Betty Cooper is the resident FBI trainee, investigative journalist, and assigned moral compass in CW's Riverdale. Unlike her two-dimensional counterpart in Archie Comics, Lili Reinhardt's Betty is more than just Archie's love interest on the show. The pastel garbed teenager contains multitudes and doesn't hide it.
While Betty is supposed to represent the good in the town of Riverdale, she indulges in a lot of off-brand behavior which confuses audiences a fair bit. Here are some facts about Betty that make audiences question what her character is really supposed to be.
Dark Betty
When Betty revealed that she had a dark side, fans were intrigued. However, Dark Betty was just Betty in a bobbed wig and black lingerie with a penchant for kinky sex. Sure, she dug her nails into her palms when she got mad, but the inner darkness was quite banal otherwise.
Betty indulged in some risqué webcam behavior with her shady non-brother Chic, which also made zero sense because who does that with a sibling? It seemed that Betty was just experimental and the creation of a whole persona was illogical. It's worth noting that Dark Betty doesn't make an appearance past season 1.
She Is Not Archie's Neighbor
From the very beginning of Riverdale, Betty and Archie were depicted as neighbors who grew up together, and that was how Betty developed an unrequited crush on Archie. They were shown peeking at each other through their bedroom windows which face each other.
In fact, even in season 4, when Archie and Betty kissed and craved each other, there was a whole sequence of them pining for each other by gazing into each other's windows. The catch? They were not neighbors. Despite all the lovelorn gazing, Archie's actual home and Betty's house were not next to each other. Go figure.
She Is Best Friends With Veronica
Betty and Veronica were supposed to be best friends for life, but they barely even spent any time together on the series. Apart from this glaring error, their behavior towards each other was more hostile than sisterly. Betty humiliated Veronica publicly because the Black Hood told her to, and Veronica kissed Archie even though she knew of Betty's crush.
Betty was jealous of her bestie, and Veronica tried to buy Betty's affection with cupcakes. The list of hostility doesn't end but Veronica actually seemed kinder than nice Betty.
Her Terrible Detective Skills
Betty, along with Jughead was the foremost detective and investigative journalist on Riverdale, but her detective skills were actually pretty lousy. Betty's investigative approach with The Farm was harebrained because she kept showing them how much she hated them, then flipped and tried to infiltrate the cult repeatedly. Even a child would see through that.
Additionally, her obliviousness about the Black Hood being someone closer to home was ridiculous. He knew personal details about her childhood and had a description that matched Hal, but Betty didn't catch on.
Bughead
There is so much about this ship that doesn't make sense. Firstly, Jughead and Betty never dated in the comics, let alone even showed minor interest in each other. Betty was Archie's main love interest. Secondly, in Riverdale, Jughead seemed to be a rebound when Betty was rejected by Archie, but just one that went on for too long.
The couple fought and disagreed about almost everything, broke up several times, and ended up living together because of their parents. It's hard to remember that they were only sixteen years old when they started dating.
She Works With The FBI
With the aforementioned terrible detective skills, fans were baffled when Betty's real half-brother Charles showed up and recruited her to the FBI.
No high schooler would be recruited by the FBI and work on active cases, no matter how gifted they may seem. Just the fact that the FBI was investigating cases in the tiny town of Riverdale is absurd, let alone their hiring of the local talent.
The Serpent Dance
When Jughead joined The Southside Serpents, Betty wanted to show her love for him and thought that joining the Serpents would be a good idea. That cherubic and bubbly Betty would want to join a gang was absurd in itself, but the initiation was also marked by a strange stripper dance that Betty performed in, you guessed it, black lingerie.
The dance was performed not only for Jughead, but also in front of other gang members, FP, and her own mom. An underaged teenager doing burlesque moves in front of an audience was more than questionable.
Why She Isn't Dating Archie
Betty was always supposed to be Archie's main love interest, even after Veronica in the comics. In Riverdale, it started off that way, but Archie claimed that he only saw Betty as a friend.
Throughout the series, both Betty and Archie had shown feelings of jealousy for each other and had plenty of intense moments. In season 4, when they finally kissed and admitted their feelings, it seemed like Barchie was finally happening, but Betty shut it down too quickly (despite being very much in love with him) which made no sense at all.
Her Weird Family Dynamics
The pony-tailed teenager had a weird family that she had no issues with. Her mother controlled her and joined a cult, her sister was sent to an almost illegal mental health facility, her nephew and niece were floating in mid-air at some point, and her dad was a serial killer.
It doesn't end there. Her mother and her boyfriend's father had a fling which resulted in a lost brother, which meant that she and Jughead shared a half brother, and then moved in together so she lives with her boyfriend who could potentially become her step-brother. Awkward.
The Serial Killer Genes
Much of season 4 focused on Betty's discovery that she had a special gene called the serial killer genes which led to her dark urges. She was also coerced into killing a cat by her dad which is attributed to the gene, but that made no sense since she didn't do it voluntarily.
Such a gene also doesn't exist in real life. The MAOA gene causes a deficiency which makes people more inclined towards aggressive behavior, but no studies show that it makes people serial killers by default.