David is approached by the Vatican, which interferes with the team’s investigation of an apparently deadly meme…

Once again, there’s a lot going on in the latest episode of Evil – which seems to have got over its impulse last week to use as many non-network ideas as possible just because it’s being made for streaming. The adult aspect of the series is far more in the content, with themes of suicide and manipulation.

The season is clearly going to deal with contemporary demons, as the animated sequence at the beginning indicates, and there’s increased roles once again for Andy and Kristen’s daughters as they have insights into and a perspective on the digital world that Ben lacks simply because of age. There’s some good old-fashioned investigative work on display from the team, which makes a good contrast to the other main plotline – David’s clandestine work for the Vatican.

This is something that’s going to need careful handling, so that it doesn’t descend into conspiracy theory territory. The reason that David’s involved in it is explained towards the end of the episode but I have my doubts about everything that he’s told, and I suspect this is a thread that’s going to keep being pulled at, particularly as there are still some unanswered questions from last week.

We have rather less of Leland and Sheryl this time but the relationship between them is coming into sharper focus; we also have to wonder why Kristen’s mother is so intent on keeping Andy out of the way… I suspect there’s going to be an increased focus on the house in the coming weeks.

Verdict: Another well balanced ensemble episode, adding some new plotlines as well as a clear “case of the week”. 8/10

Paul Simpson