'Riverdale' Season Two Is Going to Get a *Whole* Lot Darker

(Image credit: The CW)

By Emma Dibdin 2017-07-27T06:40:12Z

Warning: 'Riverdale' Season 1 spoilers below.

For all its gleeful style and melodrama, Riverdale has never been what you'd call frothy fun—the first season hinged on the murder of a wealthy teenager, whose killer (spoiler) turned out to be his own father. But the second season, premiering this fall, looks to be a whole lot darker.

"We've got a looming figure that's kind of hovering over Riverdale, which used to be the perfect little iconic, all-American town," Mädchen Amick, who plays the tightly-wound Alice Cooper, told MarieClaire.com. "Season two deals with this imminent threat that's looming out there, and what that does to the town—how it breaks it apart, and how it forces a lot of enemies to come together to protect each other from this outside threat."

That "looming figure" has to be related to the mysterious gunman who shot Archie's dad in the final moments of the finale, right? Feel free to see what other clues you can dig up from the season two trailer that just premiered, because waiting until October sounds like actual torture.

As for the persistent comparisons between Riverdale and Amick's other beloved show Twin Peaks, the actress doesn't really see it: "I get the bigger picture: it's small town America, and we open with the death of a beloved town high schooler and we get to learn the town's secrets through that event. But to be completely honest, they feel so different to me. They have different rhythms. Riverdale is very fast-paced, quick-witted, very current feeling. And I think Twin Peaks just always stays very slow, deliberate, timeless. Riverdale will quickly get you through some scenes and scenarios and keep it exciting and keeps your attention at the edge of your seat. And Twin Peaks will take 15 minutes to just watch a coffee pot bubbling. It's just very different beasts, both brilliant in their own way."

Twin Peaks: The Return is airing Sunday nights on Showtime, while Riverdale returns to The CW on October 11.