4 'Riverdale' Theories About Archie's Dad That Will Leave You Begging For Season 2

We're less than a week away to the return of Riverdale, The CW's bizarre and dark Archie comics series that's become an improbable, massive hit. At the end of last season, Archie's dad, Fred Andrews (played by Luke Perry), was shot and the season premiere may tell us whether he lives or dies. But, who did the deed? Let's run through some of the best Riverdale theories about Archie's dad and who shot him.

All current theories on who might have killed Archie's father are based off of one big giant theory about what happened in the past. This, of course, isn't like This Is Us — we don't have scenes from the years before the "Core Four" were born to tell us anything that happened. However, fans have been paying attention to some big circular hints that suggest that all this has happened before and all this will happened again.

The theory goes that Fred (Archie's dad), Hermione (Veronica's mom), FP (Jughead's dad), and Alice (Betty's mom) were their own "Core Four" back in their own teenage years. And during that time, their relationships reflect the same ones we see today: Alice and Hermione were friends the same way Betty and Veronica are now. Fred and Hermione dated the way Archie and Veronica are dating, and FP and Alice dated then like Bughead do now.

If that's true, it might mean that Fred was shot by....

Hermione Lodge

Well, she didn't do it herself — she hired someone, of course. Note how weird she was acting all through the finale. She was rude to Cheryl, she pushed her daughter to manipulate Archie, and even offered to buy Fred out.

Fred refused her offer and that pissed her off, but did it scare her, too? If Hermione really needs Fred to get out of the business before her husband Hiram turns up in the Season 2 premiere, desperate times might call for desperate measures. And, since there's 50 ways to leave your ex-lover, cold and dying on the diner floor is probably one of them.

Hiram Lodge

We haven't seen Veronica's father yet, but the ex-con who loves to hire hitmen is a huge suspect in the case. Maybe it wasn't Hermione who hired them. When Hiram found out Fred was refusing to sell his shares of the property, he did what needed to be done himself.

Beyond that, Hermione might have left Riverdale to marry Hiram, but that doesn't mean that he knows nothing of his wife's past. If he were the jealous type (and we're kinda sure he is), Fred's refusal to sell might have driven Hiram to decide to remove Fred from his wife's life once and for all.

Chic Cooper

So, here's the thing about the shooter. He kinda looked like he might have been Betty's dad. But we're pretty sure it's not Hal... so why couldn't it be the mysterious, long-lost brother who will be joining the cast this season, Chic Cooper?

It might seem far-fetched, but consider the scene between Betty and her mother before the shooting, where Alice revealed she had a son that she gave up for adoption. She didn't say who the father was. Could it have been Archie's dad? Could the long-lost son turn up for vengeance?

Alice Cooper

Speaking of vengeance, what if it was Betty's own mother who decided to have Fred Andrews shot? Same reasoning — he was the father of the son she wasn't supposed to talk about. Now that the cat's out of the bag, did she shoot Fred so he would keep his mouth shut?

Riverdale Season 2 premieres on The CW at 8 p.m. ET on Oct 11, 2017.