Wait, Is Riverdale's Biggest Bad Really Dead, Just Like That?

Riverdale cycles through villains like nobody’s business, but there’s always been one who refused to go down. The Black Hood, the Gargoyle King, Cliff Blossom, the Stonewall Preppies, and the Mothmen all fell to the Core Four’s sleuthing skills, but Hiram Lodge is another story. Or... he was, at least. Riverdale’s Season 6 return on March 20 may have finally succeeded in offing him. But is Hiram really dead? Let’s be real — Riverdale loves a good murder fake-out (it’s already happened with Hiram before), but this time feels like the real deal.

Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from Riverdale Season 6, Episode 6, “Unbelievable.” After the bomb Hiram hid under Archie’s bed exploded everyone’s lives, Veronica finally decided to pull the trigger she’d been hovering over ever since her mafia-boss dad came to Riverdale. Upon learning her exiled father tried to blow up Archie and Betty, Veronica resolved to take care of him for good. She called up a hitman (as you do) and despite Reggie’s urgings, organized her father’s murder.

It probably would have benefitted her to sleep on the decision, though, since Veronica almost immediately regretted the hit after she placed it. After seeing Reggie care for his father following a heart attack, Veronica tried to call off the hit, but the guy she hired was just too efficient — he told her he’d already taken care of Hiram. Distraught at her own hand in her father’s demise, a tearful Veronica decided to keep the truth to herself, telling Reggie she was able to stop the hitman before he could get to Hiram.

But someone else found out her secret soon enough. At the end of the episode, Veronica’s sister Hermosa called her up to reveal she knew what her little sis had done... and she would be out for revenge. “Blood will have blood,” Hermosa threatened.

The real question, of course, is whether Hiram is actually dead, or if it’s another classic Riverdale fake-out. Since the murder wasn’t shown onscreen, it’s entirely possible the hitman could’ve been lying or mistaken. On the other hand, Hermosa’s call seemed like confirmation, plus Mark Consuelos has officially exited the show. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa played coy when asked if Hiram was really dead in a post-episode discussion with Entertainment Weekly: “He's as dead as anyone on Riverdale has ever been. Even when characters are dead, they come back sometimes in flashbacks or dreams. I'll say this: Mark Consuelos isn't dead on Riverdale, though Hiram pretty much is."

From the sounds of that statement, Hiram probably is dead, but fans may still see him in dream sequences or in one of the show’s various flashback episodes in the future. Because at this point, everyone knows that nobody really stays dead in Riverdale.