After weeks of on-screen appearances following Luke Perry's untimely death, Riverdale has finally reached the end of its scenes that feature Perry. Creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa shared the upcoming episode "Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper" is the last one Perry filmed, and shared a touching message on what it entails.
As has been the case in Riverdale's past three seasons, Luke Perry's Fred Andrews will share some life lessons and wisdom with the often-wayward Archie. It's a fitting way to bring Luke Perry's time on the show to an end, although it still hasn't been said if this will be the final appearance of Fred Andrews. Given the suddenness and unexpected nature of Perry's passing, it doesn't seem likely the show planned for the character to have a farewell scene.
If that's the case, Riverdale will likely either have the show's characters explain away his absence in future episodes, or use a body double to film some scenes that create an exit for the character. Cole Sprouse recently confirmed on The View that there is some narrative plan in place that will presumably explain away the absence.
The plan Cole Sprouse speaks of would seem to imply that Riverdale has no plans to recast the role of Fred Andrews, although that hasn't been explicitly confirmed by anyone on The CW series. Fans responded to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Twitter with requests not to recast the character, with one popular response saying no one can play the role like Luke Perry did.
With only a handful of episodes left before the Season 3 finale, it's a question of whether or not fans will find out what Riverdale is doing with Fred Andrews by the season's end. Production was halted after his passing, which may have given the writers and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa a way to explain his exit. The showrunner didn't mention anything like that in his tweet, so it's also possible answers on the character's status won't be answered until Season 4.
Which may not be the worst thing considering the impact his sudden death had on his family, fans, and the Riverdale cast. If Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and crew wanted to take some time to mourn and distance themselves from the situation in order to figure out the right exit for Fred, that might be a better decision than writing something in haste and potentially coming up with an exit people aren't all that happy with.
Of course, there's no pleasing everyone, so whatever Riverdale does to Fred Andrews from here on out likely won't sit well with some. That's fine, provided the exit honors the legacy of the actor and what he's given to the show as best it can. As long as Riverdale doesn't anger Luke Perry's family or a majority of fans with its decision, one would think that exit is good enough.
Riverdale airs on The CW Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest and greatest news happening in television, movies, and pop culture.
