We got our first real answer in the news yesterday:
Veronica’s dad might be getting out of jail sooner than we thought on Riverdale.
Mark Consuelos has signed on to play the heretofore-unseen Hiram Lodge on The CW’s Archie reboot, TVLine has learned exclusively. He’ll make his debut in Season 2, and is set to join the cast as a series regular.
Hiram Lodge, per the show’s official description, is “a ruthless, handsome, charismatic businessman who is coming back to Riverdale after weathering a financial scandal that almost destroyed him. He is there to reconnect with his wife Hermione and, especially, his daughter Veronica, who is the apple of his eye.” We haven’t seen Hiram on the show yet, since he’s been in jail awaiting trial for his involvement in a Bernie Madoff-esque embezzlement scheme. But it sounds like he beats the rap and comes home to make Veronica’s life even more complicated.
There is a catch, though: Consuelos currently co-stars on Fox’s baseball drama Pitch as general manager Oscar Arguella, and his Riverdale casting is in second position to Pitch, so he’d have to drop the Riverdale role if Pitch is renewed for a second season. (Pitch is currently listed as “could go either way” on TVLine’s Renewal Scorecard.) He also recently signed on for a major recurring role on the upcoming fourth season of NBC’s The Night Shift, and he’s co-president of Milojo Productions, which has the Logo reality show Fire Island debuting this month.In other words, Consuelos might be Hiram Lodge or he might have to give up the role of Hiram Lodge if his current TV gig gets renewed.
What do you think?