Riverdale's Black Hood On That Shocking Reveal, [SPOILER]'s Motivation, And KJ Apa's Hilarious Reaction

Warning: Spoilers for "Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night" lie ahead, so in the event you haven't seen the latest episode of Riverdale, now's a good time to create like Chic and run far, far away.


I don't aspire to mention "I told you so," yet. I told you so. Right after that fake-out in the midseason finale, the real Black Hood was finally revealed in the dramatic penultimate episode of Riverdale's second season. That darkness that Betty has been lamenting since Season 1? Turns out, she got it from her dear old dad, Hal Cooper, a.K.A The Black Hood.


And just like that Hal officially wins the title of "Worst Parent in Riverdale," somehow usurping the late Clifford Blossom — the man who shot his own son point-black in the head — for the individual distinction.


In the episode, Hal confessed to the Black Hood's grisly crimes, which include shooting his neighbor and friend Fred Andrews at Pop's; strangling Ms. Grundy to death with her cello bow; shooting Moose while the teen was high on Jingle Jangle in Fox Forest; murdering the Candyman in his prison cell; putting his own daughter through endless psychological torture; framing poor Mr. Svenson for the murders; stabbing Midge Klump to death throughout first night of Carrie: The Musical; and, finally, killing Doctor Masters at the hospital. (He did not, nevertheless, shoot up Fred and Hermione's debate, so there's certainly a copy-cat killer on the loose in Riverdale.)


As for his motive, it's revealed that Hal was brainwashed from a young age to kill sinners, and Riverdale, he says, is a town full of those. Case in point, Betty comes from a long line of murderers. Great-Grandpappy Cooper murdered his brother, Great-Grandpappy Blossom, and took on the Cooper identity in the aftermath. And Grandpappy Cooper was actually the one accountable for murdering the Conway family member, and yes it was Hal who made sure young Joseph Conway (later referred to as Mr. Svenson) accused an innocent man of the slayings. Hal describes his gruesome family member history as a darkness. "And right now it lives in Betty," he says ominously.


MTV News chatted with the Black Hood himself, actor Lochlyn Munro, about Hal's descent into darkness, how the cast reacted to the big reveal, and what this insinuates for Season 3.


MTV News: So Hal is currently officially the worst parent in Riverdale. How does it feel?


Lochlyn Munro: It feels astonishing! It feels like I just won a Razzie. I'm very excited.


MTV News: As soon as did you find out that Hal was the Black Hood?


Munro: I noticed out in Episode 21. I didn't know that I was officially the Black Hood up until the table-read, that scene as soon as I'm showing the house movie to Alice and Betty.


MTV News: and also you noticed out with everybody else?


Munro: Yeah! It was sort of cool. We routinely talk about this as actors on the show, that we get to participate as fans because Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and the writers keep us guessing, also. They don't set up storyboards for us for 22 episodes. We have no idea where the story is going as it unfolds, so we uncover everything as we go, script by script. I had no idea! Personally, I habitually thought it was Sheriff Keller, and then all of sudden I show up at the Cooper house with a tiny blood stain on my shoulder and then some creepy house movies.


MTV News: Who from the cast had the ideal reaction to the big reveal?


Munro: Probably KJ. KJ habitually thinks everything's just a big funny joke. I think he even let out a big guffaw. He couldn't believe that it was me, although I guess I probably had the largest reaction because I was the most affected by it. To tell you the truth, any time While I first read it, I was actually quite bummed because I thought, "Oh man. I do not even feel like I've gotten going on the show, and right now I'm done." You know? Because I really thought I was done. Although Roberto came up and we discussed afterwards, and he was like, "It's not over for Hal. It's just a whole new arc for him." So right now I'm embracing seeing what they can bring to it because right now I feel like I've got a character to play.


MTV News: It feels like the starting of Hal's storyline, not the end.


Munro: Exactly. There is a lot of characters in our show, and it's hard for the writers to write for each person, so I fully understood why my character wasn't habitually flushed out, why there wasn't a lot of dimension for him. I think this might would be really hard, and it's something I'm looking forward to. I can't wait to be able to see what they come up with.


MTV News: However it's organic to feel bummed because this show does have a track record with killing people off, especially villains.


Munro: I felt that way for Barclay [Hope], also, any time Clifford hung himself at the end of the opening season because it's a lot of fun to work on that show. I just felt that maybe in the third season Hal might get a little bit more to do so that people can understand who he is. Then If I read [episode] 21, I just felt like my journey was over before I had even gotten a chance to begin. Yet then Roberto and I spoke, and right now I'm really embracing being a serial killer. I never thought I'd mention that.


MTV News: Did you ever wear the mask? Because of course that's not you in Pop's diner in the Season 1 finale.


Munro: No. Never. That's why I never thought I was the Black Hood. I had my inkling, based on who they hired to be the Black Hood throughout those scenes and his physicality. If I stood next to the Black Hood, he was about four inches shorter than me.


MTV News: What did you think of his motivation? Because he tells Betty and Alice that he wants to rid the town of sin, however it's still pretty vague. And then there's the fact that he mentally tortured Betty for entire episodes!


Munro: I have to explore that more. I never played Hal because the Black Hood, so for Episode 21 I had to rapidly come up with a backstory have the ability to get indoors in the mind of someone who would do that. So I really don't know. That's going to be a hard one for me because I habitually played him like he loved his kids a lot, however he just went about things the incorrect way. So his brain must be very messed up and scrambled from all of that manipulation as a young boy. Whoever raised him, whether it was just his mom or it was an audience of people who raised him to think he required to purge the town of sin, I have although to find that out. That will be something we explore in the third season, I guess.


MTV News: the perfect villains are the ones who believe that they're the heroes, and also you can maybe make a case for Hal believing that he was the hero of his own story, saving the town from sin.


Munro: It would have been more interesting to maybe be more of a vigilante serial killer. I don't think purging the town of sin means that you've got to go out and kill a girl in a school play just because she does Jingle Jangle.


MTV News: Or shoot Fred Andrews, your neighbor.


Munro: Right? It's interesting to me to think about how Hal created Hal Cooper. He needless to say created that character to get through his life, and to think that Alice didn't know and all of those people who were close to him had no idea. It's astonishing.


MTV News: I'm really excited to be able to see what occurs to the Cooper family member from here as the show has slowly chipped away at their picture-perfect facade. First Polly left, then Chic turned out to be an imposter, and right now Hal is the Black Hood. I'm curious to be able to see Alice and Betty work through all of those demons.


Munro: It will interesting to be able to see what they do with Hal and Betty's relationship. I routinely thought that there was such a tight bond with them that it would take a lot to fracture that. Yeah. This is a lot, nevertheless I'm wondering if Betty will feel compelled to assist her dad because it was never Hal's fault anyhow — if his name is Hal. He was brainwashed as a child. I feel sorry for the guy to tell you the truth. So right now we have to identify if he can be redeemed and what made him tick. Is he the only guy that was in this situation? Was he the only one taught to purge the town of sin? I don't know.


MTV News: I'm sure Betty will figure it out.


Munro: If anyone can, it's her.