Riverdale was a teen mystery thriller series that ran from 2017 to 2023 on The CW. Despite being one of the last popular teen dramas to follow the 22-episode format, with seven seasons to its name, Riverdale has become somewhat of an infamous show in pop culture. The series was highly regarded during its first season, adapting the Archie Comics into a teen drama with the addition of murder mystery storylines. However, as the show went on, the mysteries and storylines became more bizarre, convoluted, and outright confusing at times.

While the first season’s mystery, which followed the murder of Jason Blossom, was pretty well done, the rest of the mysteries in the show were a lot less understandable, with many fans being confused at the sheer number of twists and turns. While every Riverdale fan knows who killed Jason Blossom, the mysteries of the following seasons weren’t as memorable.

Who Killed Jason Blossom?

Season 1

The first season’s mystery surrounding who killed Jason Blossom was certainly the best execution of a murder mystery plot on Riverdale. While the season did feature several side plots, the mystery felt rather straightforward, with the 13-episode format allowing for a concise, well-paced mystery with twists, red herrings, and a satisfying reveal. Jason’s death was initially explained as having drowned in Sweetwater River while on a boat ride with his twin sister, Cheryl. This turned out to be a lie, however, as Cheryl and Jason plotted to stage his death so that he could run away with his pregnant girlfriend, Polly Cooper.

When Jason’s body was found on the shore with a gunshot wound in the head, it came as a shock to Cheryl, leading to the mystery of what really happened to Jason. It was revealed in the season finale that after the staged drowning, Jason made it to the other side of the river, where he was then kidnapped by a Southside Serpents gang member, who held him for ransom. However, when his father, Clifford Blossom, arrived, he shot his son, with FP Jones and Joaquin DeSantos cleaning up the crime scene and dumping Jason’s body in the river. Clifford’s reasoning for killing his own son came from a desire to maintain the family business, as Jason knew the truth about the drug operation and refused to join.

The Black Hood Killed All Those He Deemed to Be Sinners

Season 2

The second season’s mystery surrounding the masked serial killer known as the Black Hood was an interesting premise, but the outcome ended up being a lot more complicated than fans were expecting. The Black Hood killed based on who he deemed to be sinners, with sins ranging from premarital sex (the attempted killing of Moose Mason and killing of Midge Klump), adultery (attempted killing of Fred Andrews), to child predators (the killing of Geraldine Grundy)

The Black Hood was originally revealed in the mid-season finale, with school janitor Joseph Svenson being under the mask. However, after Svenson’s death, the Black Hood’s killing continued, leaving Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones to continue their investigations. The real Black Hood ended up being Betty’s father, Hal Cooper, who was inspired by Betty’s speech at the town’s 75th Anniversary Jubilee to rid the town of sinners like his father, The Riverdale Reaper, had done. However, where this plot gets complicated is with the copycat black hoods, such as when a gang member named Tall Boy was hired by Hiram Lodge to kill Fred Andrews.

The Gargoyle King Was a Crazy Storyline

Season 3

For many Riverdale viewers, Season 3 was where the show took a turn, with many viewers losing interest in the show around that point. Much of that came from the more supernatural elements present in the season. While all of these supernatural occurrences were explained away in the season finale, many fans felt that this was when the show jumped the shark.

The third season introduced the board game called Gryphons and Gargoyles, which led many teens to kill themselves. At the center of this game was the Gargoyle King, who ended up being a real figure in the town of Riverdale. During the season finale, the Gargoyle King arrives at a gathering in the Blossom home, where it is revealed that the man behind the mask was Chic Cooper, the half-brother of Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones, and the son of FP and Alice Cooper. The real mastermind behind it all was Penelope Blossom, who had grown to resent the town of Riverdale after the death of her son, Jason, and the death of her husband, Clifford Blossom.

The Farm Was an Organ-Harvesting Cult

Season 3

Another storyline that heavily turned viewers off the show during the third season was the introduction of The Farm in the third season. Many fans theorized that the Farm would play into the Gryphons and Gargoyles storyline, but it ended up being mostly its own thing, making many wonder why it needed to exist in the first place. Betty immediately became suspicious of the enigmatic organization when her sister Polly joined and started acting strangely.

Throughout Season 3, more characters become involved in The Farm, with Kevin Keller, Fangs Fogarty, Principal Weatherbee, and Alice all joining at some point. The Farm ended up being, just as Betty suspected, a cult led by its own charismatic leader, Edgar Evernever. The Farm recruited members by promising them that they would be able to communicate with their dead loved ones. The biggest reveal around the Farm was that it was actually a front for organ-harvesting, with Cheryl and her friends having to break in to save Toni Topaz before she could be operated on.

The Mystery of Jughead Jones’ Death

Season 4

The fourth season of Riverdale had arguably the best mystery plot since the first season. The mystery of this season is very clearly inspired by The Secret History by Donna Tartt, with one of the major players being a character named Donna Sweett. The season opens with Betty, Archie Andrews, and Veronica Lodge in the woods, burning Jughead’s clothes. The rest of the season revolves around the supposed death of Jughead and the events that led up to it. During the fourth season, Jughead starts attending Stonewall Prep for his senior year and joins an elite literature seminar.

Once he joins the class, he is invited to join a secret group called the Quill and Skull with four other students led by Mr Chipping. The group ends up being a writing club, with each member trying to become the next ghostwriter for the in-universe Baxter Brothers novels. When Jughead is chosen, Donna Sweett and Bret Weston Walis orchestrate what they believe to be the perfect murder, attempting to kill Jughead. Of course, it is revealed that Jughead actually survived their attempted murder.

The Auteur Terrorized Riverdale With Creepy Videos

Seasons 4 & 5

The fourth season also brought in the mysterious figure known as the Auteur, which ended up being a rather anticlimactic storyline. While most of the villain reveals take place within the season finale of the season it was introduced, the Auteur storyline was resolved at the beginning of Season 5, with the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the fourth season being cut short by two episodes and the storyline having to be quickly resolved at the beginning of Season 5. This meant that fans had to wait months for a resolution, and the reveal left a lot to be desired.

The Auteur started their reign of terror by filming creepy, grainy videos outside people’s homes and then delivering the tapes to the homeowners to make them feel like they were being watched. From there, the videos escalated quickly, with masked individuals reenacting some of the town’s most gruesome murders. The Auteur ended up Jughead’s sister, Jellybean. While this could’ve been an interesting twist, her motive was just ridiculous; she started the Auteur mystery because she was scared of her brother leaving town for college and thought a new mystery would keep him in Riverdale.

Percival Pickens Was an Evil Sorcerer

Season 6

While Season 3 introduced supernatural elements to Riverdale, most of it could be logically explained. By Season 6, however, the supernatural elements became undeniable, with parallel universes, superpowers, and magic. When Hiram Lodge’s actor, Mark Conseulos, decided to leave the show in Season 5, Riverdale needed a new overarching villain, and Season 6 introduced the character of Percival Pickens.

While most Riverdale characters have origins in the Archie Comics (including the Black Hood), Percival Pickens is an entirely original character.

Pickens is initially introduced as a descendant of the town’s founder, with it being revealed that he was an evil sorcerer who made a deal with the devil to grant him immortality. Pickens starts terrorizing Riverdale by creating several obstacles for the characters, including biblical plagues and Bailey’s Comet, a meteor that would wipe out the entire town. Picken’s motivations seem to be just out of pure evil, hoping to take over Riverdale and raise an army of the dead.

The Mysterious Milkman Killer

Season 7

After the bailey’s comet hits Riverdale in the Season 6 finale, the town is sent back to the 1950s, with all the characters forgetting the events of the of the last 6 seasons. With this soft reboot of the series, the show began to feel more like a traditional teen drama, with most of the story revolving around the interpersonal drama between the characters rather than a mysterious villain. While Season 7 does have its antagonistic figures, such as Principal Featherhead and Mayor Clifford Blossom, there wasn’t really a “big bad” in the season.

Riverdale ends with the characters deciding to stay in the 1950s despite getting their memories back.

The closest thing this season has to an overarching masked villain is the Milkman killer, who kills Ethel Cain’s parents. The character only lasts a handful of episodes, though, with there not really being a shocking reveal other than him being a henchman of Clifford Blossom. A Milkman arrives at the home of Brad Rayberry. With Brad being found dead the next day. Eventually, the Milkman tries to attack Ethel, who defends herself with a kitchen knife and manages to kill him.