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Riverdale returned for its fourth season on a very sombre note as the show was finally able to honor one of its stars, Luke Perry, who died suddenly last spring before filming on Season 3 was complete. Since the show had only a few episodes left to shoot for the season, the producers wisely decided to not shoehorn in a hastily written storyline dealing with Fred Andrews’ death. For the remainder of the season, he was just out of town on business.
In the meantime, the cast had to deal with the death of their beloved co-star while shooting the rest of the season, remaining professional through the grief. With the season premiere, the producers and cast faced the absence of Perry just a few minutes into the episode as Archie receives a phone call from his dad’s cell phone, but it’s not his dad. It’s the police in a small town upstate calling with the tragic news that Fred died in a hit and run accident while assisting someone change a flat tire on the side of the road.
As the episode was set just before July 4th, it was going to be impossible to bring Fred’s body back to Riverdale until July 6 but a dream had Archie’s grandfather telling him that they are all waiting for Fred and that Archie was supposed to bring him back. It’s not long before Archie, Jughead, Veronica and Betty are heading upstate — without telling any of their parents — to retrieve Fred’s remains. But Archie is still underage and can’t take the body, so he calls his mother and the apparently let the funeral director know she was a lawyer and they should release the body … or else. The funeral director relented.
Sheriff Jones called Archie to let him know they had arrested the driver without knowing Archie was in that town, revealing the driver’s name. Archie found the address in a phone book (yes, Riverdale takes place in an alternate universe of pay phones with phone books attached) and paid the man a visit, releasing his anger in a most regretful way, nearly beating the man until his teenage son intervened … and confessed. It was the boy who took the car without permission and his dad was only covering for him. It was just an accident and Archie saw himself in the boy, having done the same thing many times. I assume the father won’t be pressing charges against Archie.
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Going to the scene of the accident to retrieve Fred’s truck, a woman pulls up to place flowers at the site. Archie asked who she was, and she asked if he was Archie. It was the woman who Fred was helping. She explained that she’d been there for a while and no one would stop. His father was the only person who stopped to help her change the tire, and when it was she who was nearly hit by the car, Fred pushed her out of the way, saving her life. But that left Archie questioning why his father had to be the hero. Veronica had to assure him that his father saved that woman’s life because that’s the kind of person Fred Andrews was and that’s the kind of person Archie is, and that no matter how many arguments the two had had, Fred always loved and was proud of his son.
Finally ready to pick up the body, Archie wanted to make sure it was Fred but changed his mind at the last minute, asking Veronica and Betty to go in his place. They assured him it was Fred, and they loaded the casket into the hearse on loan from Reggie. As they got to the Riverdale border, FP was there waiting, telling Archie he wanted to give Fred a police escort on his return home. Archie agreed and as they drove down the street, all of Riverdale lined both sides waving signs of love and appreciation for Fred Andrews.
This seemed to play into the brief bit of business at the top of the show in which Riverdale was having its first Fourth of July parade since Jason Blossom died, but because the Blossom family sponsored the fireworks in the past, there would be no fireworks display. While Archie was away, Cheryl and Toni visited Mary and said they wanted to do something for Mary and Archie in Fred’s memory so they’d know they would never be alone, because she knows how that felt after her brother died (and, by the way, she’s still got his corpse propped up in her house).
After Fred’s funeral, Archie and Mary headed out to their backyard where all of Archie’s friends had gathered, watching the mini fireworks display set up by Cheryl to honor Fred Andrews’ life. There was a moment of voice over from Jughead, reciting the obituary he wrote for Fred at Archie’s request as a montage of characters — FP, Alice, Hermione and Hiram — read along, all of them in tears. Stepping away into the garage, Archie had a few flashes of memory of his dad (with a few clips of Perry in action), finally allowing his tears to flow freely as the lights faded out, leaving just a framed photo of Fred and Archie illuminated in the foreground. It was a bittersweet end to the episode.
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As far as TV shows dealing with the death of an actor, this episode was one of, if not the best to tackle that sensitive subject. By waiting to start the season this way, it gave everyone proper time to grieve for their friend, and to prepare a fitting end for the character. I can’t imagine the cast having to relive the tragedy of losing Perry again, this time on camera but it was clear that the emotions on screen were genuine. There was no acting here. You could see it in their eyes, especially if they were just listening to another actor say their lines about Fred, thinking about Luke at the same time. And it was also clear that guest Shannen Doherty was also grieving during her role as the unnamed woman Fred helped. She agreed to take the part only after getting the blessing of Perry’s family. It was undoubtedly the hardest job any of these actors and crew members have ever had, and they did a wonderful honoring someone who by all accounts was a wonderful person in real life.
For the fans, it was heartbreaking to watch but also cathartic to give us all some closure as the season must now move forward with the overarching storyline of the gang heading into their senior year of high school. There was also one interesting moment after Fred’s funeral as Betty visited the grave of her father and seeing that someone had spraypainted ‘The Black Hood Rots in Hell’ on the tombstone. Did Penelope Blossom not kill Hal when she shot him in the head? We never did see the body so … and Lochlyn Munro was listed in the opening cast credits, but I didn’t see him or Penelope (Nathalie Boltt was also listed as a guest star) in the episode. Hmmmmm.
But to everyone working on Riverdale, you did good.
What did you think of the season premiere? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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