Mary Andrews

"You have been playing the same game since junior high and it was tiring even back then."

- Mary to Alice

Mary Andrews is a recurring character on Riverdale. She is portrayed by Molly Ringwald.

Mary is the mother of Archie Andrews and wife of Fred Andrews, though they are currently separated, with a divorce pending.

Character description
''Having left Riverdale two years ago to follow her dreams, Mary returns to town in her family's hour of need. She not only reconnects with Archie and her husband, Fred, but also her former high school gal-pals Hermione and Alice, just in time for a homecoming dance. ''

Early Life
Mary was raised in Riverdale and attended the local high school where she was friends with Hermione Lodge and Alice Cooper. She later went on to marry Fred Andrews and they welcomed their first and only child, Archie Andrews. Two years prior to the start of the series, she and Fred separated and began divorce proceedings. Mary moved to Chicago in that time, and while she wanted her son to go with her, he chose to stay in Riverdale with his father.

Season 1
After two years of separation, Fred thought it best to finalize their divorce, which required him to drive out to Chicago, where the two of them originally planned to have diner together. However, they decided to wait until the following morning, when the lawyers would be present as, apparently, the relationship between Mary and Fred had gotten to the point of needing a mediator when in each other's company. The next morning, she and Fred returned to Riverdale, much to the surprise of Archie.

The next morning during breakfast, Mary explained the reason she returned to Riverdale was due to Archie and the divorce with his father. She always assumed Riverdale would be safer for Archie, and he assured her it was, he had a good life there despite the recent death of Jason Blossom. From Fred, Mary learned that Archie had been singing and song writing, she had hoped Archie would play her something before she left town, to which he informed her he would be playing at the annual Homecoming dance, the perfect opportunity for her to see him play live. Hoping to surprise Fred with lunch, Mary made an unexpected stop by Andrews Construction, where she ran into Hermione Lodge, an old friend from high school. The two of them briefly talked about Fred, Hermione's recent troubles and her mean girl status back in high school.

Later that night, she and Fred had trouble figuring out what they were going to eat for dinner, up until Archie returned home and stated that they always had pizza, so the only other option being Chinese food. Though two years is a long time to be separated from her family, Mary correctly remembered their usual Chinese food and pizza orders. While it was nice having everyone together, Archie commented that it was strange to see it again after so long. Just then, Jughead entered the kitchen, leading Mary to ask who else would be attending the Homecoming dance other than her, Fred and Hermione, whom Mary earlier invited. The following night at the dance, as Mary, Fred and Hermione entered as a threesome, she began having major of her high school years.

In the woman's restroom, she was confronted by Alice Cooper, who couldn't help but notice that Mary attended the dance with Fred and Hermione, even after their secret affair. Even though Mary had left, nothing much had changed, she saw straight through Alice's juvenile tactics, the same ones she had been using since Junior High. After watching an amazing performance on stage from Archie and Hermione's daughter, Veronica, Mary and Fred started to slow dance, in which she inquired about the two teens' current relationship status. Fred and Archie hadn't exactly had time to talk about it yet, but he assumed that they were together, leading Mary to playfully caress Fred's face and state that the Andrews men were players. They returned home following the announcement that FP Jones was arrested for the murder of Jason Blossom.

Knowing FP from back in the day, Mary stated that he always had demons, but Archie was under the impression that he was truly trying to change for the better. It's very hard for people to change, Mary said. After hearing Archie play, and before everything else happened, she was going to ask him to move to Chicago with her, he could study music there, and she just wanted him with her. Riverdale was not safe anymore, she felt as if the town was about the slide off a mountain's side, and she didn't want him anywhere around when that occurred. Mary at least wanted Archie to think about it, and she said all this while unaware that Fred was listening from the stairs.

After the dance, Mary, Fred, and Hermione were shocked to learn that Archie and Veronica broke into FP's trailer in search of any evidence that would connect him to the murder of Jason Blossom. They were even more shocked to discover that Alice was in on it. However, Archie, Veronica and Betty claimed that the gun used to kill Jason wasn't in the closet when they checked the trailer, it was planted after they left, meaning someone was framing FP, or so they claimed. Mary explained that Archie entered FP's residence illegally, so whatever he did or did not find would be inadmissible in a court of law. Going to Sheriff Keller with the information they claim to have would simply make matters worse.

A couple days later, after spending the previous night at the Sheriff Station with FP, Mary met up with Archie and Jughead at Pop's shoppe to discuss FP's case. She passed herself off as his attorney in an effort to gain as much information as she could. Unfortunately, between FP's list of priors, the anonymous tip, the possession of the murder weapon, and his confession, it was looking pretty bad for him. She was with FP all night, and he never once changed his story, but he did use his one phone call to contact someone named Joaquin DeSantos, who Mary would later come to find out was a Southside Serpent and Kevin's boyfriend. She then advised Jughead to go see his father, tell him everything he wanted to say because once he was arraigned, the process would become much faster, and there wouldn't be anything left to do, so that would be his final chance.

Despite her best efforts, Archie turned down Mary's offer to move with her to Chicago because his friends need him, but he promised to visit for the summer. She hugged Archie, told him she loved him, and then exited the house.

Physical Appearance
Mary is an attractive middle-aged woman with pale skin, dark brown eyes, short red hair, and a beautiful smile. She is of slightly above the height of the average woman, around 5′ 8″ with a slim figure. Mary's wardrobe is very neat, and well put-together. She often wears casual and non-revealing clothing such as turtle necks and long sleeve shirts in varying colors.

Relationships

 * Mary and Archie
 * Mary and Fred