Paramount+ Evil (Formerly on CBS) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

My problem with the show is that Kristen might be too vulnerable with having four daughters to be concern about.

 

[Walter Kittel]

In some respects a weaker episode. I've always felt like shows like this one that feature a 'team' are stronger when the dynamics between those members are featured. And while Ben was the only absent member, it still felt a bit off with him pursuing this other thread.

Another strong vote for supernatural in this episode with David's vision figuring prominently in the plot line, plus Kurt's reaction to the 'banishment' of the demon.

My initial reaction to 'Brenda' during the episode was that it felt too manipulative, and felt sort of shoe-horned into the episode; but if she is another manifestation of Rose390 then I'm willing to give it a bit more credence. And it does fit into the Halloween aesthetic, kids telling scary stories. The last scene with her presumably scarred face scaring kids on Halloween night was pretty effective. (I agree with Robert that the kids are Kristen's biggest vulnerability; although I am curious to see if this is sort of a head-fake and the show ultimately goes somewhere else - either with her mother or husband. Still no update on Rose390's ominous statement regarding her husband being in heaven, BTW.)

Grandma has kind of been dropping the ball, first with a gift that probably was better suited to older kids and her inattentiveness in this episode. Kirsten definitely needs to have a sit down with her.

- Walter.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I have always felt that Kristen's mother just can't be bothered. Seems Kristen calls her and Mom shows up, but has always been seen as a rather selfish person. This latest episode confirms that. She only became concerned when the sister came to to tell her what was going on. Why would she let the girls go downstairs with that huge hole in the foundation?

I believe "Brenda" is Rose390. I feel that the supernatural is going to affect Kristen, David and Ben (and by extension their family) moreso than what they investigate each week.

Really enjoyed the Exorcist visual, but I still find it hard to take her Counselor seriously (still have memories of Woody the coroner from Psych).

Didn't have sisters, but I did have cousins and one of our favorite passtimes was walking to the cemetery down from my grandparents home and playing games. I thought this episode just keeps building on the creepy factor. I just hope the coming payoff will be worth it (not like Lost).

 

[Dave Scarpa]

yeah to me the show relies way too heavily on using those annoying kids for shock value, and I dont have kids but those girls are manipilated way to easily thats whats creep[y I'm out

 

[Walter Kittel]

Kristen's downfall won't involve her children. It's going to be that horndog grandma.

Last Thursday's episode took things involving Leland too far over the top for me. Kind of detracted from the show and made the episode feel like one of the weakest to date. I am enjoying the chemistry of the cast, but I hope the plot lines become a little bit more credible.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Kristen's downfall won't involve her children. It's going to be that horndog grandma.

Last Thursday's episode took things involving Leland too far over the top for me. Kind of detracted from the show and made the episode feel like one of the weakest to date. I am enjoying the chemistry of the cast, but I hope the plot lines become a little bit more credible.

- Walter.

Yeah, I didn't like that episode either for the reasons you stated.

 

[Matt Hough]

Very intriguing episode this week. Grandma is definitely "under a spell," maybe not literally but certainly figuratively. That jerk ICE officer made me angry at the end. Why do people have to be assholes? It's just as easy to be nice as to be mean.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The mythology of the show is starting to become clearer. Either sixty demons are operating in concert with one another, or sixty very human monsters with a fetish for demonic iconography are operating in concert with one another.

The exorcism subplot had all of the fireworks, but the incel -- who read the coffee barista's casual everyday kindness as entitling him to some sort of romantic and/or sexual commitment -- being radicalized by Leland was more disturbing to me. Serial killers of children are fortunately very rare. But shit heels like that pathetic guy are all too common, and the internet is validating them in all of the wrong ways.

 

[Matt Hough]

I just got around to last week's episode tonight, and it had me spellbound from beginning to end. What a creepy, intriguing series.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just watched the latest new episode. It's really creepy and I can't stand Kristen's horny mother.

 

[Matt Hough]

Definitely her head is losing out to other portions of her anatomy in ignoring her daughter's warnings about this psychopath!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

In a strange way, this episode felt more like an episode of "The Good Wife" than an episode of "EVIL".

Renée Elise Goldsberry of course guest starred in over twenty episodes of "The Good Wife" as ASA Geneva Pine on "The Good Wife", before her breakout role as Angelica Schuyler in the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton. Her character here is a lot more fun than her "Good Wife" character, both more competent and more reckless.

Patrick Brammall is really well cast as Kristen's frequently absent husband Andy. You understand why Kristen married him, you understand why their daughters (with the exception maybe of the oldest) adore him, but you also understand why his mother-in-law scorns him and why Kristen feels the pull toward David. Andy is charming, intelligent, and handsome. He says all of the right things. But there is an underlying selfishness to him. It's why he leaves his family so frequently, and it's why he proposed that Kristen take off mountain climbing in the spring. It's a control move. He's used to be at the center of his family's world, he's used to his absences only strengthening his family's devotion to him. Now Kristen's got this new thing in her life, and he sees that it's giving her something other than him to be excited about. He sees the way the girls talk about Ben, for helping out around the house while he was gone. He's threatened by it, but he's too slick to be outwardly jealous about it. So he frames his jealousy as generosity.

I really like Peter Scolari as the new auxiliary bishop, Thomas Marx. He's decidedly odd, rather bluntly pragmatic, and neither an outright antagonist nor an unwavering ally.

The storyline with the incel, carried over from the previous episode, ended with a grim punchline. Yes, he was too pathetic to even get a mass shooting right. But it's not really a ha-ha joke, because he came very close to slaughtering a group of innocent parishioners in a scenario with too many real world parallels.

Incidentally, the Sixty and their demon sigils are a real thing, identified in the Ars Goetia, one component text of the 17th century text Lesser Key of Solomon. The book identifies 72 demons and their sigils, with 60 in the six highest ranks. So while the show is developing its own mythology, it's drawing heavily on Catholic canon and historical demonology.

Of the Sixty, the ones identified so far, as best as I can tell, are:

1. Dr. Leland Townsend
2. "Brenda," the little girl wearing the mask on Halloween. Possibly the same as Rose390.
3. Dwight Farrell, the husband of the woman who falsely confessed to murder while undergoing an exorcism. He had one of the sigils in the hiding place where he kept his trophies from his victims.
4. Adam Gardner, Leland's associate who trained the incel on how to fire weapons.

 

[Robert Crawford]

In a strange way, this episode felt more like an episode of "The Good Wife" than an episode of "EVIL".

Renée Elise Goldsberry of course guest starred in over twenty episodes of "The Good Wife" as ASA Geneva Pine on "The Good Wife", before her breakout role as Angelica Schuyler in the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton. Her character here is a lot more fun than her "Good Wife" character, both more competent and more reckless.

Patrick Brammall is really well cast as Kristen's frequently absent husband Andy. You understand why Kristen married him, you understand why their daughters (with the exception maybe of the oldest) adore him, but you also understand why his mother-in-law scorns him and why Kristen feels the pull toward David. Andy is charming, intelligent, and handsome. He says all of the right things. But there is an underlying selfishness to him. It's why he leaves his family so frequently, and it's why he proposed that Kristen take off mountain climbing in the spring. It's a control move. He's used to be at the center of his family's world, he's used to his absences only strengthening his family's devotion to him. Now Kristen's got this new thing in her life, and he sees that it's giving her something other than him to be excited about. He sees the way the girls talk about Ben, for helping out around the house while he was gone. He's threatened by it, but he's too slick to be outwardly jealous about it. So he frames his jealousy as generosity.

I really like Peter Scolari as the new auxiliary bishop, Thomas Marx. He's decidedly odd, rather bluntly pragmatic, and neither an outright antagonist nor an unwavering ally.

The storyline with the incel, carried over from the previous episode, ended with a grim punchline. Yes, he was too pathetic to even get a mass shooting right. But it's not really a ha-ha joke, because he came very close to slaughtering a group of innocent parishioners in a scenario with too many real world parallels.

Incidentally, the Sixty and their demon sigils are a real thing, identified in the Ars Goetia, one component text of the 17th century text Lesser Key of Solomon. The book identifies 72 demons and their sigils, with 60 in the six highest ranks. So while the show is developing its own mythology, it's drawing heavily on Catholic canon and historical demonology.

Of the Sixty, the ones identified so far, as best as I can tell, are:

1. Dr. Leland Townsend
2. "Brenda," the little girl wearing the mask on Halloween. Possibly the same as Rose390.
3. Dwight Farrell, the husband of the woman who falsely confessed to murder while undergoing an exorcism. He had one of the sigils in the hiding place where he kept his trophies from his victims.
4. Adam Gardner, Leland's associate who trained the incel on how to fire weapons.

A good episode. Is that cat demonic? I think so because how did it get in that closet?

 

[Matt Hough]

I thought the same thing in relation to this episode owing a great portion of its excellence to the patented legal face-offs the producers mastered in The Good Wife.

And that ironic end to the pitiful nebbish's life couldn't have been more appropriate (for him), truly an evil plan that went awry.

 

[Matt Hough]

A good episode. Is that cat demonic? I think so because how did it get in that closet?

I thought maybe the cat was the grandmother transformed!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Talk about a cliffhanger!

 

[Matt Hough]

Talk about a cliffhanger!

Boy, howdy, are you right about that!

This show continues to fascinate me with its unique plotting and creepy, eerie storylines. And Emerson's demon continues to keep his nasty fingers in a lot of pies that interact with our protagonists.

 

[Daalon]

Hey all! Just joined the forum. So, thanks for allowing me to join! Personally, I love this series.....until the season finale. Yes, the cliffhanger was quite nice. However, against all of its other episodes, I felt as if this one fell flat. To me and my wife, it was semi-boring, until the end. Really look forward to season 2, if there is one. My hope is that this episode was laying groundwork for season 2.

As for the grandmother in the show, I like her! But then again, I like a bit spunk in people! What I am not liking is how she is changing. Then again, it's not really that surprising. From the offset, she was already very....umm....wild?! Not really the word I want to use, but not sure how to phrase it. Guessing from what we have seen, Kristen, is the way she is due to seeing her mother's morale compass. So, we already have tension from them. Add in the psycho/demonic-possessed boyfriend and you have a great recipe for drama and even more tension. From a storytelling viewpoint, think they did a great job on her character. Remember reading or hearing a phrase once; if you dislike a character enough to give real emotions (be they negative or positive), the director, writer(s), and actor/actresses did a good job on that character. Too, these are just my opinions though. Anyways, look forward to reading the posts hear, getting know you and chatting about our favorite shows.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Welcome to the HTF, Kris!

Anyways, look forward to reading the posts hear, getting know you and chatting about our favorite shows.

That's EXACTLY what we like to do!

 

[Doug Wallen]

There are still 3 episodes left aren't there? They will be back in January, correct?

Would be some huge gap if that is where this ends.