Evil

* Season 1
* Season 2/3

***Evil*** is an American supernatural drama series created by Robert and Michelle King that premiered on CBS on September 26, 2019, and concluded on January 30, 2020, before moving to Paramount+ on June 20, 2021.

The series was renewed for a second season on October 22, 2019. In May 2021, it was confirmed that the series would move from CBS to Paramount+. The second season premiered on June 20, 2021 and concluded on October 10, 2021. The series was renewed for a third season on July 8, 2021. The third season premiered on June 12, 2022 and concluded on August 14, 2022. In July 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

## Synopsis

Skeptical psychologist Kristen Bouchard joins David Acosta, who is training to be a Catholic priest, and a blue-collar contractor as they investigate the church's backlog of unexplained mysteries, including supposed miracles, demonic possessions and other extraordinary occurrences. Their job is to assess if there's a logical explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work, examining the origins of evil along the dividing line between science and religion.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard
* Mike Colter as Father David Acosta
* Aasif Mandvi as Ben Shakir
* Michael Emerson as Dr. Leland Townsend
* Christine Lahti as Sheryl Luria
* Kurt Fuller as Dr. Kurt Boggs
* Brooklyn Shuck as Lynn Bouchard
* Skylar Gray as Lila Bouchard
* Maddy Crocco as Lexis Bouchard
* Dalya Knapp as Laura Bouchard
* Marti Matulis as George
* Ashley Edner as Abbey (season 2; guest season 3)
	+ Ciara Renée as voices of Abbey
* Andrea Martin as Sister Andrea (season 3; recurring season 2)

### Recurring Cast

* Patrick Brammall as Andy Bouchard (seasons 1–3)
* Boris McGiver as Monsignor Matthew Korecki (seasons 1/3; guest season 2)
* Euan Morton as the voice of George (seasons 1–3)
* Kristen Connolly as Mira Byrd (season 1; guest season 2)
* Clark Johnson as Father Amara (season 1)
* Danny Burstein as D.A. Lewis Cormier (season 1)
* Noah Robbins as Sebastian Lewin (season 1)
* Darren Pettie as Orson LeRoux (season 1; guest season 2)
* Nora Murphy as Rose390 (season 1)
* Peter Scolari as Bishop Thomas Marx (seasons 1–2)
* Brian Stokes Mitchell as Father Joe Mulvehill (season 2)
* Ciara Renée as the voice of Abbey (season 2; guest season 3)
* Sohina Sidhu as Karima Shakir (season 3; guest season 1–2)
* Brian d'Arcy James as Victor Leconte (season 3)
* Li Jun Li as Grace Ling (season 3; guest season 1)

## Production

CBS ordered a pilot for the potential series in January 2019, created by the writing team Robert and Michelle King. Katja Herbers and Mike Colter were cast in February, with Michael Emerson and Aasif Mandvi cast in March. A series order was officially made in May 2019. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m. during the 2019–2020 television season.

The series debuted on September 26, 2019. On July 18, 2019, Christine Lahti was cast as Sheryl Luria, replacing Deirdre O'Connell who was in the original pilot. On July 25, 2019, it was announced that Kurt Fuller, who guest starred in the pilot, had been promoted to a series regular. On October 22, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a second season. The filming of the second season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, but later began in October 2020 and was rerouted into a more "character-focused season." Filming concluded in June 2021.

On May 18, 2021, it reported that the series would move to Paramount+ for the second season. On May 23, 2021, it was announced that the second season would premiere on June 20, 2021.

On July 8, 2021, Paramount+ renewed the series for a third season which ran from June 12, 2022, to August 14, 2022. Filming for this season started on November 15, 2021, and was completed in May 2022. It consisted of 10 episodes.

On July 5, 2022, Paramount+ renewed the series for a fourth season. Filming for the season started in December 2022, and was forced to stop earlier than expected in May 2023 due to the Writers' Strike. The episode that was being filmed was the tenth and last of the season, and filming resumed on it in December.

## Release

### Marketing

On May 15, 2019, CBS released the first official trailer for the series. In September 2020, CBS announced that the first season would be made available on Netflix in October 2020 in order to generate attention for the upcoming second season. *Evil* left Netflix on October 1, 2021, due to becoming a Paramount+ exclusive.

### International broadcast

*Evil* premiered in Canada on Global TV on September 26, 2019. CBS Studios International announced on October 22, 2019 that *Evil* would air in Spain on Syfy in January 2020. On October 29, CBS announced *Evil* would be available on Globo play in Brazil on November 1. *Evil* premiered in Latin America on October 31 on Universal TV through an exclusive licensing agreement between CBS Studios International and NBCUniversal International Networks.

CBS Studios International has also signed a licensing agreement with French broadcaster TF1 Group for Evil to air in France, where it premiered on May 19, 2021. In India, *Evil* initially premiered on the streaming service Voot Select in April 2020, followed by a network television premiere on June 23, 2020, on Zee Café. In July 2020, the British pay television channel Alibi announced that they had bought the British rights to *Evil*, and the show premiered in the United Kingdom on September 21, 2020. In Germany, the show first premiered on the pay-tv channel ProSieben Fun on August 7, 2020, followed by a free-TV premiere on February 17, 2021, on ProSieben. In The Netherlands, series 1 premiered on SBS9 on November 11, 2022.

## Reception

### Critical response

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a "certified fresh" 90% approval rating based on 39 reviews. The website's critical consensus states, "Smartly-written and effectively unsettling, *Evil* works best when it dares to delve into the depths of the uncomfortable questions it poses." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The first season was named as one of the best television shows of 2019 by *The New Yorker]]*, NPR, and *TVLine*. In 2021, the show was named the best show on television by TV Guide]].

At the 1st Critics' Choice Super Awards, the series received four nominations: Best Horror Series, Best Actor in a Horror Series (Colter, Emerson) and Best Actress in a Horror Series (Herbers).

The second season has a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "*Evil* successfully slips into the streaming world with a spooky second season that doubles down on the scares without losing its sense of humor." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 84 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The third season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. On Metacritic, the third season received a score of 92 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

## Home media

CBS Home Entertainment released the complete first season on DVD on June 30, 2020. The complete second season was released on DVD-R on June 7, 2022.

## References

1. ↑ CBS's 'Evil' Renewed For Season 2 + Full Orders For 'All Rise', 'Carol's Second Act', 'The Unicorn' & 'Bob (hearts) Abishola'. *Renew Cancel TV*. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
2. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 18, 2021). 'SEAL Team' & 'Evil' Officially Move To Paramount+; 'Clarice' Remains In Negotiations. *Deadline*. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
3. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (July 8, 2021). 'Evil' Renewed For Season 3 By Paramount+. *Deadline*. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
4. ↑ Evil - Season 3 - Teaser Promo + Date Announcement. *Spoiler TV*. Retrieved March 31, 2022.

## External links

* Official website
* Evil on Wikipedia
* *Evil* on IMDb