Who killed Jughead? Riverdale drops huge hint he's faking his own death

7 November 2019, 20:53

By Katie Louise Smith

Writing about "the perfect murder" seems like the perfect time to stage... the perfect murder, doesn't it?

Hello and welcome to your weekly update on whether or not Jughead is actually dead on Riverdale. In this week's episode ('Witness For The Prosecution'), we flashed forward to Betty, Archie and Veronica being arrested in the middle of biology class by Sheriff FP Jones for the "cold blooded murder" of his son, Jughead – a very unexpected turn of events, I'm sure you'll agree.

In last week's flash forward, Jug's dead body was shown lying in the coroner's office as FP and Betty looked on with minimal levels of upset and distress. It was not quite the devastating reaction one would expect from his dad and his girlfriend, leading fans suspect something was up. A cover up or a series of staged events, perhaps.

Now, thanks to the recent developments in Jughead's storyline, the fandom is pretty confident they've got enough proof to back the fact that Jughead isn't dead. The main theory? He's faking his own death and it's all linked to the Baxter Brothers mystery books and his new Stonewall Prep assignment to write "the perfect murder."

Jughead faked his own death and here are the clues as to why... Picture: The CW

At Stonewall Prep, Jughead meets Francis J. Dupont, the original author of the mystery book series by the Baxter Brothers. Dupont says he's looking for "young and clever minds to keep our adventures fresh and relevant," and wants to hire either Jug or one of those preppy asshats for the job.

The audition: "You'll have to write the first three chapters of the next Baxter Brothers novel. And an outline for the rest of it."

The theme: "The Perfect Murder."

So, Jughead is now in the running to continue the ghostwriting legacy of the Baxter Brothers' mystery novels and what better way to tell that story and win the competition than by literally staging the perfect murder. Of himself. And have everyone in the town believe it. The gag of the season. Truly.

jughead fakes his own death for the writing contest prove me wrong
— gibby (@lilislanaa) November 7, 2019

“The perfect murder” is foreshadowing to Betty, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica planning the perfect way to fake Jughead’s death, aka “the perfect murder.” I bet they might even plan on this scene of getting “arrested” as well and expected it. #Riverdale
— Miranda (@mdawn37) November 7, 2019

anyways there's no way jughead would fake his death without telling betty they all have to be in on it.
— H. (@classicbughead) November 7, 2019

SO I SAY Jughead crafts that “perfect murder” and then actually plays it out IRL (faking his death), to prove his story was ACTUALLY the best, so he can win that contest.

Tbh Jughead going to these lengths to prove himself/become the next ghostwriter wouldn’t surprise me.
— ➶ 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 ➶ (@allyisdreaming_) November 7, 2019

my two favorite theories that I have seen about Jughead’s “death” are:
1. he’s faking his death to help him write his book and everyone close to him is in on it
2. they are acting out his book in real life and that’s why no one seems actually worried that he’s dead cause he’s not
— älexie (@SerpentFalice) November 7, 2019

Another theory circling the fandom is that the flash forwards are all reenactments or even staged events of his "murder", which would explain why there has been little to no real devastation shown by FP, Betty or Archie and Veronica. So far, those four are the only people who have been involved in the flashbacks directly linked to his death.

Jughead's grandfather could also have something to do with the plot too, considering he was one of the previous Baxter Brothers ghostwriters. OG Forsythe Jones will be introduced in the mid-season finale. Coincidentally, that's when show-runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has hinted that we'll learn more about what happened during the Spring Break flash forward in that episode.

So far, we've seen one scene take place during spring semester (the fake AF arrest) and two scenes take place during spring break (the search party and The Ceremonial Burning Of The Beanie™). The scene with Jughead's dead body, however, did not have a time stamp – which is a bit sus.

Like, maybe he is dead? Maybe Bret really did whack him in order win the competition? Either way, the Keating 4 from How To Get Away With Murder are shaking right now.