WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of Riverdale, “Chapter Seventy-Five: Lynchian,” which aired Wednesday on The CW.
The cast of Riverdale has been through its fair share of dangerous threats. It started with the mystery of Jason Blossom's murder in Season 1. And then things only got bigger and more ominous with the Black Hood serial killer, the mysteries of the Gargoyle King and Edgar Evernever's organ-harvesting cult, the Farm, in Seasons 2 and 3. The web of darkness and danger kept growing in Season 4, as Jughead became involved with the Stonewall students, who were tangled up in a conspiracy to commit the perfect murder.
Recently, the threat of Stonewall was finally put to rest, and it seemed like Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead would be able to reach the end of their senior year without the threat of more unsettling villains. But that isn't the case at all. In fact, the end of Season 4 has featured a new mysterious threat, and the series' latest episode, "Chapter Seventy-Five: Lynchian," confirms it is Riverdale's creepiest yet.
Riverdale's latest threat was already glimpsed in previous episodes of Season 4 when the characters received videocassettes on their front porches that, when played, revealed their houses had been filmed for hours. This was something that everyone in the town was subject to, and it quickly filled the citizens of Riverdale with dread as it ominously revealed they were all being watched. The videos returned here and there throughout the season, but they took somewhat of a backseat to Stonewall and other stories.
Now, however, the focus is squarely on the cassettes and who could possibly be behind them. In "Chapter Seventy-Four," things were taken a step further when Jughead received a tape featuring two people wearing plastic masks of himself and Betty recreating his "murder" in the forest. The video was unsettling to say the least, especially given the use of the toy masks. Then, in "Chapter Seventy-Five," another video featured more than the front a house. In fact, the tape Cheryl Blossom receives reenacts the murder of her brother Jason at the hands of his father -- once again by people wearing masks.
The video was obviously upsetting to Cheryl, just as Jughead was shaken by the recreation of his own fake murder. Whoever is behind this, it's clear that they know all about the dark events that have taken place in Riverdale these last few years. This knowledge is dangerous, and it's all made worse by the fact that no one has any idea who is behind it -- or how they could know all the details of these events. Worse still, it's unclear what their goal is. Is it only to spread fear, or is there a longer game at work here?
Whatever the answers are, this threat is different than the ones that have come before because it's driven by the unknown and the unseen. Previously, Riverdale's villains were central figures the characters knew were a threat. But now, the threat is a specter, and they have no idea where it will strike next.
Airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Riverdale stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, Casey Cott, Vanessa Morgan, Mark Consuelos, Skeet Ulrich, Marisol Nichols and Madchen Amick.