In Memoriam is the first episode of Riverdale Season 4 and it is also the episode where we say goodbye to both Luke Perry and his character, Fred Andrews. But first, let’s catch up on what’s happened. The “terrors of the Farm” have started to fade and Jughead has been dedicating his time to his writing. Meanwhile, the town is preparing for the Fourth of July and they’re reinstating their parade after three years of not celebrating the day due to Jason Blossom’s death. However, Cheryl is not pleased.
Speaking of Cheryl, she has kept her brother’s corpse and reads him the newspaper, which is super creepy. When she reads about the parade, she goes to Pop’s and confronts the core four, indicating she’s going to protest the event. The group are planning a camping weekend and discussing Archie’s uncanny ability to survive bear attacks when his phone rings and as he collapses to the ground, and it’s clear something is very wrong.
Back at Archie’s house, FP explains that Fred was on his way back from Cherry Creek when he pulled over to help someone whose car had stalled on the side of the road. Another car came around the curve way too fast and struck Fred, killing him. Archie is furious and focuses on the fact that it was a hit and run and says they have to catch the person who did it. FP assures him that they will, but says he and his mother have to make some decisions. The service is planned for after the 4th because no one can drive the body to Riverdale until the 5th. Archie then joins his friends in their yard, where everyone shares fond memories of Fred.
That night, Archie has a dream where his dead grandpa and other relatives ask him where his father is, which results in Archie waking up in the middle of the night and saying he has to go get his dad and bring him home. He doesn’t tell his mother and Archie and Veronica get Betty and Jughead to come with them. Also, the super weird thing is that Reggie lends them a hearse because he claims that it has been sitting on the lot as no one wants to buy it.
Regardless, the core four head over to Cherry Creek, where after Archie’s mother talks to the funeral home director, Archie is allowed to take Fred’s body. He wants to make sure it’s actually his dad and of course Archie is way too emotional to check for himself so he asks Veronica and Betty to help him. They confirm that it is Fred, and they get his possessions as well as the keys to Fred’s truck which apparently is still at the side of the road.
The four head out to retrieve Fred’s truck as the funeral home needs a couple hours to prepare the body. As Archie is having a moment, another car pulls up behind Fred’s truck. Out steps Shannen Doherty (who starred alongside Luke Perry in Beverly Hills, 90210) holding a bouquet of flowers. She’s the woman who Fred saved and she apologises to Archie and explains that one of her tires blew and she was stranded until Fred showed up. He pushed her out of the way of the car and saved her life. She asks if they would say a prayer with her and so the five of them join hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer and it was honestly one of the saddest moments ever.
Back in Riverdale, Cheryl goes to Mary (Archie’s mother) to tell her how sorry she is and to ask her for her permission to do something special for Archie and his dad.
Back in Cherry Creek, they find a diner to pass the time in and Archie is very upset. He asks why his father had to be the hero and when he walks outside to get some air, FP calls him to let him know that they found the person responsible for the hit and run. FP tells Archie the name (stupidly) and that the guy confessed and is out on bail. Archie is so mad and wants to take justice into his own hands. He shows up on the guy’s doorstep and starts threatening him and pinning him against a wall and then he finds out the truth. He finds out that the guy was covering for his teenage son who messed up and took the car out without permission and doesn’t even have a license.
Betty, Veronica, and Jughead find Archie sitting outside the man’s home and he tells them how upset he is. He explains that it was the son who did it and the dad was just protecting him and then he says it’s what Fred would have done. Archie spirals about whether his dad would be proud of him and Veronica tells him to finish what he started: to take Fred home.
FP meets Archie and the others at the town border and offers him a police escort, which leads to what Cheryl had planned. She turned the Fourth of July parade into a parade for Fred as people hold up “Welcome home, Fred” signs.
We then get to Fred’s service, which features Josie singing “Amazing Grace” and Archie gives a speech about how his dad (and Luke Perry) helped build Riverdale. He then tells a story about one Fourth of July when his dad brought home fireworks because the town ones were cancelled and they set them off in the backyard. He ends his speech saying, “He’s the greatest man I’ve ever known. It hurts me that I never got to say goodbye, that I won’t get to see him again or talk to him. But his spirit and his memory lives on, in this town, in everyone he’s never met. Fred Andrews will always be a part of Riverdale. I love you so much dad.”
Jughead then starts writing Fred’s obituary and we see other character’s reading it: FP, Hermione crying in jail, Hiram (who paid for the funeral), Alice, and even Pop Tate.
The episode then ends with everyone gathering in Archie’s backyard for a fireworks show and Archie says, “Imagine if everyone was even half as good as my dad.” Veronica says that he already is but Archie denies it and says he’s trying. Then, Archie goes into the garage and we see some old clips of Luke Perry and Archie finally cries.
Final Thoughts?
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever cried so much during a TV show episode. This episode was a beautiful tribute to a beloved character and a beloved man. Thank you and well done, Riverdale.
