In the increasingly dark and sinister town of Riverdale, nothing is ever quite as it seems. But of all the characters who morally walk the line, Hermione Lodge is the most mysterious.
The mother of Veronica (Camila Mendes) appeared to be turning over a new leaf in Season 1, trying to break away from her criminal husband Hiram (Mark Consuelos). But things took a turn once Hiram was released from prison and she suddenly let her dark side out.
FANDOM spoke with Marisol Nichols, who plays Hermione on CW’s breakout hit Riverdale, to find out what’s really going on behind the show’s most mysterious mother.
The actress explained that Hermione had an opportunity to start fresh and morally clean up her life while Hiram was out of the picture, but that it didn’t last because she was already in too deep with her husband’s dealings.
“Unfortunately, she’s not an innocent pawn by a mile. And I truly mean by a mile,” Nichols said, hinting at a big reveal about her character coming up on this week’s episode. “So her past comes back to haunt her and she just has to do what she does to survive and be the ruthless powerhouse woman that she is.”
“She can’t escape from that, I think, even if she wanted to,” she added. “The first season it felt like she did want to and it’s kind of like, sorry, honey, you made your bed.”
When we first met Hermione, it looked like she was falling for Archie’s dad, Fred Andrews (Luke Perry). But unfortunately for fans who shipped the couple, it never really went anywhere before Hiram returned.
“I would have let the Fred thing go a little bit more,” the actress said. “I think that the higher you are, the harder you fall, so I would have liked to see that pinnacle of them in love together. They work so hard for it and then I would have ripped the rug out from underneath.”
Nichols explained that since Riverdale had a short first season (13 episodes instead of the usual 22), they had to move things along a little faster, which may explain why her character seemed to shift so quickly.
“I was like, ‘Wait, what? Are you sure? Why am I being so mean to Veronica?'” Nichols said about her reaction as an actress when the writers switched things up unexpectedly. “It was definitely a tough transition because I really loved the relationship that Cammy [Mendes] and I brought that whole first season. I really liked their bond, so it’s sort of just been like ‘Okay, well I’m just going to trust the writers that we’ll get back to that eventually.'”
Nichols said they have slowly been rebuilding that mother-daughter relationship by bringing Veronica into the family business — something she says Hermione does in order to protect her child.
“At the end of the day, if the Lodges succeed, Veronica succeeds. That’s her way of justifying it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the right choice but that’s her way of justifying it. Lodges succeed, Veronica succeeds, everybody’s safe.”
Unfortunately, that means Hermione foregoing her happiness, as she is only with Hiram out of fear.
“I don’t think she’s in love with [Hiram] at all. I think that ship’s sailed,” she said. “To me, there’s a bit of sadness that goes with that and that’s what she got from Fred.”
When the relationship fizzled out, Nichols had to work harder to make her character sympathetic to fans who felt she was betraying Fred and Veronica.
“What I tried to do was establish that this is a game and in order to survive in this game with Hiram Lodge, you better be good at it,” she explained. “And Hermione is very good at it. But at the end of the day, it is a game and it’s survival. It’s not necessarily who she is.”
It may not be who she is deep down, but it’s who she has had to become in order to stay safe from her own husband. And Nichols teases that this week’s episode will show us “how strong Hermione actually is.”
“She’s playing the long game, to be honest, because Hiram is there and Hiram is dangerous,” she said. “There’s also a certain way that she’s learned to survive with him around and you’ll see. I’m really excited for the next episode for everyone to see because it really does show that Hermione is not as innocent as she wanted.”
Find out Hermione’s big secret when Riverdale airs this Wednesday at 8 pm on CW.
