Riverdale season 5 spoilers: Is Barchie Endgame on Riverdale?

Betty and Archie have been lifelong friends and occasional lovers on Riverdale, but are they destined to be together?

Ever since Riverdale started, it’s been clear that something was destined to happen between Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews.

Lifelong neighbours and best friends, Betty had a crush on her bestie for the longest time and she finally vocalized those feelings in the series premiere. Archie, however, did not feel the same way and wanted them to remain friends.

While it seemed like the show was going to play the long game with these two, things went in a drastically different direction when Archie found love with new girl Veronica Lodge and Betty fell for her partner-in-crime-fighting Jughead Jones. And the “Varchie” and “Bughead” trains remained strong for years, making it clear that those two were destined to be “endgame”.

That said, Betty and Archie have found their way back to each other over the years, either giving in to a moment of weakness or deciding to just have a good time together with no strings attached. With that in mind, is Riverdale playing the long game with “Barchie”? Has this been the plan all along?

Are Betty and Archie getting back together on Riverdale season 5?

Betty and Archie finally got together in Riverdale season 5 (after that truly terrible cheating storyline in season 4) and it was great. Fleeting but great, as the pair decided to call it quits because as fun as their “friends with benefits” relationship was, they concluded that they were and always will be primarily friends. And yet, the recently released trailer for the season 5 finale suggests that isn’t the case – something that fans of the Barchie couple have been rooting for.

With Archie and Veronica pressing pause on their relationship for now (and Veronica destined to rekindle her romance with Reggie) and Betty and Jughead still finding something of an awkward but sweet new – and yet familiar – dynamic as friends, it does seem that the show is finally ready to go down the Barchie route properly.

As someone who despised the contrived cheating storyline of season 4 and really enjoyed their passionate reunions earlier this season, this writer can definitely say he’s excited to see where it goes. The question is, however, will Riverdale stick the landing or is this just another diversion in a show that loves diversions?

Is Barchie Endgame on Riverdale?

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that now is truly the time for Barchie to shine. Riverdale season 5’s seven-year time jump started off with the promise of refreshing changes and yet, somewhere along the line, it found itself back to basics very quickly (and not always in the good way).

Now, however, as season 5 comes to a close, it’s clear the show is attempting to try to reset things again, bringing in engaging new dynamics. Jughead and Tabitha have finally decided to give being a couple a try while it seems like love is on the horizon for Fangs and Toni as well. And then you have Veronica and Reggie seemingly finding their way back to each other. So, yes, it seems that Betty and Archie are finally going to explore that seemingly forbidden romance that Barchie fans have been waiting years for and it could be as glorious as they hoped it would be.

That being said, it’s still hard to see the show pivoting from the core couples it originally designated long-term. As endearing as Toni and Fangs are together, it’s hard to see those two ending up with anyone other than Cheryl and Kevin. With that in mind, after finally giving the Betty and Archie fans what they’ve been waiting for, the show could very well go back to Varchie and Bughead.

Both of those couplings have become part of the fabric of Riverdale and they are indeed among the most popular pairings on TV, so would the show ever risk alienating a strong portion of its fanbase on a long-term basis? On the other hand, Barchie also has a large fanbase just waiting for the content they have craved for so long.

We just don’t know because, end of the day, this is Riverdale – a show that likes to change the question as soon as you figure out the answer. And as long as there is unfinished business, anything is possible in Riverdale. Hey, it already is.

Riverdale season 5, episode 19 airs on The CW next Wednesday, October 19, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Do you think Betty and Archie are endgame? Will Bughead and Varchie reunite? Let us know in the comments below!