Having just released its fourth season on Paramount+, Evil has recently found a new life with its first two seasons streaming on Netflix. Created by Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife), this procedural crime series follows a psychologist (Katja Herbers), a priest-in-training (Luke Cage‘s Mike Colter), and a tech expert (Aasif Mandvi) as they investigate alleged incidents of paranormal and demonic activity on behalf of the Catholic Church.
Despite achieving critical acclaim across its four seasons, many viewers have glossed over Evil, cementing its status as an overlooked hidden gem. Now that the series has landed on Netflix, it has the chance to reach more audiences and achieve its long-overdue hype. For those still having doubts, here are three things that will make naysayers believe in Evil.
A story is only as good as its characters, and Evil is nothing without its stellar cast. Its three main protagonists (Kristen, David, and Ben the Magnificent) have such terrific banter and chemistry that audiences can’t help but fall for them. Michael Emerson also stands out as the overarching villain, Leland Townsend, an insufferable and evil therapist whose only goal in life is to spread chaos and hatred. And don’t forget the show’s demonic mascot, George (Marti Matulis), who steals the show whenever he crawls out of the shadows to torment Kristen and her family.
The show also gives its side characters the chance to shine as they react to the strange forces of evil that they encounter. Some notable cases include Kirsten’s four adorable daughters and the badass Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin).
As its title implies, this series explores evil as it manifests itself in numerous forms in the modern age. Despite featuring a serialized narrative, the writers are able to present a unique and exciting mystery with each new case that tests the heroes’ skills and beliefs. This allows the show to make thought-provoking stories about current issues related to technology, social media, sexism, racism, police brutality, organized religion, and the criminal justice system.
And even though tall, horned devils appear to the characters in almost every episode, it’s hard to tell if they’re real or just in the characters’ heads. As it blurs the line between the scientific and the supernatural, the series keeps audiences guessing as the protagonists try to explain the unexplainable, subverting expectations in the most surprising ways. Nevertheless, it still leaves the door open for a supernatural presence to be at the root of all the story’s evil, typically related to Leland and his cult of devil worshippers.
While stories about ghosts, cults, demonic possession, etc., have been done to death throughout pop culture, Evil stands out from the competition as a meta-satire of the horror genre. The show is well aware of the stories and tropes that each episode invokes, and yet it is able to deconstruct these conventions and present a witty and original narrative.
But even when the show tackles heavy and gruesome subject matter, the writers still find room to inject a quirky and sometimes wicked sense of humor into the story. Such instances include Andrea taking out demons like she’s killing roaches, a large goat demon exercising on an elliptical, or any one of Leland’s naughty antics. This makes the show not too serious and frightening for casual audiences to enjoy, giving more reason for more viewers to catch up to the series before it ends.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?