The Next 'Riverdale' Has Archie Confronting Hiram & Veronica Getting Closer To Reggie

The town of Riverdale underwent a massive change at the end of Riverdale's midseason finale on Wednesday night, and the promo trailer for next month's return shows that there are even more shocking changes ahead. I'm talking about Veronica and Reggie, who have been getting closer with one another in these past few episodes. The Riverdale Season 3 Episode 9 promo seems to confirm what fans have been guessing at for weeks now: Veronica and Reggie are going to get together.

The biggest moment in the newly released Episode 9 promo trailer comes at the end, when we see a quick shot of Reggie and Veronica seemingly about to kiss. Although nothing romantic has happened between the two yet, fans have been predicting that Reggie and Veronica might get together for weeks now. The two have noticeably been spending a lot more time together since Veronica opened her speakeasy and Archie left town. Archie and Veronica have been apart for pretty much the entirety of Season 9 — first he was in jail, and then he fled town right after getting out, breaking up with Veronica on the phone. With Archie gone and Betty and Jughead off on their own missions as well, Veronica's closest friend has quickly become Reggie, who works at the speakeasy with her.

Oh, and we can't forget that Camila Mendes and Charles Melton are dating in real life, which also fueled fan rumors of Veronica and Reggie possibly getting together on the show as well. After all, this would not be the first time that Riverdale has brought a real-world romance into its show: Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse also date both in real life and on the show.

And there is a lot more to talk about in this new Riverdale promo than just a new relationship, so check it out below and then we can break it down:

Spoiler alert: The rest of this post includes plot details from Riverdale Season 3 Episode 8, "Outbreak." One of the most exciting parts of this new promo trailer is that it seems to be promising Archie and Jughead's return to Riverdale, hopefully bringing the Core Four together again at last. The bulk of Season 3 has seen out four protagonists constantly split up from one another, which is a major shift from the previous two seasons, but that might come to an end soon. Although the midseason finale ended with Hiram Lodge quarantining Riverdale while Archie, Jughead, and F.P. were all still outside the town, the new promo shows Jughead back in the Southside and Archie making his way back home as well.

A quick shot of Archie hold a knife in front of Hiram may seem like the standout scene from the promo, but fans will recall that this is actually a scene from the Season 2 finale, when Archie threatened Hiram before his arrest. Still, the reused scene teases that another confrontation between Archie and Hiram is coming when Riverdale returns.

Other standout moments include the introduction of Mark Consuelos's wife Kelly Ripa, who is scene holding a gun in the promo. Ripa will play Hiram's mistress in the upcoming run of episodes. Also, we see a mysterious man being thrown into the Gargoyle King's chamber at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. It's unclear who this man is, but it looks like it could possibly be Moose. Could Moose's strict parents have found out about his relationship with Kevin and admitted him to the conversion therapy wing of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, similar to what happened to Cheryl Blossom last season?

We have to wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us when Riverdale returns from hiatus on Jan. 16.