It’s clear as day now: Donna Sweett is a bad egg.
The new character in Riverdale’s fourth season is now well and truly an antagonist, emerging from a quiet threat to becoming a fully-fledged villain of her own.
So what is the real identity of the mysterious Donna?
Let’s look at everything we know about Riverdale’s latest twisted villain…
Who is Donna Sweett?
Viewers were first intorudced to Donna Sweett back in the second episode of this season as one of Jughead (Cole Sprouse)’s classmates in his Stonewall Prep seminar.
We met her alongside their other classmate Bret Weston Wallace (you may be picking up the not-so-subtle literary references in these names now).
A lot has happened between then and now, including the apparent suicide of their teacher Mr Chipping, whom Donna claimed she was having an affair with.
And despite earning Jughead’s trust early on, Donna has now revealed her true colours...
It was revealed that on the night of Jughead’s attempted murder, Donna took Betty into the woods and made her black out with Devil’s Breath. She or Brett then hit Jughead in the head with a rock, and tried to frame Betty for the attack.
That’s not to mention her other misdeeds; framing Jughead for plagiarism, stealing his novel and selling it as the next Baxter Brother book, and perhaps murdering Jonathan (Alex Barima).
Veronica (Camila Mendes), meanwhile, asked Hermosa (Mishel Prada) to do some digging on Donna, and at the end of this week’s cliffhanger episode, Veronica revealed that Donna isn’t actually who she has led people to believe she is. Who she really is will likely be revealed next week.
Donna Sweet theories
Donna’s real identity is a mystery, but some have wondered whether she is related to Francis DuPont, the Stonies’ English teacher and former ghost-writer of the Baxter Brothers books.
Another theory is that she is related to Edgar Evernever (Chad Michael Murray), who was the leader of the cult The Farm last season, before he died in the third series.
Donna revealed she visited Evelyn Evernever (Edgar’s daughter/wife) to obtain a word that would hypnotise Betty and make her hurt people she loved. However, the Evernevers have more of a vendetta against Betty than Jughead.
She could also be related to gang leader Penny Peabody, who is particularly devoted to the destruction of Jughead, having already made an attempt on his life in season 2. Could Donna secretly be continuing Penny’s mission?
Who plays Donna Sweett?
Donna Sweett is played by 25-year-old Canadian actress Sarah Desjardins.
Apart from Riverdale, Desjardins has starred in the YouTube original Impulse and Netflix’s Van Helsing.
She joined Riverdale in the show’s fourth season.
