Luke Perry's final "Riverdale" episode to air this week
The popular CW show "Riverdale" lost a beloved cast member in early March when actor Luke Perry died at 52. Perry and his character Fred Andrews have since appeared in the show's third season, as the scenes had been shot prior to his death. However, the drama's showrunner revealed Sunday night on Twitter that this week's episode is the final one with Perry in it.
"This week's #Riverdale is the last episode Luke filmed," wrote showrunner and executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. "As always, Fred's imparting words of wisdom to Archie. A beautiful, true moment between a father and his son. Wish these scenes could go on forever."
This week’s #Riverdale is the last episode Luke filmed. As always, Fred’s imparting words of wisdom to Archie. A beautiful, true moment between a father and his son. Wish these scenes could go on forever...❤️🏆💎👨🏻💻 pic.twitter.com/meokbvo0Wt
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) April 22, 2019
Co-star Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead Jones on the drama based on the characters of the Archie Comics, revealed in an interview on "The View" in mid-March that the show had a plan to conclude Perry's character.
"I can't go too much into the spoilers of it, but we do have something planned narratively," Sprouse said at the time. "We've dedicated some of the episodes to him." Aguirre-Sacasa said on Instagram that all episodes going forward would be dedicated to Perry.
Shortly after Sprouse discussed the show, Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Tonight the entire "Riverdale" family was "still in shock and are all still processing and grieving."
"We know that we have to address it in some way, but we're giving ourselves a little bit of time and space before we figure out the best way to honor him," Aguirre-Sacasa told ET. "... His spirit — which was so generous and wise and vivacious — we hope will infuse every episode, so in my mind, every episode for the rest of time on 'Riverdale' will have a bit of Luke in it."
“[Luke Perry] was one of those guys that would rather have us all laughing about his great stories than mourning for too long.”@ColeSprouse discusses the passing of his #Riverdale co-star and how the show will honor him: https://t.co/ujqXMJTeQR pic.twitter.com/GMhRAJeX3d
— The View (@TheView) March 12, 2019
Luke Perry, also known for his role on FOX's "Beverly Hills, 90210," died March 4 after suffering a "massive stroke" in late February. A revival of the original "90210" had just been announced the day Perry was hospitalized. His biggest turn as an actor may happen after his death when he appears in Quentin Tarantino's film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" this summer.
Perry's final episode of "Riverdale" is scheduled to air Wednesday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET.