The episode was an extra emotional one for the “Riverdale” cast and crew, as Fred was only written out of the show out of necessity:
“Riverdale” shed its campy, neo-noir skin in honoring the actor and his character, instead adopting a more earnest tone to highlight the qualities that defined Fred. He dies right before the Fourth of July, meaning that his body won't be transported to Riverdale until after the holiday.
The Black Hood was finally caught and revealed to be Betty's dad, Hal Cooper. Hal shot Fred over his adulterous affair with Hermione Lodge in Season 1.
Luke Perry, who played Fred, died while the show was filming earlier this year, and after the show dedicated an episode to Perry, his last scene was a relatively minor moment between Archie (KJ Apa) and his father.
Perry passed away suddenly during the filming of Season 3, and though Archie's dad Fred made his final appearance on the show a few weeks back, he merely left town on unexplained business after that, and the show never addressed his absence in Wednesday's Season 3 finale.
Because The CW Loves a "Special Event" Series
Another reason for the name change is simply because one of the things The CW likes to do with its shows is take a batch of episodes and promote them as a "special event series" with a new name, because they are doing something slightly different with the show.
'Riverdale' Enlists Shannen Doherty for Luke Perry Tribute. Playing the woman Fred saves, whom Archie meets later, is Perry's Beverly Hillls, 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty, whose casting was announced this summer, and adds significant emotional weight to the episode.
Following his passing in real life, his Riverdale character, Fred Andrews, was written out of the show. “A father figure and mentor to the show's young cast, Luke was incredibly generous, and he infused the set with love and kindness,” the Riverdale producers, Warner Bros.
As for why he decided to write Perry's exit as a death onscreen, Aguirre-Sacasa explains that was a very conscious choice. "Very early on, we landed on the idea that Fred should have a heroic death and that would be impactful for Archie," he says. "It felt like that's a way that Fred could have gone.
Luke Perry, who portrayed the character, died in March after suffering a stroke at age 52. In the episode, Fred dies in a hit-and-run accident after stopping alongside the road to help a stranded motorist, played by Shannen Doherty, who co-starred with Perry on “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
Ms. Grundy. Cause of death: Strangled by her own cello bow by the Black Hood following a piano lesson with Ben Button in Greendale. This would be the start of the Black Hood's mission to rid Riverdale of all its sinners (following the failed assassination of Fred Andrews in the season 1 finale).
In this series, Jughead has taken over Pop's from Pop Tate and has renamed it Jughead's, which later spanned a franchise in each respective universe. He ended up abandoning the franchise to operate the original shoppe in Riverdale. In this series, he ends up marrying Midge Klump in one universe, and Ethel in the other.
Sometime after the separation, Fred was charged with driving under the influence although it's later revealed he took the blame for his brother. Long before Fred began his career in construction, he dreamed of being Mayor of Riverdale.
Harold "Hal" Cooper was a recurring character and the hidden, secondary antagonist of the second season of The CW's Riverdale. He is portrayed by Lochlyn Munro. Hal is the father of Betty and Polly Cooper, as well as the ex-husband of Alice Smith, with whom he used to edit and co-own the Riverdale Register.
In March 2022, Riverdale was renewed for a seventh season. It was also announced that the seventh season would officially be the end of the subversive Archie Comics-based series. Season 7 premiered on March 29, 2023, and the series finale is set to air on August 23, 2023.
Their bond continued to grow when Archie proposed to Betty one season later before a comet was set to hit their small town. During the season 6 finale, which aired in July 2022, viewers saw Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) save the world from the impending danger.
No matter what comes their way, Betty and Veronica have proven a number of times that they're willing to do anything in the name of their relationship. Betty was later forced to end her friendship with Veronica after the Black Hood threatened to kill Veronica if she didn't.
Jason Blossom, twin brother to queen bee, Cheryl Blossom, was killed by his own dad, Clifford Blossom after learning of his dad's drug-trafficking business. Jason was against the family business and attempted to run away with his pregnant girlfriend, Polly.
After learning of his encounter with TBK, who was posing as a crewman for Archie, Betty announces her plan to leave Riverdale and lure TBK away.
We first learned of the Lonely Highway Killer in the first episode of the time jump, “Chapter Eighty: Purgatorio.” The trucker snatched Tabitha's friend Squeaky when she was making her way out of town. Unfortunately, in the following episode, Polly suffered the same fate.
Jason was the son of Clifford and Penelope Blossom, as well as the twin brother of Cheryl Blossom. He supposedly died under mysterious circumstances when he fell from a boat into Sweetwater River on July 4th.
| Jughead rushes to warn his dad, and gets a shock: F.P. confesses that he was the one who shot Hiram. He wanted revenge on Hiram for targeting Jughead, so he struck a deal with Hermione: He'd shoot Hiram, and Hermione would name him sheriff.
Before the show was renewed for its final season, Cole Sprouse teased that he was ready to move on to other opportunities. “I'm not a creative force behind [Riverdale]. I actually have no creative control,” he told GQ in March 2022. “We show up, receive the scripts often the day of, and we're asked to shoot.”
Ulrich revealed that he decided to leave Riverdale because he got "bored creatively." Since his Season 5 departure from Riverdale in 2021, Ulrich starred in the fifth Scream installment to reprise his role as Billy Loomis.
It's been seven months and five days since Perry died in the wake of a massive stroke but the producers of Riverdale felt they couldn't shoehorn a meaningful and fitting tribute into Season 3, which was already winding down. Skimping on a tribute to Perry was not an option for the soapy teen drama either.