Our first behind-the-scenes look at season 2 of Riverdale has arrived, and there's one question that should be on everyone's mind: Where the heck is Fred Andrews?!? Actor Luke Perry is suspiciously missing from a new table read picture, and it's not looking good for the only good dad in Riverdale.
We may have learned who killed Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines) in the penultimate episode of Riverdale, but the season 1 finale gave us a new mystery to concern ourselves with for the show's sophomore season. While having breakfast with Archie (K.J. Apa) at Pop's, Fred is shot by a masked assailant — and, as Jughead's (Cole Sprouse) narration confirms, this was no random accident. So far, everyone has been staying mum about Fred's fate — but actress Mädchen Amick's Instagram pic speaks volumes.
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Where. Is. Luke. Perry?!?! It seems like most of the cast is accounted for — and tagged in the photo — but the former Beverly Hills, 90210 bad boy is totally absent. It's ultra suspicious, considering that the table read isn't just for the first episode — according to Amick's caption, it looks like they did a table read for the first three episodes of the new season. If Fred's not in any of them, it might be because, well... they already buried him.
Of course, this isn't the only clue that hints at Fred's demise. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa compared the incident with Fred to Batman's origin story — which, in case you forgot, involved Bruce Wayne's parents being murdered. He told Entertainment Tonight:
"The way we’re thinking of what happens in Pop’s in the last moments of the finale is really the equivalent of Bruce Wayne seeing his parents gunned down in Crime Alley, or Peter Parker learning that his beloved Uncle Ben was shot by a robber," revealed the writer. "That really set those two characters on their hero’s journey. For Archie, he is the hero of our show, but before he gets to that heroic journey, it’s going to be a journey more of revenge, and a journey of darkness and violence begetting violence."
The title of the premiere episode also hints at Fred's death. The premiere is called "A Kiss Before Dying," and, well... it sounds like Fred is the one doing the dying.
Hopefully the lack of Fred info just has to do with the show wanting to keep his fate under wraps. I'll settle for a comatose Fred Andrews if we get to see him and Archie reunite at some point. The alternative is just too sad for words.