Riverdale will have eyes and ears everywhere in season 2, as Hiram Lodge makes his debut. The first season spent plenty of time dealing with Hiram's actions and influence, even though the character himself never appeared in the flesh. Riverdale season 1 also established that Hiram not only holds say over his daughter Veronica and wife Hermione, but the rest of the Riverdale population for that matter.

Mark Consuelos has been cast as Hiram Lodge and will be bringing the character to the small screen when Riverdale season 2 gets underway this fall. As the show's writers prepare to follow up on the fateful Riverdale season 1 finale, they're definitely going to acknowledge that Hiram carries a criminal career behind him, no matter how he behaves in the present-day.

Riverdale showrunner/creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacas spoke to EW's Spoiler Room about bringing Hiram to the show in season 2, saying:

"Hiram is a family man, he loves and treasures his wife and especially his daughter. But there’s no denying that we’ve built up someone who has very dark dealings and who has a criminal past."

In the first season, we saw the effects that Hiram's actions had on Veronica. It particularly hit home when her friend Ethel Muggs (Stranger Things alumni, Shannon Purser) and her family were put at risk by the aggressive influences of Hiram and Lodge Industries. We've already seen that the Serpents are the street level criminals of Riverdale, but Lodge Sr. will be bringing a higher class of lawbreaking in season 2. Aquirre-Sacas teased that Hiram will be all-seeing, and might not be on the straight and narrow after being released from prison:

"He’s not like the Serpents, who are a street-level gang. He’s operating at a much higher level and has tentacles everywhere. The questions will be: Is Hiram truly reformed? What does he want? How does Veronica figure into his plans? How will Archie figure into his plans?"

In the comics, Hiram Lodge has a consistently frosty reaction to Archie dating his daughter. It's likely that this will carry over to Riverdale, especially when we saw how Hiram dealt with the news that Hermione had a fling with Fred Andrews. It's probable that Hiram won't have a pleasant reaction to another member of the Andrews family being in his life. Given that his official character description (see below) states that Veronica is the "apple of his eye," Archie is likely going to meet some hostility from the ex-con:

“[Hiram Lodge is] a ruthless, handsome, charismatic businessman who is coming back to Riverdale after weathering a financial scandal that almost destroyed him. He is there to reconnect with his wife Hermione and, especially, his daughter Veronica, who is the apple of his eye.”

With both her parents living under one roof, Veronica will probably have plenty of drama to deal with if she wants to maintain her relationship with Archie, during Riverdale season 2. But will Archie be able to cope with even more stress after that shocking cliffhanger, at the end of season 1?

Riverdale returns on Wednesday, October 11 on The CW.

Source: EW

MORE: Riverdale Season 1 Almost Had a Completely Different Ending