'Riverdale' Won't See Return of Key Character in Final Season

As Riverdale nears the end of its seven-season run, there are still questions as to what these final episodes will bring and who else will come back. Unfortunately, one major character will not be returning to the Town with Pep in the 1950s. In an interview with Decider, Mädchen Amick revealed that her former on-screen beau Skeet Ulrich will not be riding back into town as F.P. Jones.

"We have to close the book on that. He was invited back… But then it fell through," Amick shared. "I don't know the particulars on it. But he ended up not coming on board. We were sort of hoping that everybody would come through, and I think that was Roberto's intention was to have everybody back that he could in that last season. There was an episode that was dedicated to his character, but it didn't happen. So you know, Falice fans are left wanting something that just never happened."

Skeet Ulrich began portraying Jughead's father, F.P. (Forsythe Pendleton Jones II), in the first season. Soon, he rekindled his love with Mädchen Amick's Alice Cooper, and the Jones' and Coopers moved in together. However, following his daughter Jellybean's unfortunate activities as a videotape voyeur and distributing disturbing videos across town with her friends in Season 4, F.P. decided it was best for Jellybean to leave town and live with her mother, Gladys, in Topeka instead, and he should go with her. Ulrich officially left the series at the beginning of Season 5, and while fans had held on to hope that he would come back, even if for a cameo, that unfortunately does not seem like the case.

While it's unclear what happened, it does sound like he was going to come back, and it's possible something came up where he couldn't. The episode surrounding him would have been interesting to see, especially since Jughead has been living on his own in an abandoned train car. But, knowing that Falice won't be returning to the screens is a definite disappointment. However, the fact that fans know now instead of still waiting and hoping until the finale on August 23 is somewhat looking on the bright side.

Even though Skeet Ulrich won't be returning, there are still likely a handful of returns to look forward to and hope for, whoever it might be. With the series even bringing back characters that died, like Dilton Doiley, Midge Klump, and Hiram Lodge, who knows who else will be brought back from the dead, for better or for worse? New episodes of the final season of Riverdale air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.