Alternative Character Interpretation / Riverdale

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• Archie Andrews:
  • A lot of fans interpret Archie's rejection of romance with either Betty or Veronica in this series as being a result of him still dealing with PTSD and guilt from Grundy's grooming and sexual abuse of him, rather than his comic book counterpart's infamous indecisiveness.
• Betty Cooper:
  • While Betty having mental issues becomes more apparent with each episode, exactly what diagnosis is questioned among fans. Many agree on some form of anxiety, but her 'Polly episode' in "Body Double" makes some wonder if she has a personality disorder. Note that mentions of Polly seem to bother her in more ways than one—when talking to Trevor, who mentions Polly out of concern, the music slows down as Betty's smile slides off. Alice gives Betty Adderall pills, but some fans question if it's to actually help, or if Alice is just giving them to Betty as another way of pretending she's perfect.
• Cheryl Blossom:
  • How much of Cheryl's grieving for Jason is genuine, and how much of it is her just milking it for attention... or so she won't look suspicious to the police? For that matter, is the Incest Subtext just that, or was there really something going on? This just continues into the subsequent episodes, with her at one point admitting to the sheriff she's guilty in front of everyone then privately clarifying she meant she was guilty of lying about what happened, not of killing him, following her simultaneously singing and dancing at a pep rally then breaking down when reminded of him. It's clarified at least that until his body was found, she was under the belief he was alive and Faking the Dead so she was faking it at first, but once his body is found and she finds out he did, in fact, die, then she starts to break down.
  • In an episode specific example, in the antepenultimate episode of Season One, Polly and Cheryl discover that Cheryl's parents have been hiding Jason's ring- which he had had on before running away- and Polly tries to take the ring in order to bring it to the police, only for Cheryl to snatch it away and ominously declare that if Polly thinks that the fact that she's carrying Jason's babies will keep Polly safe, she is in for "a rude awakening." Now, is Cheryl threatening Polly that Cheryl herself will hurt her, or is Cheryl warning Polly of what Cheryl's parents might do to Polly and trying to keep Polly from putting herself (and the babies) in harms way by incurring their wrath?
• 'Grundy':
  • Many fans believe that Miss Grundy was lying about her past as a victim of domestic abuse, given her frequent manipulation of Archie, as well as a scene showing her checking out another group of teenage boys. Though her supposed past would explain her reserved and quiet nature, being an ephebophile equally explains why she'd have a fake identity.
• Jason Blossom:
  • Both In-Universe and out: What kind of person was Jason? What kind of relationship did he have with Polly? The first few episodes have Betty's mother accusing him of hurting Polly and 'leading to her downfall', while Cheryl proclaims that he was one of the nicest people she knew. Come episode "Body Double" and the reveal that he wrote Polly's name down in the football teams playbook used to "rate girls", Cheryl suffers a Broken Pedestal moment. But later episodes reveal that despite their somewhat rocky relationship, Jason was planning on running away to marry Polly after he had gotten her pregnant, with the real reason Polly being sent away by her parents was to keep it all a secret out of shame.
• Jughead Jones:
  • Jughead's conflict in the second half of Season 1 is that he and Betty are too different to be compatible. However after his birthday episode - when he learns about her 'Dark Betty' stunt on Chuck - they have less friction over the matter. Given his "I'm weird" speech, was he actually attracted to the idea that Betty has an undiagnosed psychological disorder?
• Fred Andrews:
  • Fred changing his mind about running for mayor: was it his idea, or was it his ex-wife's idea as a way to get Archie out from under the Lodges' thumb?
• Penelope Blossom
  • After it's revealed that Penelope is vehemently homophobic and lashed out at Cheryl after finding her in the same bed as the girl - Heather - she had reciprocal romantic feelings for some of her behavior towards Veronica and Cheryl in season one's "Heart of Darkness" is called into question. Was some of her anger and hostility coming from Penelope suspecting that Cheryl had feelings for Veronica? And for an Alternative Character Interpretation for Cheryl, was Penelope right?
  • Many fans interpret Penelope as a closeted bisexual given her inexplicable extreme homophobia, the ridiculous amount of Foe Yay Shipping between her and Alice, and indications that she had a crush on Sierra in the parent flashback episode. Penelope’s actress Nathalie Boltt has supported this theory.
• Relationships:
  • Does the relationship between Cheryl and Betty really depict a bully and her victim, respectively, slowly becoming friends after discovering that they’re cousins, as the show presents? Or, as a good portion of fans believe, is it an example of All Take and No Give, with Cheryl doing the giving, oddly enough? It’s worth noting that to most fans, Cheryl’s worst offenses of “bullying” Betty— calling her ‘Season Two Betty Draper’ before the series, and calling her a cow in the second episode— are far outweighed by both the things Betty has done to her, and by all of the things Cheryl’s has done for Betty. A particular sour point is that Betty was not at all involved in rescuing Cheryl from the conversion therapy at The Sisters of Quiet Mercy— instead later repeatedly using this information to blackmail The Sisters— while Cheryl’s immediate reaction to learning Betty is there (in the next season) is to insist on rescuing her. In general, Cheryl shows a great deal more care and concern for Betty, Cheryl’s snark aside, than she gets in return.

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