Riverdale Rewind: Which series regular will die midseason?

Photo Credit: Riverdale/The CW Image Acquired from CWTVPR

Probably safe

Cheryl

Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) has been through more trauma than any other character on Riverdale by far. That fact alone should bar her from ever being killed off. She deserves better, and season three may, in fact, take her storyline in a more positive direction.

She has her loving and supportive girlfriend Toni (Vanessa Morgan). She’s emancipated from her awful mother Penelope (Nathalie Boltt). And, she’s finally found a community in the Southside Serpents.

Obviously, Cheryl will face new trials and tribulations this season, but death should be off the table if the producers and writers know their fanbase at all. Killing Cheryl would also seem especially gratuitous given that Riverdale began with the murder of her twin brother Jason (Trevor Stines).

Toni

If Toni is killed off, I guarantee that a large part of the Riverdale fandom will riot. First off, the writers and producers just can’t do that to Cheryl. Cheryl can’t lose Jason and  Toni, especially on top of everything else she’s has been through.

Second, “Choni” is one of Riverdale‘s most popular ships, so killing Toni would just be dumb. And third, so much of Toni’s backstory still deserves to be explored. What happened to her parents? Are they still alive?

Toni was promoted to a series regular for this season, so she should have storylines of her own, none of which should end with her dying.

Kevin

First and foremost, season three needs to be the year of Kevin (Casey Cott). Over the course of two seasons as a series regular, Kevin has had just one significant storyline. He deserves to be written as his own character rather than as a plot device for the “Core Four.” Even Cott said as much at The CW Upfronts last May.

"“I think Kevin [was] a part of a lot stories last year but didn’t really have his own story. So I think if we could really dive in to see a narrative really that Kevin was the forefront [of, that] would be awesome.”"

Additionally, Riverdale‘s producers and writers are surely aware of the “Bury Your Gays” TV trope and that The CW already has a reputation for being guilty of it. Of course, Kevin should not be solely defined by his sexuality, but he is a particularly meaningful character for much of Riverdale‘s fanbase. The producers and writers would be unwise to overlook that.

Josie

So far, Josie (Ashleigh Murray) has unfortunately been underused on Riverdale. On the bright side, that could mean she’s actually more likely to be safe. Josie deserves to have more narratives of her own this season, including a reunion with the Pussycats, Val (Hayley Law) and Melody (Asha Bromfield).

There is one scene from last season to consider, though. Josie had a nightmare about being killed by the Black Hood. While the Black Hood storyline is over, could that moment have potentially been foreshadowing her coming death?

Alice

Given that Betty already lost one parent in season two, it would be quite harsh for her to lose Alice (Mädchen Amick) in season three. Additionally, since “Falice” is one of Riverdale‘s most popular ships, her death would anger a lot of fans.

However, Riverdale has never been a show to shy away from tragedy, and Alice’s season three storyline looks pretty sketchy. Based on the SDCC trailer, Alice seems to have joined The Farm that Polly (Tiera Skovbye) told her about at the end of season two, and The Farm seems to be a cult. Hopefully, Betty and FP will be able to save Alice, but if not, who knows what might happen?