The Need to be Okay
So, I know I am a week late, but keep in mind this is coming from someone who has not watched a single episode of Riverdale since the season 3 finale. I only follow Bughead related content, and will sometimes watch clips if I see cute gifs on my tumblr dash. Which is what has brought us here.
Obviously, as any other Riverdale fan, I know about the moment-we-shall-not-name from 4x17, and after seeing the “Betty tells Jughead” scene on my dash countless times for the last five days, I watched the clip of it on youtube, and decided to share my opinion.
See, at this point, Betty and Jughead knew their relationship would be making changes with graduation and going their own ways for school. As two people who have been family oriented and care so much about each other, it is unbelievable to think they never discussed the future for them.
I personally think that Betty is too aware of the consequences actions can have to not realize that what she did with A would not have lasting effects on her relationship with Jughead, and when she chose to finally tell him, she knew that was the final break.
Their post-reveal sex was not about Betty controlling Jughead, or manipulating his feelings in any way. But it was the realization for both of them that this would be the last time (at least for now) that they would have a chance to be together sexually/romantically. Jughead and Betty both understood that her betrayal, and his finding out about it, would be the final straw in their relationship. But, it was also what they both needed in that moment. As viewers, we know these two have a vulnerability with each other that they do not with anyone else, and it transcends any kind of romantic relationship.
Betty and Jughead are best friends, and in that moment, they needed their best friends.
In a moment where they were both realizing their long-term relationship was coming to an end, and with that, they would be losing their best friends, Betty and Jughead needed each other. As two people who had faced countless trials and tribulations, they’d almost always had each other to lean on, and this moment of intimacy was their way of holding onto that for as long as possible.
