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

[Adam Lenhardt]

Rewatched the third season finale directly before watching the fourth season premiere, and it was a pretty seamless transition.

They might not have known this was going to be the final season, but it definitely feels like we're heading into the endgame with all of the references to the Book of Revelations.

In addition to the case of the week, we have:

• The coming of the Antichrist
• Father Acosta's mosquito demon
• Father Acosta's angelic visions
• Ben's jellyfish head demon
• Sheryl and Leeland brainwashing Andy
• Dr. Boggs's bad, bad thing
• Lynn's draw toward postulancy

It's amazing how this show can juggle so much without anything feeling shortchanged or forgotten about.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Great episode!

Kristen’s reaction at the very end was perfect.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Looking forward to the next 13 episodes. What a way to start the season.

"38 days".

I wonder if there will be a mid season break like last year? I hope they just run it straight with no breaks.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought the second episode was better than the first. Sheryl staring down a literal demon, only to be confronted with a literal glass ceiling? Chef's kiss.

It's interesting having Andy back in the house full time now, too. I thought the scene in the bathroom was really well done. It's a nightmare for a parent to be seen by the kids in that state, but both the writing and Patrick Brammall's performance made it clear how much Andy loves his girls; even though he's suffering some kind of mix of detox and hypnotic suggestion, and makes it very, very clear to them that the shit he is going through isn't because of them, and nothing they could do would put him in the state he is in.

The robot dogs were fun, but I thought it was weird that it took so long for the team to accept that they'd be hacked. People jailbreak their phones all of the time, so why not robots?

The storyline with David and the drawings is one of the very few objective indications on the side of good that there is more going on than can be rationally explained, after Grace Ling herself. I like how the Vatican is vast enough that whatever weird shit comes up, they have a specialist for that.

I wonder if there will be a mid season break like last year? I hope they just run it straight with no breaks.[/FONT]

I would bet that if there is a break, it's between episode 10 (the originally planned season finale) and episode 11 (the first of the four bonus episodes ordered when the series got cancelled). I believe they were mid-way through shooting episode 10 when the strike happened, so they would have had a huge head start on post-production for the original run of episodes.

But they just finished shooting the four additional episodes the week before last. There might not be enough time to complete all of the editing and visual effects on those episodes by late July.

That being said, it still wouldn't really be a mid-season break because the first 10 episodes tell a complete season arc, and the Kings are treating those four extra episodes as a short season 5.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The car ride where our three assessors lay all of their cards on the table about the weird shit they've been dealing with separately was a lot of fun.

Molly Brown was great as Leslie, the young woman having very definite second thoughts about being the surrogate mother to the Antichrist. The episode where David was hospitalized and targeted by the evil nurse was one of the most harrowing of the series, so to see her turn up here as Leslie's delivery room nurse was very unsettling.

I have to think that God would approve of Kristen going to Leslie's aid, even when she wants absolutely nothing to do with that baby, because it was the right thing to do. Kristen bonding with her biological son almost against her will was heartbreaking.

The three Gen Z exorcists who were inspired by Jesus's teachings but more than a little lackadaisical on the follow through were a fun development. One of the trio, Lilla Crawford, was the original Annie in the 2012 Broadway revival and Little Red Riding Hood in the film adaptation of Into the Woods.

I'm still not sure what Leland's plan for Dr. Boggs is.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This episode was full of big swings: Our assessors made it to the Vatican, and were ushered into the presence of the True Cross. On the flight home, when David used the papal holy water to destroy the demonic relic, Kristen and Ben got the most incontrovertible proof yet that supernatural forces are at work. At home, the Bouchard girls were left to their own devices and discovered what a horror show their house is. And called in their banished grandmother. And met their half-brother. Who is the Antichrist. And who has a special rapport with the sister sporting a demonic tail. And learned that he is in fact their brother.

I'm really enjoying Chukwudi Iwuji as Father Dominic. It's a very unique comedic wavelength he's tapped into for that character. Dominic's reaction when he was called out for not wanting to fly on the same plane as the artifact was priceless.

I do wonder if that's the last we've seen of Sydney Lemmon's flight attendant. She's a pretty big get for a pretty small role.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The fight between Leland and Sheryl was top notch, and neither of them came out the other side unscathed.

One thing this show understands, which movies like Poltergeist and The Conjuring also understood, is that there is a special kind of scary when the evil is coming from inside your home, the place you're supposed to feel safe and secure. The idea that the Bouchards literally had a tunnel to hell into their basement speaks to that terror very directly.

There's a lot to love about this show, but Sister Andrea might be its single greatest creation. I love her character (and Andrea Martin's performance) so much.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There is something very theologically powerful about the idea that even the Antichrist is not out of reach of God's salvation. And there is something spiritually satisfying about the idea of all of Satan's intricate schemes and vast international conspiracies being undone by one grandmother's fierce love and a mop bucket full of rain water instead of the Vatican's own intricate schemes and vast international conspiracies.

As much as I will miss this show when it's over, I'm glad it's going out while it's still potent instead of allowing it to start spinning its wheels.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Today's episode was originally intended to be the season finale, before the episode order got expanded when the show was canceled, and you can see why.

Sheryl went out like a boss. Leland should have known that she would keep receipts.

Dr. Boggs joins the ranks of those who can see demons, and he already sees the possibilities for his writing career.

When Sister Andrea and Lynn are praying at the bathtub, it's telling that Lexis is the one sister who doesn't join in. And when they all fall asleep later, Lexis is the furthest from Sister Andrea.

Given that they approached the four bonus episodes like a mini Season 5, and given that they knew going into them that the show was ending, we should be in for an intense ride for the remaining weeks.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Yep, excellent season finale.

For a moment I thought Leland was done and was wondering who would move into the main antagonist role for the final episodes. Of course that only lasted a moment.

I’m disappointed the show is ending but glad they got to do these next 4 episodes to wrap it up. Would have been rough for it to just end with this episode (even though it was great).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Andy is learning the hard way why you don't stick your dick in crazy. There are two ways to read his affair: 1) He's been cheating on Kristen right along, and finally got caught, or 2) the subconscious suggestion that Leland and Sheryl placed in his mind about Kristen having an affair with David got lodged in there, and he was spite fucking "Ellie" to get back at her. But whatever his feelings for his wife, I don't believe that Andy would continue in a relationship with "Ellie" once he finds out that she threatened his daughter.

Laura was remarkably resourceful this week given the extremely bizarre circumstances she found herself in.

With the Archdiocese shutting down the assessors program, it definitely feels like we're nearing the end.

As soon as John Carroll Lynch appeared as Leland's lawyer, I knew one of the big players had arrived. I'm thinking "Henry Stick" is actually Bael, the archdemon who rules over sixty-six legions of demons.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There was one genuinely shocking moment in this episode for me. Didn't see it coming at all, though I probably should have.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I feel these last 4 did bring a successful conclusion to the story. There definitely is enough thread that the series could continue if another network should choose that option.

I enjoyed these added episodes.

Kudos to all involved.

That said, I will miss this series.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yes, if this is all we get it feels like the threat of Leland has successfully been concluded. At the same time, I'm glad it wasn't a definitive ending, both for thematic reasons (the battle against evil is never over) and because it leaves room for a different iteration of the show in the future should circumstances provide for it.

I wouldn't mind waiting several years, and then picking up again when the Bouchard girls are grown and Timothy is around the age of Damian from The Omen. David and Kristen would still be running the Vatican's X-Files, Ben is a tech billionaire still haunted by his jinn, Lynn is the new Sister Andrea, and Lexis is an influential evangelist laying the groundwork for Timothy's rise.

Some social media posts commemorating the series's end:

 

[NeilO]

I'll definitely have to watch this sometime. I see the first 3 seasons are available at my local library on DVD. I'll have to remember to try the first season out.