Riverdale: 20 most shocking moments during the first three seasons

Riverdale — “Chapter Forty: The Great Escape” — Image Number: RVD305a_0015.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Camila Mendes as Veronica and Charles Melton as Reggie — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

14. The Gang Breaks Archie Out Of Juvie

Episode: “Chapter Forty: The Great Escape” (Season 3, Episode 5)

Archie’s imprisonment at a juvenile detention center played a major role in the opening of Season 3, as the show’s red-haired protagonist was subject to an immense amount of physical and psychological torture – all indirectly perpetrated by the man who put him there: Hiram Lodge.

Initially chosen as Warden Norton’s prize fighter due to his killer right-hook, he quickly fell from grace after Lodge ordered the warden to terminate him once and for all. However, his plan to do so just so happened to be going down as Veronica, Betty, Reggie and Kevin all hatched their own plan to help Archie escape the clutches of the detention center, the fight club and, most importantly, Lodge himself. Thus, when things looked bleak for Archie, the cavalry came to the rescue.

As Veronica and Reggie created the distraction, Archie made his way through the floor’s large drain and crawled like his life depended on it because, quite frankly, it did. Eventually, he made it to the other side and found Betty waiting on him. And just when it looked like the authorities had caught up to the Serpent Queen and her escapee as they sped off on her motorbike, Betty revealed that Kevin was actually her passenger – a distraction that allowed Reggie and Veronica to escape with Archie, ultimately saving his life.

What made the scene even more thrilling was that the events played out simultaneously to Jughead’s game of Gryphons and Gargoyles, with his passionate narration heightening every moment as he announced each event before they took place. The characters were essentially his pawns, the breakout was his quest, and all it played out exactly as he had hoped.

A thrill-ride of epic proportions, the gang’s breakout attempt never stopped moving from the moment that they pulled the trigger on it and, together, they overcame the odds and saved their “Red Paladin” from suffering his gruesome fate.