Spoilers

Threads come together leading to shocks for the team – and some pathways some might never have expected…

It’s clearly the week for strong third season finales – following on from the shocks of For All Mankind’s latest run comes this frankly brilliant episode of Evil, penned by Rockne S. O’Bannon, that takes elements from across the entire run of the show and brings them together for an hour that at times had me swearing at the television in disbelief. Humour – career choice conversations while demon-splatting has to be a first for television anywhere; pathos, as a central tenet of someone’s faith is revealed to be false; and out and out what-the-hell moments, as one of the show’s central mysteries is explained (at least to an extent). And that’s before we get into the return of Andy, a musical moment for Leland, and an unholy sight involving George the Demon and Kurt Boggs…

Some of the conversations have been a long time coming: David and Kristen discussing faith and Kristen discovering where her mother has been working (and who her co-worker appears to be) were just two – there’s a lovely moment for Aasif Mandvi where he shows the trust that Kristen’s daughters have in Ben as Laura tells him of what they did earlier. Sister Andrea even gets to get her wimple dirty – and Lynn has a helpful discussion with her mother about her future plans. (OK, helpful might not be quite the right word for the explosion that takes place!)

I do wonder about Wallace Shawn’s Father Ignatius – after all, one of the discussion points in the season opener was what caused his weight change during his death experiences – so having him direct the team might not be the good thing it seems. David’s experience at the end (and the alternate subtitle) suggests that allies may be around… and they’re going to be needed because there’s not long until Leland’s plans reach fruition (and both Andy’s vision and the reality of what Kristen sees at Sheryl’s workplace give a very clear indication that we aren’t so much wandering into Rosemary’s Baby territory as taking it over completely).

This has been the strongest season of Evil; the central trio of Mike Colter, Katja Herbers and Aasif Mandvi has each been given very different challenges for their characters, while Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti and Kurt Fuller have each been pulled in different directions than we might expect. Andrea Martin’s Sister Andrea has been a breath of fresh air in the Rectory, while the increased time spent with Kristen’s family has provided both humour and intrigue – I was so pleased the Polly Pig plotline paid off handsomely in the finale. Roll on season 4…

Verdict: The capstone the season required. 10/10

Paul Simpson