Riverdale Showrunner Says Betty and Archie's Story "Isn't Over"

We're just a matter of days away from the midseason premiere of Riverdale, and it fans are already eager to see exactly what's in store for their favorite characters. A lot of new romances and relationships have been brought to fruition thanks to the series' five-year time jump — including a romantic and sexual bond between Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) and Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), who hooked up a few times earlier this season. The idea of "Barchie" finally becoming canon definitely set the Internet ablaze in the past, and according to showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, it isn't quite done yet. When asked by TVLine if Betty and Archie's dynamic will extend beyond a "booty call" (a line used in the series' most recent episode), Aguirre-Sacasa reassured fans.

"LOL. That's fair," Aguirre-Sacasa explained. "But I will add: Betty and Archie's story isn't over yet, and their relationship does deepen, especially as we enter the last stretch of episodes."

This echoes comments that were made by Aguirre-Sacasa earlier this season, as he argued that the pair are "wrestling" with how to define their lifelong dynamic.

"I love this week's episode because — despite all the serial killers and aliens — it puts all of our characters' relationships front and center," Aguirre-Sacasa explained back in March. "And people start having hard conversations that they've mostly been avoiding. Betty and Archie, in particular, are wrestling with what they mean to each other. I mean, they're childhood friends, it's not just booty calls with them."

"One of the hallmarks of Riverdale has been that it isn't a procedural. Every episode is its own genre and it's constantly reinvent[ing] itself and it felt like if we had stayed in high school, we might run the risk of playing the same beats and the same stories over and over again," Aguirre-Sacasa explained to Entertainment Tonight earlier this season. "So I think the idea was that it would sort of be a creative boost for the writers, a creative boost for the actors and after four years of very gonzo, intricate, incestuous plotting, it was like, "Oh!" Well, we can just drop everyone into new storylines that feel organic to the characters, but allow us to feel like we can move a little more nimbly. Without the burden of, you know, Bughead dating or the burden of Archie still wrestling with the immediate death of his father. It felt like a way to freshen everything up and I feel like that was the big goal."

Riverdale will return with new episodes beginning Wednesday, August 11th, on The CW.