How do you sum up the life of Luke Perry? I suppose we could begin with the facts. Coy Luther “Luke” Perry III was born on October 11th, 1966 in Mansfield, Ohio to Anne Perry and Coy Luther Perry Jr. — making him 53 the day two days after this episode’s original air date and one day after this article’s release. The second of three children, he eventually moved to LA to pursue a career in acting. Over the course of his career he played many characters, both comics adjacent and not. Rick Jones in the original 1996 The Incredible Hulk animated series. Oliver Pike in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. The titular Jerimiah in J. Michael Straczynski’s Jerimiah. But his most famous role was as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210.
He was also Fred Andrews in Riverdale and that is who we are here today to discuss.
As always, spoilers ahead.
In Memoriam
Riverdale is many things. It’s a darker, more dramatic take on the Archie Comics characters. It’s a pulp narrative that embraces the lunacy of the genres they play in, sometimes to great effect and other times to baffling uncomfortability, and the melodrama of the network. It’s a show that has struggled to find its footing after its inaugural season, resulting in episodes that shone and arcs that left the audience wanting. But, up until now, it hasn’t been truly moving, perhaps because it retained the steady hand and calming voice of Luke Perry’s Fred Andrews and it is only in his loss that we can feel the sadness.
Fred Andrews was a rock in a show that desperately needed one. When he was almost murdered at the end of season one, it set the tone for the next season, namely, pure terror and the complete destruction of any semblance of “wholesome” Archie. He survived, of course, but of all the character fake-out deaths, his was the one that had me the most worried and the show was all the better for it.
When we first learned of Perry’s sudden death, I didn’t have much to say. When his final episode came and went, I did not say much. And in the season finale, I said even less. It seems fitting, then, that with a new season comes a new chance to right those wrongs and to speak more about Luke Perry, about Fred Andrews, and about the impact he had on the show.
Luke Perry brought a down to Earth charm to his role as Fred Andrews. He was caring, he was soft-spoken and he had a smile that melted the heart. His character was flawed but always human and you couldn’t help but root for him. He fought with Archie often, not always understanding why Archie did the things he did or why he wanted to do music or then boxing. But he supported him and, eventually, fell back onto his defining characteristic: empathy and love. Luke Perry shone from the moment he stepped on screen. He was the rock in a show that was often stormy beyond compare and you knew that, no matter how ludicrous the scene, how bonkers the plot, whenever Luke Perry was on the TV, there would be at least a little break in the clouds.
Without Perry’s Fred, I don’t think the Andrews household would have felt as believable in season one nor would the show have been as good. Maybe it could have gotten there eventually but Perry sold us on the goodness of the Andrews, of the hardships this family faced, and of the struggles that lie just out of sight from the eyes of teenagers. When all the madness occurred around the town, we knew that at least with Fred, things would be less chaotic, but no less complex.
With “In Memoriam,” we get to remember that.
There is a lot to break down with this episode. How it follows from the finale. How that stinger at the end of the previous season sits over the premiere like the shadow of death. How we spend much of the opening preparing for the greater season’s plots and tensions before it’s all interrupted by one, painful, phone call.
Continued belowI wept through most of this episode. Watching Archie grieve, watching the entire show and all the characters within grieve, is hard. It’s clear that the cast and the crew and the writers felt the loss of Luke Perry deeply and, rather than rushing him out of the show last season, or sending him away to a job elsewhere, they reckoned with his death in real life by transposing it into the fictional world. This decision was the right one. It gives the audience the space to grieve for the character and it gives the characters the space to reckon with death, and to grow and to provide contrasts and tensions that would not have been there otherwise.
Betty lost two father figures recently, one selfish & cruel and one selfless & kind. FP lost the only person who believed in him way back in season one. The town lost, perhaps, one of the last truly selfless souls, and so their mourn, all squabbles forgotten in solidarity for Fred. The gang recounts tales of Fred’s exploits and you can almost see them doing the same for Luke, sharing stories of behind the scenes talks or antics. The same for the obituary at the end.
Pushing this to the season premiere gave the writers the chance to actually give him a proper send off and we’re all the better for it. It provides a narrative reason for him to be gone while reckoning with the suddenness and senselessness of his death.
There is still a plot but it is focused entirely on Archie, his grief, and how rage at loss may be understandable but there is rarely a good target for it, and releasing it rarely makes one feel better. Luke Perry’s death hurts in every scene, and thus, so does Fred’s. Why him? Why out of the blue? And, most importantly, how do we move on? These questions pervade the episode and the answer to the last is, you don’t. . .at least not until you take the time to mourn and to address the loss. Ignoring it only makes it that much more obvious, that much more painful, and that much less respectful, which, ultimately, is what I got out of this episode.
It was a sign of respect for the actor and the life he brought to the role. A perfect stand-alone episode and the best way to start a new season.
Thank you Luke, for all you did and for all your brought to this show. The world is a darker place without your warm smile and you will be missed.
Join me again next week for the start of the season proper. Until then, thank you.
