Alice Smith

"You think that he killed Jason? Your father? You think that he has the stomach for that? I wish he'd killed Jason. I wish I had after what Jason did to Polly. I swear, Elizabeth, you're sounding crazy just like your sister."

- Alice to Betty

Alice Cooper is a main character on Riverdale. She is portrayed by Mädchen Amick.

Alice is the editor and co-owner of the local newspaper, the wife of Hal Cooper and the mother of Betty and Polly Cooper.

Character description
Editor of the local paper, described as a steely perfectionist who places exceedingly high expectations on her daughter, Betty.

Early life
Alice grew up on the south side of Riverdale and attended the local high school where she was friends with Mary Andrews. She began dating Hal Cooper and they later went on to marry and have two daughters, Betty and Polly. During high school she became pregnant and Hal pushed her to have an abortion, as he did not think she was ready to be a mother. She refused an abortion and instead gave the baby up for adoption once he was born. She also seems to have had a lactose intolerance in high school, as mentioned by Hermione Lodge.

She owns the local newspaper, The Register, alongside her husband.

Season 1
Having learned that Jason Blossom supposedly drowned at Sweetwater River, Alice stood along the shore, hoping that it was true. Alice had a brief mother-to-daughter chat with Betty, shortly before she took off for the first day of her Sophomore year. She informed her daughter that this year would be very influential for colleges, grades, extracurricular, and athletics, they would all play a major role. But most importantly, she must maintain a decent character, Alice didn't want Betty to end up like her eldest daughter, Polly. She also had a bright future ahead of her.

Alice claimed to only want the best for her daughter, but for that to happen, Betty must remain focused. That night, Alice was displeased to learn that Betty had joined Cheryl Blossom's cheerleading squad, demanding that Betty take off the uniform immediately. However, Betty refused, she was sick of doing what everyone else wanted her to do. She informed Alice that she would be staying on the team, and that she was going to the Semiformal with Archie and Veronica, the daughter of Hermione Lodge. Alice attempted to explain that girls like Cheryl and Veronica weren't really friends, but Betty didn't stick around to listen.

Alice and Hal notified Betty that due to the scandal surrounding Jason Blossom's death, they'd be having a lot of late nights. No one cared about an accidental drowning, but the murder of the sociopathic son of the wealthiest family in town was bound to make headlines. Alice then told Betty the thing she loved most about her is that she always wanted to see the good in people, like Archie, Veronica and Cheryl, but since their betrayal, she now should see their true colors. Later that day, she visited the local coroner, Dr. Curdle, attending his autopsy of Jason Blossom. "Every corpse has a tale to tell", he said. In this case, there were several morbid details that would be relevant for her article, such as animal scavenging, ligature marks, and signs of him being frozen. Alice paid Dr. Curdle off in small bills for his service.

At home, she burst into Betty's room with sage, hoping to banish the evil spirits that Cheryl may have brought in with her when she had visited with Betty earlier. Betty asked about her sister and Alice professed to have told Polly about Jason's death, but claimed that half the time Polly didn't even know what day it was. She was against Polly and Jason being together for many reasons, one of which being that everything the Blossoms touch, rots.

Hot off the presses, Alice handed Betty their latest print from The Register, it read: "CHERYL BLOSSOM GUILTY AS SIN!". As much as people were loving the coverage, Betty suggested that she stop sensationalising Jason's murder. However, as the owner of the Register, she felt it was her duty to keep the residents of Riverdale informed. Betty believed that her mother should be writing about the real story, like who was holding him captive? Who shot him? Why he was frozen? Alice advised Betty to come join her and her father at the Register if she was so keen on reporting the facts.

The following night, she couldn't help but notice the new shade of lipstick Betty was applying, a shade that she didn't believe was a good fit for Betty. It belonged to Polly, who notably grew up too fast, and Alice would rather her other daughter not make the same mistake, thus she wiped the lipstick from Betty's lips. She later attended the Taste of Riverdale, in which she had a physical encounter with Penelope Blossom wherein she end up slapped. Mere minutes after the incident with Penelope, Alice went and picked a fight with another rival, Hermione Lodge, who she taunted that her daughter Veronica was being slut-shamed.

Alice picked Betty up from Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, and drove her home, but not before reminding Betty that she was instructed to no longer hang out with Archie and Veronica. A couple days later, she and Hal paid Fred Andrews a visit, where they asked Fred if he could assist on his end with keeping Archie and Betty apart. Alice insisted that they're relationship was toxic, and that the two teens could benefit from some separation. Fred saw no reason to keep them apart as Archie was a good kid; however, Alice was very much aware of his tendency to sneak out of the house late at night. Later that day, as Alice was putting Betty's laundry away, she found a hand gun in her daughter's dresser drawer, which led her to read Betty's diary in search for some kind of explanation.

Upon learning that Archie was in a secret relationship with his music teacher, Geraldine Grundy, Alice rounded up Betty and Fred, and the three of them headed to the school, where they caught Archie and Geraldine hugging. Alice confronted Geraldine, as she never thought that she'd see such a day, having always believed that the one thing they could keep their children safe from was child predators. She decided that the next step was to report Geraldine to Sheriff Keller, and let the law take over. Betty asked why her mother was so persistent in putting Grundy on trial, however, Alice explained it was more so about Archie than anything else, she wanted Betty to see the person that he truly was. Archie admitted that she was right about him, that he was selfish and stupid, but he pleaded with Alice to not hurt Grundy in order to hurt him.

However, for Alice, it wasn't about hurting anyone, it was about doing what's right, and informing their neighbors, she added. In an effort to protect Archie, Betty threatened to tell everyone that she broke into Ms. Grundy's car, robbed her, and made up the story of her affair with Archie, it would be like she finally snapped, just like Polly. Which would only further prove what people already think, that crazy runs in the Cooper family. Backed into a corner, Alice agreed to not tell anyone about Grundy and Archie if she quit her job and left town. At the house, as tears filled her eyes, Alice explained that Polly kept so much from her, she wouldn't allow the same to happen with Betty, who then explained to her mother that she was not Polly, and that Archie was not Jason.

Alice and Betty were joined at breakfast by Jughead, it was a rather quiet and awkward meal. Silence broke as she accused Jughead of getting Betty wrapped up in the Jason Blossom murder case, to which Betty responded that she approached Jughead for his assistance in writing for The Blue and Gold. Jughead asked for directions to the restroom, and as expected, Alice offered to show him. Unbeknownst to her, this was simply a distraction for Betty to go through her checkbook. Later that day, she was notified by the Sisters of Quiet Mercy that Polly had visitors, Betty and Jughead.

As she prepared to take the two of them home, Alice was first confronted by Polly, who demanded to know why she was lied to about Jason's death, which Alice claimed was due to her protective nature. Back at the house, she hysterically laughed when Betty brought forth the notion that Hal could be Jason Blossom's killer. She claimed he didn't have the stomach for it, though she wished he had done it, or that she had done it, as Jason deserved it after what he did to Polly. She then told Betty that she was beginning to sound just as crazy as Polly, and that she may not believe them when they said Polly was crazy, but she would obey them.

Alice appeared in Jughead's dream sequence, which was best described as some kind of idealised, make-believe version of the American dream. She and Hal were happy, as was everyone else at the table; Betty, Polly, Jason, and Jughead. In the real world, Alice was a part of the search party that went out into Eversgreen Forest in search for Polly, they headed East the direction Polly would have gone if she was attempting to leave Riverdale unnoticed. During their search throughout the forest for Polly, the Coopers had a heated argument with the Blossom family, who were leading a search of their own. Penelope Blossom accused the Coopers of hiding Polly, a potential suspect in Jason's murder. Despite trying to keep Polly's condition a secret, with the cat out of the bag, Alice was forced to come forward. She held a press conference, where she dismissed all the negative rumours and announced that Polly was pregnant with Jason's child.

Alice then pleaded with Polly on camera to come home. The next morning, she and Hal were bombarded with a series of questions from Betty, who asked if Polly could return home, to which Alice said yes. Betty then asked where the baby would sleep and Alice claimed that Polly had decided to give the child up for adoption, unaware that Betty had previously talked with Polly about just that and knew her sister wanted to keep her child.

Upon the discovery that Polly had been living at The Pembrooke, Alice went to the high school in order to confront Betty and Veronica. At least the Lodges were helping, Betty said, but just like before, they were back on the topic of Polly giving her child up for adoption. Alice saw this to be the best option for her daughter and the baby, but it wasn't her choice, however, it was her choice of whether or not she'd be in Polly's life. Betty then informed her of the baby shower they were planning, which Alice didn't see as being appropriate, but Betty disagreed, telling her to either be a supportive mother and grandmother or to stay away. Later that day, she met up with Hermione at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, where the two of them had an interesting chat about Polly and Alice's plans for her.

Though Alice initially mistook Hermione's invitation as a chance to gloat since she had provided Polly with a place to stay, she eventually realized her intentions for the meeting were genuine. Alice explained that she wanted her family back together, including Polly, but to do that, Alice would have to face the facts. She then went on to list the reasons as to why Polly's keeping of the child would only have disastrous results, everything from Polly being a teenager, who hadn't even graduated high school, to her baby's father being killed. Taking all that into consideration, Alice found it difficult to believe that Polly would over come the odds, and successfully raise a child, despite the fact that both she and Hermione managed to do it. Hermione urged her to attend the baby shower, in support for Polly, otherwise she'd regret it for the rest of her life.

Unexpectedly, after taking Hermione's advice, Alice decided to attend the baby shower, she and Polly hugged after professing how happy she was that Polly and the baby were safe. Unfortunately for Alice, the Blossoms weren't far behind her, which made it fairly difficult for Alice to behave herself as the night went on, especially since she wasn't buying into Penelope's sudden and likely false new and endearing attitude towards Polly. For the most part, Alice managed to tolerate them, even throughout Rose Blossom's "Occultism", during which she announced that Polly would be having twins, a boy and a girl. The gift giving portion of the shower had begun, and Alice gifted Polly with the night light that she used as a child. Alice saved it since she knew how much Polly loved it, and how much it made her feel safe, so she wanted Polly's child to have it.

However, the evening came to a close as Alice could no longer contain herself after Cheryl and Penelope invited Polly to stay with them at Thorn Hill. This led to a brief altercation between Alice and Penelope, in which Polly jumped up and yelled at them both, claiming their petty rivalry and refusal to let her and Jason be together is what led to his death. After the shower, Alice apologized for her outburst, but Polly was still upset at her after being left alone at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, which was never Alice's intention, she even pleaded with Polly to return home with them. Polly took her offer into consideration, but she couldn't help but wonder if Hal would make another appointment for her, which Alice was clueless on the supposed appointment that Hal made after learning that Polly was pregnant, and that he was more than happy to pay for it, as Polly shouldn't have to live with her mistakes.

That night, Alice confronted Hal over the appointment he had supposedly made for Polly behind Alice's back, so that she could fix her mistake, following the discovery of the pregnancy. She shoved him in a fit of rage, as Hal did to Polly, exactly what he did to her. She then wondered why sending Polly to the Sisters wasn't enough, to which Hal explained that Polly's life was being ruined by that mistake, as he would not be party to raising a child that had Blossom blood. However, Alice was intent of Polly moving back in, so she screamed at Hal to get out before she did something that they both regretted. The next morning, Alice and Betty awaited Polly's return home, but in a twist of events, Polly took the Blossoms up on their offer to stay at Thornhill, which left Alice and Betty in tears.

Without so much as knocking, Alice entered Betty's room to inform her and Jughead that they had a big week ahead of them. The Blossoms and Coopers had been at odds since great-grandfather Blossoms killed great-grandfather Cooper, Alice decided it was finally time for someone to bring them to a stopping point. With the Blossom board of trustees in town, Alice hoped to discover the meaning behind their sudden arrival, and incorporate it into a tell-all exposé she was writing about the Blossoms and their corruption. Alice needed someone on the inside, much to her surprise, that's exactly what she got in the form of Archie, who had attended the Blossoms tree tapping ceremony, "our fox in the hen house", Alice called him. Archie informed them that the Blossoms were treating Polly great, and that he did not think she wanted to come back, which Alice was just fine with, or so she claimed.

Alice wondered what else Archie might have came across while in the sticky-red thick of it, anything about the board, she asked. According to Archie, the Blossoms were worried that the board would try to steal the company from Cliff Blossom after the scandal behind Jason's death and Polly pregnancy, which Alice found to be quite the scandalous story in the making. A hostile take over would account for the trustees being in town, since the Blossoms were crumbling. Despite Polly being at Thornhill with the Blossoms, Alice would not allow this to sway her from exposing them, claiming that Polly betrayed them. The following night, she and Betty met with Hal at The Register, with a USB flash drive that contained all the evidence needed to expose the Blossoms and their corrupted ways.

However, Hal was unwilling to publish what her referred to as her own personal vendetta, but it was a good thing she did not need his approval or so she thought, come to find out that Hal had changed the login to the Registers' computer. If they exposed the Blossoms, then just maybe they could get Polly back, but Hal's mind was made up as he fired her. She and Betty exited the shop, but just then she picked up a large rock and threw it through the front glass door of the Register, saying "I want my daughter back, you bastard". The following night, she learned from Betty and Jughead that Polly had not betrayed them, but that she was actually spying on the Blossoms, making her their woman on the inside. Alice cried as a sign of relief, when she went after the story, a part of her thought that Polly might have been gone forever. Betty and Jughead wanted to finish the exposé at The Blue and Gold, and they wanted her to join them.

Following her meeting with Mr. Weatherbee, in which he agreed that Alice's professional guidance could greatly benefit The Blue and Gold, Alice revealed that she would be their newest adviser. Upon learning that Betty was planning for Jughead's 16th Birthday Party, she began to realize that her daughter was truly falling for him. When she and Hal started dating, she told him everything about herself, but she wishes she hadn't. Alice shared her secrets, fears and doubts with Hal, and he eventually ended up using them against her, there are some things about herself that she struggles with. Alice advised Betty not to share everything about herself with Jughead, as it could come back to bite her.

The next night during Jughead's party, with a pair of binoculars in hand, Alice watched from Betty's room as FP Jones and a young man wearing a leather jacket had a brief discussion. As the party came to an end, Alice confronted FP on his way back to his vehicle, she wondered what he was doing on her side of town. FP told her not to act so high and mighty, she may not live on the south side anymore, she may not dress like she's from the south side, but they both knew the truth, snakes don't shed their skin so easily, FP said. Alice greeted Betty the following morning with an Asprin, for a certain headache she was facing, then asking about the long-haired delinquent she spotted him with, to which Betty informed her that his named was Joaquin. He was Kevin's boyfriend and he knew FP through the Southside Serpents. Alice found it hardly coincidental that a serpent was dating the Sheriff's son. Riverdale was a small town, but not that small.

Inside The Blue and Gold offices, Alice announced to Betty and Veronica that everyone outside of the room was a potential murder suspect in the death of Jason Blossom. Alice suspected Hiram Lodge of having some form of involvement, maybe even hiring someone to kill Jason in retaliation to his arrest, possibly FP and the Southside Serpents. For all they knew, Joaquin, who she referred to as a "gay Greaser Serpent", could have been an accomplice seeing as Alice spotted him plotting with FP a couple nights ago at Jughead's 16th Birthday Party. She needed Betty to find out what they were conspiring about, either through Jughead or FP directly, without raising suspicions. Betty refused to go behind Jughead's back after he had already told her that he trusted in his father when he said that he wasn't the killer, but Alice simply took it as Betty being too close to the case.

As Alice sat at her desk typing, Veronica returned to the Blue and Gold willing to assist Alice in her mission to discover whether or not FP and Hiram were involved in killing Jason Blossom. With Veronica on board, Alice put forth a plan in which she would invite Jughead and FP over for dinner before the Homecoming dance. This would leave their trailer unoccupied long enough for Veronica to get in and find any potential evidence. Betty soon learned of the dinner, which she had assumed was merely a facade to interrogate FP, she was going to tell Jugheasd about Alice's plans, but that would be unwise as Alice claimed Jughead was fairly excited for their families to get to know each other. Alice took what Betty had earlier said to heart, and all she was after was getting to know them better, though this was lie.

The next night, just as planned, Alice prepared a meal and sat down to eat dinner with Betty, FP and Jughead. Upon learning that FP was working for Fred at Andrews Construction, she questioned how he balanced that with his other responsibilities, such as being a part of the south side community. The interrogation continued from there, she asked about his work history and his connection to Hiram Lodge and the Twilight Drive-In. The doorbell then rang, it was Hal, who had been invited to the dinner without Alice's knowledge. At first chance, Hal mentioned the incident where Alice threw a brick through the widow of The Register, so she informed him if he continued to talk, the next brick she threw wouldn't be at a window.

FP then recalled their Homecoming, in which he referred to Hal and Alice as the King and Queen from hell. That night, FP overheard Alice and Hal in a serious fight, life or death, he said. Alice demanded that FP shut up before he went any further, which he was happy to oblige to as long as she did the same. Inside the ladies restroom, Alice had a brief run-in with a familiar face, Mary Andrews, first giving Mary a backhanded compliment then informing her of Fred and Hermione's "monkey business". However, her tactics had no effect on Mary as she saw right through them. Although words could not be heard over the music, Alice met up with Archie and Veronica at the dance, and they presumably told her that they didn't find anything at the trailer.

After watching Archie and Veronica perform "Kids in America" on stage, Alice and Betty returned home after learning that FP had just been arrested for the murder of Jason Blossom. Betty accused her of tipping of Sheriff Keller but Alice promised that it wasn't her. She was glad that Betty was safe, and as much as she liked Jughead, she was thrilled that Betty was done with the family. However, Betty loved him, he was as much her family as Alice was, more so at the moment. She refused to let Betty leave the house, but Betty was in a foul mood, telling Alice not to push her or else she would push back. Hearing this, Alice decided to let her go.

Later that night, following the Homecoming dance, and the revelation that FP was arrested for the murder of Jason Blossom, Alice made her way over to the Andrews house. There, Archie and Veronica announced that they never came across a gun while inside FP's trailer, it was planted in his closet after they left. Alice found it difficult to trust the detective skills of a couple of teens over qualified officers of the law. Just then she was outed by Betty for having asked Veronica and Archie to break in. This is something that Fred, Mary, and Hermione were all completely unaware of.

Alice was awakened in the late hours of the night as she could hear loud noises coming from downstairs. She grabbed the hand gun previously owned by Ms. Grundy, and proceed down the steps, with Betty right behind her, ready to call the police. She pointed her gun at the intruder, and told him not to move, but as he turned around, they discovered that it was only Hal. He revealed to them that he broke into Sheriff Keller's house during the night of the last drive-in and stole the case files, which Alice noted as being impossible considering FP had already admitted to that crime. Hal wasn't sure why he would do that because it was actually him, and that is why he came back to the house in the middle of the night, to destroy any evidence that could lead back to him.

Alice wondered why he was even stealing evidence from a murder investigation, to which Hal explained that he was worried that it would lead back to Polly, and that Sheriff Keller would figure out the on-going feud between their family and the Blossoms. Just then, Hal told them that Betty's great-grandfather wasn't just murdered by a Blossom, he was a Blossom. After the murder, Hal's family severed ties with the Blossoms, and picked up the new name of Cooper, meaning that he, Betty and Polly were Blossoms, as well as Alice, but simply by marriage. This also made Polly and Jason relatives by blood, third cousins to be exact, which explains why Hal wanted to terminate the pregnancy and keep them apart. They began to question how far the Blossoms would go to keep Polly and Jason apart, so the three of them rushed over to Thornhill to bring Polly home.

The Blossoms were furious over the intrusion, but the Coopers weren't planning on staying long, leading Alice to sarcastically apologize for disrupting "the witching hour at Thornhill". Alice knew all about their family, and the incest, as she explained to Polly that Hal's grandfather wasn't just the murder victim of Clifford's grandfather, they were brothers, thus making them all Blossoms. She then acknowledged the fact that FP's confession had several gaping holes in it. Alice surmised that the Blossoms were disgusted that Polly and Jason were dating because they were related, but Penelope assured her that nothing could be more purely Blossoms than Polly's babies. Alice was done talking, she grabbed Polly's hand, and swiftly exited Thornhill, but not before telling them that their "Doctor Moreau experimentation in breeding and eugenics" was over.

The next day, Alice entered The Blue and Gold offices to find Betty and Jughead going over the murder board. She told them that the body of a Southside Serpent had just been found, and Sheriff Clueless was convinced that he was working with FP. He allegedly committed suicide by overdose, and there was a bag of money in his room that linked him to Hiram Lodge, so everything was tied up into a nice little bow, too tidy if you asked her. Joaquin DeSantos, the same Serpent that Alice had previously seen with FP had informed Kevin of his and FP's contingency plan, involving Jason's varsity jacket, which they had hidden. Inside the lining of the jacket was a USB flashdrive that contained surveillance video of Jason being murdered by his own father. At some point after this, the USB made it's way to Alice, who then took it to Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy.

Physical Appearance
Alice is a very attractive middle-aged woman with a slim and feminine physique. She has blonde hair, tan skin and grey eyes. Alice's choice of clothing is often something that someone would wear in a professional setting, such as blouses and fitted skirts.

Relationships

 * Alice and Betty
 * Alice and Polly
 * Alice and Hermione
 * Alice and Penelope
 * Alice and Hal
 * Alice and Archie

Trivia

 * She was crowned Homecoming queen
 * Went to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy
 * Was pregnant with an unnamed child and proceeded with a quiet adoption arranged by the sisters