This article contains spoilers for the series finale of “Evil” on Paramount+.
“Evil” on Thursday came to a conclusion much like it began: with its protagonist confronting the enigma of evil before her.
Four seasons ago, viewers were introduced to New York forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) as she evaluated the mental capacity of a serial killer whose lawyer suggests her client is possessed by a demon after murdering three families but claimed to have no memory of the murders. Now, she’s uprooted in Rome with her family, including her son Timothy — the supposed Antichrist — whom she now cares for. In the final moments of the series finale, titled “Fear the End,” she’s shocked when the baby’s eyes flash white and sharp fangs briefly appear along his gums, signaling that something is wrong. But the mother goes about her workday, choosing to ignore the troubling development.
It's a moment that underscores how much the character has evolved in the years since she became an adviser on possible demonic possessions and other supernatural phenomena for the Catholic Church, alongside her best friends from work, priest David Acosta (Mike Colter) and tech whiz Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi). It also showed how her maternal instincts have guided her decisions all along and will continue to do so.
Over a video call with Robert and Michelle King, the husband-and-wife creators of “Evil,” in New York and Herbers in Amsterdam, The Times spoke with the trio about the show’s finale, the Antichrist twist and the less-than-fairy-tale conclusion for Kristen and David. Edited excerpts from the interview follow.
Endings can be difficult to pull off, given how invested viewers are in the characters and the hopes they have for them, and how immediate their reactions can be. What was your vision for the ending of “Evil”?
Michelle Rey: We wanted to end the story in a way that was satisfying to viewers and felt like a conclusion, but at the same time allowed for the option of telling more stories, if that were ever a possibility.
Roberto Rey: Generally, our attitude toward endings is one of gleeful cynicism. It's something that hopefully leaves you with a smile, but it's also honest enough to say that, in this case, the evil doesn't go away. The evil is there. But at least Kristen and David are in the same universe. Everyone the audience cares about is still alive, and yet that's honest to what's happening right now.
Did you know how you wanted to end the series from the beginning, or was it something that was revealed?ed itself later?
Roberto: I think later on, with the Antichrist trope and the idea of nurture versus nature. The issue always at the end of the series was nature versus nurture, and I think that changed. I would have loved to hear what Katja thought about this because it changed on set through Katja’s influence. In the script, she looks at the baby and she’s not sure if she saw what she saw: that there was a demented look or that the eyes changed and turned red, and there were jaws. Then the light changes, and it’s like, maybe that was it? Katja’s idea, which excites me, was that she sees that it’s demonic and she covers it up, which plays into the idea of motherhood, which has been the very nature of the character from the beginning.
Katja Herbers: Kristen has incredible maternal instincts. Was it in Season 3 when she had that nightmare, went downstairs and found, truly, a monster in every sense of the word, and she still wanted to take care of it? She even started breastfeeding that demon. [With that Antichrist moment,] I really wanted to tease something, in case anyone wanted to do more of the show. I liked the idea of ending it in a similar way to the first season, where [Kristen wonders]“Am I possessed or not?” And then that look [from that moment in the first season ] I remember having email conversations with Robert and Michelle about it. They were looking for something that was more of a fun thing than a horror thing, which is something Kristen has flirted with a lot. I thought with that ending, it would combine those things of, “I can probably love this kid enough to make it all work out; I can love the demon away,” and a fun thing with this idea of, “What will this bring?”
Fedor Steer, left, as Demon Stick and Andrea Martin as Sister Andrea in a scene from the “Evil” series finale.
(Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+)
Tell me more about your reaction to learning about Kristen's fate, Katja. Were you surprised that, after being against it, she uprooted her family and left for Rome?
Katja: I think if Andy hadn't been out of the picture, that wouldn't have happened. I wasn't surprised that she decided to do it. We've seen that she loves her job and her coworker enough to want to potentially make that jump. Like David says, it's just six months and then I can decide. I love how Robert and Michelle wrote that she's inspired by her Dutch dopple.[ganger]Why pass up that opportunity? She knows what life is like in Queens. That's probably good life advice anyway: do it once in a while.
How do you categorize what happens to the most sinister character in the series, Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson)? We don't see him die.
Michelle: First of all, Michael Emerson is heaven, and more than any other actor I've ever worked with, he's the complete opposite of the character he plays. He's a very nice person and Leland is a terrible character. But in terms of the pleasure of coming to an end, he's always been a force to be reckoned with. In the end, they figure him out and they take him down. If you're an optimist, you'll say they've taken him down for good. They haven't succumbed to murder, so they've triumphed ethically as well. But it's a cabinet and people come out of cabinets.
Roberto: The difficulty in making a series that lasts more than one season is how to keep the status quo alive but have a developing arc. And since Katja's character had committed a murder in the first season and had been forgiven in the second, or ignored by the police in the second, it was difficult to go back to that. Because where's the development then? So there's a taste for the supernatural side of the series. If there's anything supernatural, this closet is the perfect place to put it. And, as we saw in the second season, boxes aren't always safe.
We know that the decision to end the program was not yours. IOh, so many! further What seasons would you have? missing?
Roberto: Two more. Season five, which was the four episodes collapsed, would be one of them, and then one more. That always seems like a good way to do things. Plus, the show, like every other show, is reacting to culture. How the world can turn 180 degrees in an instant and then, and then, turn again and again. We're in this fast-paced world that I think will become the theme of season five.
The show has had fun leaning into the supernatural elements and exploring this tension of evil lurking among us. RReal-world events may have played a less important role in this series than yours. othersbut it still worked as a metaphor. IWhat will you miss about being able to process the world around you through these characters??
Roberto: Obviously, these elections will be interesting in pointing out other elements of evil. Clearly, an assassination attempt that seemed to have as its sole purpose drawing attention to itself. [former President Trump] Rather than making any political commentary, it harks back to the first episode, when Mike’s character David says, “Evil is in communication with itself, and that’s why it’s getting worse.” In many ways, it’s not getting worse. There’s no Stalin killing millions, but there’s a little more around every corner.
I think artificial intelligence, especially generative intelligence, we've barely scratched the surface because it's been written. [into the series] Much more so before it started taking over our economy. But a generation AI would be used a lot more, whether it's through those characters that were very interesting in that ninth episode or creating new versions of it, but being in communication with your dead loved ones or people that you miss is just terrifying and almost like a Homer thing. You wish you could go deeper into that. The other thing is the doppelgangers, which we thought would take up more than one season, but then we decided, “Well, it's a way to ease our protagonists back into their real lives.” Because Aasif's real wife and daughter in that doppelganger story, and then Katja, obviously, is Dutch.
Mike Colter, left, as David Acosta, Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard and Aasif Mandvi as Ben Shakir in a scene from “Evil.”
(Elizabeth Fisher//Paramount+)
The dynamic between David and Kristen is something that fans really dig into – they love them. What has interested you about the discussion within the fandom regarding them?
Katja: I'm really amazed by the people who are doing this. editions. I think people are very talented. I love what they choose to put into them. They're these little gifts you get. Sometimes I like it when people try No They bring me together with David, but they're longing for a genuine friendship. These people really care about each other and they talk to each other in a very real way. We have that scene in the finale where we throw our old suitcases into the fire and we talk about what we're going to miss or something. David says something about talking about real things, and I think that's a very beautiful thing to see on television.
Michelle: When we did it before — the “will they, won’t they” thing — it was on “The Good Wife” and Alicia was just wondering whether she should stay in a tainted marriage — I don’t know how else to put it — or go off with someone she loved. Here, it seems like we’ve tipped the scales more in terms of, no, these are real obligations that they have, that the characters have. It’s not as easy as walking away from a husband who has very publicly cheated on you. David has made vows. Personally, I love the fact that he explodes at Ben at the end and says, “I made this commitment. This commitment is hard for me, and I’m going to keep it.” I think that’s a fantastic and atypical thing for television.
For many fans, the show's ending doesn't make sense. It's a nod to the show's cancellation and the state of the industry this season with the church's decision to shut down the tester program even though it's been a success. Why did you want to acknowledge that?
Michelle: I think you've got it right and there's nothing more to say. Everything that needed to be said has been reflected in the programme.
Roberto: I think it was a way to allow what was happening behind the scenes to flow through the story. Even when Mike first did the scene, instead of the church, he kept saying CBS or Paramount+; he kept inserting that. It was a way to express emotions of relief at having these four more cases they could deal with. But also, “Wait a minute, I thought we were doing this right?” Basically, every showrunner writes about their work, no matter what the show is about.
One of the great things about television is that you can often imagine where these characters are headed from here. I'd like to imagine the band getting back together at some point. Katja, do you think they'll get back together at some point?
Katja: I think they've become lifelong friends, just like Aasif, Mike and I have in real life. We've seen that over the course of the seasons, too. In the last season, especially, there were a lot of deep conversations about friendship. Kristin says to Ben at the end, “I love you,” on the phone, and he has to say it back. I can't imagine them disappearing on each other.
