Riverdish

Is there anything hotter than a twentysomething sexually fluid master manipulator who steals the identity of his former roommate whom he murdered to get the family he never had? We think not!

Charles Smith, aka Chic, is the alleged son of Alice and Hal who was given up for adoption many moons ago. After Alice left the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, Chic remained there and was raised by the nuns in what proved to be a very lonely childhood. (Think Maria in The Sound of Music but without any hills to escape to.) At age eighteen, without any prospects of finding a Captain who had children that needed to be tended to, he was kicked out and forced to fend for himself.

Flash forward seven years. Alice was devastated by Polly’s relocation to “the Farm,” so to help lift her spirits, Betty decided to reach out to her long-lost brother. They found him at the Last Resort hostel in Centerville, where he was working in “fantasy fulfillment” as a cam boy. Although Chic was resentful of the Coopers at first, he eventually had a change of heart and moved in with them after his living situation became too dangerous.

While Alice was thrilled to be afforded a second chance to connect with her son, not all of the Coopers were as enthused by their new houseguest. Understandably, Hal was instantly resentful of Chic’s presence and urged Alice to kick him out, to no avail. Meanwhile, Betty Cooper was fascinated by the mysterious air that enshrouded her long-lost brother. Although they had never met before, there was clearly something that the two of them seemed to share. In a semisweet moment of sibling bonding, Betty confided to Chic that she hoped he could help reveal why she carries this darkness within her. We would recommend talking about this to a therapist before a weird brother whom you found in a hostel, but you do you, Betty Cooper. In a not-so-shocking turn of events, Chic turns out to be no Dr. Phil. Instead of offering reasonable advice, he merely recommends that Betty also turn to cam-ing as a way to escape reality.

Okay, we know that we are just coming across as broken records, but Betty and Chic bonding over cam-ing was seriously one of the weirdest turns this show has taken. And this is a show entirely built on weird turns! No disrespect meant to sex workers, but does it not seem like the weirdest thing ever to suggest that a sibling do? Maybe we are just old-fashioned.

Like Taylor Swift once said, “I knew you were trouble when you walked in.” Sure enough, mere weeks into his residency at the Cooper household, Chic turned Alice into a murder accomplice. One night as Alice and Chic sat down for dinner, they were interrupted by a man at the door who was there for Chic. Though details here are murky, Chic allegedly killed him and Alice proceeded to help him cover it up. In a bout of bad timing, Betty was roped into the homicide as well when she walked in the door to find her mother cleaning up blood on their living room floor. They were now all in over their heads. Alice knew that Chic was incredibly damaged and capable of murder, but as any mother would, she tried to pretend that nothing had happened.

Betty soon had to wonder if Chic was even her brother anyway. Growing increasingly suspicious, Betty used the opportunity of the Blossom will reading to test his DNA. Her fears were realized when she learned that Chic had no Blossom blood. Alice again turned a blind eye, telling her daughter this was simply because Hal wasn’t Chic’s father. Hal, technically, was the one who was a blood relative of the Blossoms. It made sense then that Alice would still feel a maternal connection to Chic and that Hal would want nothing to do with him. But that was still ignoring the fact that they had welcomed a homicidal sex worker into their home. There was more to Chic’s story and Betty was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Naturally, Betty enlisted Jughead to help and they returned to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy to dig for evidence that Chic was not who he said he was. Sure enough, they found a picture of the real Charles Smith, who looked nothing like the stranger living in Betty’s house. When Betty returned to the house to inform her mother, Chic overheard and attempted to stab Jughead, hurting Alice in the process.

Dark Betty reemerged and tied Chic up in the basement, torturing him (sans sticky maple) for answers. In a dark twist, it was revealed that Chic met the real Charles Smith when they were both living on the streets. They became friendly and moved into the hostel together. Charles often spoke of the family that gave him up and never came back to find him. Although he told Betty that Charles died of a Jingle Jangle overdose, foul play seems more likely. The true story is that Chic wanted the family Charles spoke about, so he learned all he could about the Coopers before killing his roommate and taking on his identity when Alice and Betty knocked.

Dateline wishes it had a story this juicy!

As far as we know, Chic was murdered after Betty delivered him to the Black Hood. However, we never got confirmation or proof of this, and knowing this show he very well may be still at large. If he is, he is incredibly dangerous and might still be out for revenge. We advise you to watch your backs and be careful who you video-chat with.