10 Important Things You Need to Remember Before Riverdale Returns

Remember the boy from Shadow Lake that Hiram kills? Well, it looks like Mr. Lodge has found a way to frame Archie for his death. Archie dabbles in organized crime in season two, but he's no murderer. It's no coincidence that the arrest comes right after Archie shows up at the Lodges' home to confront Hiram about all his evil dealings.

Despite Veronica and Archie's help, Fred doesn't manage to win the election. Still, it seems like a reconciliation between him and Hermione could be imminent. Hermione tells Fred he ran a great campaign after the results come in. She also helps Veronica conspire against Hiram, so she might turn to Fred for help conspiring against her husband in season three.

Even though Fred loses the mayoral election, there's one Andrews victory here. Still, the happiness is short-lived, thanks to Archie's arrest (which, naturally, happens in a Riverdale school assembly . . . with Hiram lurking in the shadows).

Nana Rose is now Cheryl's legal guardian, thanks to the help of attorney Sierra McCoy. Cheryl also goes through another major step in claiming her independence. She joins the Serpents, and her initiation is complete with a red leather Serpent jacket.

Even though she tells Alice that she doesn't want to see her dad, Betty eventually decides to visit her father. Betty tells Hal that there will be "no more darkness" and "no more evil" now that his days as the Black Hood are over. But her father taunts her, saying they're alike and that she'll never truly escape him.

During a meeting with Penelope, Claudius, Penny Peabody, and various Ghoulies, Hiram sheds light on what will happen with the new prison. It turns out, Hiram's plan for the former Southside High location isn't just a venture into the private prison industry. He wants to use the prison for Claudius's drug business, with the help of Penny and the Ghoulies.

Technically, Veronica buys the Whyte Wyrm, using the recovered money from her deal with the St. Clairs. But she trades the bar to her father in exchange for ownership of the beloved diner. Unfortunately, the decision means that Veronica loses all future money from her dad, including her trust fund. Veronica doesn't seem to mind losing her father's "blood money," though, and she already has plans for the diner. She tells her friends she wants to reopen a speakeasy that was once connected to Pop's, and she'll hire F.P. as manager.

Sheriff Minetta tells Archie that he's identified Tall Boy as the masked intruder at the Andrews house and the shooter at the town hall. Tall Boy apparently dies in a shootout with police, the sheriff adds. As Jughead later points out, that means the Black Hood crimes will never be connected to Hiram, since Tall Boy isn't alive to name his employer.

Jughead comes home to find his father drunk on the couch after being fired from Pop's. F.P. wants the two of them to move to Toledo to be with Jughead's mom and sister, but Jughead refuses to leave Betty and the other Serpents. During a Serpent gathering, F.P. tells the group that his son will be the new "Serpent king." (Jughead later asks Betty to join the Serpents and be his queen, but it's not shown whether or not she says "yes.")

It looks like season three will hold more answers about the mysterious cult Polly (Tiera Skovbye) seems to have joined. Seeing her mom distraught over the news that Hal is the Black Hood, Polly asks if someone from the farm can come talk to her. Distressingly, Alice agrees.

There are a lot of loose ends here, some of which will hopefully be addressed in the season three premiere. Hopefully, Archie will be exonerated quickly — he's made some mistakes, but he definitely doesn't deserve to go down for murder. And now that Hermione has showed Veronica her true colors, the two of them could team up to stop Hiram's prison plan before it even takes effect. There's also the question of whether F.P. will take Veronica up on her managerial offer or if he'll still try to go to Toledo.