'Riverdale' May Have Revealed The Videotape Villain... Or Just Another Victim

Riverdale entered its fifth season still in the thick of an unsolved mystery, and the premiere gave fans just as many possible answers as newfound questions. In between some heartbreaking relationship drama at the prom and Archie's fight for his future, Betty and Jughead dove down the videotape villain's rabbit hole and were left with yet another disturbing tape. By the end of the episode, the question on everyone's mind is the same: Is David really dead on Riverdale? His fate could finally reveal the truth about what's going on.

Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from Riverdale Season 5, Episode 1, "Climax." Leave it to Riverdale to turn high school prom into a murderous arthouse rave. The big premiere jumped right into the videotapes mystery, picking up after Betty, Jughead, Archie, and Veronica got a video depicting people dressed up as them and their friends murdering Mr. Honey in the Season 4 finale. Apparently, that wasn't the real Mr. Honey, though, as Charles confirmed Riverdale High's former principal is still alive and well. With their investigation renewed, Betty and Jughead turned their eyes to David, the Blue Velvet Video clerk whom Bret Weston Wallis revealed also hosts underground snuff film viewing parties.

Unfortunately, David's movie night/rave didn't provide any answers, except for revealing that the mysterious auteur likes to go around wearing an owl mask. It's not until the auteur strikes again on prom night that Betty and Jughead may get some answers. Another violent video of stab-happy lookalikes interrupts Cheryl and Toni's prom queens dance, and this time the victim is David.

David is shown wearing the owl mask in the video, which could be a clue that he really is the auteur. Then again, why would he make himself the victim in one of his own films? Things get even weirder when Betty and Jughead rush to Blue Velvet, only to find the place was vacant, except for the owl mask.

The victim of the first video, Mr. Honey, didn't actually die in real life, so it's likely David is still alive and may have had a hand in making that film. Or, he could be dead and his body disposed of. Figuring out David's fate seems to be the key to this videotapes mystery, since he's obviously not the auteur if he's dead, but the prime suspect if he's still alive.

Riverdale airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.