Final 'Riverdale' Episode Featuring Luke Perry Airing This Week

Less than two months after his death, Luke Perry’s final episode of Riverdale will air this [...]

By Allison Schonter

Less than two months after his death, Luke Perry's final episode of Riverdale will air this week.

On Sunday, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed on Twitter that this week's episode of the popular CW teen drama will be the last time fans will see Perry's Fred Andrews after the actor passed away in March at the age of 52 following a massive stroke.

"This week's #Riverdale is the last episode Luke filmed," Aguirre-Sacasa wrote alongside a photo of Perry in character. "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..."

The episode, titled "Chapter Fifty-Four: Fear the Reaper" and airing on Wednesday, April 24 at 8 p.m. ET, will see the "Jones' follow a series of cryptic clues to find Jellybean; Archie faces the fallout from his boxing match; Betty makes a major discovery about Evelyn's past," according to an official synopsis.

Exactly how Perry will be written off is not known, though his co-star Cole Sprouse previously stated that the series had "something planned."

"I can't go too much into the spoilers of it, but we do have something planned narratively," Sprouse, who portrays Jughead Jones, said while visiting The View in March. "We dedicated some of the episodes to him."

"He was very well loved. I mean, the whole world is mourning his passing. But, he was one of those guys that would rather have us all laughing about his great stories than mourning for too long," he added.

Perry, who is best known for his portrayal of teenage heartthrob Dylan McKay on the FOX drama Beverly Hills, 90210, portrayed Archie's father, Fred Andrews, the owner of a construction company, in the popular CW series. Throughout the first three seasons of Riverdale, he was frequently seen as a source of good within the community and combated the corruption his former flame, Hermione Lodge, and her husband, Hiram Lodge, brought to the small town.

Following his death, production on the series was temporarily shut down in order to allow the cast and crew time to grieve, though filming began again just days later, with Aguirre-Sacasa announcing that all remaining episodes of the current season would be dedicated to the late actor.

At the conclusion of "Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk With Me," the first episode to air after Perry's passing, an "In Memoriam" card at the conclusion of the episode read, "In Memoriam Luke Perry 1966-2019."

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

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