They’re joined by the equally skeptical Ben (Aasif Mandvi), a one-stop tech/home-repair/video analysis/doxxing/quips expert, and set out to determine what exactly is going on with the defendant. Is he really possessed by a demon named Roy (yes, Roy)? Is this caused by delusions, hallucinations, or some other mental irregularity? Is he an unwitting vessel, or an expert liar? Could it be both? It’s got what you might call “The X-Files” energy—and that’s no small thing.
And that’s when the night terrors begin. Kristen begins dreaming (or not dreaming) of a demon named George—yes, George—a figure that’s equal parts “American Horror Story” and “Tales from the Crypt.” Here’s where the “Could it be both?” tension gets really interesting. Maybe George is real, maybe he isn’t, but the fear he creates in her, the suspicion and self-doubt, are undeniable. She wields her training and her intelligence like both weapon and shield, diligently fighting to reclaim territory for her own logical mind. She shuts it all away as soon as her four cacophonous daughters enter the room. She searches for answers, but the fear takes root.
Herbers is excellent, and it’s on Kristen and that visceral performance that “EVIL” hinges, but this is no one-woman show. Colter, a winning if not always fascinating actor, is well-cast, open-hearted yet still a cypher, guided by the purest of intentions but stalked by personal demons (though they never seem to take the form one expects, literally or metaphorically). Mandvi isn’t simply there for comic relief, and while he has far less to do than Herbers, he makes Ben’s struggle as evident, if not as pressing, as Kristen’s. Christine Lahti is there as Kristen’s mother, though in the three episodes provided for critics, she’s underused. And then there’s Michael Emerson, TV’s best disruptor, first arriving as Kristen’s replacement but quickly asserting himself as a force, inexplicable or otherwise, to be reckoned with.
“EVIL” is a show where even the conclusions, the cases most firmly closed and doors most solidly barred, only lead to more questions. Both the writing and direction take the time to make sure that the emotional repercussions linger and build on each other, but the in-the-moment stuff is sometimes active for both characters and audience. Robert King, who directs the pilot, shoots Kristen’s first night terror in intimate fashion, hanging low, as if it, too, is paralyzed in bed, and the paralysis itself is left for us to discover; it’s evident well before she describes her experience, because of the precise positioning of one hand. As with its two King predecessors, “EVIL” also occasionally takes stylistic risks, and not all of them work—a few montages, a creepy girl, and an “American Horror Story”/”The Haunting Of Hill House” parody range from marginally successful to odd—but even the missteps are entertaining. The same goes for the topical stuff (an Alexa-like device, AR glasses).
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