The investigation into Riverdale's Black Hood Killer intensifies in this week's episode ("The Town That Dreaded Sundown") when girl next door Betty Cooper finds herself in the middle of his wicked web. According to creator Robert Aguirre-Sacasa, this is just the beginning of Betty's "trial by fire."

In the promo for Episode 4, Betty makes a startling confession after receiving a personal letter and a cipher from the Black Hood: "He's doing it for me." But why is he killing in the name of Betty Cooper?

Most likely, it all goes back to Betty's Jubilee speech in Riverdale's Season 1 finale. "Riverdale is at a crossroads," she said. "If we don't face the reality of who and what we are, if we keep lying to ourselves and keeping secrets from each other, then what happened to Jason could happen again — or, God forbid, something worse. Riverdale must do better."

Clearly, whoever this Black Hood Killer is heard Betty's speech and decided that "something worse" was the best course of action to cure the rot festering beneath Riverdale. After all, he made his motivations clear in that initial letter to the Coopers. "My wrath is the price of your lies," he wrote. "Your secrets. Your sins." That pointed language ("secrets" and "lies") seems derived from Betty's speech, right?

So is this dude just a Betty Cooper fanboy, or does he have a deeper connection to the blonde? Ever since that horrific morning in Pop's, Archie has been haunted by the hooded assailant's green eyes. Fans were quick to point out that Betty's dad Hal Cooper also has green eyes. Not to mention, there's also the fact that the Black Hood appears to be an older man.

But with Betty's long-lost brother Chic (played by Hart Denton) making his debut later this season, there's a real possibility that he could be the one with the vendetta against Riverdale. Maybe he thinks eradicating the town of sin will bring him closer to Betty? Let's face it: Betty's brother would be a sociopath.

Either way, it puts Betty in a precarious position — and quite possibly in the way of Archie's vigilante group, The Red Circle. Judging from that intimidating (and very shirtless) message The Red Circle sent the killer at the end of the most recent episode, it looks like Archie Andrews is going to take a very different approach to bringing down the Black Hood. (He's more of a brute force kinda guy.) And not everyone is going to be down with a bunch of high schoolers patrolling the streets of Riverdale.

"It's going to be interesting to see how the town reacts to it, specifically the parents," Casey Cott told MTV News last month. "Kevin reacts to everything with a bit of sassy realism, but the Red Circle is kinda terrifying."

And they're extremely polarizing. Archie may have wanted to keep the town safe, but in reality, he's only stirring up more trouble. With tensions between Riverdale High and Southside High at an all-time high, the very fabric of Riverdale is starting to unravel — and sweet, precious Betty is going to find herself right in the middle of it.