Cole Sprouse Finally Sang On Riverdale And It Was 'Worth The Wait,' Says Lili Reinhart

Riverdale's most recent musical episode promised "Big Fun" — yet did it deliver? For the most part, yes. Heavy on camp (even by Riverdale's standards) and big on emotion, the episode noticed our preference fictional teens singing songs from Heathers: The Musical to deal with their tumultuous lives — Cheryl and Toni are reeling from their breakup; Archie is mooning over Josie; Veronica is blindsided by her parents' separation; Betty is attempting to take down a cult; and Jughead makes a heartbreaking discovery about his mom. It's a lot.


Nevertheless it's also what we've come to expect from Riverdale, a show were a maple syrup empire being a front for a drug cartel is no big deal. What no one was expecting in this episode, although, was for Jughead "I'm a Weirdo" Jones (Cole Sprouse) to burst into song.


Immediately after decidedly not taking part in Riverdale's first musical episode last season, Sprouse joined his cast mates for a few numbers in "Big Fun," including a Bughead duet with his on-screen and off-screen love, Lili Reinhart. Perhaps even more shocking: their cover of "Seventeen" — an emotional ballad about wanting to be common teens who go bowling and watch bad movies — was truly incredible.


Yet don't take our word for it:


Sprouse may have surprised viewers with his vocal chops, yet it was nothing his cast mates hadn't seen before. "I don't think it was surprising to be able to see Cole singing and dancing," Charles Melton told MTV News on the set of the musical episode in Vancouver. "He has a good voice. It's just exhilarating to be able to see him actually do it."


"I think it was inevitable that Cole was going to have to sing this time around — you can't dodge it twice," Reinhart mentioned. "He sounds excellent. It's going to surprise each person and blow each person away. It was well worth the wait."


And while that doesn't mean Jughead will have a typical efficiency slot at Veronica's La Bonne Nuit, at least we'll habitually have those Bughead harmonies to remember fondly. And to play on repeat — up until next year's musical.