Madelaine Petsch
Madelaine Petsch felt that Cheryl’s “rape scene” in “Riverdale” Season 2, episode 5 was so heavy, but important. Pictured: Petsch speaks onstage during the Environmental Media Association 26th Annual EMA Awards Presented By Toyota, Lexus And Calvert at Warner Bros. Studios on Oct. 22, 2016 in Burbank, California. Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Environmental Media Association

Madelaine Petsch’s “Riverdale” character, Cheryl Blossom, was involved in a traumatic incident on Wednesday night’s episode.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from this week’s episode of “Riverdale” Season 2. Read at your own risk!

In one of the scenes, Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) ex-boyfriend, Nick St. Clair (Graham Phillip), tried to rape Cheryl. Luckily, the evil deed did not push through because Veronica and her friends came to Cheryl’s rescue at the right time.

But even though Nick wasn’t able to rape Cheryl, what he did will forever leave an impact on the once villainous character. While speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Petsch revealed that she cried the first time she read the script for episode 5, titled “Chapter Eighteen: When A Stranger Calls.”

“This is a huge topic, especially right now with what’s going on in the world. And it’s so close to home and it’s so important to portray it properly. I felt a huge responsibility to make it real, but then also there was a part of me where my heart was breaking. So it was a very interesting moment for me to get that script and there was no warning coming,” she said.

Meanwhile, Petsch’s real-life best friend, Vanessa Morgan, also defended her character, Toni Topaz, from critics. Before the bisexual characters was introduced in The CW series, fans already speculated that Toni will come between Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead (Cole Sprouse).

In an interview with US Weekly, Morgan said that she understands why Bughead fans are concerned. However, Toni is only attracted to the way Jughead thinks.

“Toni and Jughead have similar personalities. Mentally, they connect. They’re both the have-nots, they’re both Southside Serpents, they’re both on the wrong side of the tracks. Obviously Betty wouldn’t like that because Toni and Jughead can be similar,” she said.

However, Toni doesn’t really have any negative feelings towards Betty. “She has very sarcastic personality. Betty is so opposite of what she is – she can’t to somebody who grew up on the Northside, and in Toni’s eyes, is privileged, proper and perfect. That’s just so opposite of where Toni comes from,” she said.

“Riverdale” Season 2 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

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