Thread by @Astro_Latte

Riverdale Season 5 Has A Love Triangle: It’s Barchie vs. Varchie (a thread)

Once again, I’m focusing only on S5. I’m sure people have written about the will-they-won’t-they of the classic Archie Comics love triangle across all four seasons of Riverdale. That’s not this thread.

Another tidbit for this thread is that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is the Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.

He has a vested interest in the Archie/Veronica/Betty love triangle since it’s been their entire business model for the past 80 years.

“Betty or Veronica?” is so ubiquitous that TV tropes list it as the most common form of love triangle. It's now seen as a trope when characters from wherein the main character are caught between two love interests with drastically different personalities. tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.…

While RAS uses Riverdale as a vehicle to subvert traditional Archie Comics storylines, in the pilot for the show he devoted it entirely to Archie's relationship with both Betty and Veronica.

Before we are asked who killed Jason Blossom the question is, "Who will Archie choose?"

While Archie has dated Veronica for nearly the entirety of Riverdale, as has Betty with Jughead, it’s Archie and Betty that keep popping up. It happened in S2 and then again in S4.

It's that S4 kiss is that ends their relationships with Jughead and Veronica before the time jump.

This hasn’t come out of nowhere, either. In every promotional poster from S1 to S5, they’ve purposely placed Archie, Betty, and Veronica in a literal triangle. Regardless of their relationship status.

Seriously.
I even drew it for you.
You’re welcome, Internet.

While the argument can be made that any couple can have their poster location scrutinized, due to their near universal reference, Archie/Betty/Veronica being laid out that way seems entirely intentional for a property based on Archie Comics.

For love triangles to work:

- All characters need to be developed
- Both suitors need to be a viable choice
- A protagonist must actively choose who to be with, not be left with them
- This decision must have weight
- The final decision should align with the climax of the story

For a love triangle, you don’t have to start both relationships at the same time. In S5, Archie starts his FWB relationship with Betty from 5x05-5x08 and goes with Veronica from 5x08-5x11 before breaking up with her as well. Since it's TV, the story's climax is the season finale.

Another reason this season's love triangle is Varchie/Barchie and not Bughead/Jabitha is that, unlike Archie, Jughead is not being presented as needing to choose between Tabitha or Betty.

As of 5x11, he's actively pursuing Tabitha, telling her he wants to finish their dance.

I've mentioned this before, Betty and Jughead's storyline this season is not about getting back together - it's about forgiveness. These two really hurt the other and neither can move on until they address that honestly.

But that isn't a love triangle.

One of the reasons that voicemail is so heartbreaking is that we as the audience know that Betty did not kiss Archie because wanted to hurt Jughead or Veronica. If anything, that's why she ended it.

Archie was the one writing songs for her and letting his girlfriend sing it!

The hurt that Jughead feels actually has nothing to do with the feelings she had for him when they were together, it has everything to do with the feelings she has for Archie.

That's why she's so pissed at Jughead for saying those things about her because they aren't true.

Betty kissing Archie broke Jug and she needs to accept that she did that to him even if it wasn't her intention. But in telling him the truth and apologizing, it means admitting that her feelings for Archie are real - not just an escape. That's what Jughead needs to know to heal.

I get why people think that conversation may go a different way, but the alternative would be Betty admitting that she DID do the one thing she knew would devastate Jughead ON PURPOSE because she really is a fake bitch and we all know that's not true. She wouldn't do that to him.

This also fuels the real love triangle because Betty admitting that the fling with Archie felt that way it did - saving her sanity, her light in the dark, etc. - makes her more of a viable option for Archie. She cares about him. She is a real possibility.

She CAN be his choice.

And this, guys, gals, and non-binary pals is exactly why everyone is losing their minds right now.

It's easier to pretend that Barchies is a plot device or a trick - but they never were.

They've been here since the start and RAS has finally activated the classic love triangle.

Now, Archie hasn't made his choice, and we won't know until the third act if he'll choose Veronica again, or realize his feelings for Betty, or keep that decision up in the air until the series finale.

But that's the thing about a love triangle - the endgames come at the end.