Entertainment

A New 'Riverdale' Teaser Is Here & The Rest Of Season 2 Looks Like A Game-Changer

by Dylan Kickham
CW

Secret brothers and evil dads and teenage gang wars, oh my! Such an absurd amount of drama can only mean one thing: Riverdale is almost back. The CW's murdery, teen soap just dropped a teaser trailer for its upcoming midseason premiere, and it is absolutely packed with gasp-worthy twists and reveals that we need to talk about. Seriously, this new Riverdale Season 2 teaser will get you so pumped for the rest of the season.

After a month off the air, Riverdale will finally be back next week with a new episode, called "The Blackboard Jungle." The newly released teaser for the episode helps explain that title: With Southside High officially closed down, the Serpents (including Jughead) are matriculating at Riverdale High... and obviously, that is not going to go well. But the increased tension and drama between the Southside and Northside isn't the only scary rivalry the midseason premiere will introduce. The trailer also shows Archie and Hiram Lodge becoming bitter enemies, with Hiram flat-out telling Archie, "You're not good enough for my daughter." Apparently, they also end up physically fighting in a wrestling ring as well.

But all of that craziness may pale in comparison to the introduction of a new character that fans have been waiting all season for. No, still no sign of Sabrina — but we do finally get our first glimpse of Betty's long-lost brother Chic Cooper. Check out the new trailer for yourself below and then we can start theorizing:

Like... I'm shook. So much just happened in that teaser. Okay, so now let's start going over every detail. I want to start with Chic Cooper, because his introduction into the series looks like it will be the biggest part of the new episode. We only get a couple quick glimpses of Chic in the trailer, but one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots could potentially be very telling about Chic. Around the 40-second mark, you can see Betty and Chic running down a hotel hallway away from a stumbling man.

CW

Clearly, something scary dramatic is going on here, but what? Well, luckily some sleuths on Reddit formulated a theory that sounds pretty convincing. One poster said that the audition scripts for Chic described the character as an escort, so maybe that guy chasing after him and Betty is one of Chic's clients that violent. I couldn't find any evidence of Chic being described as an escort in the audition script online, but this theory could still make sense — they are running down a hotel hallway, after all.

Reddit

Lili Reinhart recently teased that Betty's reunion with Chic will be very dark, and that the brother and sister would bond over shared mental health issues. Of course, the other big question about Chic is whether or not he is in cahoots with the Black Hood. Ever since it was announced that he would be introduced this season, Chic became the number one Black Hood suspect among many Riverdale fans. And even though the Black Hood was supposedly revealed last episode, most fans of the show are pretty confident that the murderous mystery isn'y fully solved yet. We will definitely have to keep a close eye on Chic once we meet him in the new episode.

Okay, all the Chic stuff aside, there's a few other standout moments from the teaser to address as well:

  • A man in a suit tells Archie, "Your girlfriend's father is an extremely dangerous man." Could he be some sort of police or FBI agent? Maybe Archie begins working with the authorities to take down Hiram, and that's why the two will start their aggressive rivalry.
  • F.P. Jones tells Jughead, "Getting arrested is not gunna help, Jug," and we also see Jughead refuse Principal Weatherbee's demand that he take of his Serpents jacket at Riverdale High... and then he gets into a big fight with Reggie. It sounds like Jughead's troubled side is coming out in full force.
  • Nick St. Clair is back, and he is not mincing words with Archie: "I think you're a small-town hick, who's beginning to realize how deep into shark-infested waters he really is." I guess Nick is (unfortunately) sticking around town a while... and it also sounds like he knows some of Hiram's dark secrets.
  • There's hope for you Bughead fans! Although the fan-favorite couple broke up in the midseason finale, the new trailer ends with Betty grinning and saying she's glad Jughead is back at Riverdale High.

OK, that's it! We will have to see how all of this comes together when Riverdale returns on Wednesday, Jan. 17.