'Riverdale' Season 4: Archie may have just disappointed Fred in 'Ice Storm' and it's not completely his fault
'Riverdale' season 4's opener was a fitting, emotional tribute to Fred Andrews (the late Luke Perry) and left fans in tears. 'In Memoriam' united Riverdale for the first time in three seasons. The town has seen murders, crime, drugs, and riots, and thanks to the binding force that Fred was, the entire town joins hands and gives the man the tribute he deserves. Even a criminal like Hiram Lodge pays his respects by taking on complete responsibility for the funeral expenditure. Friendships take precedence, Archie bonds with his mother, something that will be a crucial storyline going ahead.
While it picked up steam from Episode 2 onwards, the episode managed to bring in Fred as a fleeting reference in almost everything that Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) does, except that in Episode 7, the fit seems forceful. When it comes to the Archie part of the episode, the teen is confronted by Dodger's family after they suspect him of almost killing off the gang leader. Add to this is the fact that Archie has been running around town at night like a vigilante trying to clean up Riverdale from scum.
All that superhero business costs him dearly as he is ready to be pulped by Dodger's men and if not for some support, Red would be staring at the time in prison. This is something that his dad would have never approved, not even of him getting into crime-fighting business in the first place. It is here that writers still try and project Archie still trying to put himself in his father's shoes. However, the move seems to have bombed as fans are purely unhappy about how it panned out.
Each episode so far has seen Archie trying to the right thing. He puts the El Royale gym to good use. He's attending school and is being that responsible son to his mom, but somewhere, the teen factor kicks in as he tries to do something overly good thinking about Fred and that backfires. Hopefully, the show manages to get past this blip and revert back to how it did with the rest of the episodes.
'Riverdale' Season 4 airs Wednesdays at 8 pm on The CW.