Riverdale shows Archie finding out Fred is dead in emotional new season 4 trailer

3 October 2019, 12:31

By Sam Prance

Riverdale season 4, episode 1 will act as a special Luke Perry tribute episode.

The official trailer for Riverdale season 4, episode 1, 'In Memoriam', is here and it shows Archie reacting to Fred's death.

In March this year, Luke Perry, who plays Fred Andrews on Riverdale, tragically passed away from a stroke. The beloved star was just 52 years old at the time. Following Luke's death, emotional tributes from Luke's friends, family and co-stars began flooding the internet. In the weeks after Luke died, Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa announced that the first episode of Riverdale season 4 would be dedicated to Luke and that it would tell the story of Fred's death and funeral.

READ MORE: All the details about Riverdale's "tear-jerking" Luke Perry tribute episode

Now The CW has released the first Riverdale season 4, episode 1 trailer and it's nothing short of heartbreaking.

In the 'In Memoriam' trailer, we see the town of Riverdale gather together at Fred's funeral. There are also shots of Betty and Jughead placing roses on Fred's coffin. Betty holds back tears, as she says "he was a father to all of us", before we're shown Archie breaking down and collapsing in Pop's diner, as Veronica, Jughead and Betty rush to his aid. In a separate scene, Archie laments: "I don't know what to do".

At the funeral, Archie, Jughead, Kevin, Reggie, FP and Tom act as pallbearers. Speaking at the funeral Archie says: "Fred Andrews will always be a part of Riverdale", and Veronica and Cheryl both add roses to Fred's coffin. Archie ends his speech saying: "I love you so much dad". Meanwhile, text pops up on the screen reading "a town gathers to say goodbye". It's probably the most devastating trailer you will ever watch.

According to People, the new episode "will follow the residents of Riverdale preparing for the upcoming Independence Day parade — as well as Archie receiving a phone call that will change his life forever." Ahead of the episode, The CW released various images from the episode and they are all gutwrenching.

Speaking to ET about the premiere, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said that it's "a really emotional episode, a tear-jerker. We had the table read for it about [two weeks] ago and I’m not going to lie, we were all crying" He then added: "But we think it… honours the memory of Luke [and] it honours the memory of Fred."

He then finished: "They were both such amazing human beings that we wanted to really, really craft an emotional and deep tribute to him, which is what I hope this episode is.”

Riverdale returns on Wednesday 9th October at 8pm ET on The CW.