Despite what the final flashforward scene in the season three finale may imply about the fate of our Juggy, I'm not buying it and neither should you (though his beanie burning in the fire was a bit hard to watch for me, but hey, if there are extras on set, then Jug can always get a new one from somewhere). So while the show prides itself on paying tribute to the classic media of horror out there from movies to musicals, and this scene was obviously a homage to "I Know What You Did Last Summer," here are four reasons not to get too worried about Jughead being the victim.
Let's start with the most obvious point.
1. He is the narrator of the show!
I think this just goes without saying. Aside from the fact that he is one of the core four of the show, he is usually the first one we hear when a new episode starts, narrating the novel he writes about the town of Riverdale throughout the show, tracking the events since the disappearance of Jason Blossom. So it would be very off-putting to kill the narrator of the whole story! Plus, Cole Sprouse specifically chose to play Jughead (after initially auditioning for Archie) mainly because it would've seemed very unlikely for him to get killed off.
I think that fact alone would have been the main (if not only) point I wanted to stress here, but surprisingly, I've got three more!
2. He is the brains of the show
While it might be creative for the show's writers to take away one of the team's biggest assets to show how the characters adapt to, cope with, and work their way around this loss, this wouldn't be a smart decision to make, considering how Jug and Betty's superb detective work solves most of the problems the core four encounter, aside from it being one of the main foundation blocks their relationship is based on (Bughead forever, a point I could've made on this list but didn't). Simply taking him out wouldn't do the writers, the fans, or the Bughead shippers any favors.
3. The show did a fake-out of this before
Let's not forget the ending to the second to last episode of season two when FP returned with a motionless Jughead in his arms. Cut to the next episode, the season two finale, which started out with a sequence of the other three of the group visiting his grave — and then it cut to him waking up in a hospital bed!
In my case, I recently got into the show and binge-watched all three seasons on Netflix within a week (not to brag), so I actually had the benefit of not waiting any time between these two episodes to find out what happened to Jug for real, but I can't imagine having to wait a whole week for it! At least now in the case of this scene of the season three finale, there is a lot of room left open to fill in what could've happened, bringing me to my final point...
4. Nothing on this show should be taken at face value
If you have been a fan of this show since the beginning, or in my case just recently, then you have been through enough of it (three seasons) to know not to assume anything, that nothing is as it seems. We have at least half of a season of build-up until the point of the other three's decision to burn their clothes, wash themselves off, and never speak of whatever just happened again, so anything could happen! It could be as simple as Jughead not being there, that is if you choose not to think it's what it looks like, and God, I really hope it's not what it looks like!
