Riverdale’s Cole Sprouse On Jughead’s Relationship With His Dad

Spoilers ahead for tonight’s episode of Riverdale, titled “The Last Picture Show.”

Tonight on Riverdale, audiences got to meet Jughead Jones’s father, Forsythe “F.P.” Jones — and he wasn’t exactly a model citizen.

His father, a member of the Southside Serpents, has apparently been involved with a plot by Hiram Lodge to devalue some property in Riverdale so that Lodge can secretly buy it up for reasons unknown. He was seen extorting money from Hiram’s wife, Hermione, before revealing himself as Jughead’s dad at the end of the episode.

Of course, the property that Hiram bought up was a drive-in theater where Jughead had many happy childhood memories, where he worked and — in the episode’s most shocking moment — where he lived. He was distraught all episode about the closure, but how would he react to the realization that his father was instrumental in rendering him homeless?

According to series star Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead, he wouldn’t be too surprised.

“I don’t know if that’s revealed to Jughead until much later, but I think Jughead’s pretty aware of where he stands,” Sprouse told ComicBook.com during a set visit last week. “I don’t know if Jughead puts his trust in a figure like F.P. Would he be shocked to find out at episode 4 or at episode 7? Definitely not. You’ll watch episode 7 and you’ll come to find out with much more intensity just the relationship between F.P. and Jughead, and I think to find out that his dad is behind some kind of dubious underworking of the town is not really surprising to him in the slightest. It still disappoints him, sure, but it’s not surprising.”

Episode seven, coming in three weeks (and for which the synopsis was just released), gives a sense of just how messed up the family dynamic is for the Joneses — and it’s not just Jughead who isn’t living at home with F.P.

Audiences won’t see Jughead’s mom this season on Riverdale, “but that does become quite a large narrative in the latter half and not seeing her is almost as impactful as seeing her in this instance,” Sprouse told us, adding that Jughead’s younger sister Jellybean is with her, “and you’ll learn about that in seven as well.”

More Riverdale: Cole Sprouse thought Jughead killed Jason Blossom | Archie Comics inks a development deal with Warner Bros. Television | Riverdale’s Jason Blossom wants to play Nightwing | Lili Reinhart shoots down a popular fan theory

Riverdale airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.