Luke Perry got the tribute he deserved in the season four premiere of Riverdale Wednesday night.
Months after the actor’s untimely death, The CW drama aired its farewell episode dedicated to the late actor — and it was just as gut-wrenching as fans thought it would be.
[SPOILER ALERT]
The episode started with the gang working on a giant milkshake float for the town’s 4th of July parade, which Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Pop’s were sponsoring. During a breakfast break, Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) received a devastating phone call his dad Fred (Perry) had died.
Later, we learned Fred had died a heroic death: he had been on his way back to Riverdale when he saw a woman (Shannen Doherty) stranded by the side of the road with a stalled car. He stopped to help, before pushing her out of the way as another car sped down the road — hitting Fred instead.
Related: Tori Spelling & Jennie Garth Reveal Luke’s Blessings For ‘90210’ Reboot
His body was taken to a funeral home in another town, and Archie was compelled to go pick the body up. He borrowed a hearse from Reggie’s (Charles Melton) family’s car lot and headed to the town where his dad was with Veronica, Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Betty (Lili Reinhart).
When the group picked up Fred’s truck, which was still at the site of the accident, they met Doherty’s character, who explained what had happened and asked the kids to pray with her.
While in Cherry Creek, he learned a man had confessed to the hit and run, and decided to go to the guy’s house to confront him. Once there, however, he discovered the driver was actually the man’s son, who didn’t even have a license: his dad had taken the blame.
Once the teens got back to town, they discovered Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) had turned the 4th of July parade into a welcome home for Fred. From there, we saw the patriarch’s funeral, where Archie told a story about how he can’t wait to show his kids the parts of the town his father built.
He then told a story about how Fred bought a bunch of fireworks to set off in the backyard one year when the 4th of July fireworks show got rained out. Naturally, that’s what the whole group did later on in Archie’s backyard.
Series creator and exec producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa opened up about some of the decision-making behind the standalone episode at a special press screening, telling reporters he and his team knew “very early on” they wanted Fred to have a heroic death that would be “impactful” for Archie.
As for how they decided to handle the death, he explained:
“Very early on, we landed on the idea that Fred should have a heroic death, and that that would be impactful for Archie. And it felt like that’s a way that Fred could have gone. After that we really said that this episode really isn’t going to launch any huge stories for the season; it was really going to be kind of focused on that, and the kind of emotional effects of that passing for everyone. As we were working on the episode, [we] talked about putting in some other storylines, but as we were working on it, we just kind of kept focusing it on our characters, and focusing it truly on Archie. There have been, sadly, a lot of tribute episodes on television, and one of my favorites is the Friday Night Lights episode where the football player’s father dies. It’s called ‘The Son.’ And we kind of wanted to just tell a very grounded, truthful story.”
He also revealed the significance of having Doherty, Perry’s former Beverly Hills, 90210 costar and real-life friend, play the woman Fred saved:
“Over the seasons, Luke and I had talked a lot about trying to get Shannen on the show. And you know, the timing never worked out, or the part was never quite right. She was doing this, or unavailable, or it didn’t feel right. And when we were working on the episode, we know that there would be some characters outside of our cast of characters that would be involved. We thought that rather than have another actor play that, we thought it would be nice if it was someone he really cared for in real life. And he cared so deeply about Shannen. That’s how we got to that…it resonates for Fred, it also resonates for Luke, and Shannen kind of speaks to that. And I think he really wanted to be a part of it, from when we first talked to her about it.”
On the flashbacks of Fred throughout the episode:
“It so happened that those two flashbacks were in the garage where Archie would go. I will say that I remember vividly from season one that it’s in the third episode of season one where Fred soundproofs the garage. And it’s a really simple story, right? Dad says you’re making too much noise, son says, I want to play my music, loving father soundproofs the garage. And I remember when we did that episode, Luke called me and said, I love that Fred’s doing this for Archie. Something I would have done for my son. And it’s like, there’s so much baroque storytelling on Riverdale and there was such a truth and simplicity to that story that it was nice that that was a thing we could go back to.”
On having Molly Ringwald‘s character, Mary Andrews, stepping in as the parental figure for Archie:
“It’s been great to have Molly back. We’ve been having a lot of fun with Mary back to Riverdale … she’s moving from Chicago, not quite aware of what a rough town Riverdale is… I think that it’s really great that Archie has Mary there for him and I think that Mary loves being there for her son. I do still think there’s no replacing his dad. But Mary’s doing great and I’d really be worried for Archie if not for Mary.”
While the devastating episode played out on TV screens, the cast took to social media to share tributes of their deceased castmate.
Lili posted three pics of Luke, one of which was taken by her on-screen and off-screen love interest, Cole. She shared:
Camila also spoke out as the farewell episode aired, sharing a picture from the episode on her Instagram Story which read:
“Season 4 premieres tonight. I’m finding it hard to express how I’m feeling, but I’ll try. We put everything we have into this episode. We wanted to honor Luke’s memory in the most sincere and respectful way possible. This episode is as hard to watch as it is to make it. Actually, making it was harder. But the result is a beautiful tribute to our friend. Luke deserves that and so much more.”
Mark Consuelos, who plays Veronica’s dad Hiram Lodge, shared a selfie of himself with Perry on a boat, writing it was “a good day.” He posted:
Skeet Ulrich, who plays Jughead’s father, shared a pic of “Perry’s favorite hat” that the late actor left on Ulrich’s “kitchen counter a week before he passed.” He shared:
Marisol Nichols, who plays Veronica’s mom Hermione, posted a close-up shot of herself and Perry:
Meanwhile, Madelaine shared a photo of her and Luke from the actress’ “first upfronts” for the show, which the veteran actor walked her through “as he did with most of the new experiences I encountered after booking this show.”
She shared:
So, so heartbreaking.
R.I.P., Luke. You will be missed by many.
[Image via WENN/The CW]
The post ‘Riverdale’ Airs Luke Perry’s Emotional Farewell Episode As Cast Pays Tribute On Social Media — Recap Here appeared first on Perez Hilton.