Riverdale just wouldn’t be complete without Jughead Jones. Here’s why Jughead isn’t dead.
Update (March 4, 2020): Welp, Jughead’s fate was revealed on Riverdale season 4, episode 15, which aired on Wednesday, March 4. Read our thoughts!.
Riverdale season 4 keeps dangling Jughead’s death in front of our faces, and we’re sick of it! As much as they want us to believe that the character is dead, we simply refuse. Not only is the thought just too painful to even comprehend, but there are some solid story reasons why Jughead’s death would be a very bad idea for the show.
Here are five reasons why Jughead can’t be dead in Riverdale season 4.
Jughead is the ‘Riverdale’ narrator
So many episodes of Riverdale begin and end with Jughead waxing poetic about his town and the events that are taking place. It’s how we’ve always known the show, right from the very first trailer. For the most part, this is the story of Riverdale as Jughead chooses to tell it.
Related: This one Riverdale line could confirm Jughead’s fate in season 4
In that way, even though he’s not in every scene, Riverdale has sneakily made Jughead its point-of-view character. Probably the most compelling reasoning for Jughead being alive at the end of season 4 is that a show can’t just kill their point-of-view character. Otherwise, the audience has no point-of-view!
By setting up Jughead as the show’s narrator, they’ve essentially saddled him with the thickest protagonist armor that Riverdale can offer. He’s the closest thing to immortal the show has. At least, we really hope so.
Archie can’t lose his best friend
Archie just lost his dad. It would be completely unfair for him to also lose his best friend in Riverdale season 4. Sure, life is unfair, but we’ve honestly already seen more than enough of brooding, tortured Archie to last a lifetime.
Archie hasn’t been on a great path since Hiram developed a personal vendetta against him, and things only got worse for him when Fred tragically and suddenly died. If Jughead died, he might never recover, and we really just can’t watch Archie self-destruct for another season.
Betty can’t lose her boyfriend
Betty just lost her dad. It would be completely unfair for her to also lose her boyfriend…are you sensing a theme here? The kids of Riverdale have experienced way too much loss for their years, and it’s time to switch things up a bit. To her credit, Betty has handled most of her trauma in stride, but we don’t need to see anyone’s storyline get darker. There’ll be enough trouble for them to get into in college!
Besides the fact that losing Jughead would be a bad story for Betty, it would be a real shame for Riverdale to lose Bughead in that way. Strangely enough, their solid and sweet relationship has a way of grounding the show that’s desperately needed. Without their bond and combined level-headedness, things could go even further off the rails really quick.
Jughead is our biggest tie to the Serpents
While Jughead isn’t our only tie to the Southside Serpents, he’s definitely the strongest. Case and point, we’ve barely seen the Serpents since Jughead left to go to Stonewall Prep. Toni has found her own footing by Cheryl’s side, but there are so many more characters who we’ve been missing without Jughead’s presence bringing them to the forefront.
If Jughead actually dies in Riverdale season 4, we may as well also say our goodbyes to Fangs (once his tickle tryst with Kevin is over), Sweet Pea, and even Gladys, Jellybean, and Penny Peabody. Even though these characters don’t get much screentime, we’ve become invested in them to the point that we definitely don’t want to lose them along with Jughead.
The Stonewall Prep kids can’t win
This one is more of a personal point of pride. I refuse to sit back and let those weird bullies win! If Jughead is actually dead and they’ve managed to pull off some “perfect murder” scenario, I will be so mad about this entire season of Riverdale. Those creeps don’t deserve to best Betty and Jughead.
Season 4 has been leading up to a showdown between Bronna and Bughead, and from what we’ve seen, Bughead should clearly be the winners. The Stonewall kids fight dirty, but they still have nothing on the Riverdale dream team. I’m also really hoping that Bret doesn’t stick around to terrorize Betty and Jughead for another season, so I definitely need him to lose, once and for all, as soon as possible.