F.P. Jones & Hermione Lodge Are Up To Something On 'Riverdale,' But What Is It?

Riverdale just delivered one of Season 3's most explosive episodes yet, complete with multiple character deaths, a mysterious shooter, and the highly anticipated Gargoyle King reveal. But one of the most eyebrow-raising twists came at the very end, when an unexpected alliance took root. Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you have not yet watched Riverdale Season 3 Episode 10, "The Stranger." The last moment of the episode showed F.P. Jones switching from biker gang leader to town sheriff. So, why is F.P. Jones Riverdale's sheriff now, and what are he and Hermione Lodge up to? Let's try to make some sense of this new mystery.

The latest episode of Riverdale is absolutely packed with twists and surprises, and a particularly interesting revelation is that Hermione Lodge and F.P. Jones appear to have been secretly working on some sort of scheme for a while now. At the end of the episode, Hermione meets with F.P. alone and says, "I think it's time," to which he smirks back. Next thing we know, F.P. is rolling up to the Southside Serpents' compound as the newly appointed town sheriff.

Now, earlier in the episode, Hiram Lodge was pressuring his wife Hermione (who is also the mayor) to make his drug-dealing buddy Claudius Blossom the new sheriff. Then, Hiram got shot by a mystery gunman, landed in the ICU, and Hermione called in F.P. to make him sheriff. Oh, and Claudius was also found dead in his jail cell of mysterious causes. So how is it all connected?

Well, if Hermione has been working with F.P. all along, then it sure seems like everything worked out for the pair. Hermione made it clear that she did not want to make Claudius the sheriff, leading Hiram to threaten her if she did not follow through. Hermione's interaction with F.P. suggests that the two were planning on Hermione making him sheriff. This all makes Hermione look very suspicious in Hiram's shooting. With her husband incapacitated, she was free to appoint her choice for sheriff without any blowback. And Hiram's sheriff choice also wound up dead as well! Everything is coming up Hermione, it seems.

It is clear now that Hermione and F.P. are in some sort of alliance, and it is an incredibly powerful one now that they are both the town's mayor and sheriff, but the big question is what they are trying to do. The pair have actually teamed up before way back in Season 1, when Hiram was paying F.P. to sabotage Fred Andrews' construction business and Hermione was forced to serve as a liaison since Hiram was in prison. It definitely looks like the two are working against Hiram this time around, though, which is good news.

Hermione Lodge remains a shady figure in Riverdale. We know she is very cunning, but it is unclear whether she is still in cahoots with Hiram's mafia ties or actually trying to rebel against her criminal husband. F.P., on the other hand, seems to be a definite good guy now, after his shady criminal dealings in Season 1. So there is hope that this Hermione and F.P. partnership may be a much needed positive change in this murder-plagued town.