Riverdale Season 3 Finale: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

6. The Black Hood Is Dead

The last-minute return of the Black Hood was an unexpected surprise.

Betty's imprisoned father Hal had seemingly bonded with his daughter throughout the season as she visited him but, despite that, he jumped at the opportunity to break out of prison, cut off his own hand and return to his murderous ways... only in Riverdale, right?

However, his return would be incredibly short-lived as he confronted Betty in the woods during her own quest and forced her to either kill or be killed. In the end, Betty used her single bullet to shoot his injured hand, proving that she would never be like him and, as a result, spared his life.

Unfortunately for Hal, that just wasn't a good enough outcome for Penelope as she picked up his gun and shot him in the head.

Undoubtedly a shocking moment (in a finale full of them), Penelope's violent act has officially brought an end to the Black Hood's reign of terror and, more than that, killed off one of the show's longest-standing characters.

It's going to be interesting to see how the death of her father will affect Betty going forward as, despite his criminal ways, she obviously still cared for him. Could she end up channelling her inner darkness to track down Penelope to avenge Hal, or will she use her heroic investigative skills to bring her to justice instead?