It’s been nearly two years since Evil season 3 led us down a road paved with angelic messages and a demonic pregnancy. Kristen Bouchard is the mother of the living antichrist? That’s part of the theme teased for season 4, which arrives on Paramount Plus on May 23 with an expanded 14-episode season. But before we get to the demon baby, we should back up a moment.
The spooky thriller series will return with the gang intact and ready for more action with psychologist Kristen, priest David Acosta and skeptic techie Ben Shakir investigating more suspicious occurrences. Because this is the final season, it seems loose ends shall be tied — or exorcised. That includes learning the details behind Leland Townsend’s sinister plot, Sheryl’s fate as a bad mom/grandmom, what’s going on with Andy and David’s unique role in everything. We also can’t forget about the badass that’s Sister Andrea.
One thing is for certain — there’s been a connective thread running through Evil throughout its run, and season 4 should close the book on it all.
If you’ve never watched the show, now’s your chance to binge the first three seasons on Paramount Plus, or try out seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix. For those that need a refresher before season 4, here’s a rundown of what to remember.
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A recap of ‘Evil’ seasons 1-3
Kristen Bouchard is hired by the Catholic church to work with David Acosta, a priest in training who later is ordained, and tech-savvy contractor, Ben Shakir. They’re tasked with investigating the church’s docket of odd occurrences that may qualify as miracles, possessions, or everyday situations. They help determine if there are supernatural influences at play, or whether these incidents have a more practical or scientific cause.
While the three are friends, Kristen and Ben are skeptics, with the former doing morally questionable things like murdering a serial killer stalking her family and engaging in extramarital affairs. Her behavior has become progressively grimmer over the past few seasons. To complicate things, Kristen and David contend with a lusty tension that once reared itself with a kiss. Heading into season 4, the crew is well-versed in visions, “hallucinations” of demons (like George or Abby the succubus), physical attacks, exorcisms, church cover-ups and mysterious happenings that lack clear explanations. They’re all very protective of Kristen’s four daughters, one of whom may have demonic DNA.
Season 1 first introduced Leland Towsend, a manipulative psychologist who works with the devil, also portrayed in the series. He’s conspired against Kristen and her entire family, including daughter Lexis (a middle child out of four kids), husband Andy and mother, Sheryl (who’s really unhinged too). He’s the main antagonist in the show and has ties to the 60 demon houses, a group of powerful people with genetic ties of evil/demonic origin. Their role was revealed through the discovery of sigils seen everywhere in the show, from art to tattoos to corporate logos. Leland’s also behind stealing Kristen’s eggs and has hatched a plan to birth the antichrist.
Leland and Sheryl are up to no good with Andy.
Throughout the series, Sheryl is playing devil’s advocate by teaming with (and possibly against) Leland, and it’s caused her to do terrible things to her daughter’s family, like kidnap Andy, paralyze him with a toxin and inject him with an unknown substance to make him more docile. She also collects evil dolls and wants to bring her granddaughters to the dark side.
David — with the help of nun Sister Andrea — learns he has heightened psychic abilities that allows him to see demons, angels and saints. He’s secretly been working with the Entity, an arm of the Vatican that moves like a black ops team. Through them, he’s been able to meet and protect Grace Ling, a prophet with spiritual gifts who poses a threat to the 60, Leland and evil everywhere. Leland tried to have her murdered in the season 3 finale, but the series lost another major character instead.
In the final moments of season 3, Kristen learned her mom works with Leland at the evil corporation, DF, and that Sheryl is tied to the antichrist conspiracy. David had a vision of a saint who warned, “38 days, woe to Babylon,” and the show’s pop-up book closed on the demon tales and teasingly flipped to an “angel of the beginning.”
RSM fertility clinic and DF are still at the center
RSM Fertility Clinic has been around since season 1, and we know it’s involved with creating demon offspring. During the last three seasons, it’s been revealed that it’s one front for the “60 Houses.” Kristen’s eggs were stored at RSM when she and Andy tried to conceive after their daughter Lila’s birth. But Leland used one to create the demon baby at the center of season 4. Will the baby be born? Will it truly be evil? Remember, the clinic has locations in New York, Chicago and DC and it’s unclear how deeply it’s entrenched in this Rosemary’s baby scheme throughout the US.
DF, also a corporate front for the 60, is introduced in season 3 when Sheryl lands a job there via Leland. She’s spearheading cryptocurrency sales campaigns while bringing Ted Lasso-esque biscuits to her five-eyed boss. Her demon vision allows her to see his true non-human form, but Sheryl is keen to keep working at DF even though she knows the place is nefarious. She unsuccessfully tests granddaughter Lexis — a product of RSM fertility — to gauge whether the girl can see him too. While Lexis has demon traits in her blood, she’s good.
However, Kristen’s search for her egg led her to DF’s office, and she finds Sheryl working and canoodling with Leland to celebrate the demon baby’s upcoming arrival. Leland turns to her and says, “We’re gonna be parents.” As homebase for the 60, DF may either crumble or thrive by the time the show wraps.
Manager Demon really likes Sheryl’s biscuits.
Sheryl and Leland have a hold on Andy
Kristen’s husband, was lured into a ruse to sell his adventure business, but it turned out Leland and Sheryl set it up to trap Andy. They kidnapped and drugged him, then stored him in a bunker where they injected him with the same goo that Sheryl once had too. Kristen thought he died in Nepal in an avalanche, but his daughters figured out Leland was behind it all and Andy was returned home.
But something is way off with him, and in the season 3 finale, he could see demons in his house. He stared in disbelief as they were all huddled around a newborn demon, and Kristen’s therapist Kurt Boggs was there too. Whose side will Kurt and Andy be on, and will they make it out of the series alive?
‘Evil’ season 4 could break up the band
The season 3 finale saw Kristen discover that her last ovum was implanted in Leland’s supposed partner, a surrogate. Her horrified look let viewers know that the story will pick up from there, and her potentially co-parenting Satan’s spawn. But season 4 won’t just be about the infant antichrist.
Aasif Mandvi as Ben, Mike Colter as David and Katja Herbers as Kristen in Evil season 4, episode 9.
According to Paramount, the team will “assess cases that involve wayward technology, possessed pigs, demonic oppression and infestation, a dance muse conjured by alleged witches and an evil relic.” Things get deeper with David and the Vatican’s underground team as he taps into a new paranormal ability. The series’ synopsis also states that “Ben is hit by an ion beam, causing him to see visions of a taunting jinn until he discovers an unusual solution to banish it. Finally, all three realize they only have a few weeks left to assess cases because the parish has decided to disband the team due to a lack of funds. This culminates in one last confrontation with Leland and the 60 families that make up Evil in the modern world.”
The first episode in this new — and final — installment will have the crew looking into a portal to hell. As the season moves on, it’s up in the air whether Kristen, David and Ben will continue their jobs with the Catholic church. Be sure to follow the final season when it premieres on May 23 on Paramount Plus.
