Evil (2019) s03e10 – The Demon of the End

“Evil” leans heavily on this season finale being a transitory one, making efforts to close off some strangling story arcs. There’s some more complicated Katja Herbers and Mike Colter making eyes at each other; she, of course, doesn’t know his demon is just her in a schoolgirl outfit, which gets touched on this episode. Nun Andrea Martin shames Colter for not keeping his demons in check. She’s seemingly forgiven him from a few episodes ago, so now they can have awkward moments while Herbers’s husband, Patrick Brammall, is around for once.

Presumably. The show never seems to have Brammall available when they need him. He gets a significant arc in this episode, which ends with at least two threads going into season four. The only person without a future-facing plot line is Aasif Mandvi, actually. He’s just along for the ride.

The episode begins with a resolution to last episode’s shocking cliffhanger. Turns out Li Jun Li isn’t going to be a new regular; there are some “trust us, we’re the Catholic Church” shenanigans, with the episode further pressing the religiosity button. They try real hard to give Herbers a “questioning her agnosticism” story arc. She makes a deal with God and everything at one point. It’s not a great arc, but Herbers is lined up for an all-time big reaction scene at the beginning of next season, so the show makes it up to her. And it does give her and Colter more time together.

There’s a possibility Wallace Shawn is joining the show as a regular next episode. It seems like the job’s his if he wants it. He’s good. But the show’s also set up so it doesn’t need him to return regularly to keep things going; they’ve got the requisite cast down to an already unmanageable ten, but with fourteen or so familiar characters. It’s such a big show for so little.

The case involves Herbers’s previously off-screen only newish neighbor, Quincy Tyler Bernstine. Bernstine and Herbers share a duplex, an arrangement the show’s never made particularly clear before. The place next door is haunted and it seems to be because Brammall flushed a demon baby head down the toilet at the beginning of the season. The mystery keeps Herbers close to home for her family arc there; otherwise, it’s barely relevant. The big season finale stuff more involves Brammall, and then Herbers’s missing egg from her fertility clinic. They tack a scene on with it to get to the main cliffhanger.

It’s okay? Probably the smoothest John Dahl-directed episode I remember and, given my aversion to seeing Rockne S. O’Bannon’s name on the script credit, probably his smoothest episode too? It’s “Evil,” there’s only so much it can ever do.

Oh, there is some great stuff with Martin and Herbers’s oldest daughter, Brooklyn Shuck. It’s the first time in ages Shuck’s shown any character outside being part of the sister banter.

Evil (2019) s03e09 – The Demon of Money

For a show about literally Satanic demons and humans cannibalizing each other to serve their dark lords, “Evil” hasn’t had any significant cast deaths. Certainly not any of the leads, none of the supporting regulars; I don’t even think they’ve had a repeat guest star die off.

Well, unless you’re killed by one of the show leads. I can think of one character.

This episode ends with a supporting character’s death, a relatively big one, with an absolutely lovely finish for regular viewers. I assume everyone who watches “Evil” at this point is a regular viewer.

But the finale’s this tense sequence with one character out to kill another returning guest star, but then another returning guest star interceding. At any point, it could’ve been any of them to go. Incredibly suspenseful for “Evil,” which usually shies away from horror and suspense.

Great direction from Yap Fong-yee.

The main story is about a haunted stock, which ties into the demon map, which ties into returning guest star (no spoilers) Li Jun Li, who came back in what seemed like a cameo last episode but now seems almost a regular recurring character? The episode leans heavy on making Li part of the team in some capacity, thanks to her fortune-telling skills (straight from God’s lips to hers) and really liking hanging out with Herbers’s kids. They go to an indoor amusement thing with a ball pit. It’s silly and broad (Li has Vatican bodyguards), unlike “Evil,” but also what it needs.

While last episode seemed like the series was getting a soft reset in preparation for season four, this episode pulls back on that idea in some areas while accelerating in others. Thanks to the shocking finale, the actual cast change will have major repercussions.

Though any lasting repercussions would be novel on the show.

The mystery doesn’t get much resolution, rather a punchline, as there are more important things going on, like Li being able to tell Christine Lahti’s in league with the dark ones, Kurt Fuller getting Herbers to read his Satanically influenced book draft, and so on. The stock plot, which has the principals giving each other a stock tip to test a scary man appearing, gets a little lost in the second half, but it also doesn’t really matter.

Some terrific acting from Aasif Mandvi, whose incredulity crumbles when faced with an imminent supernatural threat.

It’s an “Evil” episode where things happen. It feels like ages since they’ve done one of these.

Evil (2019) s03e08 – The Demon of Parenthood

As the end of season three approaches, “Evil” seemingly does a soft reset and closes off two big outstanding story arcs. The mysterious, demonic fertility clinic–which the gang discovered, I think, in the first season and have been waiting seasons to resolve–might finally be done. And then Li Jun Li’s maybe reincarnated Jesus, a Chinese woman imprisoned in a labor camp. What’s strange about the closures is the show not really getting anything else going in their place, especially since they just wound down the Andrea Martin arc without any fanfare.

I mean, Kurt Fuller’s continued dalliances with Michael Emerson in pursuit of literary success at demonic cost. And then Katja Herbers and Mike Colter are in a fight after she realizes he’s been keeping important things from her (and Aasif Mandvi, who doesn’t seem to care). But they’re not on the outs; they’re just trying radical honesty, including about Colter hanging out with Vatican secret agent Brian d’Arcy James.

Colter’s mission this episode involves giving James a code word, only Colter mistakenly gives him the wrong code word by accident. Although Colter’s good and Aisha Tyler’s direction is solid, it’s a somewhat sophomoric arc.

Meanwhile, Herbers finds out her missing egg has been implanted into a woman, Lauren Norvelle, who is rapidly approaching her due date. Norvelle’s husband, Charlie Semine, is pretty sure the baby’s demonic. And Herbers is having night terrors involving daughter Maddy Crocco (who everyone just assumes is demonic) and demon Marti Matulis.

Crocco’s got her own subplot with Christine Lahti, who takes Crocco to work to show her the demonic boss (also Matulis, unfortunately, they missed a great chance at a Ted Danson cameo). The fallout from that meeting could change the entire trajectory of the main plot.

The series’ main plot, not the episode main plot, which is ostensibly about demonic toys from a toy shop. People are buying toys, taking them home, then discovering they’ve changed to be in some way frightening. They don’t spend much time on the investigation besides Mandvi’s forensic stuff because it’s all a red herring to set up Colter’s secret agent arc.

Herbers’s nightmarish arc with the expecting couple offsets Colter’s antics pretty well, but if “Evil” keeps going in this new direction… it’s hard to say what next season may hold. It’ll depend on what arcs make it. About the only one they have left is Herbers’s husband, Patrick Bramell, who Emerson and Lahti are torturing for eternity.

Get that one wrapped up, and it’s back to square one.

Oh, the script—credit to Sarah Acosta—is sometimes silly and usually too perfunctory, but it’s got the best cursing in the show since its move to streaming.

Evil (2019) s03e07 – The Demon of Cults

In addition to “Evil”'s most acute religion observation in the entire series, this episode is also an Aasif Mandvi episode, which gets it all sorts of goodwill. It’s also got a handful of concerning developments, principally Kurt Fuller falling in with Michael Emerson. Fuller decides he’s going to write a book about seeing the demon and goes to ask nun Andrea Martin for help on the subject. Martin tells him to get some Jesus and stop being a white guy about it. So Emerson approaches Fuller to offer the Dark Lord’s help.

And Fuller goes for it, kicking off what’s inevitably going to be a significant subplot… someday. It’s bewildering because Fuller’s always been, in addition to functionally atheist, an okay guy. So immediately giving in to temptation—in the form of Emerson, no less—is a surprise.

Speaking of significant subplots someday… this episode finally reveals what put lead Katja Herbers in Emerson’s sights, way back before the pilot. It’s got to do with daughter Maddy Crocco being fertilized at a demon clinic. Vatican troubleshooter Brian d’Arcy James—i.e., child rape and murder cover-upper—comes to visit Mike Colter and asks him to sneak a monitoring device into Crocco’s room. Of course, Colter says no but then gets suspicious of Crocco when over for dinner.

There’s eventually a showdown between Colter and James on the subject, with a big twist—James is fine appealing to Herbers, not Colter. This scene would be excellent if it weren’t immediately invalidated by the next one; after Herbers storms out after shaming the Patriarchy, she gets a call about the episode’s case (off-screen) and completely calms down. End of character development. It’s something else they can put off.

Without the decompressed, pseudo-procedural plotting, I wonder if “Evil” even has enough story for a season.

Anyway.

The main case involves a possessed Christian hippie. When Colter, Herbers, and Mandvi go to investigate, it turns out Mandvi already knows the reincarnated Yeshua (as in Heysus). She’s scientist Gia Crovatin, and she’s very hot for Mandvi’s bod. So Mandvi’s got this weird, cult-investigation and sexual thriller episode while Colter and Herbers futz around with the subplots.

It’s a fairly exploitative, manipulative episode but well-executed. Good direction from Yap Fong-yee, low middling script credited to Louisa Hill. Fred Murphy’s photography goes a lot moodier and darker for some of the episode, which hasn’t been the norm. Maybe it’s representative of Colter’s suspicions and fears… just unsuccessfully.

So, mixed bag, some big highlights, though.

Evil (2019) s03e06 – The Demon of Algorithms

It seems like it’s been a while since “Evil” has done a “modern technology will ruin our lives” fear-mongering episode. Or maybe it’s just Algorithms fully integrates “Evil”’s streaming status (f-bombs galore) with the format, making it feel like the epitome of the sub-genre. This episode’s about TikTok and how it ruins everyone’s life. The episode accidentally raises the real concern TikTok’s format could have terrible consequences for someone suffering Munchausen by proxy but someone psychiatrist Katja Herbers doesn’t realize it.

The episode starts with Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi investigating a possession. The episode’s got two cases; teenager Malina Weissman’s live-streamed possession and single mom Lena Hall’s live-streamed house haunting. In between, Mandvi posts debunking videos, which bring him more hate than hearts, and Herbers and Colter also become addicted to the videos. Herbers watches drunk mom tips while Colter watches horny or marginalized priest confessions. The trio is constantly getting notifications to watch new videos, which raises some real questions about whether the “Evil” writers’ room knows how to silence notifications or if they just assume their viewers are too stupid to silence notifications. Neither option’s great.

Especially since we’re supposed to believe Mandvi’s a genius.

There are also some other yuck connotations once Colter gives up the TikTok for letting a demon suck on his soul. “Evil” always plays like the Catholic Church pays half the budget, but this episode also feels like the FCC is writing plot points. However, the TikTok stand-in is American (and intentionally ruining people’s lives), not Chinese. It’s also unrelated to Christine Lahti’s subplot about working for a literal demon at a tech start-up. It feels like the things should be more connected.

Other than the Gen-Xers discovering TikTok, the main subplot is Herbers’s daughters outing Michael Emerson as a sixty-year-old man pretending to be a teenage boy on their Animal Crossing internet game. It ought to be a lot more fun, though it’s nice to see Emerson getting even limited comeuppance. Then the finale has a big, concerning reveal for another subplot.

Decent direction from Peter Sollett keeps things moving, even though Hall’s bad as the haunted house mom and the script (credited to Patricia Ione Lloyd) condescends to the audience. It’s a strangely hacky episode. While it’s got the best use of cursing on the former network show, it feels most like a network burner episode. “Evil” can’t catch a break.

Evil (2019) s03e05 – The Angel of Warning

The sad thing about this episode is Matthew Kregor’s direction is good. The episode starts with Mike Colter getting called to his first emergency crisis intervention; a building collapses, and he’s there to talk to the Catholics. He doesn’t remember his collar; everyone thinks he’s a cop; it’s fairly amusing despite the grim circumstances; it’s probably the best the episode gets.

A handful of survivors see an angel. Throughout the episode, Colter and Katja Herbers will have independent experiences with the same angel. Obviously, the show gives some reasonable doubt outs for the experiences—with Colter’s being the show’s running subplot, is all this religious mumbo jumbo real?

The show’s got four plot lines: the angel investigation, Colter defending nun Andrea Martin at her hearing, Christine Lahti’s professional stuff (albeit demonic), and Herbers’s kids being scared at the right-wing fear-mongering grandma Lahti publishes to the internet. But, of course, no one in the family knows about Lahti’s job because Lahti doesn’t want Herbers knowing she’s a cannibal.

None of the plot lines pay off. Most intentionally. The angel investigation is all a red herring to tie into Colter and Martin’s hearing. Martin’s always trying to convince Colter to believe his visions, but he has a very obvious eureka moment during the angel investigation about race and religious idolatry. All of it wraps nicely into the resolution for Martin’s hearing, which gives Kurt Fuller one of his two scenes; there are still big unanswered questions outstanding with him. The show’s been ignoring one of Herbers’s kids having a demon tail all season; ignoring Fuller’s possible religious conversion is small potatoes.

Lahti’s arc is the most amusing. She gets to be funny, awkward, enthusiastic, confident, scared, uncomfortable, confused. All sorts of things. The rest of the cast gets maybe two emotions; Aasif Mandvi gets one. He doesn’t get jack this episode.

The script—credited to Rockne S. O’Bannon (which I think should be a red flag) and Erica Larson—impressively ties some of the threads together and gives director Kregor a lot of setups for character development, but none of it goes anywhere. “Evil” is all about kicking the can down the road another few episodes; they haven’t even been back to the demonic adoption agency since saying they would be at the end of last season.

Episodes like this one, with its big but presently unimportant reveals, seem geared for fifteen-second clips in future recaps, not an actual story.

I’d been getting too bullish on “Evil.” This episode’s an adjustment.

Evil (2019) s03e04 – The Demon of the Road

“Evil”’s original conceit was a supernatural procedural. Hot priest-to-be Mike Colter, hot-but-appropriately-aged psychiatrist Katja Herbers, and funny and cute tech guy Aasif Mandvi investigate cases and prove they’re either not supernatural, or their solution gets left up in the air, but the danger abates.

It’s changed over the seasons, though this episode leans in heavy on the religious people—both Churchy and Demonic—are just more susceptible to hallucination, whether through brain chemistry or mental health conditions. Not important. Yet. Maybe next episode.

Anyway.

The show’s always maintained the procedural element—they’re demon-busters on a mission from God (well, the Christian god, well, the Catholic god)–but often mysteries get solved off-screen or not at all or don’t even turn out to be mysteries. Sometimes the approach makes “Evil” better; sometimes, it makes it worse. This episode is straight procedural and for the better. The demon-busters get a case, they investigate, they solve.

It ties into the overarching “cannibal demon cults” plot line, with some biggish reveals; it’s subplots for Herbers’s family, Andrea Martin’s got a big subplot where Michael Emerson’s successfully relying on the Catholic Church’s misogyny to force her to retire. But it’s a mystery episode, first and foremost.

And it’s a good, creepy, fun mystery.

Trucker KeiLyn Durrel Jones has a strange experience driving one night and blacks out. When he gets home, he starts sleepwalking and getting scary to his wife, Jennean Farmer. She goes to Colter, who agrees to investigate the case (it’s unclear why his boss didn’t want to take it).

So Colter, Herbers, and Mandvi road trip to upstate New York and have a creepy experience with a possible drone, possible flying demon. They spend the rest of the episode solving the case while having bizarre experiences related to it. It’s all perfectly straightforward.

The other subplots range in prominence. It seems like Martin’s is important, even bringing in Kurt Fuller for an appearance, but then doing nothing with him after implying they would. Herbers’s worried about not setting a good example for her daughters—as a self-advocating woman—but it ends up just reminding why her husband, Patrick Brammall, is such a dipshit.

The demon cults is just the last scene reveal, though it does figure in—at least somewhat—to Martin’s story.

Good direction from Peter Sollett, decent script (credited to Dewayne Darian Jones). It’s not a big swing “Evil,” but it’s an assured, successful one.

Evil (2019) s03e03 – The Demon of Sex

This episode ends with an odd, incomplete feeling. There’s no oomph to any of the storylines, and the resolutions are all put off until next time. There’s not even a cliffhanger, just Katja Herbers and Andrea Martin not being shitty to each other. It feels like a long episode cut up, but it also feels like the first really streaming episode of “Evil.” Whenever there’s an F-bomb, it’s a good F-bomb, onscreen, in scene, not tacked on later to flex.

The investigation plot this episode involves a newly married couple—Freddy Miyares and Freddy Miyares—having troubles in the martial bed. They’re both virgins, and whenever they try getting busy, he gets nauseous and she breaks out in hives. Initially, now priest Mike Colter thinks they just need a couples’ counselor, but nun Martin convinces him there’s a demon. Because she can see and talk to the demon. I’m not sure if it’s a new demon costume, but it’s not a good one. It’s like “Evil” knows it’s got its audience; it doesn’t need to try anymore.

Colter calls Herbers in to consult, then disappears for the episode, presumably off on secret Vatican secret service business like covering up more Indigenous Canadian child murders or something. Herbers and Martin don’t hit it off, but they agree to work together—there’s a weird “we’re being condescending to another woman” stand-off they do, but it’s well-acted weird, so it’s okay.

Will Herbers figure out how to keep the demon out of the martial bed? Will Martin get in trouble for talking during the meetings? It’s high-stakes stuff.

Aassif Mandvi’s got the other main plot. He’s suffering from depression thanks to his job; specifically, the mysteries of “Evil” leaves unresolved after the episode finishes. His sister, Sohina Sidhu, decides she’s going to help him out of his funk. It’s a good character episode for Mandvi, who gets to do more and different things than usual. His semi-breakdown starts when he can’t fix Herbers’s toilet; her husband flushed a shrunken blood sacrifice to Satan head down the toilet in the first episode of the season, and it’s been causing plumbing problems since. It gets to be too much for Mandvi.

Then there’s some stuff with Herbers and her kids being mentally abusive to one another. It’s unsuccessful except for tying into Christine Lathi’s superior workplace subplot. Michael Emerson tasks her with selling demonic crypto, only he really puts her millennial drones in charge. Lathi’s not going to take their shit and has to figure out how to succeed selling nonsense. Crypto and religion. “Evil”’s got all the nothing for sale.

Lathi’s great this episode, Mandvi’s great this episode. Martin’s only okay, which isn’t great. And Herbers is only okay, too; despite being around a bunch, she’s got nothing to herself.

It’s a peculiar episode. If it’d had some kick, it’d be one of the better this season. But, instead, makes you wonder if they know what they’re doing. Like when Monsignor Boris McGiver comes off like a total rube and draws attention to him always being a total rube, which is a problem since he’s the patriarch.

Nelson McCormick’s direction is fine; it’s the dramatically stalled script, credit to not new-to-“Evil” Aurin Squire.

Evil (2019) s03e02 – The Demon of Memes

Usually, when “Evil” veers too far into Catholic Church propaganda, Katja Herbers remarks about them all being a bunch of pedophiles or pedophile enablers. I can’t remember if she mentioned they killed hundreds of indigenous Canadians and buried them in holes.

She’s not in the scenes she needs to be this episode to make such comments, so the episode—script credit to Davita Scarlett—does one big fake news related to the Church’s crimes and a second eyebrow-raiser. The first involves the episode’s “case.” Kids are spray painting a message on Catholic properties as part of an online prank; in reality, people are spray painting messages about the Church covering up the murders of hundreds of indigenous Canadian children.

The eyebrow-raiser is Mike Colter’s subplot, which has him joining the Vatican secret service. Appropriately suspicious Brian d’Arcy James recruits him, with the mission involving one of the series’s outstanding but forgotten big arcs. Not the one directly affecting most of the cast (the demonic fertility agency), but rather a considerably less pressing one. Colter asks about the fertility agency, but the Vatican’s not interested. Live demon babies are a-okay.

But obviously, the Vatican secret service is for laundering Nazi gold and shuffling rapists.

Anyway.

The rest of the episode checks most of the “Evil” boxes. The kids are slightly in danger: daughter Brooklyn Shuck knows a boy who’s doing the pranks; he’s got to do it. Otherwise, this demon the kids can see on Google Maps will kill him. Herbers and Aasif Mandvi investigate—Colter’s called away on secret business—and find a grad student (Jay Will) squatting. The episode flexes about unused living spaces and people experiencing homelessness, but it’ll demonize them by the end.

Shuck accidentally sees the demon on Google Maps, so she’s worried she’ll be next. The show never explains how her friend, Uly Schlesinger, who’s locked himself in his room for days, counting down the clock on the curse, has apparently been doing the required tasks for the demon. Shuck starts the list: they all occur outside your room.

That plot takes a backseat to Colter’s, which is fine; it’s not a very good mystery. And at least Colter’s plot is intriguing. Though Herbers and Mandvi do go visit returning guest star Brooke Bloom for a scene; it’s the first Herbers has seen Bloom since killing her serial killer husband, which Colter definitely knows about but thinks the visit is okay, and Mandvi suspects and maybe doesn’t think the visit is okay.

Meanwhile, Christine Lahti, Michael Emerson, and Tim Matheson are conspiring against Herbers’s husband, Patrick Brammall. He wants to kick Lahti out of his house—which, unbeknownst to Brammall, would probably put his daughters very much in immediate danger from Emerson. It’s a weird subplot because Brammall’s such a jackass you’re rooting for the bad guys to get him off the show.

It’s a very low okay episode. Herbers and Shuck don’t have enough chemistry in their mother and daughter scenes, the one jump scare’s super cheap, and the cliffhanger’s boring. But at least Colter gets something to do; hopefully, that emphasis will continue this season.

Evil (2019) s03e01 – The Demon of Death

The opening titles for this episode show up about halfway through the forty-five-minute episode. They’re full “movie” credits, getting all the guest stars, going through the entire crew; big stylistic flex because “Evil” knows it’s earned it, at least for this episode.

The action starts right where we left off, Katja Herbers and Mike Colter finally giving in to their sexual tension—he just needed to become a priest for them to give in—and it’s an intense scene. It’s got episode-long repercussions; it’s a long-threatened plot point, and the show delivers on it. Actually, lots of this episode is just “Evil” fulfilling promises.

For example, there’s no more delay with Herbers telling her kids Michael Emerson is a bad guy and needs to be treated as such. Of course, she doesn’t mention the reason he’s interested in Maddy Crocco is because they got her at a demonic sperm bank or something, but the kids have a good plot in this episode. The show’s obviously still doing its “this online thing is probably dangerous for your kids,” but it’s a valid one this time and has a solid conclusion.

Then Patrick Brammall’s back home, seemingly throwing a wrench in Herbers and Colter’s timing, but then he decides to pick a fight with literally demonic mother-in-law Christine Lahti. Lots of promise for that story arc coming up; a couple of Lathi’s scenes are particularly great. The character’s got much more potential when not playing rube to Emerson.

The investigation plot involves a twenty-one grams-type experiment. Scientist Ruthie Ann Miles (who’s good but barely in the episode) wants the Catholic Church to provide her with someone dying so she can measure the weight to the picogram. They give her dying, bah humbug priest Wallace Shawn. Only when they try to weigh his death… Shawn comes out alive and cured. The show doesn’t get into the science, instead focusing on a rejuvenated Shawn’s new outlook, including his friendship with monsignor Boris McGiver. It’s probably McGiver’s best acting on the show, though he’s never had anything particularly difficult before. And Shawn’s a delight.

Also regulars Andrea Martin and Kurt Fuller show up for a little scene together, which also has Martin and Herbers meeting for the first time. Again, it’s future promise stuff, with everyone thinking about Herbers and Colter only not knowing what’s really going on. Though Herbers and Colter have different perspectives as well.

Aasif Mandvi doesn’t get anything to do but support. He’s excellent as always, just wish he’d had a little something more but setting the tone for the season—they get to use curse words intentionally now, with this season their first written from scratch for streaming versus broadcast—is more important.

Written by series creators Michelle King and Robert King (he also directed), it’s one of the stronger hours of “Evil” I can remember. Partially because it doesn’t make any significant fumbles, but also because the cast does so well with the material.