Evil Seasons 1-3: Should You Watch It?

Evil is a horror drama with three seasons currently available for streaming on Paramount+. The series follows a skeptic forensic psychologist who joins forces with a priest-in-training and a technology expert to investigate supernatural occurrences for the Catholic Church. Most of the show’s horror focuses on the supernatural with lots of episodes focusing on things like exorcisms and demons.

Episodes often follow a “monster of the week”-type format with the church’s three assessors investigating a supernatural evil of some sort that’s wrapped up by the end of the episode. There’s also an ongoing story surrounding a mysterious group who’s members are trying to spread evil and working in opposition to our protagonists.

How many episodes are there?

There are currently 36 episodes of Evil. The first season of thirteen episodes aired on CBS in 2019, before it was moved to Paramount+ where it’s aired for a thirteen episode second season and a ten episode third season. The show has since been renewed for a fourth season, which will air in 2023 with episodes being released weekly.

What are the show’s strengths?

In general, the acting on Evil is strong. Series leads Katija Herbers as forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard and Mike Colter as priest-in-training David Acosta are both good in their roles, with Colter in particular excelling at being the moral compass of the three assessors without ever being overly preachy.

The real star of the show though is Michael Emerson as Dr. Leland Townsend, who acts as a cunning rival to Kristen and David, encouraging others to commit acts of evil. I recognized Emerson from his role as Ben, leader of “the others” on ABC’s Lost, another show on which he was also one of the more interesting characters. Emerson commands attention whenever he’s on the screen in Evil; he’s both fun to watch while at the same time being incredibly creepy, and, for lack of a better word, evil.

Christine Lahti, who plays Kristen’s mother, Sheryl, is another really different and interesting character. She cares deeply about Kristen and her four granddaughters, but finds herself going down a dark path with Leland that becomes complicated and well-developed over the course of the show’s three seasons.

The parts of the show focusing on the “evil” characters were definitely more engaging to me as the series went along when compared with whatever investigation our protagonists were looking into for the Church. I think episodes where they receive more screen time are stronger.

Compared to other shows currently airing, Evil does a good job at actually being pretty scary at parts. Sure, some episodes are scarier than others, but the show overall is solid horror, and that’s not typical of many TV shows. It’s also worth noting that the series improves as it goes along, with seasons two and three being superior to the show’s first thirteen episodes.

What are its weaknesses?

Every episode of Evil has a self-contained story with the Kristen, David, and comic relief/tech guy Ben, investigating something supernatural for the Catholic Church, in addition to just progressing the overall story of the show. Some of these stories are definitely stronger than others. At times, the investigations can feel sort of inconsequential and, in some cases, they aren’t completely resolved.

For example, there was one episode in the show’s third season where the entire first half of the episode is spent investigating a demon that’s influencing children who see it in photographs, but then this is quickly and suddenly resolved midway through the episode so our characters can focus on more important things. In another episode, our trio visits a monastery, and the solution to their investigation explains some of, but if you actually think about it, not all of what actually occurred. I know I’m explaining things in broader terms here so as not to spoil the show, but the basic idea is that some of these episodic stories are much weaker and not as thought out as others.

Another problem with the show is that sometimes Kristen’s character doesn’t feel at all like a real person. She’s a mother to four daughters and an ex rock climber, but the retired rock climber part of her character doesn’t feel particularly believable. There’s also one act she carries out at the end of the first season that doesn’t feel either in character or realistic (even in a show loaded with demons and possessions).

One final gripe I have, that I feel got somewhat better over the show though, is that while I like the characters of Kristen and David individually, I don’t think they have good romantic chemistry. Throughout Season 1, we’re supposed to be picking up on some sexual tension between the two, but I just didn’t feel it. As the show progressed, I just went with where it was going with these characters though and this became less of an issue for me.

So, should you watch it?

Evil is a good, but never great, supernatural horror drama. It’s definitely more of a “B” level show, but it’s also very bingeable. While the show’s villains definitely become more interesting than it’s heroes as we go along, I like the whole cast of the show overall.

I’d recommend Evil for fans of horror looking for something that, while not ever truly terrifying, is often still spooky or frightening, with an interesting enough storyline to keep viewers engaged for its current three seasons worth of episodes.

Grade: 7/10