Evil: Fear of the Unholy

August 20, 2024 5:19 AM - Season 4, Episode 13

A priest, a skeptic, and a psychiatrist (who is also a skeptic) walk into an utterly bonkers TV show. And this TV show asks: Do we really have time for a final anticlimactic assessment when the final episode is this week??

*In our penultimate episode, our Holy Three investigates a Stephen Hawking stand-in for the Vatican's Scientific Council (like, this small NYC parish has SO MUCH pull with the Vatican!!) for rumors of former occult activity

*But he's just a perv with a chip in his skull and a demon for an assistant (they couldn't get Dylan Baker but they found a lookalike). David and Ben let all of us gals down when they refuse to take Kristen's complaints about sexual harassment from faux Hawking seriously. Really, boys?? Really???

*St. Joseph's is deconsecrated by a Church higher-up who is absolutely checking his watch until his golf game. I love Sister AndreaVision of all the demons who immediately flock to a deconsecrated church to do naughty naughty things

*The interactions between David and Leland are quite great. I do like learning about Leland's past with The Entity, but balk at him saying that his acts are all in service of free will. Bish, you like causing chaos on purpose. Free will, my aunt banana. I also love David sucker-punching Leland because haven't we all wanted to do that?

*The Apocalypse Art is very deriative. It is basically AI art vibes, imho.

*Armed with a bowl of mini marshmallows and a reluctant yet game Father Ignatius, Sister Andrea lures out the demon that has the relic of the closed church. Evil did teach me that this is a real thing in Catholic Churches! Sister Andrea gets the relic back but not before gutting the demon like a fish to get it.

*Can Father Ignatius have a mini marshmallow? As a lil treat?

*Our Holy Three is still checking in on their doppelgangers (and let me tell you, Kristen's is DEFINITELY the one having the best life) but it's sort of depressing!

*Leland crying whilst watching the rescue dog video was gold and I love that his palate cleanser for goodness was watching street fights.

*Denis O'Hare dons an Italian accent and puts David through his paces with a blind monk lie detector and a glass of seltzer. Also, the fates of Victor LeConte and Father Domenic are darkly implied to have gone to a niiiiiice quiet Church you have never heard of shhhhhhh

*The Vatican makes an official offer: David will join them as part of security. No ifs, ands, or buts. He leaves in four days.

*Father Ignatius will retire, Sister Andrea is being shipped off to the silent monastery where Kristen got super drunk with the other nun there. Oh, I would love to see Sister Andrea fuck their shit up.

*Sin leeches on David's spine! Do we all have sin leeches? Is Sister Andrea not in the finale? Who will take our of sin leeches??

*My precious smol bean Ben Shakir briefly Goes Through It with the djinn. Christ, what is going to happen to this plotline???

*Karima, ever the voice of reason, would very much like Ben to go to a specialist. Listen to Karima, Ben!!

*Okay, so we have: a particle reactor, Antichrist baby, the 60, Ben's djinn, and some other dangling plotlines I am sure I am forgetting. I do not know what will happen!

posted by Kitteh (7 comments total)

I feel like the whole Leland / David dynamic comes from a parallel series, where David and Leland were set up as opposite poles from the jump, there was a less stark portrayal of Leland and the Evil Gang as full-clout evil throughout, and maybe something meaningful to say about how 'good' and 'evil' are just, like, social constructs, maaaannnn, and who's to say that Satanists and the Catholic Church aren't at least equally bad?

But this isn't that show. Our Evil set up Kirsten and Leland as the opposite poles, and I think more interestingly than "priest vs. ex-priest" would have been. As much as I haaaaated Sheryl, I think Kristen/Sheryl/Leland dynamic was at least different and interesting, and the alternate David/Leland show would have been a bit trite.

So at this juncture, that whole thing feels kind of like flailing. I'd have more respect for Evil if they stuck to their commitment that Leland is *&^% evil, right up to the final minute.

No idea how they're going to stick this landing, but given the show's endless appetite for dropping plots, I'm not that fussed about it, tbh? I'm setting my expectations on "messy" and hoping for the fun kind of messy.
posted by Shepherd at 5:50 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]

Yeah despite all the extra episodes, I have no idea how they are even going to begin to tie this up since they are still bringing in new characters! I mean I absolutely ADORE Denis O'Hare especially when he's being menacing. He does clerical evil (as opposed to official Evil) well. But wtf are they DOING?

Listen I'm still recovering from the terrible ending to a different joyfully batshit show, the Umbrella Academy, so i can not handle this show also totally hosing their finale. The characters deserve better than that.

I am also incredibly pissed they are sending Sister Andrea to a fucking silent retreat for her retirement. i will fight for her and I'm an atheist!
posted by miss-lapin at 10:56 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]

due to fanfare, i checked this show out. OMG. thank you! i binged all the seasons over a 2 week stretch. LOVE IT. reminds me very much of X-Files, just replace the FBI with the Catholic church. yeah, there are many dropped plotlines - SO MANY. but it's just so much fun that i do not care, i'm rollin' with the bonkers momentum. i am very glad i got to see it, and very sad it's coming to an end. i have no idea how they'll manage it, either. i hope it isn't a disaster. it's all worth it to have seen Sister Andrea killing demons with a shovel. i LOVED the one in this episode! i want a spin-off of those two, simply hanging out and insulting one another. ya wanna hear something weird? a little overshare: for the past few months, i have had a small sore on my lower spine, in exactly the same spot as the sin slug was found. it just won't go away... eeeeeeeeek!
posted by lapolla at 12:14 PM on August 21 [3 favorites]

oh and - i loved Sheryl! she was the perfect toxic mother - so awful. but Christine Lahti was a delight! and the repartee between her and Michael Emerson was FIRE.
posted by lapolla at 12:17 PM on August 21 [2 favorites]

Total derail. Lapolla I had a similar issue and ended up having to have it surgically removed because it wouldn't heal on its own. If you haven't seen a doctor about it, please do so.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:06 PM on August 21 [1 favorite]

An AV Club article about much appreciated practical monster effects in Evil.
posted by Kitteh at 7:12 AM on August 22 [2 favorites]

Oh! Really the only thing I want to be sure of in the Evil series finale is making sure Sister Andrea is safe at all costs. As well as my smol bean Ben Shakir.

Do you think David will be leaving the Church as some sort of deal to spare Kristen having to deal with these demonic a-holes the rest of her life?
posted by Kitteh at 9:42 AM on August 22