‘Riverdale’ Creator Confirms Luke Perry’s Death Will Be Addressed in Season 4
Luke Perry's death on Riverdale will be addressed at the beginning of Season 4.
The show’s creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, discussed Fred Andrews' fate in an interview with Entertainment Tonight and revealed why his death wasn't mentioned in Wednesday (May 15) night's shocking Season 3 finale.
"We knew we had to honor Luke and address Luke's death on the show," he said. "When Luke had passed, we had already pretty much plotted out the end of this season and written the end of this season."
Perry died suddenly after suffering from a stroke in March at the age of 52. His final scenes on Riverdale aired last month, in which he and his on-screen son KJ Apa shared one last moment in their kitchen together.
Since then, the show has explained Fred's absence by saying he was out of town on business. But rest assured, he will get a proper sendoff... Aguirre-Sacasa just wants to make sure they do it right.
"Rather than try to squeeze something in and potentially not get it right, we thought, 'Let's take a beat and let's figure out really what would be the best way to honor Luke and to honor the character of Fred, and let's do it at the top of season four,'" Aguirre-Sacasa explained. "Luckily, Molly [Ringwald] was already slated to come, so we kind of just reflected and wanted to give ourselves the time to do those things right."
As for how the show plans to handle Fred's death, he said they know more how or less how it'll happen. "Honestly though, things may change over the next month and I'd rather not say for fear of it changing," he admitted.
Aguirre-Sacasa also confirmed Ringwald, who plays Archie's mom, will have a bigger role next year. "We love Molly and we always love having her," he said. "I think she’s going to be a bigger presence next season for sure."