Cut your own ear | Evil(2019)
Evil is an American supernatural drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King that premiered on September 26, 2019, on CBS. The series is produced by CBS Studios and King Size Productions. The series features an ensemble cast led by Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi. Kurt Fuller, Marti Matulis, Brooklyn Shuck, Skylar Gray, Maddy Crocco, Dalya Knapp, Christine Lahti, Michael Emerson, Ashley Edner and Andrea Martin also star.
In October 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. In May 2021, it was confirmed that the series would move from CBS to Paramount.The second season premiered on June 20, 2021.In July 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on June 12, 2022. In July 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season
Dr. Kristen Bouchard, a psychologist primarily employed by the Queens DA's office, learns that the defendant in her latest trial, Orson LeRoux, is claiming to be demonically possessed in order to claim an insanity plea. When the prosecution refuses to let her conduct further tests and fires her, leaving her unable to finish repaying her student loans, she accepts a job offer from David Acosta, a professional assessor for the Catholic Church, to determine whether or not LeRoux's claims are true. At first, Kristen is concerned that he may, in fact, be possessed, as she begins receiving threatening visits from George, a demon who taunts her for concealing her sexual attraction towards David. However, when LeRoux reveals personal information that Kristen never told him, she discovers that her therapy file was stolen by a man named Leland Townsend, who she deduces was responsible for convincing LeRoux to act on his murderous impulses and has been coaching him to act possessed. David tells her that "demons" are often just an excuse for evil people like Townsend to justify their desire to make others suffer for sheer amusement. Kristen decides to join David's team permanently.
A girl, Naomi Clark, is miraculously revived seconds after her autopsy begins, and David's team is assigned to determine if there was any divine intervention. A review of security camera footage appears to show the image of a woman who died an hour before Naomi, which Ben suggests could be the result of digital manipulation. The DA offers to reinstate Kristen on a two year contract, which David agrees to match. However, when she goes to tell the DA, he informs her the offer has been rescinded and that Dr. Townsend has replaced her. Kristen's daughter Laura begins to see George in her dreams, terrifying her mother until she discovers (while watching a "scary film" with Laura and her sisters) that George is in fact a fictional character and is therefore not real. Based on the video, David determines that the hospital pronounced Naomi dead thirty minutes too early, exposing racist practices that he has Kristen report to a lawyer suing the hospital for malpractice. The image is left unexplained, as the priest overseeing the team's work refuses to discuss it. Later that night, David purchases hallucinogens, which he uses to receive visions from God.
Kristen learns that Townsend intervened in an old case, reversing her expert opinion. David is asked to assess the case of Byron Duke (John Glover), a legendary Broadway producer who sold his soul to a demon named Joe in return for a promise that he would win a Tony Award. Ben and Kristen insist that "Joe" is part of a prank being pulled on Duke by hacking his virtual assistant. However, despite Ben's attempts to trace the hack, Joe manages to enter his house and takes control of his father's virtual assistant, taunting his sister until he destroys the device. With Duke beginning to suffer a complete mental breakdown, David locates the disgruntled IT tech who originated the prank, but he swears he had nothing to do with hacking Ben's home. Duke subsequently commits suicide after he receives a mysterious email telling him hell is only half full. Kristen uses a deepfake of a conversation she had with Townsend to get the judge to overrule him. David is advised to start writing down his visions; this leads to him identifying a puzzle involving the Salvator Mundi which points to a random area of convergence near New York.