WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Riverdale, Season 6, Episode 6, “Chapter One Hundred and One: Unbelievable,” which aired Sunday, March 20th on The CW.
Riverdale Season 6 is back after a hiatus, finally leaving the parallel universe of Rivervale and returning to where it left off in the Season 5 finale with a bomb in Archie’s bedroom. However, as is standard for Riverdale by now, Season 6, Episode 6, entitled “Chapter One-Hundred and One: Unbelievable,” comes with a twist. While Jughead is dealing with some hearing loss after the explosion, Archie and Betty have basically come out of it unscathed, because they now have superpowers.
Riverdale, which initially started out as a teen drama, has touched on other genres before, including musical theater, murder mystery, and dark academia. This is, however, the first time that the show has ever experimented with the superhero genre. Season 5 left off with Betty and Archie officially deciding to give their relationship a chance as a couple, right before Hiram’s bomb went off. Now, after five episodes in Rivervale, the impact of the bomb has been revealed. Archie and Betty have each developed a unique superpower.
Although they both felt fine after the explosion, Betty goes to the hospital at her mother’s insistence. When Archie visits Betty at the hospital, Betty tells him that would not have survived the bombing if he had not shielded her with his body. Archie responds that he does not know how he possibly could have shielded her and still lived through it.
Later, at the gym, Archie then realizes he can lift a lot more weight than he had been able to last week. His shirtsleeves start to rip because his arm muscles are growing. Sure enough, Archie has developed some sort of super-strength and is now kind of indestructible. Betty, on the other hand, now has an ability to see auras around anyone who is threatening or evil.
Despite the fact that superpowers are new to the world of Riverdale, both Betty and Archie seem relatively nonchalant in regards to their newfound abilities. Perhaps the reason for this is that they are going through it together. Archie and Betty have been best friends for their entire lives, and are now officially a couple, so there is nobody better for either of them to be going through this with than each other.
As a couple, they can confide in each other about the strange experiences that they’re dealing with, and work through their powers together. After the explosion, Archie’s dog, Bingo, healed all four of his broken legs in just three days, so it seems that Bingo might have some sort of superpower now as well. Whatever happens next with the superpowers, it is clear that Betty and Archie’s relationship will be at the center of it.
The existence of superpowers could have a major impact on the future of Riverdale. Although Archie and Betty are the only main characters with powers so far, it seems that Jughead will follow suit soon enough. Betty’s powers are likely to make her an even better FBI agent, as she can now sense evil auras, which will help her protect herself and solve cases. Plus, now that Archie is indestructible, there is no telling what he might have to face in future episodes. Going forward, Archie and Betty may continue to keep their powers a secret from others, but it seems that this shared experience will only bring them closer together.
Riverdale airs Sundays on the CW.