Phoenix powers to melt it.
“That’s kind of basic but also kind of genius.”
If it works, it will use all of Cheryl’s powers which will come at a cost. Heather asks about Percival’s spell about the barrier and Abigail will agree on one condition.
With Great Power
Cheryl gathers her friends at Thornhill to tell them about the plan to melt the comet, but at the cost of losing one or more loved ones that came back from the dead. It’s Cheryl’s powers that are keeping the resurrected dead alive.
“If Riverdale is to live, one or many of you or your loved ones must die.”
Precious Life
After Fangs gives Anthony a Serpent tattoo, he and Toni tell him that he is now the Serpent King. It’s up to him to make sure the Serpents don’t die out and to make sure their legacy continues.
Cheryl tells Toni about Abigail willing to help break Percival’s spell and escape the border but she wants to spend one last night with her beloved. Cheryl would be Abigail’s vessel and Toni will be Thomasina’s vessel. Their souls will be in a jar until their ancestors’ love-making ends.
Archie comes home to find his mom, who tells him about her divorce. She tells Archie that life is precious and he doesn’t want to waste any second.
Veronica cheers to her dad, hoping to not meet him in the afterlife. She gives him one final kiss on the cheek on the portrait, and because of her poison, the portrait disintegrates. Archie later comes over and tells Veronica he’s going to ask Betty to marry him. He asks if she has any rings from her shop and Veronica gives him an amazing diamond from her personal stash that Betty would flip for.
If Today Were the Last
Archie proposes to Betty in her bedroom, but Betty doesn’t exactly say yes. She loves him but tells him that he’s a hero and he can’t save everyone sometimes.
“Sometimes you can just be scared and that’s okay. That’s human.”
Betty tells Archie to ask her again after Cheryl melts the comet and they survive and find a way out of Riverdale. Archie promises he’s going to do that for them and break the barrier so he can marry her.
Betty later talks to Agent Drake, who tells her that Director Wilcox wants them to head the FBI’s serial killer division. She tells Drake she’s in a transitional period and that part of her life is over. It’s not about TBK or Archie. It’s about how she wants to spend the rest of her life.
Toni and Cheryl are back in their bodies, laying in bed, having no memory of what happened. With lingering feelings, Cheryl thanks Toni for what she did. Later, Abigail tells Cheryl that the night was beyond her wildest imagination and shows her ancestor a knotted piece of rope. Once it’s untangled, the barrier shall be broken and they will all be able to leave Riverdale.
Jughead’s first viewing of Titanic is life-changing, and he is on the “Jack could fit on the door” side of the debate. He has Tabitha promise to take Alexandra up on the offer to take Pop’s national. Tabitha swears but in exchange she wants him to go on one last epic date with her. She uses her powers to take them on an epic journey of their life they deserve together and they see themselves with a son and a daughter sitting at Pop’s, growing up and growing old, all happy, in just one minute.
Changes
Reggie asks Veronica what she’s going to do if they survive the comet and in true Veronica fashion, she plans on doing a shopping spree in Paris with Katy Keene. Reggie, meanwhile, wants to get a dog. Veronica tells Reggie she wants him to have sole ownership of the Babylonium. She wants to focus on her absinthe. If there is another chapter of her life, Veronica wants to do a hard reboot on all fronts. Focus on being single, fabulous, date a lot, and work on her friendship skills.
Archie tries to break through the barrier with no luck and Mary drives up to him, having heard all about everything from Betty, upset he didn’t tell her. Archie apologizes to her, knowing he couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to her. Mary tells him he shouldn’t be scared and Archie brings up how much his dad loved Riverdale, how he basically built it with his two hands. Mary tells him that Fred would be doing exactly what he would be doing, fighting until the end, but he would also put down his tools and be with the ones he loves.
Later, Archie and Betty are laying in bed together just talking about their life and their possible future. The tables turn and Betty asks Archie to marry him even though she wanted to wait. She is as serious as a comet hurtling towards Riverdale. Archie says yes.
As Cheryl and Heather try to untie all of the knots, Heather says she’s decided to go back to Greendale in the event Cheryl melts the comet. She’s seen the way Cheryl looks at Toni. No matter how much it hurts her, Heather knows Cheryl and Toni are soulmates.
“Your fate is written in the stars. It transcends time.”
Gifts of One
Veronica talks to her father’s portrait, thinking about everything that’s happened that year. She realizes something very important about her powers, a way to save her friends. She calls an emergency meeting and she tells her friends she may have figured out a way to bolster Cheryl’s powers to take down the comet and augment the Phoneix powers’ energy so no one has to die.
“I am so happy you uttered that sentence instead of me.”
With Veronica being a human dialysis machine, Veronica thinks she can use her gift to absorb all of their abilities, their strengths, and give them to Cheryl to augment her Phoenix power. This is why Veronica stayed in Riverdale. Maybe the multiverse gave them specific powers so they can combine them. Doing things in an It way, the gang cut themselves and press their wounds together and Veronica will give the powers to Cheryl via a kiss.
Cheryl: A: that’s queer-baiting and B: won’t your poison kiss kill me?
Veronica: A: it’s not queer-baiting, it’s saving the world and B: pretty sure your Phoenix power trumps my poison power.
While they don’t know what will happen when they give Cheryl their powers, they successfully do so. After some tests, it’s found out Cheryl has their powers and the others are their normal selves once again. She’s as ready as she’ll ever be.
Bailey’s Comet
After Cheryl creates a portal to Pop’s, she goes into the parking lot and waits for the comet’s arrival. Meanwhile, the characters gather with their loved ones, and sing a song about the end of the world, preparing for what could be their final minutes.
The comet gets close and Cheryl unleashes her Phoenix powers, saying a spell over and over again. She rises up into the air as the sky gets more yellow, and there’s an explosion of white light.
The Morning After
The morning after Bailey’s Comet seems like any other. Riverdale is still around, as are the characters. However, the powers did something “wholly unexpected yet utterly inevitable.” Riverdale and its citizens survived the battle between good and evil and it was still their Riverdale.
Jughead narrates that they were in a different time, before Jason Blossom, before the Black Hood, possibly in order to survive. Archie gets downstairs and sees Mary crying over a newspaper article. James Dean had died in a car crash.
“Somehow, the year is 1955 and somehow, Archie Andrews and all of his friends, me included, are teenagers again. And I’m the only one who remembers what our lives were like B.C. Before the comet.”
And there you have it! Season 6 of Riverdale has finally and officially come to a close. Between Rivervale, Percival, and the comet, it’s been a wild ride. What will the seventh and final season bring now that we are being taken to the 1950s?
Don’t miss the final season of Riverdale premiering midseason 2023 on The CW! Season 6 will be available on August 7 on Netflix. Check out our continued coverage of the series, including episode recaps!
