‘Riverdale’: Here Are Your Endgame Couples (Probably)

The next few months will mark a series of endings for The CW’s long-running Riverdale. Last week, the cast of the show had their final table read for the series’ final episode. On June 23, production wraps for good. And on August 23 at 9/8c “Goodbye, Riverdale” will air and wrap up the seven-season-long story of horny teens solving weird mysteries, among other things. But most importantly, we’ll finally find out who is endgame: which Riverdale couples will wrap the finale and ride off for one final milkshake at Pop’s together?

For six seasons, whatever fans argued about, it was an impossible question to answer because of the whip-fast pace of Riverdale and the quick pivots that would often get couples together and then break them up in the next scene. Contrast that with the series’ other surprising habit of keeping some couples together for far longer than you’d expect on what is ostensibly a teen drama, and whatever you thought would be the endgame had a million other contrasting pieces of evidence against it. That was always part of the design for a show based on Archie Comics, a forever story that has had the same characters date and break up a million times over in its decades-long history. But unlike the comic book source material, the TV show is ending.

And much to the surprise of everyone, with the first half of the season in the rear-view mirror (10 of Season 7’s 20 episodes have already aired), this might be the most consistently and clearly plotted season of Riverdale ever. There is still plenty of time for those classic Riverdale pivots and swerves, and there’s also the little matter that the cast is still stuck in the 1950s with their memories of the previous six seasons missing, something that has been promised will wrap up and send the cast back to the “present” before the series ends. That in itself adds a big question mark to whatever is currently happening with the plot of the show, since time travel sci-fi weirdness has a way of mucking up romantic relationships (see: every show, ever).

But — and this is a big but — it’s pretty clear that while the circumstances of the characters will revert to the Riverdale timeline we know and love, the characters will most likely retain their emotional memories of this season. Season 7 has been all about the characters growing and maturing closer toward their ideal selves; in direct contrast to the former adults reverting to sixteen-year-olds (while still played by mid to late 20-year-olds). So whatever emotional and romantic arcs we’re following now will likely carry over into the present timeline.

With that in mind, it’s finally time to make some Riverdale endgame predictions with an actually appropriate amount of evidence before us. Will these (or some of these) end up being wrong? Probably! But that is and has always been the fun of speculation; there’s no loss in choosing an outcome and then seeing the story swerve in another direction. That said, if any of the couples listed below aren’t endgame by the time the final credits roll, I will eat my Riverdale High sweatshirt*.

1. Cheryl And Toni, aka Choni

   Let’s go for the easy one first: Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) are endgame. This has been pretty clear for several seasons, even through break-ups and fights — and even the show deciding to pair together Toni with Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner), with the two married with a baby before the jump backwards in time. Sorry to that man, but Fangs, you were just a bump in the road for Riverdale‘s most epic love story.

   In case it wasn’t already clear that Cheryl and Toni were meant for each other, last season’s supernatural storyline literally told us the two were immortal soulmates, meant to find each other time and again. And this season, despite the repressive 1950s setting, that’s exactly what has happened. Not only that but for the first time in the history of the series (or at least since Toni was introduced in Season 2), their coupling feels like it’s on an even keel, with the duo both holding significant places in the relationship, learning from each other, and listening. A healthy queer relationship on TV? Quelle surprise!

2. Betty And Archie, aka Barchie

   It’s time to finally say it: Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Archie (KJ Apa) are endgame. Probably the most heavily debated topic in the Riverdale fandom, and heck, the Archie Comics fandom as well is who Archie will end up with. Though Barchie shippers will tell you the vision was clear since the first episode of the series when Archie stood on Betty’s doorstep, unable to explain his feelings, there have been plenty of other ways the show could go with both characters. But starting with a time jump in Season 5, the series started to play around with the Betty/Archie relationship in earnest. Even with those beginning flirtations, and a real try at a relationship in Season 6, it wasn’t until this final season that it was clear the show has settled on Barchie as its endgame ‘ship.

   The reason? Character arcs, baby. As mentioned above, this season so far has been meticulously plotted out, and starting with Betty crushing on Archie, each subsequent episode has built the relationship without consummating it, and repeatedly thrown roadblocks in their way. Whether that’s their parents separating them after an ill-advised midnight peep show, or the introduction of Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton) as a potential romantic partner for Betty, it’s pretty clear that Barchie is a story that is going to stretch out over the course of the season until they find their way back to each other again.

   To further speculate, previously Betty and Archie kissing while a bomb exploded help shift some multiverse timeline stuff, so with the season seemingly ending with the return of magical comet, Barchie’s “first” kiss in the 1950s in Episode 19 or 20 might just be the thing to blast everyone back to the present. It’s a classic slow burn, and like I always say: slow burns for the win.

3. Jughead and Tabitha, aka Jabitha

   Here’s another season-long slow-burn that’s partially frustrated by the fact that Erinn Westbrook, who plays Tabitha Tate, has been reduced to “Special Guest Star” status in Season 7. Frustrated in terms of us only getting to see how high school 1950s-style Jughead and Tabitha work together in fits and starts over the course of the season, though last week’s episode had a whole plotline that was all about showing the characters what it would be like to try and have an interracial relationship in the ’50s.

   The clearest indicator that Jabitha is endgame, though, is the premiere which (bear with us for a second) had a version of Tabitha who is the guardian angel of Riverdale tell Jughead she was going to untangle the timelines in order to help return all of them home, and then kissed him goodbye before disappearing his memories. You don’t start a season that way, and then not end the season with them finding each other again. That’s basically TV Writing 101.

4. Fangs and Midge, aka Mangs

   Fangs and Midge Klump (Abby Ross) are pregnant teens and in love with each other. It’s entirely possible having a baby together could drive them apart, and when we talked to Ross earlier this year she promised there was some big drama to come with the couple. But as everyone is pairing off before the end of the show, it seems pretty clear that Fangs and Midge are prepared to go the distance. One hiccup? In the present timeline, Midge is dead. But — pure speculation — it’s an easy enough fix for Angel Tabitha to say she’s brought them back to their regular timeline with a few changes. Like, for example, Midge not being stabbed to death on the Riverdale High stage.

5. Kevin and Clay, aka Clavin

   Riverdale has always struggled with who and how to pair up Kevin Keller (Casey Cott), but it seems like Season 7 has quickly settled on Clay Walker (Karl Walcott). Add in that Kevin and Clay get canonically married in Archie Comics, and it would be a shocker if we don’t get a Clavin wedding by the end of the season. Clay has a similar hiccup to Midge in that as far as we know he doesn’t exist in the modern timeline. But again, easy to explain away as “oh yeah, he was always there.”

6. Veronica and Reggie, aka Veggie

   This is by far the iffiest pairing simply because Reggie was reintroduced late in the season, is currently interested in Betty, and in the modern timeline, Veronica was last seen essentially telling Reggie that they should be friends while she figures herself out. In the ’50s, Veronica is actively pursuing Reggie, and if the rest of the pairings above pan out then Veronica and Reggie almost end up together by default. But it’s also possible that we could see the two as business partners or friends when we hit the final episode, instead of romantically involved.

7. Alice and FP, aka Falice

   While we’re getting iffy here, probably the longest shot at this point is Alice (Mädchen Amick) and FP Jones (Skeet Ulrich) simply because the latter isn’t on the show anymore. Still, we’ve had mentions of how FP had to leave town suddenly to avoid being arrested for an unnamed crime, and there’s some weird secret from the past that Alice is holding on to that her husband Hal (Lochlyn Munro) doesn’t want Betty to know. Given in the “regular” timeline Alice and FP fell in love, got pregnant, and then Alice left FP to marry the steadier Hal, it’s entirely possible the same thing happened here.

   Regardless, if Riverdale can’t get Skeet Ulrich to come back for one little cameo to pick Alice up on his bike and ride off into the sunset in the series finale, I will toss my TV into the Sweetwater River. Just kidding. Or am I? No, I’m not. Falice endgame.

*I will not eat a sweatshirt, this article is not legally binding.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.