Luke Perry, who plays Fred, also weighed in on his character's twisted fate as well as his relationship with Hermione now that a new character arrived in Riverdale.
- Oct 12, 2017
AceShowbiz - After such a long wait, "Riverdale" returned for season two on Wednesday, October 11. Just like what creator/EP Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and the cast teased all along, The CW's teen series kicked off its sophomore season with a shocking ending, though it was doubtful that fans would react negatively.
[SPOILER ALERT!] In addition to answering a lingering question about Fred's fate after being shot at Pop's, the premiere offered such a twisted ending. Miss Grundy (Sarah Habel) was misteriously murdered by the Black Hood after she sent home a student with a sexy--yet disgusting--goodbye kiss.
Actor KJ Apa, whose character on the series Archie once had a romantic relationship with the teacher, weighed in on the shocking ending. "I've noticed that a lot of the fans aren't too keen on Miss Grundy and a lot of the fans really don't like the storyline between her and Archie, but I really did enjoy that storyline. I thought it was great," he told E! News. "So I was excited to have her back! I was really psyched, and then obviously with what happened...yeah."
When asked about how Archie would react once he learnt about her death, Apa said that he might not take it well. "I think Archie, he loved Miss Grundy-or he thought he loved Miss Grundy-so with her being murdered, again, it kind of makes his quest to find revenge for his dad that much more intense," he said.
Miss Grundy's shocking death was not the only thing that shocked audience in the premiere. Archie's dad Fred, who was being shot at the show's freshman finale, managed to survive his gunshot wound.
Luke Perry revealed that he had no idea that his character would be shot before "three or four days into the episode." The actor also said to Entertainment Weekly that he let himself being in the dark about Fred's fate, saying, "I wanted him [Aguirre-Sacasa] to leave the door open for what he creatively thought was best and if that means one thing then that's what it means and if it means something else then that's what it means. I like to take the creative chance and I don't like to operate from a place of fear. I was like, 'Let's see where this goes.' "
Perry added that Fred might be "traumatized" following the shooting. "I think he's sort of going through the motions and he hasn't connected back into what his life is. I can only imagine if something like that were to happen to you, you hit the pause button in your life and it makes you think about a lot of different things. He definitely comes out of it a different guy," he opened up.
Now that Hiram Lodge (Mark Consuelos) arrived in Riverdale, things undoubtedly would be complicated between Fred and Hermione (Marisol Nichols). Perry teased, "We're gonna start digging into that here pretty soon," before adding, "She's the one with the problem--she was the one who was married. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Riverdale" airs on Wednesdays at 8 P.M. on The CW.
