'Evil' is a show about angels and demons and a team of investigators trying to filter "real" demonic activity from those workaday demonic pranks that people are always playing on each other. Each episode starts with something that looks like demonic or angelic activity, then the team starts picking everything apart looking for non-supernatural explanations, and by the end they usually find explanations for some of the stuff but leave some events open to interpretation. I mean, I say interpretation, but really the show heavily implies that demons are in fact a thing and that those nasty buggers are practically everywhere. Playing a game with someone over the Internet? That's almost certainly a demon. That smart speaker in the kitchen? All the answers are fed by demons! A virtual reality game? Oh man, that thing is chock full of demons just waiting to steal your kids souls with rock and roll music and Ouija boards.
Normally I wouldn't care much about how a show presents supernatural elements, but I do have a problem with the format here. Typically a show with supernatural aspects develops it's mythology and story arcs with villains and battles in a way that makes it obvious that it's all fiction for fun and entertainment. The shadowy approach they use here of avoiding definitive answers and one discovery opening the door to another mystery that is left open-ended and unresolved feels like they're trying to convince people to embrace the idea that it might all be real on some level. It's almost like they want to say "see, science can't always explain this stuff."
I mean, I can't say for sure that that's what they're aiming for, but they do seem to push that the-church-is-the-best-defense-against-evil notion pretty hard, which, I don't know, seems kind of not right given the actual evil we've seen associated with churches in the last few decades. And honestly, I think that's what really bugged me watching this: it felt like an advertisement for the Catholic church. The whole pedophile priest thing is brought up, but then quickly dismissed, and meanwhile one of the main characters is a priest in training and the church is funding our heroes on their quest for justice and only the artifacts and rituals of the Catholic faith keep the demons at bay, etc.
The other thing I'll point out is that the shows comprehension of how technology and other aspects of the modern world work is very in line with your parents or grandparents world view. A "deep fake" can basically do anything and is completely indistinguishable from reality, your smart speakers are all being hacked by young people who don't like you, computer games are trying to trick kids into embracing Satan, you get the idea. They use a lot of ideas borrowed from the real world, but only a very surface level understanding of the subject and with an older value system applied to the interpretation.
On the more positive side, I will say that although I may not love a lot of aspects of the show, I do have to admit one thing, which is that even if it's a little too associated with a particular faith, shadowy demonic activity can be scary. I mean, not always, the home visitation demon was so ridiculous that I literally laughed out loud, but some of the stuff involving demons hunting kids was genuinely terrifying. I found it a bit hit or miss though, and with WAY too much emphasis on the demons always wanting to chat with you about their nefarious plans. I mean, if demons existed and were this chatty, they wouldn't be even remotely secret. There'd be daytime talk show episodes with titles like 'how to talk to your kids about the demons trying to steal their souls'. And, of course, all of this supernatural stuff can distract from the scariest truth, which is that we don't need demons at all to have evil. We walk that path just fine without any guidance from the light of the morning star.
So bottom line I wouldn't say this is a good show. I watched the first four episodes and will probably stop there. Yes, it was occasionally scary, but mostly it was just stupid.
Normally I wouldn't care much about how a show presents supernatural elements, but I do have a problem with the format here. Typically a show with supernatural aspects develops it's mythology and story arcs with villains and battles in a way that makes it obvious that it's all fiction for fun and entertainment. The shadowy approach they use here of avoiding definitive answers and one discovery opening the door to another mystery that is left open-ended and unresolved feels like they're trying to convince people to embrace the idea that it might all be real on some level. It's almost like they want to say "see, science can't always explain this stuff."
I mean, I can't say for sure that that's what they're aiming for, but they do seem to push that the-church-is-the-best-defense-against-evil notion pretty hard, which, I don't know, seems kind of not right given the actual evil we've seen associated with churches in the last few decades. And honestly, I think that's what really bugged me watching this: it felt like an advertisement for the Catholic church. The whole pedophile priest thing is brought up, but then quickly dismissed, and meanwhile one of the main characters is a priest in training and the church is funding our heroes on their quest for justice and only the artifacts and rituals of the Catholic faith keep the demons at bay, etc.
The other thing I'll point out is that the shows comprehension of how technology and other aspects of the modern world work is very in line with your parents or grandparents world view. A "deep fake" can basically do anything and is completely indistinguishable from reality, your smart speakers are all being hacked by young people who don't like you, computer games are trying to trick kids into embracing Satan, you get the idea. They use a lot of ideas borrowed from the real world, but only a very surface level understanding of the subject and with an older value system applied to the interpretation.
On the more positive side, I will say that although I may not love a lot of aspects of the show, I do have to admit one thing, which is that even if it's a little too associated with a particular faith, shadowy demonic activity can be scary. I mean, not always, the home visitation demon was so ridiculous that I literally laughed out loud, but some of the stuff involving demons hunting kids was genuinely terrifying. I found it a bit hit or miss though, and with WAY too much emphasis on the demons always wanting to chat with you about their nefarious plans. I mean, if demons existed and were this chatty, they wouldn't be even remotely secret. There'd be daytime talk show episodes with titles like 'how to talk to your kids about the demons trying to steal their souls'. And, of course, all of this supernatural stuff can distract from the scariest truth, which is that we don't need demons at all to have evil. We walk that path just fine without any guidance from the light of the morning star.
So bottom line I wouldn't say this is a good show. I watched the first four episodes and will probably stop there. Yes, it was occasionally scary, but mostly it was just stupid.