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Warning: Major spoilers ahead
CBS hit series “Evil” wraps up its freshman season with one of the best season finales of any show with season 1 episode 13 “Book 27.” The delightfully Lynchian “Evil” contains touches of “The X-Files,” and “Twin Peaks” while remaining unique. Its season 1 finale accordingly fits this mold, and does not disappoint. After being exonerated of murder, murderer Orson LeRoux (Darren Pettie) stalks forensic psychologist Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) who originally had him put behind bars. LeRoux arrives outside Bouchard’s home under the guise of offering Kristen forgiveness. Kristen discovers that her mother Sheryl Luria (Christine Lahti) has continued to date forensic psychologist Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson), actually Iowan insurance adjuster Jake Perry and sinister orchestrator of evil.
In a plot eerily similar to previous episodes, Eleanor (Laura Heisler), a patient of Kristen’s psychiatrist Dr. Boggs (Kurt Fuller), enlists the help of Catholic Church assessor David Acosta (Mike Colter) and his partners in supernatural evaluation, professional skeptic Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) and Kristen Bouchard. Eleanor is convinced that one of her unborn twins is possessed. When, after receiving communion at mass, Eleanor collapses, blood pouring from her, an ultrasound shows only one child left. Eleanor is sure that the possessed boy ate his sister in the womb. Her doctor explains it away as vanishing twin syndrome, but Eleanor protests, “Just because you have a name for something doesn’t mean it’s not insane!”
At Eleanor’s house, Ben hears the “Pudsy’s Christmas” tune emanating from a teddy bear. Earlier, a professional makeup vlogger Melinda featured “Pudsy’s Christmas” in a YouTube video and embedded in the track was a voice at a frequency only children could hear, encouraging them to hurt themselves. Melinda’s psychiatrist: Jake Perry aka Leland Townsend. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
The teddy bear leads Ben and David to RSM Fertility Clinic. As it turns out, RSM is a key component to many of the puzzle pieces left behind through “Evil” season one. David, during a drug-fueled trip, envisioned an Euler triangle which just so happens to be the logo for RSM. Likewise, two earlier cases, one with a seemingly possessed child Eric, another involving an exorcism of a pregnant woman. And that’s not all. Kristen’s daughter Lexis (Maddy Crocco) was born using in-vitro from RSM.
Observations:
“Evil” S01E13 delivers what might be the best yet episode of its freshman season. The investigation is admittedly familiar, an exorcism performed on a pregnant woman. But its many story arc advancements make “Book 27” a solid end to an incredible season, providing the perfect proportion of answers while setting up new questions.
RSM is, supposedly, tinkering with human eggs, sowing bad seeds, or as Ben puts it, reenacting “Boys From Brazil.” This ties into a few previous investigations and carries serious implications for Kristen whose daughter Lexi was conceived through in-vitro via RMS. The genetic tampering storyline reminds me of the alien-human hybrid story arc from “The X-Files,” but as I’ve felt throughout the whole season, “Evil” stands on its own two horns.
Leland, Kristen, David, and Lexi each supposedly saw a strange demon goat being. Is this supernatural, a representation of the devil, or merely an imagined manifestation of evil wrought by humans? David prays before pulling out a packet of shrooms, preparing to hallucinate and, as he believes, talk to God. But before he can prepare his concoction, a vision overpowers him where he sees himself and Kristen walking through waves of wheat. Bouchard, glassy-eyed, walks right past David, headed for this goat creature as it’s clearing the field with a scythe. It’s yet unclear if Kristen is heading for her impending death, or preparing to wield the scythe herself. A shot of Kristen brandishing an ice pick and a splash of blood on her leg imply that Kristen killed LeRoux who, indeed, is confirmed as dead by Mira Byrd (Kristen Connolly), homicide detective and Bouchard’s friend. Curiously, Byrd continues to wear red clothing, a supposed warning sign. And if “Evil” has taught its rapt audience anything, it’s that everything is intentional.
Despite her purported agnosticism, Kristen turned down the opportunity to take her husband’s place as a mountain guide climbing Mt. Everest. Moreover, “Book 27” culminates with Kristen attempting to hold a rosary which burns a cross image into her palm. Is our beloved protagonist, Kristen, “Evil?” Can this weird goat-demon actually be real? Thus far, Leland has clearly operated using a network of carefully-placed humans: Dr. Boggs’s assistant, Orson LeRoux, an unwitting Sheryl, and a slew of others. As many puzzle pieces “Evil” connects during “Book 27,” it manages to pose many more questions.
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