Riverdale Season 1’s Final Shot Was a Giant Easter Egg for Comics Fans

Spoilers ahead for the Riverdale season 1 finale.“Fred’s fate will be revealed at the top of […]

September 5, 2017, 5:17pm

Spoilers ahead for the Riverdale season 1 finale.

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death-of-archie — (Photo: Archie Comics)

The final shot of Riverdale‘s first season was shocking and upsetting for many fans of the show — but for people who have been reading Archie Comics for years, there was an extra layer: there was a sense of familiarity there, too.

When Fred Andrews was shot in the closing moments of the episode in what Jughead says will prove to be anything but a random crime, he collapsed on the floor at Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe, crumpled in Archie’s arms.

It’s an image that’s familiar to fans who remember the highly-publicized “Death of Archie” just a few years ago in the comics.

In that case, it was Archie (albeit a grown-up version) who was dying, and it was Jughead was was clinging to his pal as the life drained out of him. Pop’s was by that point Jughead’s place, but it’s where the shooting happened so while some of the trappings were different, there’s more similarity than just an Andrews being shot.

Of course, in the comics, Archie died. As far as we know so far, Fred Andrews was simply shot. Ask J.R. Ewing and C. Montgomery Burns how fatal that is.

“Fred’s fate will be revealed at the top of season 2, and for Luke Perry fans, Luke Perry absolutely will be in the season premiere of season 2,” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa recently told ComicBook.com.

“I think the season definitely is launched with the mystery of who shot Fred Andrews,” Aguirre-Sacasa said, “and I think two of the suspects for sure are Hiram, or Hermione, or Hiram and Hermione working together, but like all the best mysteries we’re going to see that there are actually multiple suspects. I can tease without giving too much away that things take a really big, sinister turn in that mystery at the end of the season 2 premiere.”

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