‘Riverdale’: Molly Ringwald Says Filming The Luke Perry Tribute Was “Like A Raw Nerve”

Molly Ringwald has popped in and out of Riverdale over the past three seasons, appearing as estranged (but still beloved) Andrews family matriarch Mary Andrews. But as of Season 4, she’ll be around more full time, starting with the season premiere, “In Memoriam” — though unfortunately, Ringwald isn’t joining under the best of circumstances.

Back in March, Riverdale star Luke Perry passed away suddenly due to a stroke, sending friends, family, and the production of Riverdale reeling. In lieu of addressing the real life tragedy in the final few episodes, Ringwald was brought in to fill the gap in Archie Andrew’s (KJ Apa) parenting, until they could deal with the event in the Season 4 premiere.

That episode, which airs tonight at 8/7c on The CW, works as a tribute to Perry, his character Fred Andrews, and an episode of Riverdale. And despite an abundance of beauty and hope throughout the episode, as you might expect filming the hour was extremely rough on the actors involved.

“Well, the whole episode was just like a raw nerve,” Ringwald told Decider while at New York Comic Con. “I pretty much cried from beginning to end … But the whole thing was about saying goodbye to him, and dealing with the sadness of that.”

Though Ringwald plays a key role in the premiere, and in subsequent episodes as Archie continues to deal with the sudden passing of his father, her status on Riverdale isn’t entirely settled. On the New York Comic Con panel, she noted that she was, “more recurring than not,” and we will be seeing her throughout episodes in the first half of the season.

“We’re still discovering that,” Ringwald noted, on how her character has developed, now that she’s spent more time playing Mary. “We’re just a little ways in the season, but I think we’re going to get to see more of what happens to her, and why she made the choices that she made, how they figured out who would take those parental roles. And you sort of get to see her fire, too … She’s a lot more fiery than people think.”

Though Ringwald won’t appear in the highly anticipated Halloween episode (which airs October 30), she will get a big Riverdale “hello” in the Thanksgiving episode, “Chapter Sixty-Four: The Ice Storm.” Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa recalled two lines of dialogue on the panel from the end of the episode, where Mary turns to her son and says, “That was the craziest Thanksgiving ever, Archie,” to which he quips back, “Welcome to Riverdale, Mom.”

In between the premiere and Thanksgiving, while continuing to be on hand to give advice to Archie and his girlfriend Veronica (Camila Mendes), who Ringwald noted her character likes a lot, she’ll be working as an all-purpose lawyer for the town of Riverdale, something that led to a lot of joking on stage at the panel.

“I mean, usually, if I am talking about about law, I look up what it is so I can say it with some semblance of [knowledge],” Ringwald told us when asked how much research she has to do. “But then, I’ve also watched a lot of The Good Fight, and The Good Wife.”

Hey, if her son can take on any job and hobby with zero experience, Mary Andrews can watch a little TV and be good to go representing Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols) on a murder trial. Welcome to Riverdale, Molly Ringwald.

Riverdale returns to The CW on Wednesday, October 9 at 8/7c.

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