Leave it to "Riverdale" to go out with a bang... and another huge cliffhanger.
The teen drama just ended its first season on Thursday with a final scene that is definitely going to keep fans on the edges of their seats waiting for the show to return for Season 2.
Of course, I'm talking about Archie's dad, Fred Andrews, randomly getting shot by a burglar at Pop's diner in the last minute of the episode. At the top of our list of burning questions for next season: Will Fred Andrews survive the gunshot?
First, let's recount the scene. Fred has asked Archie to meet him at Pop's to go over something, but we never actually find out what it is because a masked robber barges into the diner and shoots Fred before taking off.
In the last shot of the season, we see Archie rushing to his dad's aid as he bleeds out on the floor.
Soooo, what's going to happen!? And will we ever find out what was Fred going to tell Archie before getting shot?
The good news is Luke Perry's IMDb page does list him as being in at least the first episode of the second season, so we'll be seeing Fred Andrews again. But we don't know if he's only appearing in the new episode as a corpse, or if he'll be recovering from the gunshot.
While we'll have to wait until next season to find out if Archie's dad lives or dies, one thing we can theorize about is who was behind the shooting. Although the robbery seemed random, there are some aspects of it that make me think another character might have been behind purposefully to shoot Fred.
First of all, I know Pop's is the place everyone goes in Riverdale, but would a diner really be a burglar's first-choice target to make a ton of money from a robbery?
Also, the scene occurs in the morning, which isn't the usual time for a robbery, especially since there would be less money in the register.
I'm starting to think the shooting was the work of Hiram Lodge, Veronica's ex-con dad who's had beef with Fred throughout the season. We already know Hiram loves to hire hitmen to take care of his business, and that he wanted Fred to give up his shares in the property deal he made with Hermione.
And since Hiram is finally coming to town next season (played by Mark Consuelos), finding out that he was behind the shooting could become the central conflict of Season 2.
That's just my theory, though. We'll have to wait until next season to find out if Fred is OK, and if there was more to that shooting than meets the eye.
