'Riverdale' 100th Episode Recap: Major Characters Return, Spoilers

Warning. Spoilers ahead.

Well, the Riverdale 100th episode answered so many questions — but also created new ones! For example, how did Ross Butler end up back in his role as Reggie?

As fans know, the first five episodes of season 6 have taken place in a, sort of, alternate universe called Rivervale. The Tuesday, December 14, episode of the show wrapped up the cast’s time in Rivervale and returned them back to Riverdale for the rest of the season — which is set to premiere in March 2022.

The 100th episode celebration had fans’ favorite cast members: Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper), Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge), Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl Blossom), Cole Sprouse (Jughead Jones) and KJ Apa (Archie Andrews). But the show also surprisingly welcomed some old cast members who reprised their roles. Ross, who departed the show after season 1, stood next to Charles Melton as they both played Reggie Mantle. Cheryl’s brother Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) is alive and well, as is their dad, Clifford Blossom (Barclay Hope). Dilton Doiley (Major Curda), Ethel Muggs (Shannon Purser) and Ben Button (Moses Thiessen) — who all died in past seasons — were also back for the milestone episode.

“I know it can be a bit confusing, but I think it does a really, really good job of speaking directly to the audience who has stuck with us for a while,” Cole told Entertainment Tonight ahead of the episode’s premiere. “And also, it’s one of the first times — outside general narration — but one of the first times the show has actually discussed why it is the way it is, which I think is important, because this is a cult program, right? It’s really campy, it’s really large, it can be abstract at times.”

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody alum added, “It’s not exactly the most normal thing ever, but I think this episode does a really awesome job of going, ‘Oh, this is why,’ and finally letting the audience know why — that the show is not stumbling into these narratives blindly, but very consciously putting these things on paper and reacting to that paper in a very specific way. So, I think this episode is awesome. I think it does a really good job.”

So, how did Riverdale travel back in time and, essentially, bring some of their dead characters back to life? Well, Jughead had all the answers.

Scroll through our gallery for a breakdown of the Riverdale 100th episode, and what to expect when the show returns.

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The Explanation of Rivervale

Yes, it’s a parallel universe that does exist but it also might be a Betty Cooper dream world. She wakes up and tells Archie — who is actually alive — that she had a dream in which the entire town sacrificed him.

But that’s not the full explanation of Rivervale. At the end of season 5, Hiram Lodge leaves Archie a bomb as a parting gift. After a lot of digging, Jughead comes to the conclusion that the bomb triggered this parallel universe. Things get weirder when Jughead goes to the morgue to claim a body — his body. So, our Jughead count at this point is up to two. Along with the body was a stack of comic books, the Archie Comics, and Jughead starts to read the stories about himself and his friends.

The Return of Multiple Characters

As mentioned, tons of characters seemingly came back to life while Veronica tells everyone her dad, Hiram, died before her quinceñara — spooky. So, Hiram isn’t the big bad and Jason Blossom never died in this universe. With the return of the previously dead characters, Archie keeps hoping that his dad, Fred (played by the late Luke Perry) will return as well.

Jughead Has the Answers

When his friends start dying from random strangulations, Jughead is convinced that the only way to reverse the alternate universe is to recreate iconic Riverdale scenes, one of which includes the moment Archie and Betty were faced with the bomb under the bed. While he’s setting things up, another version of Jughead appears. Now, our Jughead count is at three.

This Jughead tells the original Jughead (yes, confusing) that if he continues to write, Rivervale will stay as a parallel universe. Which is exactly what happens.

What’s Next?

The episode ended with a return to Riverdale now that all is peaceful in Rivervale. In the real world, there’s still the bomb under Archie’s bed. Before it goes off, Betty gets a phone call warning her about the explosion, which appears to go off just as Jughead is continuing his novel in Archie’s garage.