A search party was organized to find Polly, Veronica rebelled against her mother for forging her signature, and Sheriff Keller accused Jughead of being Jason Blossom's murderer on Riverdale Season 1 Episode 7.

Below, TV Fanatics Mandy Treccia, Paul Dailly, Jack Ori, and Justin Carreiro debate the downward spiral of Mr. Jones, Polly Cooper's hidden location, and their thoughts of Riverdale's first season so far.

1. Why do you think Polly chose to hide in the Cooper family attic of all places?

Mandy: She was scared and desperate and wanted to be somewhere familiar. Maybe on some level, she also knew Betty would find her there.

Paul: I think the attic was probably the most familiar place she could hide without being caught by her parents. I do agree that she probably knew Betty would think of checking there.

Jack: I think Polly wishes she could come home. She was, it seems, pretty much kidnapped by her parents and sent to the institution, and she wishes they could be a normal family and she could be accepted, baby and all.

The attic is the closest she's going to get, sadly. I also agree that she was hoping Betty would find her there.

Justin: The attic must be her safe place. With no money, no Jason and no one to help her at the time, she went to the one place she knew would hide her. I also agree that she must have hoped Betty would find her in the attic.

2. In a worst case scenario, who would you trust with Polly's baby: Mrs. Cooper or Mrs. Blossom?

Mandy: Tough question, but I'm going to say, Mrs. Cooper. Mainly because Betty turned out fairly stable. Both of Mrs. Blossom's kids hate her.

Paul: I'm with Mandy. Mrs. Cooper comes across as this cold-hearted machine, but I think when it comes down to it, she will be the one to look after the baby and will take great pride in looking after it.

Now that the baby news is out in the open, there's no need for her to continue to imply Polly is crazy. Mrs. Cooper was just pissed because she likes to look for scandals for the paper, not have them under her roof.

Jack: I agree with Mandy, that's a hard one. I'm going to go with Mrs. Cooper because I think that pressuring Polly to give the baby up for adoption is very slightly better than keeping the baby but trying to force her out of his or her life.

Justin: It looks to be unanimous. I would go with Mrs. Cooper too because she is the nicer and more stable of the parents. Also, at the end of the day, Polly and Betty could have a better chance of stopping the baby from being adopted than if they were forced out by Mrs. Blossom.

3. Veronica chose to rebel against Hermione for forging her name. How do you feel about her tactics?

Mandy: It showcased Veronica's immaturity and how spoiled she is. Hermione was wrong to forge her signature. But by lashing out, Veronica proved her mother's point that she can't handle the truth about her family.

Paul: I liked it. There's something about Veronica that reminds me of Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl and this further solidified that. I still don't quite understand why her mother asked first before forging the signature, but I liked that both of their actions brought them closer together.

Jack: It was immature, but I'm okay with it. She didn't seem like she was terribly self-destructive. She knows this is the way to get through to her mother, so why not?

Justin: I wasn't exactly convinced by this plot. Both fully expected how the other would react; they both were immature about the situation. Veronica already knew her mother forged her signature and Hermione should've just been honest.

4. Sheriff Keller accused Jughead of potentially being the killer/arsonist. React!

Mandy: I cringed when Jughead was rooting around in the car without gloves, so I'm not surprised his fingerprints were there. I don't like that he's being singled out by the sheriff, but at the same time, it feels like exactly what would happen in a small town. People tend to blame those that are different.

Paul: I hated that Keller brought up Jughead's past. He was obviously trying to make Jughead think he was the killer for the sake of closing the case. It was awful and I can't wait until Jughead finds the real killer.

Jack: Oh man, that was the most emotional part of this week for me! First of all, Jughead is my favorite so I'm going to be a bit biased, but I believed him when he told Betty was afraid he would be blamed because he's not socially desirable enough for Keller. It made me really angry.

I didn't like Keller's attitude and I felt so bad for Jughead that his dad couldn't get it together enough to come support him before it was too late. I do want to know more about what the story is behind his alleged arson at the elementary school, though. I doubt it has anything to do with any of this.

Justin: For a parent, I defended in the review for Riverdale Season 1 Episode 6, I couldn't believe how stereotypical Sheriff Keller was. He had no basis to connect Jughead to the crime when it was Betty AND Jughead who informed him about the evidence. He wanted to blame anyone to close the case.

This reminds me of Reggie's attitude on Riverdale Season 1 Episode 2. The small town of Riverdale is willing to blame anyone who doesn't fit in. I felt so bad for Jughead!

5. Do you think Jughead's dad will turn things around and get better?

Mandy: No. He's driven by his pain. I can sympathize with him for what he's been through, but until he takes responsibility, he's not going to change. He'd rather blame Fred than say he's going to work hard for his family.

Paul: Surprisingly, I think he will. Like he said, it will take him some time to do so. There will be some back and forth between him and the Southside Serpents. I don't think they'll be happy to let him go so quickly.

Jack: I hope so, but right now it doesn't seem like it. This seemed like a realistic portrayal of an alcoholic. He probably can't get better without help...or, at least, he'll get much worse first.

Justin: I think he'll be able to make it happen. However, he won't get better by the end of the first season. From the way he looked at the end of Riverdale Season 1 Episode 7, he still has a few demons he needs to work on, and truths to be revealed.

6. We've made it to the halfway point of Riverdale's first season. What's been your thoughts of the season so far? Any predictions?

Mandy: I'm enjoying it, and I'm so happy the show's been renewed for Season Two. I wish Archie would be developed more. He doesn't feel like the central character. I'd like to see more high school stuff and less murder mystery. But I think the show has the potential to smooth those things out as the season moves forward.

Paul: I'm loving it so far. It has exceeded my expectations, but I want the murder mystery to be resolved soon. The way they wrap up this mystery will be instrumental in whether the show will be able to successfully spin more mysteries out of the webs of deceit.

I'm liking Jughead and Betty together, but I'm not liking Archie as much as I thought I would.

Jack: I'm sad that there are no new episodes until March 30th. I really like that this show combines realistic stories with the mystery story and that most of the characters are very well developed (except for Reggie, who I hope we will learn more about). It keeps me guessing too!

Right now, I think Jughead's dad has something to do with the murder, and I thought that when I saw him doing all that drinking even before they revealed he had the jacket in his closet, but that likely will change.

Other than that my only prediction is that we will find out who killed Jason by the end of the season because this show is great at being unpredictable!

Justin: I'm hooked on this show, and I'm trying to convert many of my friends into equally being as hooked. Like Mandy, I'm ecstatic about the show being renewed! I quite literally screamed in front of my co-worker when I heard the news.

As for my Riverdale predictions, I have a feeling Jason was selling drugs for Mr. Jones. The jacket could've been taken from the car when Mr. Jones set it on fire to cover up the drug deals.

However, one of my top predictions for the killer is Mrs. Blossom. She didn't look shocked to hear the news Polly was pregnant with Jason's baby; I think he told her before she murdered him.

Missed the latest episode of Riverdale? You can watch Riverdale online via TV Fanatic. Come back here and join the discussion.

Justin Carreiro was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.