Evil returns with its fourth and final season this week, and you won’t want to miss out on all the wicked fun. Picking up with the Antichrist arc that ended Season 3, the premiere episode offers a new theme for the show’s pop-up book opening titles. As indicated by the episode title, “How to Split an Atom,” it’s all about the evils found in science.
In the first four episodes released to critics, Evil touches on fears over particle colliders, lax food production regulations, Elon Musk‘s running X (into the ground), and those cute yet creepy robot dogs. Each episode, true believer David Acosta (Mike Colter), skeptic Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), and science guy Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) are sent on a new monster-of-the-week adventure, touching on classic creatures, curious sci-fi questions, and religious visions of relentless demons.
What you need to remember about Evil ahead of Season 4:
Credit: Elizabeth Fisher / Paramount+
Last season, the devilish Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) managed to steal one of Kristen’s frozen eggs from a fertility clinic. And he’s used it — via surrogate — to pave the way for the birth of the Antichrist. Kristen, who’s seen Leland fuck with her family in just about every way imaginable, could be furious. But in the first episode of this season, she laughs in his face. As seen in the teaser, she scoffs at the idea of him being father to her biological son. “Did you ever wonder why The Omen skipped the infancy? Because that’s the real horror.”
Leland had been hoping to rope Kristen in through some biological imperative to care for the Antichrist, but she’s too busy investigating tales of Satan worshippers and possessed pork in Upstate New York to take much notice. However, Leland still has his hooks in her husband Andy (Patrick Brammall), who was previously abducted, tortured, and turned into an oblivious sleeper agent. Whenever he hears a certain kitschy tune, Andy is putty in the hands of Leland — and Sheryl, Kristen’s mom/Leland’s workplace rival.
See, while Sheryl is working for Satan, she’s still trying to achieve what’s “best” for the Bouchard family. Unfortunately, her vision of success may not align with her daughter’s.
Elsewhere, Father David is on new missions for the Catholic Church’s version of secret intelligence, The Entity. Ben is being pestered by a pernicious djinn, and Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) makes the most of her screen time by kicking all kinds of demon butt — with the help of gardening shears!
Season 4 is very baby Antichrist-focused.
Credit: Elizabeth Fisher / Paramount+
For three seasons, Evil creators Robert King and Michelle King have made this irreverently fun series a mix of Catholic lore, cryptids, and supernatural scares. But with the end coming nearer and nearer for the series, which Paramount+ nearly canceled without a proper conclusion, there’s a noticeable drive to hammer out the conclusion of Leland’s big plan to bring about the apocalypse through the birth of the Antichrist.
Early on, it seems the countdown to the birth might be meant to create a ticking clock on the season. However, within the first four episodes, the baby is born in a shockingly anti-climactic fashion. The Kings have some fun putting the endlessly sinister Leland into the kooky comedy of baby vomit and at-wit’s-end parenthood, but these bits get most interesting when it pushes Leland to get creative in his manipulation. Stealing more files from Kristen’s therapist, he figures out a new means to potentially lure the mother of five to return to the side of her infant (and destined for evil) son. Without spoilers, it’s a moment both deeply chilling and not remotely supernatural. It’s most interesting in how it impacts the Bouchards, and the projectile-vomiting baby of it all.
The weekly mysteries take a hit.
Credit: Elizabeth Fisher / Paramount+
Like The X-Files or Doctor Who, Evil has offered plenty of thrilling tales through its one-off mysteries. But this season, two of the first four episodes don’t offer answers as much as they do plant seeds for future reveals. As this streaming series airs week by week, that lack of closure on the minor mysteries can be a bit frustrating, but I’d advise fans who prefer the creepy critters episodes to hang in there.
Episode 3 (“How to Slaughter a Pig”) brings back the creepy campfire vibes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? Kristen and company are invited to an Upstate New York pig farm because of an internet game called the Possessed Pork Challenge. What follows is classic Evil — a satisfying mystery studded with scary moments of man and beast, as well as a political allegory that makes the final reveal even more haunting. From there, episode four digs deep into demons, complete with delightfully deranged practical effects.
Evil‘s cast is back and crackling.
Credit: Elizabeth Fisher / Paramount+
In the final season of Evil, the three leads all get curious new aspects to their characters that are exciting to see explored. Kristen begins the season with a new devil-may-care attitude that brings chaotic sex scenes and laugh-out-loud quips into her plotline. David probes new aspects of his psychic abilities that unlock a seething rage almost alien to the ever-composed priest. And Ben has encountered enough unexplainable mysteries that cracking the code of the djinn might well break his very worldview.
Whether a defiant levity, an uncharacteristic fury, or an absorbing obsession, these attitudes brew a tension as they push their players to a breaking point. We don’t see what that break will look like in the first four episodes, of course. But considering how the birth of the Antichrist came well before mid-season, we can assume the real fireworks will be about our heroes — and they should be truly spectacular.
Evil Season 4 premieres on Paramount+ May 23, with a new episode dropping each week. Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Paramount+. Seasons 1 and 2 are also streaming on Netflix.
