I was at the edge of my seat throughout the episode ... Well,
@Christopher, your assumptions have been right all along! I would never have guessed Hal Cooper to be the Black Hood. He had no visible motive until he revealed what he did tonight. About the only indication was that he preferred to communicate only with Betty the whole time and that he wouldn't harm her.
The Hood's interest in connecting with Betty and guiding her to be like him, as well as his seemingly intimate knowledge of her childhood and personal life, was the strongest evidence pointing to Hal. It did feel rather paternal. Hal had been kicked out of the house at that point, and it makes sense that he feared he was losing his daughter and wanted to draw her closer to him. There's also the fact that nearly all of the Hood's victims, save only for Dr. Masters last night, were connected to Betty or her friends in some way, as family, classmates, or faculty.
Also, Betty considered her father a suspect in Jason's murder in season 1, and Hal was responsible for stealing the murder evidence from Sheriff Keller. He always came off as an angry, vindictive, not especially stable person, and he had a fierce vendetta against the Blossoms. He made a very plausible murder suspect then, so he was just as plausible a suspect here.
I'm starting to see Hiram now as the sinister mob boss that he is. Everything he did - from the October Surprise (?) to throwing Reggie under the bus to making a deal with the Ghoulies to try to eradicate the Serpents - was devious.
Yeah, if he's attempting to "go legitimate," he's doing a pretty bad job of it.
I wouldn't be surprised if Hiram hired the copycat Black Hood, the one who shot up the debate, attacked Cheryl, and then attacked Archie and Fred while Hal was confessing to his family. (It can't have been Hal who attacked Cheryl, since he showed no sign of having a shoulder wound.) The copycat didn't hit anyone at the debate, suggesting it was just a scare tactic to stir up chaos, which is Hiram's motive and would help a "law & order" candidate like Hermione. And taking out Fred would clinch Hermione's victory as well. It's unclear what motive he'd have to go after Cheryl, though.
Hey, come to think of it: How is it that it was a whole hour before Archie came over to Betty and told her that the Black Hood had attacked him and Fred at the same time Hal was confessing?
They live right next door! The Coopers should've heard the gunshot!
And if you're wondering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise
Poor Jughead, he pulled an Aslan and offered himself to the Ghoulies in exchange for the safety of the outnumbered Serpents. He can't be dead yet; in a coma maybe?
There's no way they'd kill Jughead. But the promo sure tried to make it look like they did, opening with a shot of a gravestone and not showing Jughead's face anywhere in the promo.
