‘Riverdale’: Betty And Archie Finally Got Together — With A Twist

Spoilers for Riverdale Season 4, Episode 15, “Chapter Seventy-Two: To Die For” past this point.

Well, it finally happened. After seasons of teasing, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) got together on Riverdale. It isn’t the first time they’ve kissed or flirted, mind you; but this time, particularly for fans, initially felt very different. But of course, as is always true with TV’s craziest show, there was a twist.

A brief bit of Riverdale history first, before we get into the seismic events of this week’s episode. Anyone with a passing familiarity with Archie Comics knows about the classic love triangle: Archie, Betty and Veronica (Camila Mendes). When Riverdale first premiered, it flirted with this… Betty had a crush on Archie, Archie had a crush on Veronica, but at the time Archie was boning his music teacher (as one does). We quickly learned in the first season of the show that Archie had proposed to Betty when they were kids — she said to ask again when they were 18 — and with Archie now ripped and hot, things were prime for the relationship to commence.

After crashing and burning confessing her feelings to Archie, though, Betty got together with Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse). While Veronica and Archie’s relationship blossomed on one side, Jughead and Betty’s did on the other. There have been hiccups — Betty and Archie kissed, once, while on the trail of serial killer The Black Hood in Season 2 — but surprisingly for a teen show, Betty and Jughead have been shockingly steady. Even when Jughead and Veronica revenge kissed, things went surprisingly okay. They’ve loved each other, respected each other, and even when there were bumps in the road, trusted each other enough to work things out.

And then Jughead died.

…or at least, it looked like he died, as his body was discovered having seemingly been hit in the head by a rock in the woods; a rock held by Betty, who was later revealed to have been put into a daze using a drug called Devil’s Breath (it’s real! look it up!) by one of Jughead’s fellow prep school students, Donna Sweett (Sarah Desjardins). In last week’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” Archie and Veronica helped Betty cover up Jughead’s apparent murder, hiding the body until they decided to reveal the crime in order to entrap Donna and her Stonewall Prep squad, including amazing jerk Bret Weston Wallis (Sean Depner).

With Jughead’s death out in the open, Donna and Bret aimed to turn the tables once again, pinning the murder on the Riverdale Three, and sending them to jail. They got out — thanks to a faked piece of evidence courtesy Betty — which is when things started to pick up in Barchie (a.k.a. Betty and Archie) land. There was even a tease of what was to come a few episodes back, courtesy a flash-forward that found Betty and Archie holding hands at Pop’s wondering if Jughead would ever “come back.”

Well, it happened, folks. As Donna pushed hard on Betty, insisting like someone out of a Reddit thread that Jughead couldn’t possibly be dead, the Riverdale Three pushed back with a plan of their own. First, Betty and Archie met in Pop’s, in clear hearing range of Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), who had sworn to help her cousin Betty get past the death of her true love safely. One over-the-top memorial from Cheryl later, and Betty ran to the music room in Riverdale High — Archie’s favorite make-out spot. There, Betty told Archie that she just wanted to feel something, anything… And they kissed.

Cheryl took pictures, sent them to the whole school, and then told Veronica about the illicit make-out sesh. Veronica, in full view of the school, told off Archie and Betty (leading to a hilarious “That’s right. You tell them, girl,” from Cheryl’s girlfriend Toni Topaz), and stormed off. The ruse worked, for a bit, particularly on Barchie ‘ship captain Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), who listed off every argument everyone online has ever made about why Betty and Archie belong together (“It was always supposed to be Betty and Archie, it was, like, their destiny.”)

But Donna wasn’t fooled… She followed Betty to a sex bunker in the woods, and discovered her there… With Archie. An ill-placed third milkshake tipped her off that all was not right, and Jughead was, in fact, alive… Leading to the reveal to the audience that first Veronica and Archie are together in bed, and then Jughead is in the sex bunker with Betty. It was all part of their plan to drive the Stonies insane, and make them confess to attacking Jughead/other secrets.

…and then here’s where the twist comes in. Both couples have conversations about the kisses, and whether they meant anything — since Betty and Archie had feelings for each other years earlier. Betty insists to Jughead that he’s the only man for her. Archie insists to Veronica that she’s the only woman for him. And then later that night, Betty texts Archie.

“Thanks again for your help,” she writes. “Hope I wasn’t a bad kisser.”

…followed by a winky face emoji. Archie laughs, and begins to type himself, writing, “Lol. You were great. Happy to do that any time.” And then he pauses, while Betty waits, watching him type on the other end. After a moment, he erases the second sentence, and after mutual kissy face emojis and “Night,” we leave that scene hanging.

Look, to be perfectly clear and transparent, when Veronica and Archie were in bed together, I was relieved. When Jughead was revealed with Betty and the Bughead theme soared in the background, my heart grew three sizes larger, a thing I am going to see a doctor about tomorrow morning because YIKES.

But it’s clear both from the texting conversation and the slight pauses thrown in the reassurance conversations with the couples that this plotline is far from done; the feelings that Betty and Archie have for each other aren’t as simple as they made them seem to Jughead and Veronica. That doesn’t mean they don’t love their current significant others, by the way. Far from it. Archie is clearly in love with Veronica, and Betty is in love with Jughead. But it’s clear there’s a something left unresolved between the two of them, as well. As some dude named Shakespeare wrote once, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” And he was the original rapper, so you know he’s right.

Whether we’ll have to wait another two seasons to see these feelings picked up again, or if Betty and Archie is the “forbidden showmance” that’s been teased for this season’s upcoming musical episode, we’ll have to see. For now, we’ll say “night” with a kissy emoji, and leave it at that.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

Where to watch Riverdale