The 16 Essential Evil Episodes (So Far)

Evil is ending with its upcoming fourth season—and it’s going to be a wild ride to the end, what with Rosemary’s Baby now part of the action. The show follows a trio of assessors (David, a priest played by Mike Colter; Kristen, a psychologist played by Katja Herbers; and Ben, a tech whiz played by Aasif Mandvi) who look into alleged possessions and the occasional miracle on behalf of the Catholic Church in New York City.

Throughout its run—the show started on CBS then shifted to Paramount+—Evil has offered a unique blend of crime drama with an emphasis on technology, supernatural horror, and religious themes, with the latter offering the show a chance to explore questions of faith and power from many different angles. It’s frequently critical of the Catholic Church, but makes plenty of room to explore individual beliefs (including Satanic ones). It also has an excellent array of both likable and deliciously villainous characters—in addition to the core trio, the supporting cast (Christine Lahti as Kristen’s slippery mother, Sheryl; Michael Emerson as Satanic minion Leland Townsend) and guest stars (Andrea Martin as a straight-talking nun, the various Broadway heavyweights who show up as priests) are top-notch—and a wicked sense of humor.

Each episode generally follows a different case, but there are episodic elements that carry over, as well as an overarching plot that’s building toward doomsday, or at least a very determined attempt to bring it about. Here’s the official Paramount+ summary of what’s to come in Evil season four (which will be 14 episodes, including a special four-part series finale):

“In the upcoming season, Kristen, David, and Ben continue to assess cases that involve wayward technology, possessed pigs, demonic oppression and infestation, a dance muse conjured by alleged witches, and an evil relic. Throughout, Leland attempts to lure Kristen into raising a baby antichrist who was conceived with her ovum. David is recruited by the Vatican’s secret service to ‘remote view’ a paranormal ability to see the unseen in order to detect evil. Ben is hit by an ion beam, causing him to see visions of a taunting jinn until he discovers an unusual solution to banish it. Finally, all three realize they only have a few weeks left to assess cases because the parish has decided to disband the team due to a lack of funds. This culminates in one last confrontation with Leland and the 60 families that make up Evil in the modern world.”

Sound intriguing? It is, and you should watch! It was hard to choose, but here are the 16 episodes that’ve stood out the most so far in Evil seasons 1-3.