Well, Evil Season 4 Episode 7 sure was interesting!
While we got a little of Sheryl and Leland, we got a whole lot of Kristen's family, as a demonic portal was discovered in their basement -- and that's just the beginning.
Let's hash it out!
Sheryl and Leland Continue the War of the Roses
At the end of Evil Season 4 Episode 6, Leland walks in to find Sheryl's message scrawled in blood. What we don't see is that she is seated next to that message with a huge butcher's knife.
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He broke her one rule -- never touch her granddaughters. If he did, she'd cut his dick off. Did she do it? Did she really cut off his package in retaliation? We weren't so lucky as to experience that.
But the two fought quite admirably, drawing blood and landing Sheryl in the hospital.
Sheryl's resolve to reunite seems to be increasing, and Kristen called it right that that is Leland's biggest fear. He needs Kristen's family torn to shreds for his purposes, which, as of yet, are still murky.
Sheryl is torn between her desire to win back Kristen's trust and her need to feed on the serum that keeps her youthful and energetic. Something will have to give because the two cannot coexist long term.
Watch Out
Christine Lahti made the most of two words during Sheryl's hospital stay. "Watch out," Sheryl said just moments before Kristen intercepted a call from Leland.
It's the first time Sheryl has attempted to protect Kristen from Leland's deranged machinations, but it's not far enough to build a bridge back to her daughter or to release her from the terror she has helped rain upon Kristen and her family.
But something else occurred to me after "How to Bandage a Wound." Sheryl may have been trained by the many demons present at Kristen's place.
Will that discovery ultimately be Sheryl's salvation?
Sheryl began this journey while living in Kristen's office. Leland found her and dragged her close, but would that have been possible without an inside man like Lou the demon? I sense something may come out of this development.
The Case of the Dead Prom Girl
In general, the case of the episode was relatively sedate. Jimmy from Yellowstone (Jefferson White), err, a man named Cyrus, arrived with a terrible problem.
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As a train conductor, he's responsible for the suicide of others, and in one case of desperation, a girl in a prom dress is haunting him. Well, it's not so much the girl herself but the demon who drags her away every time.
Although the story didn't touch on this specifically, Cyrus's reaction to the death he's attributed to is something that I've often thought about when it comes to taking your own life. It's rarely that simple.
People are in pain when they consider it, but they forget to consider the pain their attempt will bring to others.
It's hard to imagine being at the wheel of a device many people use to accomplish that task. I genuinely feel for anybody who is unwittingly put into that situation.
I wasn't keen on David's eye roll when Cyrus thought he saw the girl in the prom dress on the tracks during their ride-along. David sees things others don't all the time. Who is he to roll his eyes at someone else witnessing something he doesn't?
David eventually discovered that Cyrus wasn't out of his mind, but it was still disappointing that he was so quick to think he might have been.
Kristen's House and the Portal to Hell
OK, this isn't SurrealEstate, which actually did feature a portal to hell, but it's darn close.
How did Kristen have that gaping hole in her basement for so long without either exploring it (shudder) or closing it permanently? Could you live in a house with that built-in feature?
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I have a sump pump hole in my basement that I have to put out of my mind to exist. At least it's filled with water (shudder). If it led to nothing but darkness, I'd be beside myself!
It was clever to associate the conductor's haunting with Kristen's house. The implications are enormous.
Kristen has been unable to contemplate that anything she's involved in as an assessor is anything other than a mind trick, but her girls aren't as certain. They called for an exorcism, and Kristen went along with it.
Kristen Finds Out About Lynn and Sister Andrea
When Kristen discovered what Lynn had been up to with Sister Andrea, her initial reaction was to lash out and demand Sister Andrea counsel Lynn without her permission. Of course, her girls are clever, and Lynn arranged for a permission slip bearing Kristen's signature.
In response, the sister said something like, "Don't withhold information from your daughter. She's smart." It wasn't an admonition, but it seemed to get through to Kristen.
When she finally talked with Lynn, she supported her journey and asked that they handle it like adults, which means you don't do it in secrecy. Granted, Kristen kept a lot from Andy and the girls, but it's the thought that counts.
Kristen also shared with Sister Andrea why she is reticent to support Lynn's journey. Kristen recalled Fenna from the silent monastery in Evil Season 2 Episode 7, in which Fenna let loose with Kristen as the two laughed and enjoyed each other's company.
(Has it really been that long since "S is for Silence"? I can recall that episode as if I watched it yesterday.)
If Kristen fears that Lynn will lose herself being subservient to God and men, Sister Andrea's influence should calm her.
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The sheer maleness of the Church may try to keep Sister Andrea down, but she vibrantly shines through, countering its dour and sometimes demeaning nature.
Kristen remarked how religion keeps infiltrating her life no matter how much she fights against it. Will Evil's ultimate message be to keep an open mind about every possibility?
Ben's Magical Jinn Returns
Well, Ben isn't cleared of the Jinn, who has increased his activity exponentially.
Ben still wants to believe he's going nuts. It's probably preferable for a nonbeliever to go nuts than to accept that forces greater than us are at play in the universe.
Karima asks him to consider the possibilities, but he's reluctant until he sees mounting evidence that the situation simply cannot exist without an outside explanation.
Ben may be struggling, but if Aasif Mandvi can do a little song and dance on camera, I'm all for it! How on earth did Renee think Ben would ask her to move in, let alone send such a sappy video?
When you want something bad enough, your mind will play tricks on you. Ben is experiencing the opposite. He wants the visions and the cheap imitation to stop, but the intrusion is only growing more pervasive.
The Halfway Point
Things are beginning to come to a head, which makes sense since we're two-thirds of the way through the original fourth season and at the halfway point of the series finale.
That just breaks my heart.
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We haven't heard anything about whether another streamer might want to pick up Evil so that it may continue, but the streaming numbers look good.
Evil is number seven on the latest streaming charts behind Bridgerton, Bluey, Grey's Anatomy, Atlas, Young Sheldon, and Family Guy.
The credits for Episode 7 even teased the situation a bit with "You will not be haunted if you skip Netflix intros" as their latest gag text.
Is that a dig at Netflix or permission to skip and continue the Evil journey?
I'm not sure, but the thought that we may be done with Evil forever in seven weeks when the evil in this world persists breaks my heart.