The definition of a slow burn love story. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) and Betty Cooper’s (Lili Reinhart) steamy chemistry — and romantic potential — has captivated many Riverdale fans over the years.
Since the show debuted in 2017, viewers have hoped to see Riverdale explore the connection between the All-American boy and the girl next door. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa acknowledged that the writers were aware about the interest in the “Barchie” dynamic.
“I think that that’s one of the dynamics we haven’t played is the idea [of] Archie and Betty together romantically,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in May 2019. “I think in a teen show that if we somehow went seven years in that and never saw that, I think it would be a failure … So ‘maybe’ is what I’ll say.”
After a scandalous kiss and a seven-year time jump, Riverdale took a major leap by centering the show around Betty and Archie’s relationship. The couple initially enjoyed a casual relationship in season 5 before getting more serious. Their bond continued to grow when Archie proposed to Betty one season later before a comet was set to hit their small town.
During the season 6 finale, which aired in July 2022, viewers saw Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) save the world from the impending danger. Things took a turn, however, when the characters ended up reverted back to their teen years. The only character who remembered their real lives — as opposed to their new reality in the ’50s — was Jughead (Cole Sprouse).
At the time, Apa admitted he was “very anxious” to see whether Betty and Archie would get their happily ever after.
“I think Archie’s very much loving his time with Betty and imagining a potential future with her, [which includes] kids and her family and being married,” the New Zealand native shared exclusively with Us in May 2022, noting that he wasn’t concerned by Archie’s platonic kiss with Veronica. “Which is why that scene kind of struck me. I don’t think [the kiss] meant anything more to Archie.”
Aguirre-Sacasa, for his part, hinted that jumping back into the ’50s wouldn’t erase relationships from past seasons.
“Even if characters don’t remember all of the specifics about the Black Hood and the Gargoyle King and Gryphons and Gargoyles, there would be an emotional memory that the multiverse and the time shift would not erase,” the screenwriter explained to TV Line in March 2023. “Characters who had feelings for each other would still feel that and be drawn towards each other.”
The executive producer noted that some onscreen pairs would reconnect “more quickly than others, some more successfully than others.”
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