WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 3 of Riverdale, "Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation," which aired Wednesday, Feb. 3 on The CW.
Going into Season 5 of The CW's Riverdale, it had already been revealed that Skeet Ulrich, who plays Jughead's father F.P. Jones, would be leaving the series. But that was all fans knew. So the big question of the first few episodes was how would the fan-favorite character make his departure: would he tragically go down in a blaze of glory or would he head off into the sunset?
Well, the answer was revealed in the series' latest episode, "Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation," as F.P. finally exits the show. So how does it happen?
In the previous episode of Riverdale, the identity of the Auteur was finally revealed. For months, the residents of Riverdale were terrorized by homemade videos filming the front of their houses and recreating gruesome murders from the town's recent history. Jughead and Betty tried to determine the identity of the Auteur for a long time, until the former figured out this twisted filmmaker was actually his little sister, Jellybean.
Jellybean had no malicious intent at heart. She originally started making the videos to stop her brother from leaving town by giving him a new mystery that would prevent him from going to Stonewall Prep. But as she involved her friends, things only got bigger. And "Chapter Seventy-Nine: Graduation," makes it clear that this is the result of Jellybean and her friends growing up in a town haunted by killers and dark mysteries.
Therefore, F.P. comes to the only logical conclusion: he has to take Jellybean back to her mother in Toledo. But given all the help she requires, he observes she will need her father with her, too. Unfortunately, this means F.P. has to break up with Betty's mother, Alice, and say goodbye to the life he built in Riverdale for the past several years.
After Jughead's graduation ceremony, F.P. and Jellybean leave with a few of the South Side Serpents in tow. They ride off together, leaving Riverdale behind. It's a tearful goodbye for F.P., Jughead, Alice and Betty, but it's filled with love and understanding. F.P.'s departure isn't something he wants to do, but it's something that needs to be done for his daughter. She is in great need of help and, by taking her away from Riverdale, F.P. is taking the first step to getting her back on the right track.
While Riverdale has killed off characters before, the series thankfully chose to keep F.P. alive. This means that further down the road, the character could always return for a guest spot, to lend support to his son or to ride as a Serpent once more.
Riverdale stars K.J. Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge, Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle, Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz, Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper and Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate. New episodes of Season 5 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.