Top 10 Times Archie Was the WORST on Riverdale

Everything about Archie Andrews and Ms Grundy was completely inappropriate. Even if you ignore the fact that this was a gross and illegal student teacher relationship in and of itself, the rest of it was also messed up on so many levels. The underage Archie bailed on the summer road trip he planned with Jughead to spend the summer with Ms. Grundy. He withheld information about a classmates’s murder, he sold his guitar - his greatest passion at the moment - to buy her a gift, and he asked his friends to lie for him. And, perhaps worst of all, he never faced any consequences for these actions.

Wasn’t the whole point of Archie breaking up with Veronica and running away done so that no one would know who he was and that Hiram Lodge could never get to him? Yet, the first thing this runaway does when he gets some alone time with a pretty new stranger at a farm is make out with her, and spill all of his guts for no reason whatsoever. Archie put himself and Jughead in danger because he just couldn't keep his mouth shut. And then when Hiram Lodge comes to kill them, Archie nearly screws everything up even more by wanting to stand up to him instead of run. Jughead practically has to drag him away.

Archie really should have taken Mad Dog’s advice and laid low in juvie rather than try to be the Great Hope of Leopold and Loeb. We could have told him that juvie football game was a bad idea. It just got Archie tapped by the Warden. Nice job, Archie. In any case, while we understand how being forced to compete in an underground fight club would be a fair reason for someone to try and escape, that first break out attempt really was just a disaster. Despite having the most simple job, Archie even almost screwed up the much better plan that his friends had devised. Meanwhile, that moment of hesitation during the fight in the pool could have ruined everything. Lastly, he never went back for his juvie friends, as promised, and instead bailed and left them all in a heap of trouble.

We get it: after Archie’s dad was shot by the Black Hood, he was desperate to gain some control in his spiraling world. Unfortunately for Archie, desperation breeds stupidity. He might have been under the manipulation of Hiram Lodge, but Veronica’s father really didn’t have to put in that much effort to pull Archie’s strings. So when Archie forms a watchdog group bent on hunting down the serial killer, all this really does is incite violence and whip his Bulldog friends into an unstoppable frenzy, turning the whole town into a powder keg.

With war with the Ghoulies looming over his head, Jughead tries desperately to keep the peace. Rather than engage in an all-out battle, Jughead challenges the Ghoulies to a drag race in an attempt to rid the town of them for good. But good ol’ Archie takes it upon himself, yet again, to play the hero. He calls the Sheriff on them, which does succeed in busting the Ghoulies, but it also causes Jughead to look weak in front of the Serpents, makes the Serpents look weak to the Ghoulies, and eventually causes war anyway when the Ghoulies are released from prison. Archie always thinks he knows what’s best, but the truth is, he never looks at the bigger picture, and never considers the fallout of his actions.

The Serpents may be the good guys now, but back towards the beginning of the series, they were the bane of Riverdale. Jughead never even told his closest, life-long friends that his father was king of the Serpents. So you could understand Archie being upset when he first found out, but the best time to confront Jughead on this matter probably wasn’t at his best friend’s sister’s baby shower. In a moment of rage, he storms into Betty’s house and reveals Jughead’s shameful secret during Polly’s party. He couldn’t possibly have handled the matter more discreetly? Some friend, this guy.

Archie's mom makes the argument during Archie’s trial that he is a selfless person, which is contradicted by pretty much every single thing that he does. After being hoodwinked by Hiram Lodge, Archie spends his summer on trial for a murder he didn’t commit. When the verdict comes back as a hung jury, which was actually a pretty great outcome considering the odds stacked against him, he goes against his mother’s -who is also his lawyer - advice and takes a plea deal rather than go through another trial. He claims he doesn't want to keep putting the people he cares about through the ordeal of another trial, but instead, his decision only hurts them even more. He leaves them all alone, by giving up; all of that work for nothing.

Just how awful Archie is to every woman that crosses his path could fill up its own list. So we’ll stick to this specific transgression. After Betty finally builds up the courage to tell Archie how she feels about him, he brushes her off at the school dance. Then he kisses Veronica at Cheryl's after party. She is supposed to be his best friend, right? What a jerk. He doesn't like Betty that way, okay, but he could have been more sensitive to the situation. Then he has the nerve to be jealous when Betty is happy with Jughead. And, of course when Betty is vulnerable after finding out her family’s connection to a serial killer, he can’t help but take advantage. Jerk moves all around.

How does Archie go from wanting this guy’s approval because of Veronica, to hating him, to becoming his lap dog? He turns on his own father for a former convict and current mobster. He manipulates and lies to his friends, complies with illegal activities, and for what? Yes, he is very angry at the time, but he lets himself be manipulated time and time again for no discernable reason. He doesn't care that Hiram is ruining his best friend's home - he even helps him do it. And even after Hiram sent him to prison, and hunted him down after he got out, Archie continues to have a relationship with him. Why?!

It might seem like we’re picking on Archie, but truthfully, these make up only the tip of the iceberg that is his selfish behavior. Lest we forget that time he effectively broke up the Pussycats by inserting himself into the group because he needed help with his writing. Or the time he gave Veronica a hard time about not being ready to say “I love you” after telling her that it was okay. Despite having the best home life out of all of his friends, he constantly ignores their problems. Archie might have the facade of a stereotypical good guy, but in reality, he never thinks about how his actions affect others, and more often than not, makes things worse instead of better.