Is There a Second Black Hood? 'Riverdale' Episode Hints at Second Killer

Riverdale revealed the identity of the Black Hood—the show's serial murderer—during???? "Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night" Wednesday. But the CW series appeared to hint that there may be a second hooded killer.

Season 2 of the drama has placed a high focus on unmasking the Black Hood, which subsequently led fans to piece together the mystery for months. Luckily, the series officially confirmed Hal Cooper—played by Lochlyn Munro—as the Black Hood. Early fan predictions pegged Hal as the Black Hood, despite Riverdale High School custodian Mr. Svenson (born Joseph Conway) being deemed the killer in "Chapter Twenty-Two: Silent Night, Deadly Night." Aside from this, many fans also suspected there could be another murderer—a theory Archie (K.J. Apa) suggested in "Chapter Twenty-Three: The Blackboard Jungle." Fortunately, for speculative viewers, this theory was seemingly confirmed Wednesday.

As the Black Hood, Hal committed several crimes, including the attempted murder of Archie's father Fred (Luke Perry) at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe in the Season 1 finale. Hal was arrested, but a second Black Hood remained on the loose. The second killer succeeded in escaping the Andrews home after attempting to murder Fred. As Archie arrived at the scene of Fred's arrest, he revealed to Betty that he witnessed the Black Hood exit his house about an hour prior. Betty questioned this, considering she was with her father—the primary Black Hood—at the time.

Riverdale doesn't disclose the details of Betty and Hal's previous discussion from the May 2 episode, "Chapter Thirty-Three: Shadow of a Doubt," but viewers gained further insight into Hal's motives for embarking upon a town-wide killing spree.

Hal showed his daughter and wife Alice (Mädchen Amick) an eerie video of himself as a child, which he's shown agreeing with his mother's sentiment: "Sinners have to die." Like his grandfather and father, Hal suffered from a "darkness" that led him to succumb to murder. Betty's great-grandfather was the killer, murdering Cheryl's great-grandfather and taking on the "Cooper" name to create a new identity for himself. The Conway's, Mr. Svenson's family, knew the Cooper family's secret and blackmailed the great-grandfather as a result. Hal's grandfather subsequently killed the Conways, leaving Mr.Svenson as the only survivor. In realizing that Mr.Svenson was "easy to manipulate," Hal initially managed to frame the dead janitor the Black Hood murders.

"I have a darkness, Alice," Hal said. "The same darkness my father had. The same darkness his father had. Now, it lives in Betty—our daughter."

Added Hal, "[Betty's] speech at the Jubilee reminded me of a promise that I made my mother, that this town will do better. We must do better. So I picked up my father's sword, and I continued the work that he and my grandfather started: the purging of sin."

On May 16, Riverdale will air its final episode of Season 2, titled "Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World." It's uncertain whether fans will learn the identity of the second Black Hood, especially considering executive producer Roberto Aguirre Sacasa confirmed to Newsweek that "there's going to be a lot more mystery, suspense, and relationship drama to propel us into next season."

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.