Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two, episode 19 of "Riverdale," titled "Prisoners."
The Black Hood has made a horrific return to "Riverdale," and we're one step closer to finding out his real identity.
During Wednesday's episode of the hit CW drama, Betty receives a phone call from the Black Hood admitting to killing Midge and setting Mr. Svenson up as the killer, proving that fan theories about Mr. Svenson being a red herring were correct. He also admonishes her for letting a "sinner" into her home.
He then chastises her for not following his lessons. Later on the episode, Betty leads Chic to a graveyard for a showdown with the Black Hood. She gives Chic a chance at escape by offering him a chance to run with the Black Hood in pursuit.
Here's the evidence for who he could be.
The Black Hood's murderous return.
The Black Hood made his return on episode 18, when the kids of Riverdale High are putting on "Carrie: The Musical." But what is supposed to be a fun evening turns into tragedy with murder of Midge Klump.
After Cheryl is almost hit by a falling sandbag, Kevin finds a note in his locker alleging to be from the Black Hood, and he and Jughead initially believe the note to be a prank.
It reads: "It's a sin that Cheryl is playing the role of Carrie. Fix this mess [I think, Kevin's hand covers most of the word] or suffer the consequences."
"Why would the Black Hood, who was shot dead by my dad, be demanding that the role of Carrie be recast?" Kevin asks Jughead, who is documenting the musical's production.
But Kevin later receives a more threatening note that reads: "This is your last warning to replace Cheryl. Next time the sandbag won't miss!"
Kevin decides to replace Cheryl with Midge, and even though Cheryl doesn't want to give into the threats, her mother refuses to give her the permission she needs to participate in after-school activities.
Later, Jughead finds cut up magazines in Ethel's trash and suspects that she may be involved in the "prank," but she says they are for her "vision board." But once again, things take a dark turn as the musical progresses. Alice is singing when the set rises behind her to show what is supposed to be Midge as Carrie on her knees. Instead, Midge's lifeless body is tacked to the set with five knives in her body and two pairs of scissors in her wrists.
Written around Midge in blood is a terrifying message that says, "I am back from the dead. All those who escaped me before will die."
She and Moose almost died at the start of the second season when the Black Hood shot into their car. But they both survived.
So who could it be?
Early theories suspected Hal Cooper or Sheriff Keller were the Black Hood. Both men fit the bill and both men are at the musical when Midge is murdered. Hal knows secrets about the town through his reporting for the newspaper, and Sheriff Keller could know secrets as a cop. But there's more evidence stacking up against Hal, and that's his tie to Betty.
The Black Hood called Betty multiple times and threatened her with the potential murders of her boyfriend and her sister. Mr. Svenson's obsession with Betty's life because of a small tie to her grandfather made no sense, but Hal is her father. Hal would know her phone number. Hal would also know the supposedly secret location of her sister's whereabouts.
When Betty gets home after leaving Chic at the mercy of the Black Hood, she tells her mother that Chic won't be back for a while. In the middle of talking, she pauses and asks where her dad is. Alice says Hal left to look for her, and Betty gets a suspicious look in her eye that leads viewers to suspect that Hal may in fact be the Black Hood.
This suspicion is foreshadowed earlier on the episode. After hanging up on the Black Hood, Jughead asks who was on the phone, and she says her dad.
Hopefully more clues emerge as the final three episodes of the season air and our suspects can be narrowed down.
Read more of our "Riverdale" coverage here.
Watch "Riverdale" on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.
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