Archie and Betty

The friendship between Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper goes far back, even before the start of the series.

They've always been close friends, but secretly, Betty harbored romantic feelings towards him.

After Betty admitted her feelings for Archie, their friendship became strained as Archie doesn't feel the same way. Things were complicated between the two, but they were able to return to being friends. Betty and Archie are now best friends, and she has gotten over her feelings for Archie. Betty also approved Archie and Veronica Lodge's romantic relationship.

In the second season, Betty continues her friendship with Archie by sleuthing together, in order to uncover the identity of the Black Hood killer. Later, Archie and Betty have a passionate moment in a car after discussing a potential issue that they are facing, which results in them kissing each other, before fulfilling their own quest of unraveling the identity of the town's killer.

History
Archie and Betty have been next-door neighbors and best friends since they were four years old, and have always been in the same school, grade, and classes together, ever since they could remember. When they were in the second grade, Archie was falling behind in reading and he would have been held back another year. Hating the idea of them being in different grades, Betty tutored Archie every day after school. He was later able to move up a grade with Betty.

Young Archie was so ecstatic that he kissed and proposed to Betty, but she turned him down as they were too young for marriage. However, she told him to ask her when they were eighteen and she would say yes.

Throughout Riverdale
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Season 1
The two best friends, Archie and Betty, had a date at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe where they reunited after spending the summer apart. Whilst Archie told her about his newfound desire to pursue music as a career, Betty hoped to reveal the romantic feelings she harbored for him. However, as she was on the brink of confessing her love for him, when they are distracted by the arrival of a new girl in town — Veronica Lodge. Veronica and her mother Hermione Lodge came to Riverdale from New York to escape the scandal of her father's arrest for fraud and embezzlement. Archie was immediately intrigued by this new arrival, who would be starting at Riverdale High School the next day, and Betty, noticing this, stayed silent about her feelings.

The next day, Veronica, upon hearing of Betty's interest in Archie, encouraged Betty to ask him to the back-to-school dance, but due to her lack of confidence, Betty ended up asking Archie to be her and Veronica's escort to the dance instead. At the Semi-formal, Betty and Archie were on the dance floor, when she confessed how she'd been imagining them as a "power couple". He didn't really give her the reply she was hoping for. This upset Betty that he couldn't even think of them being more than just friends. Archie really did like Betty, but he thought he could never live up to her expectations and believed she was too perfect for him.

Later on, at the after-party, Cheryl Blossom conspired to stir up trouble. She used a game of Spin the Bottle to force Archie and Veronica to play Seven Minutes in Heaven together, knowing it would upset Betty. Though they tried to fight their attraction for each other out of respect for Betty, they ended up kissing. When they returned to the party, Cheryl gleefully informed them that Betty had fled, so Archie went after her. When he arrived at her house, a tearful Betty walks down the narrow path toward him in tears. Betty tearfully asked Archie if he loved her at all, to which Archie replied that he does, but he would never feel worthy enough to date her. Archie eventually told Betty that he "couldn't give her the answer she wants", and Betty finally retreated inside her home, feeling destroyed.

Archie became torn when news got out about Jason Blossom's death by gunshot, as he and Miss Grundy had heard a gunshot when they were together at the Sweetwater shore. However, telling the police about it would mean that Archie would most likely have to tell them about his and Grundy's relationship. He tried to talk to Betty, but exhausted and crestfallen over his rejection, she dismissed him through text. The next morning, despite telling her mother that she would no longer seek friendship from Archie, Betty did the very opposite by asking him to walk her to school. She needed time to process the situation, to separate what she wanted from what her mom wanted, and what she wanted was to be friends with Archie. Betty eventually came around and decided that whether Archie reciprocated her feelings or not, Betty still wanted them to be friends.

However, as the gang gathered at lunch to listen to Archie play one of his songs, Betty reminisced about the events of the weekend, becoming emotional and, unable to hold it together anymore, lashed out at Archie. Archie tried to console her, but Betty once again dismissed him, as her heartbreak was too recent to handle in front of him. Betty resented both Archie for rejecting her feelings and Veronica for kissing him at the party and siding with Archie.

Later, at cheer practice, she and Veronica got into an argument over Archie, her informing Archie of her true feelings towards him, and the awkward tension now between them because of it. To get back at Veronica, Betty invited Cheryl to get manicures with her, but it backfired. At school the next day, Betty admitted that Veronica was right about what she said pertaining to Archie, sometimes it's hard to admit things to yourself, Betty said.

That night at the Pep Rally, Betty was shocked to see Archie's bruised eye after his fight in the student lounge with Reggie. Following the Pep Rally, Betty and Veronica made up and went for smoothies at Pop's. The two were later joined by Archie and Jughead, so Betty invited them to join her and Veronica at the table.

Once Betty discovered that Archie and Grundy were in a relationship, Betty was alarmed and tried to talk Archie out of it. Betty's suspicion on Ms Grundy made her obsessed with finding out the truth about Ms Grundy's unknown past. Betty’s internet research dug up even more troubling details about Geraldine. There was no record of her life before she moved to Riverdale a year ago. Archie was nevertheless frustrated by Betty’s investigation, insisting she let it go.

Although this did not stop a determined Betty. Later on, Betty, along with Veronica, broke into Miss Grundy's tiny Volkswagen Beetle and found proof of her shady background. They found a box with Miss Grundy's driver's license with the name Jennifer Gibson and a revolver. Archie confronted Geraldine who then told him that she was in a violent, abusive marriage. When she left, she changed her name. He believed her.

When she finally stopped her searching, Alice found the gun inside Betty's drawer. She grabbed for Betty's diary, leading to her, Betty, and Fred confronting Archie and Grundy. Although the confrontation ended with Grundy being run out of town by Alice, Archie was shown to have no ill towards Betty. }} {{Scroll-1|
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Fred Andrews' Shooting
Betty appeared alongside Archie, Jughead, and Veronica in Fred Andrews' hallucinatory dreams following the shooting at Pop's. In the student lounge, Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica stood collectively in their caps and gowns, prepared for graduation and waiting for Mr. Andrews to take a photo of them. Next to him, was Archie's mother, Mary. Mr. Andrews commented that he didn't think he would live to see the day, to which Betty replied that he didn't, meaning he didn't survive the attack at Pop's. Before Fred could respond, the shooter appeared at the scene. As he entered the lounge with his weapon drawn, Fred yelled for everyone to go down, before a gunshot was heard.

Archie drove his father's to Riverdale General Hospital following the shooting at Pop's. Betty arrived soon thereafter, as did Jughead and Veronica. The three of them greeted Archie with a loving embrace as he stood in the lobby, covered in his father's blood. After settling down, they sat around him as he recounted the events at the diner — Archie came out the bathroom to find a hooded man pointing a gun at Pop Tate, then at his dad. He fired the gun, then bolted, leaving a bloody Fred on the floor. However, Archie's momentary pause left Jughead wondering if he wasn't coming forward with all that had happened. While Archie held his bleeding father, Pop Tate called the ambulance, but when they didn't come, Archie took it upon himself to drive him all the way to the hospital. However, now he was now questioning this decision as he thought he may have made matters worse. Although, the three of them insisted that Archie did the right thing, with Jughead saying that first, Archie saved Cheryl, now his father. If he kept it up, he might need a superhero name, Jughead proposed 'Pureheart the Powerful'.

When Archie returned from questioning with Sheriff Keller, he was approached by his father's doctor, Dr. Masters, who told them that the bullet had been removed and that the internal bleeding had stopped. However, Fred's inability to breathe on his own was still cause to worry. Archie requested to see his father, and he would, but only after the hospital found him a room, which could take up until two hours. Until then, Betty and Veronica recommended that Archie go home and get changed. When the nurse handed Archie his father's belongings, Betty told him that he had yet another reason to go; he needed to get his father a change of clothes.

Later that day, Archie revealed to Betty (and Jughead and Veronica) that he wasn't the hero that they believed him to be. After the masked attacker shot Fred, Archie revealed that he stood there and did nothing, as he was paralyzed with fear. He didn't move an inch, not even when the shooter held a gun to his head. He shut his eyes and kept the, shut until hearing the bell on Pop's door ring. Archie perceived his actions as cowardice, but Betty, Jughead and Veronica begged to differ as there was nothing else he could've done.

While Fred laid in the hospital bed unconscious, Archie and Betty appeared in another one of his dreams. But this time Betty was the bridesmaid at Archie and Veronica's Scottish themed wedding. She stood alongside Veronica after she approached the altar. However, the dream came to an abrupt end as the hooded assailant appeared and fired his gun.

Saving Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe
Betty, Archie and Veronica met up with Jughead at school, who told them about the vandalism at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe and how Pop's staff to quit on him. Pop Tate wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep the doors open. Maybe not even a week. Archie pointed out that the diner's closing was a result of his father's shooting. People were scared, not that he blamed them as he too was actively avoiding the diner. Betty couldn't believe what she was hearing; her friends accepting the fact that Pop's was closing. She wasn't going to allow one psychopath with a gun dictate what happens to their favorite hangout place. She reminded Jughead of his crusade to save the Twilight Drive-In when it was closing, though considering that he was busy with his father's upcoming, hearing, Betty, with Veronica's help, volunteered to take point on saving the diner.

Under the suspicion that Mr. Andrews' shooter and Ms. Grundy's killer was one and the same, Betty and Archie went to her mother in search of assistance in uncovering the truth. Since her mother was the first to gain exclusive details to Jason Blossom's autopsy, they were wondering if she could get details in regards to Ms. Grundy's death to see if they line up with the attack on Mr. Andrews. Alice agreed to reach out to her friend in the autopsy lab in order to put Archie's mind at ease, though not without commenting on how thin Betty was spreading herself out as the patron saint of lost causes. She was told by her mother that she can cross saving the diner off her list of crusades because it was being purchased by an anonymous buyer, which was the precise term used when Veronica's father was secretly purchasing the Drive-In.

At Retro Night, which was the event that Betty and Veronica organized to save Pop's, Betty, Archie, Veronica, and Jughead shared a booth, where they relished in their victory; a rare win for the good guys.

After learning that Moose and Midge were attacked at Lover's Lane by an black hood wearing assailant, Betty arrived at school, where she met with her friends to discuss the recent shooting. With Kevin being the person responsible for finding Moose and Midge, some wondered what he was doing in the woods, to begin with. Kevin claimed that he was night jogging, but Betty appeared unconvinced. Now that another shooting has taken place, Archie hoped that they all could finally agree that there was a killer in Riverdale. However, with so much uncertainty surrounding recent events, Betty wasn't convinced that the latest shooting was in any way tied to Ms. Grundy' murder. Veronica interrupted to invite them all over to her place to officially meet her father.

Betty, Archie, and Jughead gathered at the Pembrooke that evening to watch the Matchlerette and officially meet Veronica's father. They noticed that Archie, leading them to question if he was alright. Archie was distracted by the recent shooting. He expressed his frustration with Sheriff Keller and his inability to apprehend the shooter. He started to feel as if they were being specifically targeted by the killer. It was then that Mr and Mrs. Lodge entered the room to greet everyone before leaving for dinner. Veronica introduced each of them to her father, starting with Betty and ending with Archie. Mr. Lodge couldn't help but overhear their discussion in regards to Sheriff Keller's shortcomings. For someone who's had his own share of run-ins with the law, he could confidentially say that the police weren't always the answer.

Conspiring Against the Black Hood
Betty sent Archie a message to ask if he could walk her to school because she needed to tell him something. But, before doing so, she needed him to promise her that he wouldn't repeat this information to anyone else, Veronica, Jughead, and his father included. After Archie promised to keep her secret, Betty revealed that the Black Hood called her. She was taking a great risk by even telling Archie, but they were best friends, who lived next door to each other, so the two of them walking to school together would look perfectly normal to the Black Hood, assuming he was watching them. As crazy as it sounded, Betty was convinced that it was him. Archie insisted that she report this to the police, even if it wasn't him, but she couldn't because Polly's life depended on it. If the killer called her again, she would have to answer. And so Archie volunteered to be right there at her side to help her through it.

Archie and Betty arrived at school to find Veronica and Kevin talking about an old friend of hers from New York, Nick St. Clair. He was coming to town for the SoDale Gala Opening.

Archie went over to Betty's house that night, and the two of them waited for the Black Hood to call. Betty's phone rang. It was the killer. She answered the phone, putting him on speaker for Archie to hear. The Black Hood told Betty that through a big picture window, he could see her parents at the Register. With her mother being a thorn in both Betty's and the killer's side, he devised a plan that would keep her from looming over them. Betty was told to check her email, and publish what was sent to her, as proof of her loyalty. Before doing so, she wanted something from the killer to prove his loyalty. If Betty did as she was told, he would answer any question she asked. She had until tomorrow night to post follow through on her end. In Betty's email was an archived mugshot of her mother, who was revealed to be a member of the Southside Serpents, many years ago.

The next day, at school, Betty and Archie discussed the Black Hood and the mugshot he wanted her to publish. Her mother went after the Black Hood pretty intensely, so it came as no surprise that he sought to humiliate her, though Betty could not do it to her mother, as it would destroy her credibility. What credibility, Archie asked. Her mother was always going after them and their friends. In spite of all this, Betty refused to blindside her with a published mugshot.

Betty was approached by Archie in the hallway after he went to her house that morning to walk her to school. Her mother had told him that she had already left. Archie wondered if she got another call from the killer. Betty lied to Archie, telling him that she didn't get another call, when in fact, she did. They were then joined by Veronica and her friend from New York, Nick, who invited Betty to his party at the Five Seasons.

That night at Nick's party with Veronica, Archie, Cheryl, Kevin, Josie, Reggie, Valerie, and Melody, after being instructed by the Black Hood to cut off those closest to her, Betty commenced her plan to break up with Veronica. When Nick suggested they turn up the party with some Jingle Jangle that he scored from Reggie, Betty told them that she wasn't interested, though everyone else, Veronica included, was more than willing to indulge. As all her friends got high and partied under the influence, Veronica attempted to encourage Betty to have some fun, as she was without Jughead for the night. Betty told Veronica that she was making a fool of herself by acting like a privileged, shallow, airhead party girl. She continued, saying that Veronica was just friend of circumstance and that she wasn't who she pretended to be. Veronica may have fooled the rest of the attendees of the party, but not Betty, as she saw Veronica for who she truly is: a terrible person. In conclusion, Veronica told her to leave, if Betty truly considered her a bad person. Betty was uncharacteristically mean to Veronica. However, this was the price she had to pay to appease the Black Hood and keep her loved ones safe.

With a night of hard partying behind him, Archie confronted Betty at the Blue and Gold, over her fight with Veronica. Betty revealed that she lied to Archie when he asked if the Black Hood had called again. He did call. But she didn't want to tell Archie because she knew he would try to talk her out of it. During her conversation with the killer, he told Betty to cut Veronica out of her life. Now, he's demanding that she do the same with Jughead. On the bright side, no one has been attacked or killed since she started talking to the killer. Betty speculated that maybe this was the route to stopping it all, but Archie couldn't allow her to do that, as she was hurting the people around her. Archie asked Betty how she was going to put Jughead and herself through a break up. She couldn't. Which is why she hoped Archie would break up with Jughead for her. She wanted him to tell Jughead that they had to stay away from each other for a while. But she didn't want it to be too cruel as she planned on walking everything back once the killer was stopped. As tears filled her eyes, Betty begged Archie to do this one favor for her, as she couldn't bare to break up with Jughead herself.

Later that night, Archie and Betty rushed over to Veronica's after learning that Nick drugged and then subsequently tried to rape Cheryl at the open house. He asked where Nick was in that moment, though Cheryl told Archie that he could put his cape away because the Pussycats had already saved her. As Veronica and Josie comforted Cheryl, she announced that she wanted to press charges.

Archie met up with Betty, and the two of them discussed her on-going relationship with the Black Hood. After clearing her head, Betty realized that the Black Hood was playing a sick game of psychological torture with her. She decided then and there that she was done with him and his game. She would be ignoring any of his future calls. As for Polly, who the Black Hood threatened violence against, she was going to disappear for a while with the help of some of the people from the farm, just until Riverdale was safe again. What of Jughead and Veronica, Archie asked. They too deserved the truth. Betty agreed. But she first wanted to make sure everything was settled. As they reached the parking lot of Pop's diner, Betty and Archie noticed Jughead inside, having breakfast with Toni. Before either could react, they received simultaneous calls from their parents.

Betty had been called back home, by her mother an Archie had been called there with her by his father. At the Cooper house, Betty's mother had arranged a gathering of all those who attended Nick St. Clair's party and their parents, with the exception of Valerie and Melody. Betty's mother had learned of their drug fueled party, and thought it best if they came together to collectively deal with the "motley crew of liars, dope-fiends, and fornicators", as she put it. It was there that Archie told Veronica (and Kevin) that Betty had broken up with Jughead, and that they should go easy on her. After Reggie confessed that he was responsible for bringing the Jingle Jangle to the party, he revealed that he had a dealer on the Southside, who was supposedly a member of the Southside Serpents that attended Southside High. Archie asked what was the importance behind asking if Reggie's dealer was a Serpent, as all Serpents weren't drug dealers. While they admittedly shouldn't have taken the Jingle Jangle, Nick should be the only one under interrogation given that he asked Reggie for the drugs and pressured everyone into taking it. Not to mentioned he roofied and tried to rape Cheryl. However, given that all the witness were high, Sheriff Keller explained that prosecuting him would be difficult. After Mayor McCoy learned that Josie participated in the drug taking, she declared that her number one priority from that moment forward was taking over the Southside, even if it meant arresting every Serpent in sight.

While Archie and Jughead were on a mission to combat the Ghoulies' hostile take over of the Southside Serpents, Betty and Veronica set out on a mission of her own to discover the identity of the Jingle Jangle supplier, better known as the Sugarman. To do this, they first needed to make contact with the gang he was supplying (i.e. the Ghoulies). While Veronica and Betty chased their lead, a Ghoulies memebr named Verne, Archie and Jughead returned to the Ghoulies' lair to challenge Malachai, leader of the Ghoulies, to a race. Jughead explained that If they won, Serpents remain autonomous and Ghoulies quit dealing at Southside High. However, if the Ghoulies won, the Serpents would fold and the Ghoulies could continue polluting the Southside with their "little straws of death". But with the Ghoulies having nothing to actually gain from this arrangement, Malachai wasn't interested in the offer. Veronica and Betty were then brought into the room after they were caught by the Ghoulies, trying to sneak in through the garage. As it would turn out, their varying missions led them to the same location. Realizing that the four of them knew one another, Malachai wanted everyone out. In a last ditch effort, Jughead offered up the Whyte Wyrm should Malachai agree to the race, which he does, only after adding on the Sunnyside Trailer Park.

Leading up to the drag race, Betty stood alongside Veronica, Reggie, Kevin, and Cheryl as Archie and Jughead prepared to race Malachai and Verne from Herk Harvey bridge to Dead Man's curve. First one back to the starting point won. The race started soon thereafter, with Archie and Jughead in one car, and Malachai and Verne in another. Unfortunately, the race was interrupted by Sheriff Keller and the police department, which resulted in the arrest of the Ghoulies. Fortunately, Archie and Jughead just narrowly escaped. They returned to the starting point, where Betty and Veronica greeted them before leaving.

After learning that FP was being released from jail, Betty and Jughead called Archie and Veronica down to the Blue and Gold offices to inform them of the good news. When Veronica asked what heralded the miracle, Jughead claimed that it was the perfect storm of overcrowding at the prison and Cheryl's testimony that the Judge must've reviewed. Unbeknownst to both Betty and Veronica, this was untrue. Archie and Jughead knew the true reason for FP's release was because of the one time drug-run they made for Penny Peabody in Greendale, during which time Penny had set Jughead up to be her permanent drug-runner. With a new lead in the Black Hood case, where they had discovered a connection between the current attacks and the Riverdale Reaper, Betty and Jughead were hoping that Archie and Veronica could follow up where they left off because Jughead needed to be there to help his father readjust to society while Betty was taking a break from the case. Essentially, they wanted Archie and Veronica to be them, in the sense that they would be tackle the case as an investigative team.

The next day, in a reversal of roles, Archie and Veronica called Betty and Jughead down to the Blue and Gold offices to inform them that from Sheriff Howard's case files, they had discovered that the Conways were a family of five, and that there was third child who survived the massacre. His name was Joseph Conway. His identity was hidden and name was changed so that he could lead a normal life. According to Sheriff Howard's notes, he was adopted by another family in Riverdale, and presumably enrolled at a local high school. Fortunately, they had a photo of Joseph, meaning that all they had to do was match the photo to one of the students that would've attended Riverdale High School during those years through the school's various yearbooks. Should they find him, he could tell them how the Conway massacre was related to the recent attacks at the hands of the Black Hood. However, Jughead proposed that they proceed with caution since Joseph Conway could be the Black Hood. Considering that Joseph possibly saw the slaughter of his family, something as traumatizing as that could've effected him throughout life, which he could possibly blame Riverdale for, and is punishing the town because of it. Betty and Jughead then invited Archie and Veronica to his FP's retirement party.

After FP's retirement party, Archie returned home to find that Betty had gone home as well. He looked out his room window to see Betty. It was in that moment that feelings that had long since been buried, shook loose. Betty turned around, looking out back at him from her room. As he looked out his window to the girl next door, it was almost as if Archie had seen Betty for the very first time all over again.

Stopping the Black Hood
In the days leading up to Christmas, Archie and Betty both attended the Secret Santa gift exchange in the student lounge at school, along with Reggie, Cheryl, Kevin, Veronica, Jughead and Josie. Betty was the last exchange for the evening. Based on the wrapping of her present, she instantly knew that it was Archie who picked her name. Betty unwrapped the gift to find and old read-a-long record that she and Archie used to listen to when they were five years old, entitled "The Swiss Family Robinson". Archie informed her that he and his father found it while they were cleaning out the garage. Moose and Midge then entered the lounge to join them for the Holiday event.

Upon Moose and Midge's arrival, Archie abruptly exited the lounge, heading out into the hallway, with Betty not far behind him. Archie didn't want to be "that guy", but every time he saw Moose, all he could think about was the Black Hood and all the pain he had caused to the people that Archie cared about, Betty included. The fact that the killer was still free to wreck havoc was giving Betty anxiety nightmares and making her paranoid. It was as if everywhere she looked all she could see is the Black Hood. Betty cut her sentence short after noticing a new janitor cleaning the floors rather than Mr. Svenson. They approached the janitor, as Betty asked who he was and what happened to Mr. Svenson. The new janitor told Betty and Archie that he had no knowledge of Mr. Svenson's whereabouts, who had been out for a few days. He was merely called in as a replacement. Archie and Betty became concerned for Mr. Svenson's well being considering that he and Veronica had confronted him about his connection to the Black Hood. It was possible that in doing so, they led the Black Hood to Mr. Svenson and got him killed.

In the front office, Archie and Betty learned from Ms. Bell that Mr. Svenson had been out all week with a cold. She stated that he sounded terrible over the phone, so she dropped off some chicken soup at his front door a few days back. She went on to explain that Mr. Svenson often became depressed during the Holidays due to having no family to spend them with.

While sawing trees in the lot of Pop's shoppe, Archie got a call from Betty, who couldn't get rid of the feeling she had that something bad had happen to Mr. Svenson. So, she wanted Archie to join her in stopping by his house to ensure that he was alright. Archie told Betty to give him ten minutes and then they would go.

Archie and Betty arrived at Mr. Svenson's house, where they founded Ms. Bell's chicken soup still sitting on the front step from several days back. They knocked on the front door several times, but no one answered.

Betty returned home to discover a severed finger wrapped in a gift box. Startled by this discovery, Betty called Archie over. Along with the gift came a letter that read "Enclosed is a finger that belongs to the sinner Joseph Conway .You have one final trespass to unearth. Find the truth, reveal it to the town, and you will perhaps save his life". The letter revealed that the finger belonged to Mr. Svenson and that the Black Hood had taken him, as they suspected. Betty then got a call from the Black Hood, during which time she and Archie briefly heard Mr. Svenson's voice, begging to be saved. The Black Hood told Betty that Mr. Svenson had lost a lot of blood, though it was nothing compared to the blood on the hands of the town. The Black Hood instructed her to exhume the past and find find where the primal sin was committed. There, she could find Mr. Svenson, possibly alive. Archie then snatched the phone away to talk to the killer himself, but the Black Hood immediately hung up, leaving them to question the nature of the primal sin that the Black Hood was referring to. Before he was adopted, Svenson lived as Joseph Conway at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Betty and Archie hoped that one of the Sisters could possibly help them in figuring out the Joseph's sin.

At the Sisters of Quiet Mercy group home, Archie and Betty spoke with Sister Woodhouse, who informed them that Joseph Svenson/Conway was a troubled youth. When Betty asked if he suffered from survivor's guilt, they were interrupted by a passing Nun, who gave off a menacing look, which caused Sister Woodhouse to bring their discussion to an end. However, Betty wasn't willing to give up just yet. Much to Archie's surprise, Betty revealed that she had learned from Polly all about the corporeal punishment that the Sister handed out. Should Sister Woodhouse fail to answer their questions, Betty threatened to expose them. In fear of what would follow should that occur, Sister Woodhouse told them that after Mr. Svenson's family was massacred, he identified the man responsible, known as the Riverdale Reaper. Having outed him, a small group of men took matters into their own hands by executing the alleged killer. It wasn't until Svenson had been taken to Quiet Mercy that he admitted in his terror and shock that he accused the wrong man, meaning that his primal sin was sentencing the wrong man to death. Betty asked if Svenson ever talked about who carried out the execution. Sister Woodhouse replied that they came by to see him once. It was a group of men and one woman. While she couldn't remember their names or what they looked like, Sister Woodhouse recalled that the woman had striking white hair, save for a cherry-red stripe. With that description in mind, Betty concluded that the woman was Nana Rose Blossom.

Under the suspicion that Nana Rose was present for the execution of the innocent man, Archie and Betty unexpectedly showed up at Thistlehouse. Cheryl answered the front door, before inviting them in. She took them to see Rose, where Archie and Betty asked her about the execution of the Riverdale Reaper and if Nana Rose had accompanied the men when they killed him in the name of justice and revenge. Nana Rose revealed that she wasn't there to see the execution first hand as she was told to stay at home while the men took care of the killer. Where did they hang the Reaper, Betty asked. Rose replied that he wasn't hung. They gave him a proper burial by burying him alive. As for the location of the burial, Nana Rose, who mistook Betty for Polly, as she had done before, told Betty to ask her grandfather, who had shared in the execution. Rose had a picture of them at the burial, smiling just beneath the devil's hand, she remarked. Nana Rose then asked Cheryl to take her to her room as she had fell ill.

Archie and Betty sat in the car, just outside Thistlehouse, where they discussed how her grandfather helped murder an innocent man. Archie questioned if what Nana Rose had told them was true. Betty was certain that it was true considering that she vaguely remembered the picture Nana Rose mentioned. When her grandfather Louis died, Betty and her family packed up his house. While they donated most of his items, they kept the pictures, and later organized them. Archie advised Betty to take a breath before asking where the picture could be found. She replied that they were at her house. With her grandfather taking part in the death of an innocent man, Betty questioned if this was the reason that the Black Hood chose her to call and torture, as a way to enact revenge for something that she didn't even do. Archie grabbed Betty's hand as he explained to her that they were finally at the part of the story where they could end it all by stopping the Black Hood and saving Mr. Svenson. But in order for that to happen, Archie needed Betty with him. Tomorrow, they would wake up and everything would be back to normal. But for that night, he needed Betty at his side. They then shared a kiss before driving off, unaware that Cheryl watched from her bedroom window above.

Archie and Betty returned to her house, where they looked over her grandfather's old photos to see if they could find the picture that was previously mentioned by Nana Rose. There was one photo in particular that Betty somewhat remembered, but the story behind it, at least according to her father was that her grandpa Louis and his friends planted some trees in Picken Park. Betty then found the aforementioned picture. In it, they could see the burial site of the preacher that was falsely accused by Mr. Svenson. Archie suspected that the burial ground of the preacher is where they could find Svenson, hopefully alive. Betty then took a better look at the branches, which resembled the devil's hand, as described by Nana Rose. Betty and Archie planned to call Sheriff Keller as they headed to Picken Parks in hopes of finding Svesnon alive and well.

The two of them arrived at Pickens Park to the sight of a shallow grave labeled "here lies Joseph Conway". After Archie dug up the grave, they opened the coffin only to see that it was empty, which caused them to wonder why the Black Hood would bury an empty coffin. Though this question wouldn't go unanswered for long as the Black Hood showed up alongside them. He held them at gunpoint and demanded that Archie get into the coffin. Should he refuse, Betty would die. Once he got in, Betty shut the coffin and began to fill the grave with dirt, essentially burying Archie alive as her grandfather did to the innocent preacher. Archie laid in the grave as dirt came falling through the small cracks of the coffin. He listened on as Betty told the Black Hood that they had uncovered Mr. Svenson's wrongful accusation of the preacher and how a small group of men executed him. This was the town's sin, which Betty was willing to expose should the Black Hood allow Archie to live. No one had to die, Betty stated. The Black Hood then became distracted at the sound of police sirens ringing throughout the park. Betty took advantage of this opportunity by hitting him in the face with the shovel and disarming him. She then jumped into the grave to uncover the coffin and pull Archie out. As she did so, the Black Hood took off, leaving his gun behind. As Archie got out the grave, he grabbed the Black Hood's gun and chased after him.

Archie and Betty chased the Black Hood over a bridge, which he attempted to jump over as they started to catch up to him. Though, he was hesitant in doing so with Archie holding him at gunpoint. Betty looked on as Archie demanded the killer to get down off the edge of the bridge. Should the Black Hood try to escape, Archie threatened to shoot him. It would only be right, with Archie reasoning that the Black Hood tried to kill his father and friends. Despite having a gun pointed at him, the Black Hood attempted to jump over. However, before he could do so, he was shot down and killed by Sheriff Keller. Upon removing the hood, they discovered that the Black Hood was Mr. Svenson, who had even cut off his own finger to further along his the ruse of him being a victim in the Black Hood's twisted game. Archie and Betty then hugged as back up arrived.

Archie and Betty were taken to Pop's by the Sheriff, who spoke with their parents as they sat in a booth with Jughead and Veronica. Archie pointed out how Veronica's instincts about Svenson were right. Veronica thought he was the Black Hood, and had Archie listened to her when they confronted him at school, they could've end everything right there. But Archie didn't see the resemblance in Svenson's and the Black Hood's eyes. Taking a moment to forget about his eyes, Veronica couldn't believe that he would cut off his own finger. The finger of accusation, Betty pointed out. Now that they knew who did the killings, Jughead wondered why. Betty explained that Mr. Svenson accused an innocent man of murdering his family, and thus got the man killed. So she suspected that maybe in Mr. Svenson's own twisted way, he thought that targeting sinners would somehow balance the scale. Svenson having the knowledge that he did on their lives made perfect sense given that he was always around, lurking in the hallways. He could have seen Archie and Ms. Grundy in the music room, as well as Moose and Midge buying Jingle Jangle. While they continued to go over the killer's motives and mindset, Jughead was just grateful that Svenson was in a body bag and they weren't. }}

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Season 1 Screencaps

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