Now that Riverdale has confirmed that Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) is very much not dead, the mystery of who tried to orchestrate his death was blown wide open. Just how much of a role did the Stonewall Prep kids and Mr. DuPont have? How deep does the conspiracy go? And what the heck is going to happen next? Thankfully, we got all of our answers and then some in this week’s episode, and we’re here to break down all of the twists and turns. Here’s what you need to know about this week’s episode, “Chapter Seventy-Three: The Locked Room.” Obviously, spoilers for the episode below! Only look if you want to know!
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Jughead chronicles the time he spent hiding out in Dilton’s bunker, and how weird it felt to watch his own death be publicized throughout Riverdale. He says the most difficult part of the ordeal was Betty and Archie pretending to date, as well as figuring out who to tell the truth to. Betty talks to Jellybean – who figured out the truth herself – and then tells the truth to F.P.
Hermosa asks Veronica if she helped Betty kill Jughead because they’re secretly in love with each other. Veronica denies it, but asks Hermosa to dig up dirt on Donna.
Betty visits Jughead and says that they found “him”, and are going to use it to ruin the preppies’ lives. They visit Stonewall and confront DuPont and the classmates, locking the door until one of them admits to the conspiracy. Jughead and Betty reveal that Chipping forced Moose to leave Stonewall and join the army, and argue that it was because he was worried Moose was going to get murdered. They also confront DuPont for stealing the original Baxter Brothers idea from Jughead’s grandfather.
They also accuse Donna of faking the affair she had with Chipping, and that Chipping had been driven to insanity because of the guilt he felt over the Baxter Brothers contract. They suggest that Chipping was forced to murder people in order to win the contract, and that all of the “Stonewall Four” kids were killed by previous ghostwriters.
Jughead suggests that he was named the ghostwriter in order to put a target on his back, and that all four of the other preppies conspired to kill him. They chronicle each person’s role in the murder plot — and how Betty, Archie, and Veronica realized that Jughead was really alive. Jughead told Betty not to take him to a hospital, so they took him to Charles instead, who suggested that they destroy all evidence and take off their clothes. They do just that, and Betty suggests what they’ll have to do if Jughead somehow doesn’t survive. In the present day, Betty and Jughead reveal that they paid Dr. Curdle Jr. to fake his autopsy.
They accuse DuPont of being a serial killer, and of killing his other classmates to hide that he stole the Baxter Brothers manuscript. They bring in F.P., Charles, and Jughead’s grandfather, Forsythe, the latter of whom confirms DuPont’s murderous tendencies. Charles reveals that the FBI found evidence in DuPont’s house linking him to the crimes, and arrests him. DuPont denies it, and jumps out of the window to his death.
Charles interviews the other preppies — Joan refuses to admit her culpability, Donna pins the blame on DuPont, and Brett threatens to release Jughead and Betty’s sex tape if his sentence isn’t reduced. F.P. and Jughead are invited in to beat up Brett, which forces him to admit the location of the sex tapes.
Alice reports on the sex tape story on the local news, but Betty leaves the celebration to go visit Donna, who is now taking over the Baxter Brothers and rebranding them as Tracy True. Betty accuses Donna of coming up with the entire conspiracy, as revenge for her grandmother being killed by DuPont years ago. Donna admits to it, and reveals that her grandmother came up with Tracy True. Betty suggests Donna walk away from the Tracy True contest, otherwise, her true parentage is going to be publicly revealed.
Jughead still feels cheated about what happened, but Betty says its going to be okay. At school, Cheryl confronts Betty about her fake relationship with Archie, and agrees to keep it a secret. Jughead successfully transfers back to Riverdale High, and comes home to find F.P. and Forsythe repairing their relationship.
Jughead, Betty, Archie, and Veronica meet at Pop’s, where Archie asks that they have a good rest of senior year. Veronica threatens to help Archie and Jughead graduate by any means necessary. Kevin enlists all four of them in the school talent show.
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Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
