"Riverdale" had its big season finale Wednesday night, where it tied up a lot of loose ends, but a conclusion to Luke Perry's arc as the loving Fred Andrews wasn't one of them.
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa spoke to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the finale and explained why his loss on the show wasn't explained after the actor died earlier this year.
(MORE: Actor Luke Perry, 52, dies in Los Angeles after a massive stroke)"When Luke passed, we had already broken and written a lot of the end of the season," he said, adding that the loss was and is still "devastating."
He further explained, "We wanted to honor Luke, and figure out the best way to handle the character of Fred Andrews in the show, so we sort of said, you know what? Let's not squeeze, let's not rush to squeeze something into the finale, or into the last couple of episodes, let's really think about it, and let's tell that story at the beginning of season four."
Perry was such a vital member of the "Riverdale" family.
(MORE: 'Riverdale' dedicates all future episodes to Luke Perry following his death)"Luke was one of the hearts of the show — Luke and KJ, their relationship, and as crazy as things got, we always turned back to them," Aguirre-Sacasa added. "That was so wonderful to have, and so that was part of our thinking too. We wanted to take the time to understand how the show will change [without Fred], and how we could best address that."
When asked if the show will address it early next year, he simply said, "Yes, absolutely."
Perry died in March at the age of 52, days after suffering a massive stroke.