Review: Evil S01E01 ‘Pilot’

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Warning: Spoilers below

CBS show “Evil” opens with a delightfully “X-Files” premise. Forensic psychologist Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) works predominantly for the D.A.’s office. However, her latest case takes a turn when the perpetrator’s wife, Emily LeRoux (Brooke Bloom) claims her husband Orson (Darren Pettie, looking very Christoph Waltz) was possessed when he committed the brutal murder of three families.
Initially, the logic-driven Bouchard dismisses the notion of possession. However, when Orson grabs her arm in an interrogation room and begins speaking in Latin, Kristen’s worldview upends. After the encounter, Dr. Bouchard meets priest-in-training David Acosta (Mike Colter), along with his sidekick Ben (Aasif Mandvi), investigators for the Catholic Church. When Kristen delays a verdict on the perp, Orson, she’s dismissed by the D.A.’s office. As such, Acosta visits Bouchard to propose an opportunity. “I can’t work for the defense,” Bouchard protests. “I’m not with the defense,” David corrects. “I work for the Catholic Church…I was interviewing [Orson] to see if he was possessed.” Acosta is an assessor.

Observations: 

The “X-Files” comparisons are unavoidable, but “Evil” succeeds to stand on its own two horns. David plays the Fox Mulder character in a believer in supernatural, or spiritual, phenomenon, while Kristen portrays the skeptic Dana Scully role. “Just to be upfront with you Mr. Acosta, I don’t believe in all that, devils and possession.” Shrugging, David offers, “That’s ok. See, the problem with my job is that possession looks a lot like insanity, and insanity looks a lot like possession.” Whereas Scully was paired with Mulder to secretly debunk his theories and monitor his investigations into the supernatural, David seeks out non-believers in Kristen as well as Ben, a former contractor for the Catholic Church recruited to join David as an assessor.

“Evil”on CBS features a largely one-off monster-of-the-week format. Still, there’s a bit of story arc mixed in. Kristen grapples with life as a mother struggling financially to support her four children while her husband galavants around the world as a mountain climber guide. Shortly after assuming her post with David, Bouchard is visited in the night by a sort of demon, George (Darren Pettie). Again, Kristen operates using Occam’s Razor, a philosophical principle that the answer requiring the least amount of assumptions is probably correct. Thus, the unsettled Bouchard proceeds to test her theories, thereby eliminating any possibilities of the supernatural. Just when she’s beginning to believe, Kristen solves the mystery.

Acosta, a former photojournalist, harbors a few secrets in his mysterious past. A Dr. Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) warns Julia “You’re in way over your head Ms. Bouchard.” Townsend taunts David bringing up a woman from David’s past Julia, who Townsend describes as “crying on her knees, weepy little bitch.” Acosta confides in Bouchard that he’s seen Townsend “in other guises.” There’s a mention of “The 60,” purported to be some sort of demonic conspiracy.

Acting is top-notch with stellar performances by Colter and Herbers. The always-on Kurt Fuller puts in a supporting role as Dr. Boggs, Kristen’s therapist. There’s a pleasant mix of comedy, suspense, and horror. But “Evil” isn’t really scary, more unsettling, a throwback to golden age 70s horror. I’m excited to see where the season goes from here. Presumably, David, Kristen, and Ben team up to probe a series of standalone supernatural cases while the season-long story arc pits them against The Sixty, as well as the sinister Townsend.