A virtual press day with the leads of Evil was bittersweet, and this wasn’t lost on any of us who participated.
TV Fanatic chatted with Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi about the upcoming season, which premieres on Thursday, May 23. We are all hoping for a Hail Mary pass that will save the genre-defying show.
It’s easy to joke that Evil should be around as long as evil exists in the world, but the truth is that creators Robert and Michelle King have managed to say something important about the subject for three seasons, and that doesn’t stop during Season 4.
We always wonder what we can do to score that oft-sought last-minute save of a beloved series, and the answer is to watch it.
Right now, the first three seasons are on Netflix. If it doesn’t score there, then we’ll be assured the eradication of Evil far sooner than we do the same with the real thing.
The third season of Evil, as the others before it, built upon the framework the series created and culminated with Kristen’s husband being released from Leland and Sheryl’s grasp at the same time Kristen discovered Leland stole her frozen egg and used his DNA for implantation in a surrogate.
Yes, the baby anti-Christ is on the horizon, and Herbers says that Kristen’s mother instinct will be hard to overcome once she gets that baby in her arms.
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“I think, in the beginning, she armors herself against having feelings for this baby. She knows that she might [have feelings] as soon as she sees this baby or holds it.
“But then she is put in a situation where she connects with the child, and it's going to get incrementally harder not to be in this baby's life.”
Can we guess that the baby’s salvation may be a mother’s love?
Herbers said, “That's very well guessed, and it's certainly an interesting nature nurture where if I were to love this baby and forget, or not worry about, 50% of its DNA.”
The nature vs nurture discussion is, even with all of our scientific advancements in the 21st century, one that continues unanswered.
Herbers acknowledged, “I'm sure there are awful people who have wonderful children and vice versa,” which elicited a droll, “Are they?” before Herbers continued.
“I mean, so I think this child is not the Antichrist. Kristen does not think it's the Antichrist, as she thinks that's nonsense. So there's a lot in store. This baby is going to be throughout the season.”
Colter expanded on that note. “I'd love to have seen the trajectory of that child's life just because I'm curious of how Robert and Michelle would've written that character,” he said, imagining that the Kings would pull off a beautiful time jump to show us how a child brought to life in that peculiar situation might grow up.
It begets the Omen series, which still has legs to stand on decades after its release.
Colter continued, “I would love to have seen how they would've written him because nature versus nurture is a whole thing that I'm really interested in, and I think about all the time.
”I’m always on the fence about it because I do feel like it's more nurture than nature, but there are things that are just hard to shake. So when it comes to genetics and your history and trauma, family trauma, I'd love to see how they would have written that.”
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Herbers touched on the chemistry of our brains, “I think there are some things you can’t love enough to fix.”
The conversation to that point proves how invested the actors are in this story and their characters and their willingness and desire to see it through, even if the story would go in a different direction.
Evil is not new to different directions, and during the fourth season, The Entity will call David to do some remote viewing for the Vatican.
Colter pondered the phrase “remote viewing” when I brought it up. “I heard you say it out loud. It's such an interesting word. Remote viewing. Where are we reviewing? It's amazing, that word, remote viewing.
“So he is really just getting into other people's heads and other people's bodies. And it's so cool to be able to literally be inside someone's body, to see their hands, to see where they're standing, and to try to control their movements, their behavior, and influence their mind.
“It's like transforming into someone else's body or body snatching -- however you want to describe it. It's very interesting, but obviously, you're not that person, so you're trying to control them, and it's hard to do that. “
So the challenge for David, as we'll see throughout this [season], is him getting into people's bodies that are quite strong.
“He's in their bodies, but can he control them, or will they be able to control him? I think there's a battle once he's inside. So that's interesting.”
Colter knew little about the subject, so he researched it and asked some people about it, as he was somewhat surprised that it really existed. He was "really fascinated by it and loved the potential for it.”
The feature won’t last all season, but he admits he wouldn’t mind revisiting it. “I do love that it's like a superpower, being able to visit into someone else's life and see what they're doing. I love that.”
One of the most pragmatic of the three characters is Ben, and this season, he’ll be battling something quite interesting after visiting a particle accelerator in the premiere.
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“Well, what's crazy for Ben this season is that he's experiencing a medical condition that's brought on by this particle accelerator beam that goes through his body, but that's also creating a paranormal experience, which he can't explain.
“And so what's great is that he is really uprooted this season.
“For a guy, his entire identity is embedded in this idea of being an empirical scientist who can explain things, and he's so hyper-competent at everything he does that he's struggling and he starts to lose his mind a little bit this season, literally and metaphorically. “
Ben may be dealing with unexplained migraines and other ailments, but Mandvi delights in his plight. “I just love watching him spiral out of his comfort zone in such a huge way for him this season.”
It’s been a toss-up thus far as to whether Kristen or Ben is the team member who disbelieves more than the other.
The intensity of their involvement increases, and this might be the hardest season for how the deal with that yet.
Mandvi said, “I'm always personally fascinated with the fact that Ben has even gone along with all this for this long because he really does think it's all just cockamamie.
“But I think it's a big testament to the relationship that has been created throughout the three of them working together.
"I think he does sort of give benefit of the doubt more than he would ever have done prior to this because of the relationship that they've all created and because he does really care about David and Kristen.
“But in terms of that debate of belief versus non-belief, I think he's more forgiving of those who believe than he might've been in the beginning.”
Herbers relates how Kristen is handling things by recalling how she felt at the end of the third season. “We saw her sort of flirting with Catholicism again and praying that for [Andy’s] return and saying, ‘I will do whatever you need. God, I'll take my kids to mass if that's what you want.’
“And then at the start of season four, when this child is going to come into the world in 38 days, and my mom's role in that and everything, she just wants a total departure from that.
“She does not want to be swayed to think in anything other than scientific explanations; she's not interested anymore.
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“So she really leans on Ben and asks him after every case they do to tell her what the scientific explanation for this is.”
If Kristen and Ben are struggling pragmatically with the effects of their assessments on their lives, David is also struggling a bit with what he’s discovered about The Church.
Colter shared, “I do feel like he's on the fence of the Catholic church is a corrupt organization to some degree. He sees flaws in it. He knows what he wants to do with his life. He knows what his purpose is.”
His assessments for The Church and his work for The Entity clash with his job as a priest, putting him squarely in the middle of both worlds.
“He's torn because he's literally one foot in the church and one foot in the real world. I mean, there's no other priest that's walking around hanging out with people who aren't believers as much as he is, Colter said.
“And then he goes back, and he sleeps in his rectory, and he just sits there and prays and stuff, and he hangs around with nuns and priests. It's a very weird thing to do.”
Spending the majority of his time in the real world creates temptations that he’s finding harder to resist.
“And then he looks at Kristen, and he looks at what could possibly be,” which makes David wonder if he can be a devout priest in the real world in the way he believes he needs to be.
“It's a very weird position to be in, but I think it keeps him up at night. He definitely thinks about what the world should be, what he's doing, and whether he is better served in the church or outside of it.” As to what that means, Colter thinks it will be a continual struggle in David’s life.
The fourth and final season on Paramount+ pits these three passionate individuals once again as a team against the forces of evil.
Will they prevail against the lunacy presented by Leland, Sheryl, and the baby anti-Christ who relies on them to be set free?
We sure hope you’ll be watching Evil Season 4 along with us, as we’ll be bringing you reviews after every episode. Join us!