At the beginning ofEvilSeason 4, when psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) is confronted with seemingly undeniable proof that her once-missing frozen ovum has been used to make the Antichrist, whose birth is now only a matter of days away, all she can do is laugh. It’s a moment inthe series' final installmentthat feels like the best way to illustrate the myriad of feelings one experiences while watching this show. AlthoughEvilfirst started out airing on CBS, it made the jump to Paramount+ in its second season — whichenabled the show to get even scarier, nastier, and in some cases, hornier, courtesy of co-creatorsRobertandMichelle King’swillingness to take advantage of the freedoms of streamingfor a more sinful final edit.
That shift in platforms also, dare I say it, made the series even better than what it would have been had it needed to conform to network censorship rules — but whileprevious seasons ofEvilcould certainly be described as deliciously unhinged,the show’s swan song leans into surprisingly emotional territory, as if sensing we’re all about to say farewell to its characters (provided another streamer doesn’t swoop in and snatch this show up for themselves).
“Evil,” the 2019 TV series from creators Robert and Michelle King, is a gripping exploration of the intersection between science and the supernatural. The series stars Katja Herbers as Dr. Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist drawn into a world of dark mysteries and unexplained phenomena. Alongside priest-in-training David Acosta (Mike Colter) and tech expert Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi), Kristen is tasked with investigating a series of bizarre cases for the Catholic Church, including demonic possessions, hauntings, and miracles.
What Is ‘Evil’ Season 4 About?
AlthoughEvilhas been hinting at the show building to a bigger clash between heaven and hell,Season 4 sets the drama a little closer to home for our intrepid trio of supernatural investigators. For Kristen, this manifests through something akin to a crisis of faith, as she decides that she’s much better off abandoning those touchstones of religion she’d formerly relied on and living from a much safer scientific perspective. It’s clearly a defense mechanism, but where newly-minted priest David Acosta (Mike Colter) might have more pointedly challenged Kristen before, now he’s got his own problems to deal with as a secret agent of The Entity, performing tasks at the request of the Vatican — and a new handler — that seem increasingly linked to the intense visions he’s been having.
Where those visions will lead, time will likely tell, but Kristen and David aren’t the only ones who find themselveswrestling with supernatural dilemmas. After a minor accident during an investigation into their first spooky case of the new season, resident tech expert Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) starts… seeing things. More specifically, he starts seeing what appears to be a djinn, although his first impulse is to rationalize it away with a combination of medicine and cognitive tests. But what happens when even the biggest skeptic on the team can’t explain away the inexplicable?
Meanwhile,our favorite demonic devotee, Dr. Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson), is hard at workto ensure that the Antichrist — you know, the one conceived with Kristen’s stolen egg — arrives on his predestined due date. That doesn’t mean he’s too busy to mess with former girlfriend and Kristen’s estranged mother, Sheryl (Christine Lahti), now that the two of them are sharing an office setting. Given that Leland is still in a slight position of authority over Sheryl, he clearly delights in sending her off on menial, thankless tasks — like handling a chauvinist pig of a demon who needs to be reeled in — and dangling the promise of promotion in front of her, only to deliver it in the most demeaning way possible. (The fact that she ends up in a corner office with a literal glass ceiling is a perfect example of how exquisitely sharpEvil’s sense of humor can be.)
’Evil’s Final Season Adds Two Hollywood Icons for Leland’s Trial
The horror series returns for one final supersized scare later this month.
‘Evil’s Final Season Hits Harder Thanks To Heavier Plotlines
Evil’s ability to gleefully skewer its characters is outweighed by its more dramatic moments this season — and no one seems to be getting put more through the wringer than Kristen herself. Although her initial reaction to the Antichrist news is that aforementioned hysterical laughter, we see her wrestling with what the loss of her ovum really means to her in the background of the series’ typical monster-of-the-week cases. Even if she and mountain-climbing husband Andy (Patrick Brammall) have no real intention of getting pregnant again — not whentheir four delightful daughtersare as chaotic as ever —there’s still a sadness that permeates through Kristen’s arcthis season, especially when she unexpectedly finds herself bonding with the woman tasked with birthing this supposed Antichrist. Whileprevious seasons ofEvilhave definitely seen Kristen unravelingto seemingly a point of no return, Season 4 finds the character running a gamut of complex emotions, which Herbers navigates as deftly as she always has.
WhileEvilhas built up the success of its storyaround its cast, there are only so many moments the season delivers that feature its main trio all together — moments which succeed in reminding youjust how good Herbers, Colter, and Mandvi’s chemistry iswhen they get to bounce off each other on-screen. The show also seems to want to split them up to navigate their own problems individually, rather than conquering them together as a team, but maybe that’s the point. (In fairness, the characters also seem to realize this themselves once they all start being more honest with each other in one small but important scene in the car, leading Kristen to demand that David pull over so they can all hug it out as a group.) Rounding out the ensemble is also the welcome return ofAndrea Martin’s Sister Andrea, who continues to be a front-seat witness to some of the season’s vilest demons, as well asWallace Shawn’s Father Ignatius, who takes over the responsibility of assigning parish cases in the wake of Monsignor Korecki’s (Boris McGiver) death.
The fact thatEvilmight be gearing up to air its closing chapterconjures mixed feelings. The show’s debut over on Netflix does prompt hope that renewed interest in the show, alongside an influx of new viewers, might be enough to successfully resurrectEvilfor more beyond its planned conclusion — or it might not. If this is truly the end, it’s time to celebrateone of the best and boldest TV shows out there, and, based on the four episodes provided for review, Season 4 is already shaping up to be quite the victory lap. Whatever happens next forEvil, it’s been a hell of a ride.
Evil returns for a fourth season that leans into just as much poignant drama as it does its trademark dark comedy.
EvilSeason 4 premieres May 23 on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch on Paramount+
