Riverdale: 5 Characters We Want To See Come Back (& 5 Who Have Overstayed Their Welcome)

The hit teen drama Riverdale, now airing its fourth season on the CW (already renewed for a fifth), takes a darker look at the Archie Comics and its core characters. Among them are the staples like Betty, Veronica, Archie, and Jughead. But there are other supporting characters as well, some of whom appear in the comics, too, and some who don’t.

The series, which takes place in a seemingly fictional time where outlandish things happen to these small-town high schoolers, has seen different characters come and go. It has recently been reported that FP Jones (Skeet Ulrich) and Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols) will not be returning for Season 5. Fans will surely miss these character.

Who else would we like to see come back? And on the flip side, which characters have overstayed their welcome, and we wouldn’t be mad if they disappeared? See if you agree with our list.

10 Come Back: Ethel Muggs 

Poor Shannon Purser. First she gets stuck in the Upside Down on Netflix series Stranger Things, leading viewers to start a campaign to save the missing girl that the town seemed to have forgotten about. And now another character she plays, Ethel, has disappeared into thin air on this show.

Ethel was a high school student who got caught up in a dark and sinister game after falling on hard times and being brainwashed. She finally turned herself around yet we haven’t seen much of her. Where did she go?

9 Overstayed Welcome: Reggie Mantle 

Played by two different actors throughout the series’ run, Reggie is one of those characters that you could take or leave. As a good friend and fellow football teammate to Archie, he struck up a romance with Veronica after the redheaded protagonist left town.

Now, his most compelling storyline was the revelation that has father was physically abusing him. He’s sort of just there as a supporting character whenever he’s needed. But since Archie and the gang have the Serpents on their side, Reggie doesn’t serve much valuable purpose anymore.

8 Come Back: Josie McCoy 

Josie of Josie and the Pussycats was determined to kick off a successful singing career, pushed by her demanding father to make something of herself. She eventually left the Pussycats and tried to pursue a solo career.

At one point, she was dating Archie, but she broke up with him to go on tour with her father. Josie is now pursuing her dreams of stardom in NYC on Riverdale spin-off, Katy Keene.

7 Overstayed Welcome: Penelope Blossom 

We don’t see much of Penelope of late, especially since her daughter Cheryl trapped her in an underground bunker as punishment for her sins. But Penelope has recently re-emerged, needed to help run the maple rum operation for Cheryl and Veronica, who have to focus on their schooling.

Clearly very disturbed, responsible for the death of her own husband as well as many others, and generally a vial person, we could do without any more of this “mommy dearest” serial killer.

6 Come Back: Moose Mason 

Moose keeps getting chased away every time he starts a new chapter. First deciding to leave Riverdale after coming out as gay and being put into the RROTC cadets by his father, he then went to live with his aunt.

After that, Moose enrolled in Stonewall Prep, where he reunited with Jughead when he was accepted there. But again, Moose disappeared once compromising information came out about him. We’d love to see him come back and be able to rejoin his friends.

5 Overstayed Welcome: Evelyn Evernever 

Even though Evelyn is rarely seen anymore on the show, she is still lurking in the background. We last learned that she was helping others from prison by delivering the trigger word “tangerine” that turns Betty into Dark Betty, capable of doing horrendous things while in a state of hypnosis.

We get that this is integral to the storyline, but Evelyn was annoying when we first saw her, and she’s still annoying now. Let’s get rid of this little cult leader once and for all.

4 Come Back: Polly Cooper 

Polly Cooper hasn’t had much of a storyline for awhile now. We know she is Betty’s older sister, was dating Jason Blossom and gave birth to twins by him after being sent away to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to live there, with many believing she was sent to a mental institution.

But then she got sucked into a cult called The Farm and is seemingly still brainwashed by it. Will Polly ever snap out of it? We wouldn’t mind seeing a version of Polly return, who has realized the wrongs of The Farm and is willing to fight against it.

3 Overstayed Welcome: Principal Holden Honey 

Principal Honey, as the students call him, is still pretty much a mystery. He seems to focus in on Archie and his friends, doing whatever it takes to cause them pain. Honey is quiet and seemingly focused and rational, yet he has shown a side that suggests he is anything but.

There’s something up his sleeve, likely working with Stonewall Prep, but it has been taking too long to reveal what it is. At this point, we’re over it. We can’t figure out if he’s a good guy, a bad guy, or somewhere in between. We’d be happy to have Mr. Weatherbee back.

2 Come Back: Fred Andrews 

It pains us to write this, but on a list of Riverdale characters we’d like back, Fred Andrews tops the list. Of course, it’s completely impossible because while his character died on the series, the only reason was because the actor who plays him, Luke Perry, tragically passed away in real life.

So while it’s not uncommon for series to resurrect seemingly deceased characters, that can’t be the case with Fred — as much as he’s a character we’d love to see come back into the town and bring joy to his son, Archie.

1 Overstayed Welcome: Hermosa Lodge 

Everyone thought Veronica was the only Lodge daughter. That is until this season, when Hermosa revealed herself as Hiram’s illegitimate daughter and Veronica’s half-sister. She first showed up with the intention of helping her father take Veronica down. And Hermosa continues to seemingly try to thwart any of Veronica’s attempts to rival her father.

We’re still trying to figure out why Hermosa is still around and what value she adds. She has, quite literally, overstayed her welcome in the Lodge home — at least according to Veronica.

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