In the fall, when TV shows premiere en masse, I reviewed some of the new offerings, including CBS’s Evil, a show that still--as I said then--confuses me. However, that confusion isn’t a bad thing. I believe the show deserves another check-in, now that the first season has ended.
The show follows Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), a forensic psychologist, as she teams up with David Acosta (Mike Coulter), a priest in training, and Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi), a technological expert who can fix almost anything. While both David and Ben are contracted by the Catholic Church to investigate the legitimacy of various possession claims and supernatural occurrences, Kristen sort of falls into the job as the reluctant straight man, falling somewhere in between David (who always thinks it could be possession) and Ben (who sees everything through a technological lens). Kristen tries to deal with her feelings for David (which are maybe romantic? Hard to say!), her relationship with her husband (who’s been away on an Everest expedition for a long time), and her fear of the antagonistic Dr. Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson). After Kristen runs into Leland in court a few times, and after he says some very creepy things to her, Kristen begins to suspect him in a larger plot that includes hurting her family and, for whatever reason, dating her wild mother. It’s all a lot, honestly.
Let’s all make sense of this together. Without any further fuss, let’s break down the top five weird things about Evil. Some spoilers to follow!
1- It’s still a procedural drama, but not in the way you might expect.
Each episode features some sort of issue that must be solved; sometimes it’s a possessed person the church is investigating to determine if an exorcism is needed. Sometimes, it’s an internal problem with Kristen’s family--like her kids being dumb and getting into something they shouldn’t. Regardless, each episode features a problem that links into an overarching narrative about a web of demons plotting to like...do some evil? It’s not entirely clear, but we do know that a large threat is imminent, and it’s probably demon related. That brings me to point two.
2- The demons aren’t real--or maybe they are.
Evil has done a great job of remaining fairly ambiguous about the presence of actual demons, even though demons--the manifestation of pure evil--are sort of a central part of the show. Part of the reason that the demons seem sort of ridiculous is that Evil never strays too far from campy tone. The demons are sassy. They are petty. And I am here for it. When an exorcism goes wrong, Kristen tries to intervene with psychology during Bridget Farell’s exorcism, Bridget cattily replies, “Oh, here comes the child psychology. Do your best, bitch.” The over-the-top delivery by Annaleigh Ashford, partnered with the show’s refusal to acknowledge that this line is absurd, made it a moment I can’t forget. I’ll be thinking about it forever.
However, it’s unclear whether many of these demons are real, or if they are manifestations of various psychological disabilities--especially schizophrenia, but also depression and other brain imbalances. While the Vatican always believes that any funny business is the work of a demon, Kristen--and sometimes David, too--maintains that there are often real-world issues underlying weird phenomena. The show often does something I love, where it will show something silly, like a demon portrayed with a very bad costume, then refuse to acknowledge it’s not real. This method plays with viewers’ expectations and keeps us guessing as to what’s real and not real within the world of the show. A full season in, I’m still not entirely sure that all the demons portrayed on Evil are real, but I am sure that I’m enjoying them and their weirdness.
George, just chillin and cutting a hand. As you do.
3- Kristin has her own personal demon, George.
You heard that right. George. Evil has confirmed something I’ve long believed--scary things are still scary when they’re named mundane things. George appears to Kristen exclusively at night, leading her to believe he’s a sleep paralysis hallucination. She confronts him with logic, telling him what parts of her brain are working against her to make him appear to her. Even when Kristen’s children begin seeing George, Kristen doesn’t flinch too much. After all, George is her personal demon, not theirs. The idea that a demon can A) be named George, a completely normal name, and B) be funny, joking with Kristen and threatening her in weirdly lighthearted ways, is refreshing in a show about supernatural things. Of course, George also does some naughty things like threaten the Bouchard children’s lives and torture Kristen--both sexually and with knives--while she sleeps. But hey, what do you want from a demon?
Leland seems nice, right?
4--The show plays with what’s real.
Even beyond the demons featured on the show, Evil messes with the very concept of reality through a series of hallucinations--or visions, depending on who you believe. When David struggles to hear God’s will for him, he turns to hallucinogenic mushrooms and forces a vision from the heavens, or at least that’s how he justifies it. Similarly, other characters in the show experience visions or hallucinations; Kristen has eerily prophetic dreams at times, and Grace (a supposed prophet) has visions of the future that can sometimes save others. As with the demons, the show leaves it up to viewers whether these moments of clarity are sent from God, the devil, or just some weird happenstance.
Other times, the show uses that ambiguity to comment on bigger issues, like modern medicine. In a particularly interesting episode, David finds himself hospitalized after a brutal mugging, left at the whims of nurses and medication. David begins seeing things and hearing things; his roommate tells him the night nurse wants to kill black people specifically, and David begins to see bodies being taken away, thrown out, all while his night nurse tortures him. The episode is gruesome, especially for anyone who’s not a fan of body horror, but it makes an important point. There is something wrong with the medical system, even if that something isn’t demons per se. Discrimination in healthcare is an old tale, but one that still needs telling. We never really know whether David’s time in the hospital is the act of evil or bad physicians, but by the end of the episode, it really doesn’t matter. We’ve seen the problem.
5-Nothing is too serious--until it is.
Don’t get me wrong with all my talk of demons, this show is funny. It’s funny in its absurdity, in its refusal to explain anything to the viewer, in its dedication to absolutely insane plotlines. And honestly, it’s better for all that. There’s been a rash of shows in the past few years (especially prestige television) that take themselves very seriously. Likewise, critics have taken these shows very seriously as well, leading people to follow critical advice over personal opinion. This is a personal soapbox of mine, and I am a huge advocate for people giving things a chance before outright dismissing them. Evil is one of those shows that could be critically panned, but somehow manages to be fun despite itself. In my initial review of the show, I wasn’t too sure about the premise or the execution, but I’m glad I stuck with it. In the slew of shows I reviewed for my fall TV preview, Evil is the only one that survived the gauntlet, and I can’t wait to see what happens in season two.
To end this post, I’m including a song from Evil, composed by Jonathan Coulton, to give you a taste of how absurd the show is.