‘Riverdale’ Season 3, Episode 9 Recap: Is [Spoiler] Dead Or Alive?

“Riverdale” returned with its Season 3 midseason premiere on The CW on Wednesday, and there were quite a few OMG moments. Let’s recap.

*Spoilers Ahead*

The episode starts off with Archie (KJ Apa) still living on his own, but now he’s staying in a cabin in the forest, working as wilderness patrol. Unfortunately, while out making his usual rounds in the forest, he’s attacked by a bear and it’s not looking so good.

He heads back to his cabin to call other patrollers for help, but it starts to cut out and he’s not sure if they heard him correctly or when they’ll be able to get to him. He tries to bandage up the deep cuts to stop some of the bleeding and to ward off infections, but it’s too much and he starts to doze off and hallucinate.

Meanwhile, back in Riverdale, Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) underground club has never been busier, and she and Reggie (Charles Melton) have never been closer. The main thing ruining their enjoyment over the good business is that Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) keeps using his Gargoyle Gang to attack people involved with her club as a way to force Veronica to pay him for protection. At first, she gives in because she fakes her books in order to pay him less, but then Hiram realizes this and tells her they need to make a new deal.

She just might have a better option, though.

With the town’s quarantine lifted, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) and FP (Skeet Ulrich) are back inside Riverdale, and Jughead’s back with his Serpents, though he’s having a bit of trouble controlling them. After he learns that one of his people has been selling drugs for the Gargoyle Gang, he tells everyone that if they do anything illegal, they’ll be exiled from the Serpents. Upon learning that Fangs was the one doing it, he gives him a pass because of he’s having problems at home.

Unfortunately, Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni (Vanessa Morgan) have been doing some stealing and don’t stop even after Jughead’s speech. They even go so far as to steal from Hiram. After learning about this, Veronica offers Jughead and the Serpents jobs as her security team, and he accepts. He then tells Cheryl and Toni that they’re out of the Serpents because they didn’t listen to him, but then he’s forced to kick Fangs out, as well.

While all of this is happening, Betty’s (Lili Reinhart) been trying to house and help all of the patients she helped escape from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, while also convincing the sisters to testify against Hiram. She eventually is able to do the latter, but not so much the former.

Despite trying her best to keep the patients with her and safe, her mom ends up sending them away to the Farm. Her day only gets worse when she hears that someone, likely Hiram, posted bail for the sisters and they’re gone. She goes to search for them at their facility and finds them all dead with blue lips.

The last few minutes of the “Riverdale” episode have even more can’t-miss moments:

1. Jughead meets with Fangs in secret and asks him to go undercover in the Gargoyle Gang so they can take them down, and he accepts.

2. Veronica sings at the cabaret while Reggie watches in admiration. After, when the two are alone, they share a sweet moment and end up kissing.

3. Due to his injuries, Archie’s been fighting personal demons inside his mind, mainly thoughts of his past mistakes, and ends up killing Past Archie in his hallucination because he feels he can’t be that guy anymore. He can’t be weak. After this happens though, we’re shown what’s going on in the real world, and two rangers have shown up to the cabin to find him looking dead on the bed. One checks Archie’s pulse and it’s not looking good, but the episode ends before his fate is revealed.

Is Archie dead or alive? As he’s a main character on the show, it’s unlikely he’s being killed off right now. Plus, “Riverdale” Season 3, episode 9 isn’t the first time the show’s tried to convince fans that a main character is dead. Remember when they did that with Jughead?

Find out what happens next when “Riverdale” Season 3, episode 10 airs on Wednesday on The CW at 8 p.m. EST.