This post contains spoilers for the Riverdale Season 2 finale.[hhmc]
Hiram Lodge was one diabolical daddy in Riverdale Season 2—but according to the lurid dramas creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, viewers aint seen nothing yet. Though he pulled the strings behind some of this seasons darkest deeds—several hit jobs, the near destruction of the Southside Serpents, a buy-up of the entire Southside, the false arrest of Archie Andrews—Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly that even worse crimes are in store: “Hiram Lodge can get much, much darker. . . . He influenced Archie. He influenced Reggie. He capitalized on Veronicas love for him. But he didnt get down and dirty in the mud that much.” Thats about to change.
Aguirre-Sacasa told E.W. that although viewers got a glimpse of what Hiram has planned for Riverdales Southside—a privatized prison through which he plans to run drugs and, eventually, a brothel—we havent seen the worst of his schemes yet. As the creator vowed, “Were going to see a much darker, more involved Hiram Lodge than in Season 2.” We already know that getting Archie arrested was part of Hirams plans to stop the core four from disrupting his plans for the Southside; the way Hiram sees it, Archie is the “glue” holding the gang together.
As Aguirre-Sacasa explained, “[Archie is] friends with Jughead, hes friends with Betty, hes dating Veronica. Jughead and Veronica dont necessarily have a friendship. It feels like their friendship grows out of Archie. So the idea of Archie being thrust into a situation that potentially takes him away from the core four does threaten the integrity of the core four.” And with Veronica and Hiram already feuding, things could get uglier; Aguirre-Sacasa said that dysfunctional daddy-hija dynamic will “set up a big central conflict in Season 3.”
Whatever Hiram gets up to in Season 3, know this: Mark Consuelos is having a blast in Riverdale. As the actor told GQ this week, “Its this super beautifully weird world where there's smoke everywhere, theres atmosphere working in everything. . . . Heres another thing that I love about it, man. If you ever get a chance to visit the set, the nostalgia of walking through the set and seeing the props that are from my youth, like the rotary phones and these certain little beautiful things that [Robertos] added to the show . . . its grounded in this beautiful nostalgia. But yes, it can get absolutely, hilariously, beautifully ridiculous, because at the end of the day its a comic book.”
Moving into Season 3, its worth wondering whether Veronicas feelings toward her father will become more consistent. Throughout Season 2, she couldnt quite seem to decide how she felt about Hiram; sometimes, she sincerely wanted to get more involved in his world, while on other occasions, she seemed resolved to destroy him. In a year that often felt circuitous, this dynamic, though somewhat understandable, could get frustrating. That, too, is about to change: “She still loves her father,” Aguirre-Sacasa said, “but shes done being a daddys girl. That doesnt mean shes done being in stories with Hiram. What it means is theres going to be more conflict between the two, and their relationship wont simply be parent and child. It will be more complex than that. We will keep playing the consequences of the decision she made in the finale, which is to reject Hirams money and all that that entails.”
Can trust-fund baby Veronica really make it work without access to her daddys money? Her acquisition of Pops Chocklit Shoppe was certainly a start—especially if she manages to get that basement speakeasy shes got planned up and running. Its unclear how much demand really exists in a small town like Riverdale for the fancy cocktails Ronnie has planned—but then again, this is Riverdale, so that kind of nitpicking is probably beside the point. As Consuelos himself pointed out, “Weve created this weird world where people buy into it and have a good time with it. Its funny, anything goes! Theres no excuses or apologies needed.”
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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