The seventh and final season of Riverdale is set to premiere on Wednesday, March 29, and with the gang in the 1950s, this will be the biggest situation they will have dealt with after the Black Hood, the Gargoyle King, The Farm, Percival Pickens, and more. To get ready, we are taking a look back at the previous six seasons to catch up on the biggest storylines of the series, so take a refresher on what happened in season 2!
The Black Hood
The next big bad for the town of Riverdale is the Black Hood, who first made his mark after he shot Fred Andrews. Sending ominous notes to residents … and killing some people as well, the Black Hood sent a wave of fear through Riverdale. And knowing that it was one of their own doing the job, everyone was on high alert.
- The aftermath of the shooting was hard on Archie and Fred, but luckily they both had a great support system, and Fred was soon back home. However, Archie would stay up and guard the house and become paranoid that the Black Hood would find them.
- After Ms. Grundy moved to Greendale to get a fresh start following her affair with Archie, her new life didn’t last long. She became the latest victim at the hands of the Black Hood, and she was strangled to death.
- Wanting to keep Riverdale safe, Archie rounded up the Bulldogs to create the Red Circle, a vigilante group tasked with keeping guard and going after criminals. It was a controversial group, to say the least. It was disbanded, but at times, Archie would, of course, try to get it back and even do it himself, for better or worse.
- For reasons that would seem valid after the reveal of the Black Hood, the big bad took a liking to Betty after her speech at the Riverdale Jubilee celebration about unifying the town. He left her notes and called her (cue creepy “Lollipop” ringtone), whether it be to ask her questions or to have her prove her worth. At times she would go so far as to tell him someone that should pay for their sins or nearly bury Archie alive.
Carrie: The Musical
The first musical episode of Riverdale was definitely a night to never forget, thanks to the Black Hood. During Riverdale High’s production of Carrie: The Musical, the lead, Midge Klump, became the Black Hood’s newest victim when she was killed and then put on display on stage for the entire town to see. Fangs was accused of being responsible for what happened, and the Dark Circle formed to keep him behind bars and to avenge Midge’s death. Unfortunately, when Fangs was let out of prison, there was a riot, and he got shot (but he survived, luckily).
The Reveal
Things started to click for Betty towards the end of the season, as the Black Hood knew stuff about her that not many people know, and those only closest to her would understand. Remembering stuff from her childhood, Betty put the pieces together and realized that her own father, Hal Cooper, was the Black Hood. It was a reveal no one saw coming, and it changed the Cooper family forever, as well as the rest of the town, knowing a serial killer was living among them and was one of them.
Southside High and the Serpents
With F.P. in prison, Jughead felt like it was up to him to lead the Serpents, and that means going to Southside High (and live with a foster family, much to his dismay). There he met Southside Serpent Toni Topaz and the rest of the Serpents, including Fangs and Sweetpea. Jughead finally felt like he belonged and even refused to go back to Riverdale High when Betty came to see him. Thanks to Hiram and his development project, Southside High is raided and shut down, and the students are sent to different schools, with Jughead, Toni, Fangs, Sweetpea, and others going to Riverdale High, and they were not very welcomed.
Jingle Jangle
Before Southside High shut down, we got introduced to Jingle Jangle (yes, that’s the actual name), a drug used as a stimulant. Everyone blamed the Southsiders, mostly the Serpents, for the distribution of Jingle Jangle, but it was mostly caused by Riverdale’s other gang, the Ghoulies. The aptly named Sugar Man was the mastermind, and it was later discovered that Jughead’s teacher at Southside High, Mr. Phillips, was the culprit.
Family Troubles
As always, family troubles were abound in Riverdale and season 2 saw quite a lot of it.
- The picture-perfect Cooper family wasn’t so picture-perfect this season. On top of Hal being the Black Hood, the family got introduced to the long-lost son, Chic. Long story short, Chic got into some trouble (which involved Jingle Jangle and a dead body — thanks to Alice), he wasn’t Hal’s son but instead F.P.’s, but in reality, he was no one’s son because he wasn’t who he said he was. And apparently, the true long-lost son, Charles, was dead. The Coopers can just never get a break.
- Rekindling their high school romance, Sierra McCoy and Tom Keller try their hand at a relationship together, even if the idea was a bit weird for Josie and Kevin at first. And although they move fast, they quickly become engaged.
- The Lodge family, where do I start? The FBI had to investigate Hiram and his shady business for criminal activity (with Archie working with the Feds). Hiram wants to turn Southside High into a prison, which didn’t bode well for the Southsiders, as they protested.
- Following the fire at Thornhill, the Blossom family blew up even more. Living at Thistlehouse now, Cheryl got introduced to her Uncle Claudius, Clifford’s twin brother, who, of course, has caused some problems.
Cheryl’s Coming Out
Cheryl had a big character development in season 2, at least after she burned down Thornhill. After the Serpents came to Riverdale High, she reluctantly started getting closer to Toni and admitted a past relationship she had with a girl named Heather and how her mother didn’t approve. Unfortunately, after seeing how close her daughter was getting to Toni, Penelope put Cheryl in conversion therapy at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, but Toni, Veronica, and Kevin saved her (cue first-ever Choni kiss). It was such a big storyline for Cheryl that has only grown since, and you can read an in-depth recap of her coming out and character development in our 2020 Pride Month Spotlight article on Cheryl Blossom.
What Else Happened
- Charles Melton took over the role of Reggie Mantle after Ross Butler left.
- Mark Consuelos was introduced as Veronica’s kingpin father, Hiram Lodge, kicking off the longest big bad in the series.
- Veronica got reacquainted with her friend from New York, Nick St. Clair, who was not a good dude. He nearly sexually assaulted Cheryl, if not for Veronica, Josie, and the Pussycats … and Veronica almost had the same fate.
- Hoping to bring her closer to the Black Hood, Betty investigated the Riverdale Reaper, who was responsible for committing the murder of a family 40 years ago. Lo and behold, the Riverdale Reaper was Hal’s father, Louis Cooper.
- Fred and Hermione both run for mayor, while Veronica and Archie run for student body president. Betty and Jughead also find themselves on opposing sides.
- Cheryl’s inducted into the Southside Serpents (with a red jacket, of course), and Jughead takes over as Serpent King.
- As Archie’s win for student body president is announced, he is arrested in front of the whole school for the murder of a young woman.
Stay tuned to our recap of season 3! In the meantime, watch all six seasons of Riverdale now on Netflix before season 7 premieres on Wednesday, March 29 at 9 p.m. EST on The CW! Check out the rest of our Riverdale coverage here.
