What is the nature of evil? What is the true function of religion? Can demonic entities floss? These are some of the questions explored over the course of four seasons in Evil, which started out on CBS before jumping over to Paramount+.
So far as streaming services go, Paramount+ isn’t talked about as much as heavy-hitters like Netflix and HBO Max, sometimes with good reason. But whatever its drawbacks, it has a lot of good content, and Evil is one of its shiniest hidden gems.
Evil is The X-Files of the 2020s
And that’s a good thing
In the 1990s, there was a show called The X-Files, about a conspiracy-minded FBI agent named Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) who teams up with a skeptical medical doctor named Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to investigate possible extraterrestrial phenomena. While Mulder is eager to believe in extraterrestrial life, Scully is more apt to believe that everything they see has a rational explanation.
It’s hard not to think of that dynamic when looking at Evil, which revolves a round a team of three: there’s Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), a forensic psychologist; David Acosta (Mike Colter), a Catholic priest in training; and there’s Ben Shakir (Assif Mandvi), a technology contractor. At the start of the series, David recruits Dr. Bouchard to work with him as an “assessor” investigating possible miraculous phenomena on behalf of the Catholic Church. David is the true believer is open to believing in actual miracles and demons, Kristen is the agnostic who thinks everything they see can be explained by logic, and Ben is the atheist who trusts in technology. The dynamic resembles the one from The X-Files, but with religious phenomena subbing in for extraterrestrial intervention.
And it still works! The writers still get to use these characters to tease out the conflicts between faith and skepticism, between magic and science, between superstition and reason. It makes for a show that’s surprisingly rich, philosophically speaking. Also like The X-Files, Evil is written in such a way that we rarely get definitive answers as to whether the phenomena we’re seeing are actually miraculous or incredible events that are nevertheless explicable.
The show takes another cue from The X-Files when it comes to a very important element for most any TV show: sexual tension. There’s an unspoken (for a while) attraction between Kristen and David, the skeptic and the believer drawn to each other. The show has a lot of fun teasing it out.
Evil is smooth, fun, bloody watching
Humor, drama, and a couple trips to hell
While Evil isn’t the kind of show you can start watching literally anywhere without getting lost, it’s also not a series that’s going to demand you pay strict attention to every moment. There’s an overarching plot involving a sinister psychologist named Dr. Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) who has an unhealthy obsession with Kristin. Eventually, his story unravels into a conspiracy our lead trio have to uncover. Emerson is terrific as Dr. Townsend, who becomes a memorable, over-the-top villain.
But most every episode also has a discrete plotline that stands on its own. In one episode, the team has to observe a vow of silence when visiting a monastery to determine if a dead monk is worthy of sainthood. In another, they follow the trail of a stock tip that’s been passed from person to person, realizing that a demon stalks whoever acts on it. In another, the investigate what may be a possessed AI chatbot.
Some of these plotlines are deadly serious, with moments so bloody and gruesome they could shock some viewers. Others can be very goofy. Evil freely swings between intense drama and broad comedy in a way that can be off-putting for some viewers, but that establishes a very distinct style that can’t really be compared to anything else.
The ending is truly evil
And that’s not a good thing
One point against Evil is its ending, although that’s not fully the show’s fault. Paramount canceled the series in 2024, shortly before the fourth season was to air. Although Evil had a strong following, Paramount made the decision in the wake of the 2023 writers and actors strikes, when it needed to cut costs. The producers were given an extra four episodes to wrap things up, and while the character arcs ended in a way that pleased fans, not all of the plotlines were wrapped up to their satisfaction.
Evil can’t quite be counted among the list of beloved shows with endings everyone hated, but it could have gone out on a better note. And again, the cast and crew did the best they could with the time they had.
This is the most underrated show on Amazon Prime and it has four fascinating seasons waiting for you
There should be a lot more sitcoms parodying the excesses of big tech.
Further watching
Evil slots in nicely with other excellent supernatural shows like Stranger Things, Dark, Twin Peaks, and The Leftovers. It’s an underrated seres that deserves more love. One of the other real knocks against it is that it’s on Paramount+, and it’s good enough to overcome even that handicap.
- Release Date
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2019 – 2023
- Network
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CBS, Paramount
- Showrunner
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Michelle King
- Directors
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Michelle King
- Writers
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Michelle King
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Katja Herbers
Kristen Bouchard
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Michael Emerson
Leland Townsend
