Warning: Spoilers for Riverdale season five episode nine ahead.
Polly Cooper has been in and out of Riverdale ever since season one. Despite that, she has always been on the sidelines, a victim of various unfortunate circ*mstances brought on by the town. Her storyline this season is no different and, once again, we find Polly is a huge amount of trouble. So, as we wait to find out what will happen to Polly, let's look back at her unlucky past in Riverdale and see if we can deduce what will come next.
Who is Polly Cooper?
It's been a while since we last saw Polly, so you may need a refresher on the character. Polly is Betty's older sister and she has been through a lot. In the beginning of season one, Polly gets sent away to Sisters of Quiet Mercy to hide her pregnancy. At the time of get admitted, she is unaware that her fiancé, Jason Blossom, was murdered, and Betty is forced to relay the news to her. As a result, Polly escapes SQM and hides out in the Cooper's attic. Eventually, though, after a brief stint living with the Lodge women, she decides to move into Thornhill with the Blossoms. This situation comes to an end, however, when she discovers that she and Jason were third cousins and Penelope Blossom creepily quips that "nothing could be more purely Blossom than those babies." Ew.
In season two, not long after moving back in with the Coopers, the Black Hood starts wrecking havoc on the town. In order to protect her unborn children, Polly opts to finally go to The Farm, where she and Jason initially planned to run away to prior to his death. Polly gives birth to the twins at The Farm, only coming home to collect some of her belongings afterward. That's when we hear the kid's iconic names—Dagwood and Juniper—for the first time. She returns home a few more times throughout the season, but it's her visit in the last episode of season two, when Alice Cooper is suffering following the realization that her husband was a serial killer, that is the most important. That's when Polly encourages her mother to join The Farm as a way to heal.
As you probably remember, in season three, Alice and Polly both get extremely involved with The Farm and they continue to attempt to convince Betty to join the group much to Betty's resistance. In season four, when The Farm's leader, Edgar Evernever straps a bomb to Polly in order to kill Betty, she finally joins Betty's side in the war against The Farm. Following the takedown of the cult, Polly goes to the Shady Grove Treatment Center to get help.
Who plays her?
Polly is played by Canadain actress Tiera Skovbye. Tiera is also known for her roles in Dirty John, Nurses, Once Upon a Time, and the Bella Thorne movie, Midnight Sun.
What's going to happen to her?
After almost a season without seeing Polly, it was nice to have her back in Riverdale, though it seems like the past seven years haven't been great for her. These days, Polly is living with her mom, Alice, and raising Juniper and Dagwood, who at this point are probably about eight years old. While she tells her mom she is working as a waitress at The Roving Eye, a local nightclub that Betty says is sketchy, Polly hasn't actually worked at the club in a year. In fact, Archie sees Polly hanging out with the Ghoulies, a local drug gang. When Betty confronts her sister about it, Polly storms out of the house. In the last scene of episode five, we see her seemingly getting chased by an 18-wheeler on what the residents of Riverdale are now calling "The Lonely Highway."
This leads Betty and Alice on the hunt to find Polly, but episode nine's revelation doesn't bode well for her fate. Polly was alive, yes, and she called the Cooper house from a payphone on the Lonely Highway, but by the time Betty and Alice get there, the payphone is destroyed and covered in blood. Unfortunately, the blood is a match with Polly's very rare blood type, but as of now, Polly herself is still MIA. While the odds aren't looking great for Betty's big sister, I wouldn't completely count her out just yet.
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Carolyn Twersky
Associate Editor
Carolyn Twersky is an associate editor for Seventeen covering celebrities, entertainment, politics, trends, and health. On her off time, she's probably watching Ru Paul's Drag Race, traversing NYC for the best donuts, or, most likely, enjoying time in her favorite place in the world: her bed.