Thread by @Astro_Latte

Okay Barchie crew, this is for you!

The Six Stages of Romance for Barchie S5 (So Far!)

Reminder that six stages are:

#1. The Lovers Meet
#2. The First Kiss/First Intimate Moment
#3. The Confession of Love
#4. The Lovers Break Up
#5. The Proof of Love
#6. The Lovers Reunite

Before we start, I'm focusing on S5 for this thread because even though Barchie has the longest friendship in canon, the time skip acted as a reset for every romantic relationship.

There's def threads that folks can do for S1-S4 and S4 went through Stages 1-5 in two epsiodes.

#1. The Lovers Meet: Not every Lovers Meet scene is a meet-cute like what I described in my Jabitha breakdown. Sometimes it's the Lovers Meet Again if they already knew the other.

For Barchie, they hit this stage when Archie called Betty first to come back to Riverdale in 5x04.

Betty, of course, comes back to Riverdale, and out of everyone is probably the most excited to see Archie and the most supportive of Archie and Toni's plan to revitalize the town.

#2. The First Kiss/First Intimate Moment: The point of this stage is to move the characters closer to a sense of intimacy and romance.

Barchie had two, actually! Both were in 5x05.

First Intimate Moment:

It seems small at the time, but it's during the raid Betty and Archie lead to take back his house with the help of Kevin, Fangs, Sweetpea, and Sheriff Keller.

During the fight, Betty and Archie bump into the other, and Archie rubs her back.

Which then leads to the First Kiss that same episode.

This shouldn't surprise anyone but for Barchie their "first kiss" was more like "first-very-intense-make-out-during-very-passionate-shower-sex."

At this point, it is QUITE clear these two are romantic.

Now, before anyone starts whining, "But Astro, that's just sex! Where's the Barchie REAL kiss, huh?"

First of all, shut up.

Second of all, it's in 5x06 don't be obtuse.

#3. The Confession of Love: Once again, it doesn’t necessarily mean the characters say, “I love you” to the other, but it DOES have to be made known to the audience that one (or both) of their feeling are changing.

Betty has this in 5x08 when she tells Kevin about Archie.

#4. Lovers Break Up: This breakup is temporary until the lovers overcome whatever keeps them from true love. They can’t be together until they learn the lesson of the story, and it holds them back from happiness.

Barchie hit this stage in 5x08 and it's obvious from the dialogue.

Similar to Jabitha, Barchie is sitting between Stage 4 and Stage 5.

#5. Proof of Love: One character must sacrifice something for the happiness of the other. And they must do so without any hope that it will change the other character’s mind about entering into a relationship.

Finally, there's Stage 6.

#6. Lovers Reunite: The final stage where the lovers get back together and decide if they want to commit. It’s the emotional payoff to the question, “Will these two end up together or not?”

This will be addressed in the final episodes of the season.

Here's where the other active romances sit:
Choni: Stage 4 as of 5x08
Jabitha: Stage 4 as of 5x11
Varchie: Stage 4 as of 5x11
Veggie: Stage 2 as of 5x11

Barchie/Varchie are both Stage 4 since it's a love triangle. Whoever Archie does his Proof of Love for will be who he chooses.

My money is on Barchie ;)

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading! If you've enjoyed this or any of my other theory threads and want to show a little extra appreciation, I do have a tip jar over at my ko-fi. ko-fi.com/astrolatte