Hiram Lodge could be behind Archie’s Red Circle on Riverdale

Archie may have thought he came up with the idea for the Red Circle, but it seems like Hiram Lodge is behind the acceleration of the group.

Ahead of this week’s Chapter Seventeen: “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” on Riverdale, we’ve got some suspicions we need to work out. Archie and his newly formed vigilante group, The Red Circle, may seem like they are the contrivances of a bunch of over eager high schoolers, but I think Hiram Lodge is doing  more string pulling than we know.

History of the Red Circle

Although the Red Circle is a direct reference to another imprint in the Archie Universe, it seems to have taken on an entirely new life in Riverdale. The Red Circle comics started in the 1970s publishing supernatural and horror-genre comics, and then later turned to stories of superheroes. In fact, Red Circle published The Mighty Crusaders, featuring an anti-hero by the name of the Black Hood.

This is a long way around to getting to talk about Hiram, but bear with me. Knowing the backstory might help us understand how the Lodges might be involved in all these seemingly vicious murders. This might seem like the Black Hood could turn out to be a vigilante himself, ridding the town of its seedier elements, but showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa dispels this notion in a interview in Entertainment Weekly.

He warns fans not to think of the Black Hood as some sort of hero, saying, “It’s just an homage, really, because that guy was really more like The Punisher, a real anti-hero, where I think our Black Hood is more malevolent, more like the Zodiac or something.”

If Hiram Lodge has anything to do with it…

Here’s where talk turns to Hiram Lodge and his insidious plotting and manipulation. Hiram has taken an interest in Archie, more so than any of Veronica’s past relationships, He encourages Archie to “save Riverdale” during a weirdly tense family dinner. While this seems like a super strange thing for an adult to advise a teenager to do, it seems like Hiram has more at stake here than getting along with his daughter’s BF.

Hiram Lodge was a shadow hanging over Veronica and her mother for the entirety of season 1, and his reputation for bad behavior and cruelty landed in Riverdale long before he did. Now that he’s here, we’re supposed to just buy this “loving family man” routine. While Veronica and her mother might be ready to fall in line for the family, I can’t help think Hiram is positioning himself to take over Riverdale.

He started by buying up land all around town, and it wouldn’t be such a far leap to think he’s hired the Black Hood to create mayhem in the streets. It might seem counterintuitive, but if he can recruit Archie and his shirtless army  to add to the chaos, creating  fear and pandemonium, no one will notice what sorts of awful things he’s doing. It’s a classic case of misdirection.

If everybody is paying such close attention to the scary murderer and Archie’s band of heroes, then no one will notice as he slides in to claim the town for his own. I bet he’s behind all this jingle jangle nonsense, as well.

Loose ends

This Hiram theory could explain a lot of other mysteries presented by season 2. For one, Hermione’s inexplicable weirdness since her husband returned could be a clue that she knows what he’s up to. She’s playing the dutiful wife well enough, but her cold warnings to Veronica might just be a way for her to protect her daughter from Hiram’s schemes.

Hiram also has dealings with Southside Serpents, so his motives are always foggy. We know the Black Hood is going after “sinners,” but Hiram undermines this by telling Archie, “Evil, Archie, has no regard for nobility or good intentions.”

This could just be a way for Hiram and his Serpent colleagues to get rid of any sort of competition, but obscuring the real motives. Moose might have been dipping into the drug line and eating away at Hiram’s bottom line.

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Hiram Lodge is far too invested in Archie’s involvement in saving the town. And he’s too connected and shady to have anything else up his sleeve. Besides, everybody gets all twitchy whenever he’s around — like animals right before some big weather event. He’s a bad guy, but it remains to be see what kind of bad he is.

Stay with us for all things Riverdale.

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.