His dad had been lying to him his entire life, but he'd never been good at it,

so after his
conversation with FP, Jughead called Betty, admitted she was right about FP, and the two
of them met up at The Blue and Gold offices. They began to question why he would lie,
and who he was protecting, so they began ruling out suspects, like Betty's father and
Veronica's mother. On the murder board, the only suspects left were Hiram Lodge, and
Clifford and Penelope Blossom. Mrs. Cooper then entered the office to inform them that
the body of a Serpent had been discovered. Sheriff Keller was convinced that he was
working with FP, not to mention he allegedly committed suicide by overdose, and there
was a bag of money in his room that tied him to Hiram Lodge, so everything was tied into
a nice little bow, but too tidy for Alice.

Betty then received a call from Kevin, and the three of them met up on the highway off
Route 40 where Jason's car was torched. Whatever it was they were looking for, Joaquin
wasn't sure if it would help FP or hurt him, but it was apart of their contingency plan that
FP called off from jail because it was too dangerous. Under the Blossom Maple Farms
sign was a duffel bag containing Jason's varsity jacket. Inside the lining of the jacket,
Betty found a USB flash drive, which housed surveillance video from the night that Jason
was murdered, which revealed that Jason was killed by his own father, Cliff Blossom. That
night, Jughead, Archie, Betty, Kevin, and Veronica sat in Archie's garage and watched the
entire video, from Jason being tied up by Mustang to the fatal shot fired by his father.

Season 1 Episode 12 Anatomy of a Murder the gang

Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and Kevin watching Jason's murder

From there, they learned the truth behind why Jughead's father falsely confessed, it was
to protect Jughead, who Clifford threatened would suffer the same fate as Jason if FP
spoke a word about how Jason really died. After learning the truth, Jughead demanded
that his father be released, though Sheriff Keller could not accommodate as FP was still
being brought up on several other charges, like mishandling a body, perjury, obstruction
of justice, tampering with evidence and more.[13]

Southside Serpents

Jughead sat at Pop's shoppe that evening, as he continued with his novel. In the wake of
Clifford Blossom's death, a narrative quickly emerged following the discovery that his
family's maple syrup farm was a front for his true business of transporting heroin from
Montreal on his trucks. Jason Blossom must have discovered his father's drug dealings,
and threatened to expose the truth, resulting in his kidnapping and murder. Clifford then
killed Mustang, the Serpent responsible for Jason's abduction, and framed Hiram Lodge
in order to cover his own tracks.
Later that morning, he learned from Archie and Betty that Mayor McCoy sought to honor
them for their contribution in solving Jason's murder. However, they refused to go up so
long as Mayor McCoy continued to ignore Jughead's involvement the case. The |Jubilee
was the least of Jughead's concern since Sheriff Keller had offered his father a lesser
sentence for his cooperation with the recent increase in drug dealings, but FP refused to
turn on the Serpents. FP claimed they're innocence, leaving Betty even more frustrated at
Mayor McCoy's reluctance to address the real problem, Clifford Blossom. So, she decided
it would be best to address the subject head-on by writing an article about FP and the
Serpents.

That night, Jughead and Archie returned home to find Fred, and his caseworker awaiting
his arrival. With his father facing serious jail time, and his mother out of state, they
needed to make sure Jughead was taken care of. Unfortunately, his time with the Andrews
had come to an end due to the fact that Fred had a prior DUI, and that he wasn't financially
stable. There was a family on the south side of town that was willing to take him in but
this would mean that he'd also have to transfer to Southside High.

Season 1 Episode 13 The Sweet Hereafter Jughead eating burger

Jughead eating a burger

The next day at school, as he ate alone, he questioned Veronica's willingness to join him
at the 'social pariah' table. Veronica had been thinking, and she realized that the two of
them had a lot in common. Other than the fact that his dad was going to prison, and her
dad was getting out, Jughead sarcastically remarked, they were dating each other's best
friend. They're briefly joined at the table by Cheryl, who only sought to apologize for her
attack on Jughead the previous day. She gifted him with her iconic spider broach, which
would catch a pretty penny at the pawn shop, enough to keep him in burgers and S t-
shirts for years. Kevin abruptly interrupted them, demanding that they follow him,
revealing that Betty's locker had been vandalized with a hanging Betty doll and pig's
blood.

Jughead explained that as long as Betty was his girlfriend, and continued to write articles
about his father, trouble would keep coming at her from all sides. He felt as if the
multiverse itself was working against him, telling him that he didn't belong, so maybe it
was time he started to consider leaving. Betty refused to allow Jughead to leave as
Riverdale was just as much his home as anyone else.

The very next day, he called Betty from a payphone at south side high to inform her that
he would not be returning to Riverdale because he was finally where he belonged. As
Jughead sat alone at lunch that evening, he was joined by several students, who he
became fast friends with. Much to his surprise, Archie, Betty, and Veronica showed up as
they had incorrectly assumed that he was in need of their help.
Season 1 Episode 13 The Sweet Hereafter Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica at River

Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica at Sweetwater

Just outside the school, he and Betty discussed his decision of leaving Riverdale High
ahead of schedule. The south side is where the power to be wanted him, and maybe it's
where he wanted to be as well seeing as his chances of blending in were significantly
increased. However, Betty was unwilling to allow "Riverdale Civil War" to split the two of
them up. At that moment, Veronica received a message from Cheryl, thus leading the four
of them to Sweetwater River, where Cheryl had planned to take her own life and reunite
with Jason. Jughead, Archie, Betty, and Veronica arrived at the river as Cheryl pounded
on the thick layer of ice covering the river's surface. They pleaded with her to stop but the
ice cracked right beneath Cheryl's feet, dragging her under the current.

The race was on as the four of them attempted to find Cheryl before the current could
drag her further out. Archie spotted her just beneath the ice, however, the only way to get
to her was by breaking past it, thus leaving Archie with no other choice but to punch
through the thick layer of ice with all his force, resulting in a bloody and battered hand. As
Jughead, Betty, and Veronica watched from the sideline, Archie managed to pull Cheryl to
safety and get her to shore. Later that night, instead of attending the Jubilee, Jughead
visited his father once more at the sheriff station, and while Sheriff Keller had hoped that
he could convince his father to give up the Serpents, FP yet again refused. Knowing the
chances of his father going to jail are at a higher rate than ever, Jughead made it a point
to tell FP that he would be fine without him. The family that had taken him in was nice, and
he could learn to adapt to the social ranking of south side high.

Season 1 Episode 13 The Sweet Hereafter Jughead holding Southside Serpent jacket 1

Jughead holding Southside Serpent jacket

While he was more innocent than he was guilty, FP would have to take responsibility for
his actions, meaning it was up to Jughead to look after Jellybean and his mother. After
leaving the station, Jughead made his way over to the Jubilee just in time for Betty's
speech, where she addressed the murder of Jason Blossom and the crossroads their
town was facing. As her speech came to an end, he smiled, and started a standing ovation
which made its way throughout the entire crowd. After a milkshake at Pop's shoppe with
Archie, Betty, and Veronica, he and Betty stopped at the trailer, where Jughead professed
his love for Betty. The two of them then began kissing and undressing, however, they
were interrupted by a knock at the door. On the other side were the Southside Serpents,
who were grateful for FP's loyalty. Because of this, they would always have Jughead's
back, offering him membership into their gang, which he accepted as he tried on the
custom Serpent jacket.[14]