'Riverdale': Breaking Down the Cooper Family Shocker in "The Wicked and The Divine"

So... how are you feeling, Riverdale fans?Major spoilers for tonight's episode of Riverdale, 'The [...]

So... how are you feeling, Riverdale fans?

Major spoilers for tonight's episode of Riverdale, "The Wicked and The Divine", below!

Tonight's episode saw the Cooper family dealing with a few more developments, largely due to the arrival of Chic Cooper (Hart Denton). Hal (Lochlyn Munro) decided to leave the house, even though Chic seemed to be turning his life around and getting a new job.

Towards the episode's end, a mysterious man arrived at the Cooper family door, asking for Chic. The next time we saw the household, Betty (Lili Reinhart) had returned home, and she found quite a sight before her.

The mysterious man was laying dead on the floor, bludgeoned with a table lamp, while Alice (Madchen Amick) was frantically cleaning up a large pool of blood.

So... what happens next? What burning questions are left after that cliffhanger? Let's dive in.

Who is the mystery man?

This is perhaps the biggest can of worms: who exactly was that guy?

The easiest assumption is that it's some ghost from Chic's past, seeing as he's still working as a sex worker in some sort of way.

But an earlier scene in tonight's episode might add another layer to that all, as Chic was visited by Ben (Moses Thiessen), a minor character who has appeared in several unique ways throughout Riverdale's tenure.

In Season One, Ben ran the concession stand at the Serpents' drive-in, and had a brief awkward run-in with Kevin Keller (Casey Cott). In Season Two, Ben was shown as a student and lover of Miss Grundy (Sarah Habel), who left her house shortly before she was killed. In this episode, he was offering Chic a job at the Bijou, Riverdale's local movie theater.

Ben's return to Riverdale was teased a few months back, meaning there has to be some sort of significance behind his reappearance. Could that have some tie to this mystery man, and why he was a threat to the Cooper family?

And outside of that, there are a few other possibilities, depending on which Riverdale fan theories you subscribe to. Could the mystery man be tied to the real Black Hood? Could the mystery man be tied to the real Chic Cooper? Was it someone tied to Hal? Is it Grundy's ex-husband? Any guess could be likely at this point.

Who killed the mystery man?

As much as the man's identity is currently a mystery, the issue of who exactly killed him still is one too.

Did Chic do it? If you squint during the last scene, he can be seen in the very, very corner of the shot, rocking back and forth. This means that he's definitely involved with the altercation, but it's unclear whether he delivered the final blow.

Or was Alice the one behind it? Even if she doesn't have a tie to the mystery man, there's a chance that she committed it in self defense.

Could the culprit have been someone else who also happened to be in close proximity, whether it be Hal or Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) or anyone else? Maybe. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long into next week's episode to find out.

What happens next?

So, what can fans expect the Coopers to do next? Honestly, as with our previous two questions, it's way too hard to tell at this point.

Will any of the Coopers come clean about what happened, or will they try to cover it up (and hatch an Orphan Black-esque plot to hide the body)? How deep will Betty -- who, at this point, didn't have anything to do with the actual incident -- be involved with it?

And if they do cover it up, will whoever was tied to the mystery man come after them? Honestly, knowing Riverdale, that is probably the most likely.

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

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