Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa reveals that the killer of Jason Blossom came down to a choice between a handful of characters.
[SPOILERS for those not caught up on Riverdale ahead.]
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Riverdalefinally revealed who killed Jason Blossom in episode 12. With only one more episode of season one left to go, though, the murder mystery is far from fully solved. Clifford Blossom killed his own child, that much we do know, but what was his motive, and why did he then go on to take his own life? Not only that, but the revelation also has a far-reaching effect on the rest of Riverdale's residents, in particular, Cheryl Blossom, Jughead Jones, and his father, FP.
Right now, FP Jones remains in police custody, looking at a lengthy jail term. Though he didn't pull the trigger, it would appear that he was complicit in disposing of the corpse, and of course, he also falsely confessed to the crime. Even so, FP has gotten off lightly; in a new interview, Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that he had three possible murderers in mind when he first started work on the show, only deciding on Clifford Blossom halfway through the season - and yes, FP Jones was on the list of possibles.
Here is what Aguirre-Sacasa offered THR, with respect to the subject:
"When we originally pitched the season, Warner Bros. and The CW were like, "When you come into that room to pitch the season, you'd better know who killed Jason Blossom." What we did was I went in with three likely suspects and three reasons why.
"One was FP Jones [Skeet Ulrich], one was Hiram Lodge and one was Clifford Blossom. As we were working on the season, Hal Cooper [Lochlyn Munro] also became a possible suspect. But then sort of around halfway through the season, when we were thinking about the show and what the show was -- and the show is on some level a deconstruction of the Archie myth that everything is safe, that everyone is good, that parents protect their children, that fundamentally the world is a good place -- it felt like the ultimate subversion to that, the darkest, most taboo thing we could do, is a parent killing a child. Once we landed on that being the point of no return, about halfway through the season, we started to build to Clifford."
Sacasa cites 'Flowers in the Attic' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher' for his inspiration for the Blossoms, and certainly, they have nailed that creepy, incestuous vibe, where the audience is never quite sure of the true nature of any relationship - especially between Jason and Cheryl. Although it was revealed that Jason and Polly were related, the exceptionally-close bond Cheryl shared with her twin has also got viewers talking. Having now lost both her brother, and her father, who killed said brother in cold blood, it's understandable that Cheryl might begin to unravel, even more so than she has already, as Sacasa explains:
"Cheryl has a shocking story in the finale, probably even darker than Clifford killing Jason. She's at her worst place emotionally that she's ever been. And by the way, she's already been in a fraught, frayed place. It gets even worse now.
I think for Polly, it's like where does she go? She has the answer to a question she's been asking. Now that that question's been answered, does she stay with the Coopers? Is that where she wants to have and raise her baby? It's a question we're exploring for sure."
The trailer for Riverdale's season one finale hints at many more secrets to come, and, with the arrival of Hiram Lodge in season 2, Riverdale is shaping up to continue the themes of dark mystery and intrigue that season one has delivered so well.
