The current distribution window scenario has created an access paradox in which certain series produced by a more traditional channel suffer from the syndrome of silence on social networks, with CBS channel’s ‘Evil’ being one of the most striking cases in recent years . The broadcast of the first season did not make much noise, but the confidence of the chain in the proposal made it come back for a incredible continuation that expands the freedom of the previous one to completely unpredictable levels.
Part of the advantage of the renewal is that it has now been produced as part of the Paramount + platform catalog, although in the rest of the world it has been released on channels such as Syfy, which has just presented the first episode and allows on demand only when the series is over. The advantage of this second season, beyond the ease of access in the United States, is that there is no limitation in the timing of the chapters, blood, sex or swearing. And the Kings have used the breaking of chains as a declaration of intent.
‘Evil’ is a horror and fantasy series in the style of ‘The X-Files’, but more focused on religious aspects, constantly confronting faith and science in a playful infinite template where cases are simply blank canvases for discussing relevant issues, in a way not very different than ‘The Good Fight’, but always with a use of the ambiguous fantastic, in which the terror is usually in visions, hallucinations, dreams, strange coincidences and sinister aspects of daily life that they may have (or no) a supernatural basis.
After an impeccable season 1, in which the game between the idea of diabolical evil and very human real evil played with rules more or less similar to those of series of the style, with a very fine control of the options of what could be or not being the devil’s thing, the end of that clarified and he was more inclined towards one of the options, so that, although in this season there is a much more frontal idea of the esoteric mythology of the seriesThe idea of cases with possible rational explanations is also being played on.
A totally unpredictable series
The difference between both seasons is that in this one everything has been blown up and they play accordingly, without repeating the dynamics of the previous one at all and, what is more surprising, without repeating diagrams from chapter to chapter. There are some elements that are replicated, such as the visit of the three protagonists to the houses of those affected by possessions and miracles of the moment, but sometimes it can be a mere starting point for bigger problems and in others just a background noise while developing more important aspects for the main arc.
‘Evil’ never settles, always moves forward (and other directions) and it is still absorbing, funny, sometimes absurd and self-aware, sometimes totally serious and creepy. He is very complicit with the viewer and loves to make parody feints with his horror elements, but at the same time he enjoys entering them, with atmospheric moments, visual codes of modern supernatural horror and apparitions that are quite scary, like the silhouettes he sees. at the end of the corridor a totally agnostic character or everything that happens in a cursed hotel with a blind floor.
There are round episodes, like that of the cloistered monastery, in which not a single word is said, an intelligent revision of the myth of the zombies as the working class of monsters, which returns to the voodoo myth to apply it to the current exploitation, another that conceives the police as part of a cult that is much more disturbing in its real implications because of the George Floyd case that all ‘Lovecraft Country’, and great variations on the theme of the possessed dolls or the apparitions of angels.
A must have fantastic event
All this mixed with a subversive plot about Kristen’s implicit evil, David’s doubts of faith and Ben’s skepticism, three characters that continue to grow and They form a threesome full of chemistry, as addictive as Mulder and Scully. Leland is almost a humorous element, but his hidden plans are more terrifying when he makes them without hiding the least bit. The implications with Kristen’s mother reach unexpected, unhealthy and see-to-believe points. There are also new characters that become essential for subsequent seasons, such as sister Andrea.
Special mention for mind-blowing leads for each episode with pop-up books, a delight that mixes real die-cuts with digital effects and that they do not remain in the mere capricious ornamentation to open the chapters, but they give clues and the volume itself ends up having to do with the general argument. We have details that something is happening with one of Kristen’s daughters, but we don’t end up knowing what, we know that the clinic had a role in the evil plan, but we still don’t know how far it can go. The only thing that is resolved is the central dilemma with Kristen and the result only turns things more upside down.
D is for Doll. #EvilReturns pic.twitter.com/df446kgOSI
– Evil (@evil) October 3, 2021
Season 2 of ‘Evil’ greatly expands its mythology but does not close any of its subplots. If the first was full of codes and elements that came together throughout its 13 chapters, this seems to open the range of symbols, keys and enigmas to a level that takes at least two dozen hours to see where it leads. . Riddles, mystery, horror, black humor, corrosive social commentary … the Kings are capable of handling everything with an unusual intelligence in the genre, turning their series into one of the most valuable events on television today. Don’t miss it for the world.