Riverdale: Did SPOILER Just Die in “Fear the Reaper”?

Tonight’s episode of Riverdale saw the Jones family undertake a quest in an attempt to find Jellybean after she was taken at the behest of the Gargoyle King last week while Archie found himself having to deal with the fallout from his fatal boxing match as well. However, while death and darkness are to be expected on Riverdale, the reaper came for a surprising person tonight and it may have massive repercussions for the rest of the season.

Spoiler’s for tonight’s episode of Riverdale, “Fear the Reaper,” below.

While Jughead was busy trying to save his sister and Archie and Veronica were dealing with last week’s boxing death, Betty continued her quest to expose The Farm for whatever nefarious things they have planned for Riverdale. Thanks to Toni, Betty discovered that not only was her mother planning to marry Edgar Evernever, but the cult leader would be adopting Polly’s children, Dagwood and Juniper, as well. This prompted Betty to not only do some sleuthing and discover that Evelyn isn’t 17 but rather 26 and only pretending to be a teen — likely to recruit for the cult — but she told her father about the situation.

Going to Hal for conversation and guidance is something that Betty has been doing more and more this season as her mother slips further into The Farm’s clutches, so much so that Betty even goes to Hiram Lodge and asks for him to assist in getting Hal transferred to his prison right there nearby — as opposed to where he is being held two hours away. The transfer ends up being a go, poising Hal to be much closer to Betty soon.

Unfortunately, it’s after that that things begin to go off the rails for Betty. After teaming up with Penelope to get Dagwood and Juniper away from The Farm, Penelope only gets Dagwood — who she promptly renames Jason Jr. This, in turn, prompts Betty to reach out to Toni for help breaking in so she can get Juniper, but it ends up being a trap. Framed as an intervention, the whole thing was orchestrated to try to force Betty into joining The Farm. After all, everyone she loves is there. She needs The Farm. At the last moment, Betty comes to her senses and flees, clearly shaken by the experience.

But, later, when she catches up with Veronica her friend has devastating news. Hal was killed in some sort of accident during his transfer to Hiram’s prison. Her father, the only person she had left in terms of family, is dead. While it’s possible that this will end up being not the case — it is Riverdale, after all and weirder things have happened than people coming back from the dead — Hal’s death could be exactly what finally pushes Betty over the edge. It could be the emotional blow needed to drive her to The Farm.

However, it could also be the nudge that sends Betty fully into darkness. As we’ve already seen in recent episodes, Betty is capable of some truly terrifying things. Now that she’s utterly alone in the world, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the girl next door going full Dark Betty again — perhaps to new terrifying extremes.

What do you think about Hal’s apparent death on Riverdale? Let us know in the comments below.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.