A Huge Secret About Betty's Mom Was Revealed On 'Riverdale' & TBH, We're Not Shocked

If there is one thing any Riverdale fan knows for sure at this point, it's that everyone in that town has a damn secret. Between all the dark mysteries and covert operations, you really can't trust anyone on this messy ass show (TBH I'm starting to think *I* might be the Black Hood?). This week's episode certainly proved that to be true when we found out Betty's mom, Alice Cooper, was once a Southside Serpent.

*Record scratch* WHAT? Yea, that's right... Betty's mom — the same uppity, meddling woman who pretends to be so righteous and regularly trashes Betty's boyfriend, FP, Archie, the Southside, the Serpents, and pretty much everything else — used to, herself, be a Southside Serpent. Like I said above, everyone's got a damn secret.

Right about now you might be asking, "How the hell did all of this come about?" Well, as you know, the Black Hood has been terrorizing Betty under the guise of protecting her and, in order to "protect" Betty this week, the mysterious attacker demands that she cut all the toxic people out of her life... starting with her own mother. The maniac emails Betty an old newspaper featuring her mother's mugshot on the front page with the headline: "SOUTHSIDE TEEN ARRESTED AND RELEASED ON BAIL" and tells her to publish the story for all of Riverdale to read.

Of course, Betty, being the wholesome girl she is, is initially wary of hurting her mom by publishing the mugshot, but, after a fight where Alice accuses Betty and Jughead of mimicking the Black Hood's mysterious notes to the police because they're "bored," Betty says "f—k it" and publishes the article.

Honestly, I can't say I'm the least bit surprised to learn about Alice's past; there has always been something off about her, and between her first pregnancy and now this, her dark history is slowly coming to the forefront.

Last season it was teased that Alice may have been a member of the Southside Serpents in her younger years. Indeed, in Season 1 Episode 10, "The Lost Weekend," FP breaks up a fight between Jughead and Chuck; before FP can get in his truck to leave, though, he is stopped by the every-meddling Alice. Right off the bat Alice knows FP's name, so it's clear they're familiar with each other, but that's not all: Alice, in her ever-condescending tone, asks FP what he's doing "on this side of town," indicating he shouldn't be on the Northside. As dramatic and telling as that interaction is, it's FP's response that hints at Alice's once having been a Serpent; Jughead's dad says to Alice,

Don't act so high and mighty, Alice, you may not live on the Southside anymore, you may not dress like you're from the Southside, but we both know the truth: Snakes don't shed their skin so easily.

BOOM. There it is: "Snakes don't shed their skin so easily." Between that and the new gold snake necklace she was rocking, I think we have all we need to know (well, not really, I wanna know the details). According to an interview earlier this year with Riverdale's executive producer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, we'll be learning much more about Alice's past in the coming episodes. The EP told Entertainment Weekly in April,

What we learn in [Episode 10] is [Alice is] from the Southside, but stepped out of it and cleaned herself up and became the perfect [mother]. We’re going to explore much more about what Alice’s backstory is both in this season and in season 2.

Of course last season we went on to learn about Alice's first pregnancy in the finale episode, and, so far, it looks like we'll be learning a lot more about her history as a Serpent this season. If what FP said about shedding your skin is true, then we might be in for a dark 180° turn from Mrs. Cooper.

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