Ah, Riverdale, the only series that can keep fans hooked no matter how ridiculous it may get. Season after season, fans are their toes, not sure what to expect from the show next. The only thing viewers know for certain is that the core four will be there to take on whatever gets thrown their way.
The characters in Riverdale have definitely captured fans’ hearts. Audiences live for Bughead and Varchie moments and love to root for each one of them. Jughead is easily a fan-favorite character thanks to quirky, self-deprecating nature. He’s a self-proclaimed weirdo and fans love it. Does the gang truly deserve him though? Here are the ten worst things the gang ever did to our beloved, beanie-wearing, Juggie.
Archie Was Initially Mean To Him
At the beginning of season one, Jughead and Archie weren’t exactly close friends. Jughead spots Archie kissing Miss Grundy and confronts him about it. Naturally, Archie gets extremely defensive and tells Jughead to stay out of it - or else. This was pretty unnecessary on Archie’s end, as Jughead was just looking out for him. Someone needed to be the voice of reason for Archie and like a good friend, Jughead was there for him.
Thankfully, Archie later comes to his senses, the pair becomes tighter than ever, and fans get the Archie and Jughead friendship they deserve.
Archie’s Dad Fired His Dad
This one isn’t exactly Archie’s fault, but it has created a domino effect in Jughead’s life that stems directly from Archie’s family. Years prior to the core four becoming the tight-knit gang they now are, Fred (Archie’s dad) fired FP (Jughead’s dad) from his job.
While FP really only has himself to blame for this since he’s responsible for keeping his job, this put him in a downward spiral and made things really bad at home for Jughead. So bad, that Jughead ends up living at Riverdale High just to get away from his dad until Archie finds out.
Archie and Veronica Searched His Trailer
The gang, specifically Archie and Veronica, really hurt Jughead this time. They didn’t trust him when he said that he is certain that his dad had nothing to do with Jason Blossom’s murder. The pair went ahead and searched Jughead’s trailer anyway looking for evidence. They come up empty-handed and Jughead is furious when he finds out that his friends broke his trust in this way.
The worst part? After all is said and done, FP still gets arrested for Jason’s murder because someone planted a gun in his trailer after Veronica and Archie left.
Cheryl Slapped Him
This is a pretty intense scene for the cafeteria at Riverdale High. At this point in the series, FP Jones is being accused of Jason Blossom’s murder. When Jughead sees Cheryl at school, he makes an attempt to apologize to her regarding the news about his dad and her brother.
Cheryl was upset and slapped Jughead right there in front of everyone at school. Of course, at this time, Cheryl thought his dad killed her brother, however, Jughead definitely did not deserve to be slapped.
Archie Agreed With Tearing Down His School
Hiram Lodge is always making a play to become the most powerful person in Riverdale. This time, his plan was to demolish Southside High to build a private prison in its place. While Jughead hadn’t been attending Southside High for very long, he grew up in the Southside so it was important to him that the school stay standing.
Not only did Archie not understand how upset Jughead was by all of this, but he also sided with Hiram on the matter and tried to convince Jughead to let it go.
Betty Didn’t Care That He Didn’t Want A Party
Ah, Bughead, Riverdale fans’ favorite duo. In season one, Betty wants to be a good girlfriend and throws Jughead a surprise birthday party. Unfortunately, this party actually really upset him and caused a huge fight between the couple. Not only was there alcohol at the party which made him uncomfortable, but he also didn’t want to spend his birthday with anyone other than Betty and Archie and was frustrated that she didn’t understand that.
Even though Betty threw the party with good intentions, she didn’t care to think about Jughead’s feelings and what he would actually want to do on his birthday.
Betty Broke Up With Him
While Betty only broke up with Jughead to keep him safe from the Black Hood, she pretty much did it in the worst way possible. Betty sends Archie to break up with him for her, which seemed really heartless. Betty needed to break up with Jughead in a way that would definitely keep him away from her for a while, so while this was effective, it was also cruel.
Betty and Archie definitely alienated Jughead when they did this, and it was hard for fans to watch their beloved Juggie feel like two of his best friends wanted nothing to do with him.
Betty Kissed Archie
Right after Veronica broke up with Archie and Jughead dumped Betty, Archie and Betty found themselves in a vulnerable place together and they kissed. While this was a one time, spur of the moment thing, it was still extremely hurtful to both Jughead and Veronica.
Betty and Jughead hadn’t been broken up very long at all when all of this went down and he was bound to find out about it. Cheryl ends up being the one to tell him the bad news and Jughead ends up, by no surprise, pretty hurt by it.
Veronica And Archie Defend Hiram Buying The Trailer Park
There’s basically endless drama surrounding Hiram Lodge and his shady moves to slowly buy up Riverdale. When Jughead hears that Hiram has purchased the trailer park where he, his dad, and the serpents live, Jughead is extremely suspicious. He confronts Veronica and Archie about it, but they defend Hiram and say that he’s doing it out of the goodness of his heart.
This is a bit ridiculous since, at this point, Veronica and Archie should know better. They know Hiram does questionable things, and yet they turn a blind eye to something really important to Jughead and call him a conspiracy theorist.
The Gang Apparently Kills Him
This one isn’t a for sure thing yet, but the series sure is teasing it like crazy. Ever since the end of season three, Riverdale has been giving us little flash-forwards at the end of every episode. Each flash-forward hints at the gang dealing with the aftermath of murdering one of their own, Jughead.
Of course, this seems completely ridiculous. This must be the art of misdirection, right? Something else has to be going on. However, just in case it’s true, this would definitely be the worst thing the gang ever does to Jughead.
