WHY POLLY COOPER IS THE BLACK HOOD: an essay
Hello friends, and thank you in advance for reading my theory about why Polly is behind the Black Hood. I’ll try to keep it mostly chronological. Also for purposes of consistency I’ll be calling Black Hood he, even though I think Polly is behind it.
First off, let’s talk Polly. On more than one occasion she’s been said to be crazy or erratic. Alice has said she grew up too fast and made many mistakes. They’ve also put a lot of emphasis this season on the darkness in the Cooper family. Polly is of course a Cooper. Mostly what we know about her is that she and Jason Blossom were in love, were having a baby (which later turned out to be twins) and were going to run away together to start a new life on a farm. Obviously none of this happened. She was sent away to Sisters of Quiet Mercy, but we’ll get into that later.
Polly has been shown to have a strong relationship with Betty, with Betty arguably being the only person Polly trusts. Betty is arguably the only one the Black Hood trusts as well. He knows a lot about Betty and her childhood, and tells them they’re the same. Also that she would recognize the face behind the mask. Wording is everything. The face BEHIND the mask, not underneath. Also, BH is obviously using a voice modifier on the phone calls, so there is no reason the BH that is calling couldn’t be a female. BH says Betty’s speech is what motivated him to start ridding the town of sinners, and guess who was one of those in attendance? That’s right, Polly. I pointed out in another post that if Hal was keeping the Nancy Drew book around for Betty, and Polly is hanging around town (why else keep a Share B&B you aren’t living in?) then she’d have access to it.
Speaking of, in the episode where they decipher the code as “I will strike next in the place where it all began”, they assume the place where Betty gave her speech, yet at the end of that same episode, Jughead in his voiceover references Sweetwater River as the place it all began. Since Polly and Jason were going to meet up there, and Jason’s body was found there, this again points back to Polly.
Geraldine Grundy: It’s noticeable that Miss Grundy is the only victim who was strangled. This usually indicates a more personal death, with more rage. It was noted in season one that she used to give music lessons to Jason, and given her fondness for another redheaded boy we know, it’s not a stretch to think she may have ALSO taken advantage of Jason at one point in time.
Shooting at Pops: This was the first place there was an attack, and while I’m still not 100% sure why I think Polly would have reason to have Fred shot beyond the sinner angle, it’s worth noting that Pop’s was the last place Polly saw Jason, as well as the first place the Black Hood appeared.
Moose and Midge: They were targeted because of their underage sex and drug usage. The drug usage part is what strikes me the most in this case, because as we know, the Jingle Jangle in Riverdale ties back to the Sugarman, which in turn ties back to Clifford Blossom, who of course killed Jason.
Robert Phillips: aka the Sugarman. See above. And ALSO note that it was Betty who figured out who he was, at the Black Hood’s behest.
Chic: So we can assume BH killed Chic, and here’s where I start looping things together a bit more…. First of all, Polly knew that Chic was bad news and staying with Betty. We know that Chic used to be at Sisters of Quiet Mercy, along with the REAL Charles Cooper. There’s two others that we know were at Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Of course Polly and then….
Joseph Svenson: So let’s pause here for a second. I’m not 100% sure of the timeline here, but it’s entirely possible that Svenson and Polly were at SoQM at the same time. He is shown in an episode to have a particular interest in Josie. If he has a thing for young girls, how would he feel about a sweet, tragic young pregnant girl who has ties to the Blossoms? We know Svenson was part of a group of townspeople who took revenge on (the wrong) Riverdale Reaper. Two other people in that group have been revealed to be Betty and Polly’s grandfather, as well as Nana Rose. Take someone wanting to atone for his wrongdoing, add a woman scorned, and it’s not a stretch Polly could have had him doing his dirty work.
Let’s also note that while yes, Polly said she was moving to California to raise the twins, I have a hard time believing that she’d just disappear into the night so quickly, considering all this evidence. There’s also been no mention of her from the BH beyond him threatening her at the Farm. Outside of the Coopers, I don’t believe anyone knew that she was there. This threat also was given only to Betty. Polly has never been directly targeted herself.
In conclusion, this is my long and fun theory about who’s behind the Black Hood. At this point I feel the face beneath the mask is irrelevant, and it’s the voice on the phone we really should be concerned about. Thanks for reading, and please let me know your thoughts!
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