Of all of the many different panels and screenings here at Comic Con, Evil, the new show from The Good Wife, was at the top of my list. Having now seen the pilot, Evil seems like an interesting misfire for that productive duo in the vein of Braindead.
Evil will chronicle the journey of Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), a female psychologist who stops working for the DA and somewhat reluctantly begins to partner with David Acosta (Mike Colter), a priest in training, who helps work through the Catholic CHurch’s backlog of unexplained mysteries.
There is a kind of familiarity that you get watching a show written by Robert and Michelle King. The rhythms of their previous efforts are there. The show does grapple with some interesting ideas, particularly as it comes to the science and religion. I enjoyed how they made room for everyone’s viewpoint and even though the pilot ends with a win for science, it doesn’t come at the detriment of the religious characters. However, this show is often times at odds with itself, mainly because of the network its airing on. It’s not that basic cable can’t do horror effectively (I immediately thought of The Following) but Evil, with its many tones, often settles for the most basic of thrills and that’s unfortunate. For example, the Kings think themselves exceedingly clever that they named the demons basic names like Roy and George but in motion, its so silly and removes the terror from many of the scenes meant to terrify the audience.
Evil is weird as hell though and the cast does seem truly game to carry out everything thrown at them. Herbers is especially game as she gets to play the straight woman here, all skepticism and scientific approach. I love how the King’s filled out her character with her family life (4 daughters) and home life (under the train track in New York City). Colter is perhaps the most fascinating person on this show and the Kings waste no time referencing his looks and presence in the show (perhaps a reaction to the Hot Priest in Fleabag). I know he has the skills to really make this character interesting, but I was the least impressed by him in the pilot because so much of his character “work” is how other people react to or feel about him. It might be fun to have a super buff priest but if he doesn’t get the material that made Lemond Bishop an amazing character, then keep it.
I do feel like the series can potentially turn into something incredibly weird and interesting to watch given the talent involved, but I’d be worried Evil will stay formulaic.