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This article contains spoilers for Evil season 4 episode 14.
The title of Evil season 4 episode 14, “Fear of the End”* has a double meaning. It seems very likely the clocks will tick out on Father David Acosta (Mike Colter), Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), and Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi), as well as much of the ecclesiastical order, by the finale’s end. For fans who didn’t skip past the theme song, for old time’s sake, it also means Evil was much too short-lived a series. Creators and showrunners Robert and Michelle King are to be mourned. “Fear of the End” concludes as a finale, but feels like a death. There is more story to tell, and the final episode is littered with possibilities.
Note: The final four episodes of Evil season 4 technically constitute a “mini” fifth and final season for the show per Paramount+. But the cast and crew have expressed and interest in continuing the story.
The other meaning of the title is the fear of losing old friends, and a good job. In episode 13, “Fear of the Unholy,” David officiated the last mass in St. Joseph’s Church. Father Ignatius (Wallace Shawn) confirmed the church is closing, the building desanctified, and the assessor program is terminated. In the interim, Kristen and Ben moved on in their chosen fields. David’s reassignment to Rome upsets those plans.
David learns the Friends of the Vatican plan to take on the 60 Demonic Houses, and at least one of his former colleagues is in danger. Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) may have known all this before the episode was scripted, but here’s why things turn out as they do.
What Was The 60’s Plan
When Father Giovanni De Vita (Denis O’Hare), a high-level agent of The Entity, which is kind of like The Catholic Church’s CIA, first tells David about the coming visitation, he says: “The 60 have never been gathered in one place, and it will never happen again in our lifetime.” The Entity’s early intelligence says their “meeting involves a black mass, and sacrificing a young woman, so we have to stop it.” Of course, the first part of The 60’s plan is a ruse to draw The Entity into an offensive position, and eliminate them. Father Acosta is able to save Father Giovanni, but the upper echelon of the preeminent Holy Roman force is decimated at the faux ritual held in the desanctified church.
The 60 were introduced in season 1’s “Vatican III.” The assessors came across a mysterious codex, which had been hidden by the church for centuries. The ancient manuscript highlights an arrangement of 60 symbols, called sigils. Each sigil represents a different demonic house. The Entity believed The 60 were gathering for a ritual, but there is no reason for them to gather, physically, in one space. The meeting is to be held on a Zoom-like platform. The new technology also allows The 60 to utilize new mind science, as Ben explains. There are 60 families, and 60 regions of the brain connected to the thalamus, which relays all sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex. The 60 Demonic Families can download perdition from the cloud, and keep it all in its ever-growing family. All of this is possible from the wondrous tech wizards at DF.
What Is the DF/RMS Fertility Connection?
Early in “Fear of the End,” Kristen’s children decide to explore the future with VR headsets. It is bleak, and getting bleaker by the second. Each of the children, and all the assessors experience different nightmare scenarios under the virtual reality, and all of them end with an alarm clicking down to zero. Of course, when the countdown ends, they are treated to an ad to download the full experience for only $7.99 a month from DF. The mysterious corporation with the ridiculous glass ceiling has been the bane of the existence of Kristen, her family, and her teammates. Leland was CEO at one time, but usurped by a lowly employee, Kristen’s mother, Sheryl (Christine Lahti). The corporation has a diversified portfolio.
Leland’s ultimate ascension plans began at RMS Fertility, where Kristen received IVF, and is the center which displaced her unfertilized egg. RMS Fertility is crucial in ensuring the succession of The 60 Demonic Families, and also instrumental in expanding the houses.
DF is introduced in season 3’s “The Demon of Money.” The assessors are called in when shareholders of a company called DF are stalked by what appears to be a demon. Both Ben and his sister buy stock, and encounter the phenomenon. Insider trading isn’t a sin, so Ben sells all the stock to Kristen, who dumps it on someone who has been annoying her. DF has been a significant presence in all of The 60’s maneuvers. Most of its executive roster is made of satanic beings bent on fostering unrest on earth. DF fired Leland after Kristen suggested he had Kristen’s baby baptized. Leland responds with his own Poison Pill, taking full possession of the company, and his powers. Until he is boxed in.
What Was That Box Leland Is Put In?
On Evil season 2 episode 7 “S Is for Silence,” the assessors are dispatched to St. Thomas monastery to determine if Father Thomas is an Incorruptible. His corpse has not decayed years after his death. The compound and structure were built around an ornate and sanctified crate, which is held in Brother Thomas’ cell. The monastery was built around it to keep the contents safely secured. The cabinet imprisons “a demon that wants to destroy the world,” David informs the others in the episode. “Monks have watched since the 1930s to keep it closed.” That’s why the crate is kept in a silent monastery. Not a word has been spoken within the walls of St. Thomas in 130 years. Leland is in the cabinet now.
I, personally, would watch an entire episode consisting of nothing more than Sister Andrea keeping silent vigil over the cabinet.
What’s Next for Kristen, Ben, and David?
Davd turns down quite a significant advancement in the Catholic Church hierarchy with his request to head Rome’s assessment team, with Kristen in a lofty position. Ben appears quite happy to ditch his tinfoil hat for a suit, tie, and cubicle, along with the six-figure salary he’ll have to make due with. As for Kristen, the relocation to her new job comes with many perks. Her children can now talk over each other in Italian as well as English. She may not yet have a handle on Italian fashion sunglasses, but her son, the baptized antichrist, Timothy, can get Holy Water on tap any time he wants. His mother works in the Vatican. It looks like he’s going to need a lot of water, at the very least to wash that devilish grin off his face.
What’s With Kristen’s Baby?
One of the last shots seen in “Fear of the End” is Kristen’s baby displaying an extremely toothy grin. Though a little confused at first, Kristen does not call attention to her epiphany as it dawns, and shares nothing with her fellow assessors. But it proves a theory most fans of Evil already suspect, and fear: Kristen is part demon, and always has been. This is why Leland needed her ovum to birth the antichrist through a surrogate.
The clues have always been there. Leland is obsessed with Kristen and the Bouchard family from the opening courtroom scenes in season 1. Leland seduced Sheryl into betraying and spying on her daughter. Kristen got a restraining order after Leland approached her daughter, Lexis (Maddy Crocco), with long-term malicious intent. On a side note, Kristen was open to demons like George from the very beginning. She is also a murderer.
In “Fear of the End,” we hear Roger Miller sing “If daddy was a pistol, I’m a son of a gun,” as Leland, now a demonically-powered ex-priest, prepares to kill Kristen. “Dang Me” is the last song Leland hears before Kristen garrotes him. It may be the last sound he ever hears, as he’s dropped off in a silent monastery. The final clue to Kristen’s demonic nature came as an aside in season 2’s “A Is for Angel,” when Sheryl taunted Leland’s bullying with: “Do you know how many demons I dated before you?”
Kristen brings the antichrist into the Vatican, maybe that’s been the plan all along. Evil may have concluded its duties, but evil continues. Hopefully some network will put those two together.
All four seasons of Evil are available to stream on Paramount+ now.
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