5 Theories About That Mysterious Phone Call In Riverdale

Riverdale ended its “Rivervale” event with a bang... literally. After five episodes of witchy, parallel universe weirdness, the big mid-season finale on Tuesday, Dec. 14, finally shifted focus back to that Season 5 cliffhanger: the bomb that exploded right under Archie and Betty. While the episode may have cleared up some things about the bomb, it laid out a brand new mystery as well. Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers for Riverdale Season 6, Episode 5, “The Jughead Paradox.” Thankfully, it looks like Betty and Archie were saved from the explosion, so now the real question is: Who called Betty to warn her about the bomb back in Riverdale? Let’s get into some theories.

To say the final “Rivervale” episode was hard to follow would be a massive understatement. As a way to transition the series back into its core Riverdale universe, the episode centered on Jughead coming to the realization that Rivervale is a parallel universe. What’s more, it’s a pocket universe branching off of Riverdale’s world, in which it’s somehow impossible for the dead to stay dead. Once Jughead learns the two universes will implode if they continue to coexist, he hatches a plan to separate the worlds by serving as a “living battery” for Rivervale. Basically, that means isolating himself for eternity to write the stories of his town.

Does any of this make any sense? Of course not! This is Riverdale, after all. But it *does* all lead up to the moment that will clearly have a huge impact on the rest of Season 6. The end of the episode switches back over from Rivervale to Riverdale, where the bomb Hiram Lodge placed beneath Archie’s bed in the Season 5 finale is about to explode. But before it can, Betty gets a phone call. It’s unclear whose voice is on the other end of the line, but it tells her, “Get out of that house, Betty. Listen to me, there's a bomb. You have to go right now.”

The caller most likely saved Archie and Betty’s lives, but who was it? Let’s go over the prime suspects.

1. Jughead

The only person who knows about the bomb and wants to stop it is the Rivervale version of Jughead. Although he exists in another world, his final words suggest he may have figured out a way to communicate with the Riverdale version of Betty. “I guess we'll never know if someone did something to alter the course of events in Riverdale,” Jughead tells Ethel, seeming to hint he knows something. Maybe calling through a parallel universe changes up your voice?

2. Ethel

The voice on the phone definitely sounded like it belonged to a man, but there’s also the possibility the caller was using a voice changer. Ethel knew even more about the cross-universal effects of the bomb than Jughead, and she flashed a big smile after Jughead made his remark about someone altering the course of events in Riverdale. She is Rivervale’s resident parallel universe expert after all, so maybe she was the one to call Betty from across dimensions.

3. Hiram

Counting out the Rivervale residents for a bit, the only person who actually knows about the bomb in the Riverdale proper universe is Hiram, since he’s the one who put it there. Obviously, he planted it for a reason, so it seems unlikely that he would have such a sudden change of heart and call Betty to tell her about it, but it’s possible. Maybe he only wanted to murder Archie, and called to save Betty when he learned she was in danger too. TBH, it doesn’t sound like him, but stranger things have happened.

4. Kevin

I don’t know why this is, but almost anytime someone’s phone rings on Riverdale, Kevin seems to be on the other line. His dad is the sheriff, so maybe he was privy to some tip about the bomb and called up his bestie to get her to safety.

5. The Trash Bag Killer

Who else loves to call up Betty every so often? TBH, most of the recent calls on her phone are from TBK. The Trash Bag Killer has only spoken through a voice changer on his calls with Betty, so we actually don’t know what his real voice sounds like yet. Unless... that was it on the phone right before the bomb went off. He may be a killer, but he obviously cares deeply about Betty, so it would make sense that he’d want to save her. What’s not clear is how he knew about the bomb. If this call is meant to set up the main Season 6 mystery, then the Trash Bag Killer makes the most sense as the caller, since we already know Betty will be chasing after him.

Fans will find out more when Riverdale Season 6 returns from hiatus on March 20, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.