Everybody's talking about this, I know, but, being a MASSIVE Archie Comics fan, I have to put my two cents in. I know it's shocking, because we all wanted wholesome Betty to win Archie's heart in the end. But really? I think it's a good thing. For all the characters. Here's what I see in their futures:
1) Betty - will FINALLY move out of Riverdale. She'll ace the bar exam and become a successful human rights attorney, providing necessary pro bono services for immigrants seeking refugee status in the United States. She'll volunteer at a animal shelter on the weekends and will eventually come up with a cure for Kitty-AIDS. She'll take several lovers, men and women, all of who will expose her to a world of emotions and pleasure she would have never imagined...however, a certain emptiness will still plague her. Years later the phone will ring in the early morning and her mother will give her the sad news that her father has had a heart-attack and died. She'll return to Riverdale for his funeral...
2) Archie - will marry Veronica in a lavish wedding, paid for of course by Veronica's father, Mr. Lodge, who continues to dislike Archie even after he becomes his son-in-law. Archie will buy Pops Soda Shop after Pops' family can no longer maintain the mortgage (not to mention Pops massive gambling debts) after Pops' dies of testicular cancer. The soda shop business will be slow, and Veronica will be unhappy with Archie owning the "blue-collar" business. However business quickly picks up when Archie installs wireless Internet and offers students low-carb snacks and protein shakes on the menu instead of sugary sodas and milkshakes that once made Pops THE place to be. Archie's lust for Veronica, years after their wedding, will wean because of complications in their marriage. Upon news of the passing of Betty's father, he feels a pang of regret that only comes from past mistakes...
3) Veronica - will struggle to manage her love for Archie and the pressures of class set-forth by her family. She'll support Archie's purchase of the malt shop initially, but then feel the sting of failure as he serves coffee to bratty teens to make a living. She'll attempt (with help from a down payment from her father) to start a clothing line, for full figured women, after she develops thyroid issues that have her forty pounds heavier than ten years prior. The clothing line flops. Archie will impress upon her his want for children, but she'll feel unsure. After only a month of trying, they'll discover that she has a tilted uterus unsuitable for conception. She'll be secretly relieved. Two months before news of the death of Betty's father, her mother will also die, of heart disease. Going through her mother's stuff, Veronica will find a box with various photos of her as a child, including one particularly beautiful one of her and Betty as infants, sitting side by side, in a field of daisies...
4) Jughead - will travel the world, both for business and pleasure, working as a product taster and purchaser for Kashi whole foods. His penchant for burgers will weaken when he sees the decimation of the rainforest for Mcdonald's grade F cattle farming. He will become one of the world's leading food anthropologists, writing several books on the subject of human sexual desire in relationship to ones love of food. He will remain trim, and his grey felt crown will become the beacon of healthy living. He'll return to Riverdale once a year at Christmas to visit his mother (his father, long passed) and will stop by Archie's cafe, although things will never quite be the same as they were before he married Veronica. He'll still remember that night, with lust heavy in his heart, the night after their wedding when he held Betty in his arms finally, the night she was finally his. He'll return to Riverdale to attend Mr. Cooper's funeral, full of nerves...
5) Reggie - will move to Vegas and open the first swim up massage parlor in North America. He'll become very rich, but soon blow his money investing in a pyramid scheme selling shoddy pig feed to ignorant farmers. Legal fees will drown him. His empire will crumble. He'll be arrested for illicit sex with a transsexual hooker. He'll spend a year in jail for petty theft after stealing chips from a couple from Seattle on the strip. After jail— 30 pounds heavier and bald— he'll be released into a parole home where he will meet John, a reformed biker, who will become the love of his life. Two years later they'll tour the country and be brutally beaten in a park in Texas by a gang of teenagers unhappy with their public displays of affection. Both will come out bruised, but their love will be unbroken. Several weeks later, his arm still encased in plaster, Reggie will learn of Betty's father's death and decide it's time to merge his new life with his past...
At the funeral:
Betty sits beside her mother in front of her father's casket as Veronica, Archie and Mr. Lodge enter. Her heart flutters but sinks at the sight of Archie, looking pretty much the same with his checkerboard red head and freckles, minus his usual toothy grin. His face is thinner, paler and his statue is stooped. Veronica is heavier, maybe even fat, but she still walks with an air of importance clashing with her now frumpy stature. Mr. Lodge is also older looking, however still stands upright, his hair slightly thinner but his mustache still as full and bristly as ever.
Archie sees Betty and his heart pounds. She looks more statuesque than before, but still with the same golden hair and bright eyes.
Jughead also enters the room and his eyes immediately go to Betty. It is impossible for them not to. He straightens his hat and walks over. She looks over at him and smiles, it's a knowing smile, one filled with kindness and friendship. He wishes it said more.
The group— Betty, Archie, Veronica, Jughead— stand a chat nervously. Mr. Lodge and Mrs. Cooper stand aside, whispering. They hug and both nod towards Betty and agree that it is time.
Reggie enters with John in hand. The group, noticing his arrival with his friend, are shocked and it is Betty and Jughead who embrace him and happily introduce themselves to John first. Archie, hesitantly, shakes Reggie and John's hand while Veronica, gobsmacked, saunters off towards the buffet table in the corner before introductions can be made.
Mr. Lodge and Mrs. Cooper pull Betty aside and tell her what has so long been their secret. One not shared with either Mrs. Lodge, Veronica, Mr. Cooper or anyone in Riverdale...with the exception of Mr. Weatherbee, Mr. Lodge's oldest companion.
Betty is actually the daughter of Mr. Lodge, the product of an affair between her mother and Veronica's mother long ago. Betty is shocked, as is Veronica, who overhears the conversation and drops the tiny sandwich in her hand onto the carpet.
All these years, Betty's mother and Mr. Lodge had done their best to keep Betty and Veronica apart so that no one would guess their likeness. Archie happened to be a happy accident, providing the perfect wedge in the closeness of their relationship.
Betty is visibly devastated and drops to the ground. By now, Veronica (also shaken) has spread news of this to the whole room (due in part to Archie's total lack of discretion). They all stare at Betty sobbing on the floor...all except Jughead, who comes forward, gently picks her up and takes her outside for air.
On the steps of the building the wind is cool, it calms the redness of Betty's face, the face that Jughead tries desperately not to stare at. She catches him looking at her and laughs. "I must look a mess" she says, pulling her bangs out of her eyes. "You never look a mess," says Jughead, "you never have and never will." Betty's heart pumps harder in her chest. She feels exhilarated, and a sense of recognition of something comfortable and warming surfaces from deep within her. Jughead watches her face closely and sees her soften. He pulls her closer to him...
...Archie is standing at the door staring outside. He'd run to find Betty, to tell her once and for all that SHE should have been his wife. That he was a fool to not choose her! But now he stands paralized. He doesn't go outside. He stands and stares at Betty, his best girl, locked in a passionate kiss with Jughead, his oldest friend.
Woooooooooooo! DRA-Ma, folks!
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