‘Riverdale’ Honored Luke Perry In Its First Episode After His Death


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Riverdale’s most recent episode aired Wednesday night, only two days after the passing of Luke Perry, the Beverly Hills 90210 vet who’d played Archie’s construction company-owning father Fred. There was no way the episode wouldn’t honor him, and so they did. As per ET Online, the episode closed with a simple tribute: a black screen on which were written the words “In Memoriam Luke Perry 1966-2019.”

Perry himself wasn’t absent from the episode either. Archie (KJ Apa) winds up betrayed and attacked in his own home. Fred rushes to his recue and tends to his wounds — a moment given unintended weight following the news of Perry’s death after suffering a massive stroke. Perry will presumably be seen at various points in the current season’s remaining two episodes.

Riverdale’s tribute is one of countless that have come through in the past two days, often over social media, and often involving heartbreaking tales, told by strangers and fellow actors alike, portraying him as a man of uncommon decency, who would go over and beyond to help friends and even strangers. (One from Colin Hanks is particularly gutting.)

Here are but a few:

https://twitter.com/sarajbenincasa/status/1102628508327534592?s=21

https://twitter.com/realmikecolter/status/1103355629530464257?s=21

https://twitter.com/AADaddario/status/1102788644593516544

Even a story that begins with people remembering ogling him on a plane ends with him doing a good deed.

And then there was this post, from Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre Sacasa.

(Via ET Online)