The highly anticipated return of Riverdale is right around the corner and while fans can expect a darker turn in the show’s sophomore season it sounds like they can expect a reborn Cheryl Blossom as well.
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In a recent interview with Teen Vogue Madelaine Petsch explained that as season two begins Cheryl is rising from the ash, somewhat literally.
“We kind of talk about it like Cheryl is a phoenix being reborn from the ashes of her house,” Petsch explained. “She, obviously, tries to take her own life at the end of the first season, and after that didn’t work for her, she chose to take her life back and take the power away from her mother who’s been keeping things from her her whole life. So, she burns the house down to let her mom know that she needs to be scared. The beginning of season two is exactly that. Cheryl is taking the reins back from her mother. Hell hath no fury like a Cheryl scorned. She’s kicking ass and taking names, for sure.”
And while an empowered and furious Cheryl doesn’t sound like too much a major shift from the mean girl seen in Riverdale’s first season, Petsch says that that’s not the case. Cheryl will keep her razor wit, but fans will see her becoming closer to Archie and the gang as well.
“The undercurrent for Cheryl this season is just that she wants to be loved and she needs to be loved,” Petsch said. “She hasn’t felt love since her brother left the world. You do see a lot of camaraderie between the gang and her in very interesting ways. Cheryl goes through a couple of really huge things that will torture her, and the gang is there for her every single time. She will continue to give the one liners, but there will be a little bit more camaraderie.”
That camaraderie will open the door for fans to see a softer, gentler Cheryl as she becomes more involved with Archie and the gang.
“Cheryl becomes a lot softer on camera this season,” Petsch explained. “You see a lot more of Cheryl. The breaks, the cracks in her facade. The walls come down in very interesting ways. She’s a lot more involved with the gang this season, and you see this really vulnerable girl in the first six episodes of the season that I think people need to see in order to understand where Cheryle is in her life.”
And it sounds like where Cheryl is in life includes new friends and even some romance, too.
“She does make a couple of friends this season and ultimately she will get a love interest.”
Riverdale‘s second season will premiere on Wednesday, October 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
