The titular town in the CW’s “Riverdale” will be getting a little smaller: after the current, fourth season comes to an end this May, Skeet Ulrich and Marisol Nichols will be leaving the Archie Comics-set series, Variety has confirmed.
“Part of life in ‘Riverdale’ — and part of growing up — is saying goodbye to people,” said creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa in a statement. “I’m grateful to Skeet and Marisol for their incredible work on the show these last four years, and we all wish them well on their future endeavors. FP and Hermione will never be far from our hearts. And, of course, they’re always welcome back in Riverdale.”
Ulrich has portrayed FP Jones, father to Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) and gang leader-turned-sheriff since the beginning of the series run, while Nichols has portrayed Hermione Lodge, businesswoman and Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) mother.
While FP has been Jughead’s primary parental figure, becoming more involved in his son’s life after Ulrich was upped to series regular status in Season 2, the Lodge family patriarch (played by Mark Consuelos) has been a bit more of a consistent presence in his onscreen daughter’s — and the show’s — life.
Earlier this season, Aguirre-Sacasa and his writers’ room at “Riverdale” had to write off another onscreen parent in Fred Andrews (Luke Perry), after Perry’s untimely passing in March 2019.
It is currently unknown how Ulrich and Marisol will be written out of the show, but given Aguirre-Sacasa’s above comments, killing them off does not seem likely.
“Riverdale” was renewed for a fifth season by the CW in January. In addition, Archieverse series “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” currently streams on Netflix, while “Katy Keene,” set a few years into the future from “Riverdale” recently launched its first season on the CW.