In season one of Veronica Lodge appeared in his favorite local diner one night. From the first moment Archie saw Veronica it was clear that he was attracted to her beauty and intrigued by her mystery.
While their fateful meeting that night in Pop's was the start of many good things in Archie’s life, it also sent his life down a trajectory riddled with struggle and heartache. Throughout the past five seasons, Archie has endured betrayals, battled unspeakable evils, and almost lost his life on multiple occasions.
His Relationship With His Best Friend Betty
The first issue Veronica and Archie’s union caused was a ripple in Archie and Betty’s friendship. Archie and Betty are next-door neighbors and classmates that have been very close friends since they were little. Betty had developed romantic feelings for Archie over the years and was even going to share them with Archie right before he met Veronica.
Once it became clear to her that Archie and Veronica were falling for one another Betty became very hurt and had to distance herself from Archie to lessen the blow. This was especially painful to watch considering just how important Betty was to Archie.
His Relationship With His Best Friend Jughead
The second relationship Veronica’s arrival to Riverdale threatened to destroy was the friendship between Archie and Jughead. The duo’s parents had known each other for decades and as a result, the boys had always been in each other’s lives. In an episode of season 1, Veronica asks Archie to help her search through F.P.’s trailer to search for evidence that he had killed Jason Blossom.
Since Archie was interested in Veronica he felt like he needed to her and do what she had asked. However, this posed a threat to his relationship with Jughead because he was living with him at the time and was potentially going to help put his dad in prison.
He Went To Jail
Throughout the series, Archie is often lauded as pure of heart and selfless. For this reason, it was a big shock to the people of Riverdale when he was convicted of murder. The time Archie spent in jail was extremely difficult for him and resulted in a lot of suffering for both him and his family.
He Got Into Crime Fighting
Once Archie began to truly understand just how much crime plagued Riverdale he decided he wanted to take matters into his own hands. In season 2, Archie formed The Red Circle as a way to track down the black hood and keep the residents of Riverdale safe.
While this may seem like a positive thing in Archie’s life, it ended up causing a divide between the students of Riverdale and the Southside Serpents gang. It also resulted in Archie and his group doing Hiram Lodge’s bidding rather than working toward their original goal.
He Started Working For Hiram
When Veronica introduced Archie to her father, it set off a chain of events that resulted in a lot of stress for Archie. From the moment Hiram Lodge set down roots in Riverdale he began working on his nefarious agenda. Unfortunately for Archie, he got too swept up in trying to impress Hiram and decided to start working for him.
Through growing closer to Hiram, Archie ended up getting on his bad side and as a result, was sent to jail, had to run away from home, and almost got murdered by a bear.
He Got Attacked By A Bear
In season 3, Archie Andrews was forced to hide out in the woods after escaping from jail. While in the woods Archie came across a grizzly bear and was attacked by the bear. This resulted in Archie heavily bleeding and hallucinating while fighting to stay alive.
Luckily, Archie was able to make it back to his cabin and bandage himself up before bleeding to death. This moment in the series was the closest Archie had ever come to death and, while it is not her fault, it likely would not have happened if he did not get involved with Veronica.
He Gets Kidnapped
Another one of Archie’s lowest moments in the series was when he was kidnapped by one of Veronica’s old friends from New York City. On a mission to investigate a house he thinks is associated with the Black Hood, Archie ends up getting jumped and kidnapped.
It’s later revealed that it was Nick St. Clair who kidnapped Archie to upset Veronica and get her to pay him one million dollars in ransom. Thankfully Archie freed himself but it was still a very traumatic event.
He Almost Didn't Graduate
Before Archie met Veronica he was playing football, working with his dad at their construction business, and pursuing his dream to become a musician. Slowly as their relationship grew deeper and more and more chaos began to ensue, Archie started to lose himself and what was important to him.
Archie became so wrapped up in Veronica and the Lodge family drama that he almost didn’t the military and get his diploma.
Gets Involved With Drugs
When viewers first meet Archie Andrews, he’s portrayed as this ideal teenager who never drinks and wouldn’t even consider trying drugs. However, all of that changes when Veronica’s pal Nick St. Clair pays a visit to Riverdale. Nick invites Archie and his friends to a party at the Five Seasons Hotel.
At the party, he offers everyone "jingle jangle," which is a new Riverdale party drug. At first, Archie declines but subsequently decides to try the drug once Veronica announces to the group that she will.
He Started Fighting With His Dad
One of the sweetest relationships on the show is the one between Archie and his dad Fred. Fred is a single father and business owner who always does what he can to make ends meet and to provide Archie with the best life he possibly can.
Unfortunately, when Archie began dating Veronica and subsequently met his father Archie began to feel like his life wasn’t good enough. Archie started acting out and even began looking at Hiram as a father figure. At one point Archie even accepted a car from Hiram even though he knew his dad wanted to get him one.