Riverdale Season 3: 3 Ups & 2 Downs From ‘The Raid’

2. Chad Michael Murray's Performance

After months of teasing us with name drops and references, Edgar Evernever finally made his on-screen debut in last week's musical special. With his slow, unnerving clap and his sinister smirk, he managed to make the entire cast of Riverdale uncomfortable without even saying a word. This week, however, he had plenty to say.

Appearing throughout the episode, Edgar showed up to interview Cheryl Blossom about joining The Farm. Despite the brevity of these appearances, they were more than enough for us to measure him up against his reputation and, so far, he has definitely lived up to everything we've heard about him. The reason for this is, of course, down to Chad Michael Murray's enigmatic performance.

Using the little material he had in the episode, Murray managed to entice viewers by fusing charming with sinister, understanding with manipulation and comforting with creepiness. His calming tone and soothing voice portrayed the leader of The Farm like the saint that he believed himself to be, but the cleverly hidden glare or the raised eyebrow briefly teased us with what was really going on inside the character's head.

His final scene with Betty, however, allowed the real Edgar to come out and play as Murray commanded the scene with a more dominating approach and highlighted that, despite his handsome exterior, he's not to be trifled with. Evil has never looked so good, but he's still evil.

If this is the high standard that we can expect the veteran to deliver throughout the remainder of the season, it may just be enough to overshadow the shortcomings of The Farm narrative. Either way, it's going to be interesting to see what Chad Michael Murray brings to the show going forward.