Robert and Michelle King answer our burning questions about the “Evil” series finale.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for theEvilseries finale, “Fear of the End.”
And they lived happily ever after… with a little demon baby in tow.
Katja Herbers, Aasif Mandvi, and Mike Colter in ‘Evil’.Paramount+
Paramount+
In fact, Lelandisplanning to kill Kristen.
little Timothy, who was created using Kristen’s stolen egg and Leland’s sperm upon the world.
Well, she and David headed to Rome together just as friends and colleagues!
Baby Timothy on ‘Evil’.Paramount+
to pilot a new assessor program at the Vatican.
What in the holy Hell?
That’s just whatEntertainment WeeklyaskedEvilcreators Robert and Michelle King to explain in our extensive series finale debrief.
Little Timothy on ‘Evil’.Paramount+
So, Sheryl’s last-minute baptism didnt work?
ROBERT KING:There are two ways to look at it.
The other is, there’saNew Yorkerarticlenow out about how people see demonic faces in people.
Fedor Steer and Michael Emerson in ‘Evil’.Paramount+
But I think it all flies under the heading of nature verse nurture.
I guess that would be the underlining thought.
[Laughs]
What do you think was going through Kristens mind before she tells David that everythings fine?
Aasif Mandvi, Katja Herbers, and Mike Colter in ‘Evil’.Paramount+
She looks twice at it and decides, Okay, just ignore that and move on.
On the set, Katja suggested, No, I should probably see it and cover up for it.
Like, No, he’s a good kid.
Sheryl gives Kristen video evidence of Leland’s misdeeds on ‘Evil’.Paramount+
He’s a good boy.
I think it’s Katjas character saying, Hes being misunderstood.
Why did you decide not to have Ben go to the Vatican with Kristen and David?
Mike Colter and Andrea Martin in ‘Evil’.Paramount+
MK:In reality, most folks are not going to pass up that particular paycheck.
[Laughs] It just felt like it would been too much.
Why you gotta leave us with this ambiguity, guys?
Brooklyn Shuck, Skylar Gray, Dalya Knapp, Maddy Crocco and Katja Herbers in ‘Evil’.Paramount+
RK:[Laughs] Now, we have warned you.
And the cake being, I don’t know, theism and having it too is atheism.
How much are those both playing into the concept of the series?
Those two are always working in concert.
Kristen’s on the verge of killing Leland in the finale, and then David and Ben stop her.
Was part of your thinking behind not having him die because you cant fully eradicate evil?
MK:Yeah, that would’ve been more optimism than we typically allow ourselves.
RK:Also, Katjas character had killed someone in the first season and had been forgiven.
There was always the talk of killing Leland over the course of the season.
Were there other callbacks you wanted to include but just couldnt fit in?
RK:We wanted to see more of those cases in the fire.
Actually, our prop department did a great job creating those cases and seeing them in the fire.
And then the stupid director did it wrong, so we didn’t shoot it right.
But the one we always felt bad about not getting in there again was the Demon of Grief.
The Demon of Grief was such a cool character, that puppet voiced byFisher Stevens.
But then it suddenly became this carnival of too many things, it started to get baroque.
MK:It turns into a clip show.
That was always there.
And then it was always like Christine Lahti, who wants to lose her?
Shes so much fun.
One of the great turns in the show was turning her into a femme fatale.
She was always a gift that kept on giving.
That was before we knew that we wouldn’t really have a fifth season.
But what was the gross-looking liquid he infused back into them?
MK:I think that’s Leland’s secret recipe.
I think it’s trademarked and we’d be stepping on that.
The fear out ofRosemary’s Babywas always of injection, of IVs, of medical practices gone awry.
So, I think that was the start.
And that was the stuff in the jars.
And Lelands goal was to make the victims susceptible to his control?
Kind of like zombies.
It was all just trying to find different ways to play the tropes of horror movies.
Speaking of Andy, how did you decide that his marriage to Kristen wasn’t going to survive?
RK:Im thinking it was because we knew we were only going to get four more episodes.
So, it was a mix of the practical and the creative, I guess.
MK:And that’s typical.
That’s every show.
That’s how you end up making it.
One is his vows, and the other is her marriage.
Also, deep down, you guys want Kristen and David together, right?
RK:Oh yeah.
In every episode there’s a yearning for that.
Im sorry, Michelle you looked like you’re going to say no?
The series ends with David and the Entity continuing their battle against evil.
But now, theyre fighting an evil that is using technology to essentially upload despair directly into our brains.
How has telling this story changed your own relationship in real life to the internet?
MK:I wish I were deep enough to say my relationship had been changed.
I don’t think it has.
I guess I’ve always been a little arms length from things [online].
RK:I think we use it more pragmatically than for entertainment.
I didn’t join Twitter until 2021, I think.
And it was more because our agent was suggesting that I do that to advertise our shows.
So, I kind of stayed away from the way that it can make people angry.
There is a way to do that, which is a hopeful thing.
Im going away from that I want to look at puppies.
Where a computer is trying to sell you something and you’re not having real relationships.
The girls had so many good moments this season.
If you had to highlight your favorite scene, what would it be?
Theyre a really good unit on the set.
If anything, we love them more.
Sister Andrea spinoff go!
Elsbeth was just an obvious character [to spin off], and Sister Andrea is that way.
She’s in this silent retreat with Fenna.
We love that actress, Alexandra Socha, who plays Fenna.
But horror is not going away.
It’s very profitable.
So, would be the one for me.
Are you board with that, Michelle?
MK:I am.
We just now need to produce it and write it.
Also, CBS and Paramount+ love a brand extension and a show with a colon in the title.
Now that Kristen and David are in Rome, could we doEvil: Rome?
MK:We could indeed.
RK:Especially if it’s byTaylor Sheridan well have it on the air.
[Laughs]
All four seasons ofEvilare streaming now on Paramount+.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
