How Are The Black Hood & Betty Connected On 'Riverdale'? New Episode Has Fans Worried

We all knew Betty Cooper had a dark side, but just how dark does it go? That's the question Riverdale fans are left wondering after watching Season 2 Episode 4, "The Town That Dreaded Sundown." We're learning more and more about the Black Hood serial killer, and the latest bombshell is that he seems to be obsessed with Betty. After Betty receives a note from the killer in which he claims to be inspired by her, everyone is trying to figure out how the Black Hood and Betty are connected on Riverdale. Could she be the key to finally unmasking the man who's been terrorizing Riverdale this season? Spoiler alert: Obviously, don't read on if you haven't watched Season 2 Episode 4 of Riverdale yet.

At the beginning of the episode, we see a shadowy figure place a giant manila envelope with Betty's name scrawled on it into the Blue & Gold mailbox (the school newspaper that Betty edits). Betty shares the message with Kevin since Jughead is off in Southside Serpent land — another big part of this episode was the growing separation between Betty and Jughead. But on to more pressing matters: The envelope included a note from the Black Hood addressed to Betty along with a cryptogram that he said would reveal where he strikes next, adding that only Betty would be able to solve it.

The note is the most jarring part, though. In it, the Black Hood says that he started his killing spree after being inspired by Betty's speech at the town's 75th Anniversary Jubilee celebration, which we saw in the Season 1 finale. If you need a reminder about what Betty said in that speech, you can rewatch it below.

The Black Hood goes on to say that he feels he and Betty share the common goal of ridding the town of sinners. He seems to have latched on to the part of Betty's speech in which she called for Riverdale's residents to stop keeping secrets from one another and face the truth of who they all are.

Another important aspect of the note came later in the episode when Betty finally realized that the cypher he had given her was taken from a Nancy Drew book that she used to continually check out of the library. Betty rushes to the library, grabs the book, and is quickly able to decode the message that he will next strike "where it all began." She concludes that must be town hall, where she gave her Jubilee speech, but the episode ends without another killing by the Black Hood so it's still unclear whether Betty was able to thwart his plan by evacuating town hall or he was referring to another location. After all, Jughead's voiceover refers to Sweetwater River as the place "where it all began" in his closing narration.

So what does all this new information tell us about the mysterious Black Hood? Well, obviously he was at the Jubilee celebration to hear Betty's speech. More potentially telling is the fact that he knew about the Nancy Drew book that Betty was obsessed with as a child. That seems to suggest that his obsession with Betty is not a new thing, and that he's known her for years.

This Betty obsession makes two Black Hood theories stand out even stronger than before. We know that Betty's long-lost brother Chic will appear this season, and some fans have begun wondering if he could be the man behind the hood. Another Cooper-centric theory is that Betty's mom, Alice Cooper, is the killer. This is definitely the crazier theory, but it's based on the fact that Mrs. Cooper seems most obsessed with ridding the town of sinners, which is exactly what the Black Hood is also doing.

At the very end of the episode, Betty actually gets a distorted phone call from the Black Hood himself. It sounds like the big reveal is coming soon.