from what I understand, it was a flash-forward to next season's midseason finale. So Jughead will be alive and well next season, for the first half and definitely for the next half. They're not letting Cole go, I guarantee that. The show would literally never recover . His hair is just back to blond now for the summer.

Another thing of note in post-finale interviews is that they say they haven't even yet planned out the story of that scene, how the characters get there or the aftermath. Don't be surprised if this scene is reworked down the line or they forget about it altogether after mapping out shiny new plots . I still remember the PLL flashforward scene in the classroom that ultimately meant nothing in the end and it was just thrown in there randomly as I recall .