Riverdale: 20 most shocking moments during the first three seasons

Riverdale — “Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter” — Image Number: RVD113a_0172.jpg — Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, and Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved

3. Cheryl Tries To Put Herself On Ice

Episode: “Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter” (Season 1, Episode 13)

It’s safe to say that Riverdale‘s freshman season really took its toll on Cheryl Blossom. The leader of the River Vixens may have been gleaming on the outside, but on the inside she was breaking into a thousand pieces. As if suffering through the untimely death of her beloved twin brother Jason and having to withstand a wrongful arrest following false accusations that she was responsible for it weren’t enough, she then discovered that her own father, Clifford Blossom, was the man who took Jason from her.

This all built towards a near-heart-breaking conclusion to Cheryl’s Season 1 arc as she decided that it would be best if she reunited with Jason. With that, she took herself out to Sweetwater River (which had since frozen over due to the wintry weather conditions) and merely waited for the ice to crack below her. Though Archie, Veronica, Jughead and Betty all managed to find her in time, they weren’t able to reach her before she plummeted into the icy abyss below.

From there, it was a race against time as the heroic foursome sprinted onto the frozen water and attempted to rescue her. With a thick layer of ice between them and her, that time was quickly running out, but this did not stop the determined Archie from giving it his absolute all as he punched his way through the ice and eventually saved her.

From the stunningly cold visuals that made us shiver just watching to the eerie parallels between this and Jason’s death, not to mention the disturbing scenes as Archie bloodied his own hand to shatter the ice, this was undoubtedly one of the most intense and unexpectedly graphic scenes in Riverdale history. A three-minute rollercoaster of emotions that definitely had us on the edges of our seats the whole way throughout, as we rooted for them to save Cheryl.