Riverdale: 20 most shocking moments during the first three seasons

Riverdale — “Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World” — Image Number: RVD222b_0192.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Robin Givens as Sierra McCoy, Camila Mendes as Veronica, KJ Apa as Archie, Ashleigh Murray as Josie and Charles Melton as Reggie — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

15. Archie Is Arrested

Episode: “Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World” (Season 2, Episode 22)

Though still a pretty recent moment, the image of wholesome, big-hearted boy-next-door Archie Andrews being carted away in handcuffs as Hiram Lodge looked on is one that has already gone down in infamy.

Archie’s character arc throughout Season 2 was intentionally one of the show’s most infuriating. Having accidentally allowed the character to fall into the background during the first season of his own show, the writers took it upon themselves to make sure that didn’t happen again, so this time, Archie had his very own juicy story involving his girlfriend’s mobster father, Hiram Lodge.

Due to his allegiance with Hiram, Archie spent the better part of the season in awe of his new boss and, as a result, unwittingly found himself opposing all of his loved ones. However, before the season’s end, he began to recognise that “Mr. Lodge” was attempting to come between him and his father, derail his father’s mayoral campaign and even made a deal that almost resulted in the death of Jughead. So, in a moment of total clarity, Archie finally stood up to Hiram in the Season 2 finale, going as far as to subtextually threaten him with a knife as he told him to back off.

Ever the mobster, Hiram wasn’t about to take the threat lying down and used his connections to incriminate Archie in the murder in one of the intruders at the lake house. So, as the kind-hearted protagonist was just about to ascend to new heights as the student body president, his inauguration ceremony was interrupted by Sheriff Minetta who arrested him on the spot, leaving us with a painful cliffhangers as the second season officially came to an end.