‘Evil’ 4×02 Review: “How to Train a Dog”

Evil 4x02. L-R Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard, Mike Colter as David Acosta and Aasif Mandvi as Ben Shakir appearing in Evil episode 2, season 4, streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+

Evil 4×02 is both an hour of television that goes by far too quickly…and an episode we swear has actually got at least four in one. Which, of course, it isn’t multiple episodes — just a single, brilliant one that has a little bit of everything. If “How to Train a Dog” only focused on a single one of the highlights we’ll detail below, it would be enough to be better than quite a lot out there in the TV landscape. But this series has never aimed nor settled for only enough, which means we get all of these things — the old friends, the new experiments, the expanding mythology, the disgustingly timeless misogyny — and so much more.

That, of course, means Evil 4×02 is, in fact, not enough for us. Scratching your head at this conclusion, given the above statement about this series never settling there? You shouldn’t be. Because two things can be true at once, and as long as we’re unable to jailbreak any streamers’ software and force more episodes to appear, we will never, ever be satisfied. In fact, the more we find ourselves loving this final season, the more we absolutely hate everything about it. Just saying.

How (not) to Tell 30-Second Ghost Stories

Evil 4x02 — Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard appearing in Evil episode 2, season 4, streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+

Let’s begin at the beginning again, shall we? (We shall.)

The very first image we see in Evil 4×02 may be all “misty, spooky graveyard” and all, but the opening sequence feels more like a comedy about three very close friends spending quality time together than anything else. Between Ben and Kristen’s little “I don’t need to do it”/”F you!” exchange, David trying to be super quiet while they are…anything but, and the toast — complete with Kristen’s canned margarita, of course — it’s hard not to just grin and type all caps things like “THEY ARE HAVING FUN AND THEY ARE FRIENDS AND I LOVE THIS GROUP” or, perhaps, “OMG THEY ARE CHILDREN. LOVE THEM!” while watching.

(Can confirm: At least one viewer wrote those comments in her notes.)

…and that’s just the beginning of the beginning.

Getting to see David try (and fail) to land the jump scare on an admittedly weak (sorry, not sorry, Father) scary story is a total delight. Same goes for Kristen and Ben’s reactions — whether her amused, adoring, tipsy grin the whole time she’s listening to the story or both of them giving their (very negative) feedback at the end. Not to mention, all the popcorn-throwing, demonstrating how to properly land the scare, and even the ribbing back and forth about talking behind Ben’s back when he walks away…it’s just a good time, made particularly special because our time with them continues to slip away. But it’s also who these three characters maybe could have been to each other if they’d met some other way…which hurts in its own right.

Or, to reference the all-caps note above, it really does feel like they’re all kids again. At least, they’re tapping into something innocent and normal. No werewolves, no djinns, no secret work for the Friends of the Vatican, no potential antichrist offspring coming in just 38 30 days. Just our beloved heroes having goofy, carefree quality time. Sure, at one point, David does bring up the whole antichrist baby thing in a quiet moment alone with Kristen. But everyone is so relaxed, and she seems so at peace when she answers. This makes it enough to ignore the many questions her suddenly being so unbothered may raise.

Our all-too-brief personal time, of course, sets us up with a false sense of security ahead of the actual jump scare — the “werewolf” coming out of the eerily-quiet darkness to attack David. The sudden, violent change in mood just works. The same goes for the actors’ completely horrified expressions. (So much for Kristen’s claim about how she’s “given up on being horrified.” That’s why, when we find out that the thing that goes bump in the night is just a robot dog, we don’t at all feel like we’ve been ripped off. The build-up pays off, even if not in the way we might expect. Because that’s just how good television and three actors selling every second of it — from the silly to the scary — works.

Perhaps we’ll see a werewolf some other time. If only there were enough opportunities for “some other time” to speak of.

“Since…none of your…beeswax.”

Evil 4×02 features some particularly strong work from Aasif Mandvi as Ben conducts his personal experiments. There’s something fascinating about the entire concept of the character, attempting to find the thing on the edges of his vision — figure out what makes him see it and how well — while he argues and bargains with it…but is also trying to steadfastly ignore its very real presence. And from the moment Ben braces himself to begin, through to the very end where he’s left, stunned and struggling against the unseen, Mandvi takes us on an incredible journey. This isn’t something that’s just creepy; it’s also the first thing that Ben might not be able to explain away.

(Side note: Choosing to do this in secret is…almost surely going to end poorly. Just saying. Anyway. Let’s continue.)

Even though the scene may begin with Ben working through the problem methodically, forcing himself to stay focused, he gets to a point where he thinks he has a rational solution. Finally! Or, at least, he thinks he’s ruled out the most irrational explanation he’s been able to come up with thus far: that, somehow, his experience with the particle accelerator brought a djinn into his life.

In that moment, when Ben thinks he’s contradicted the reality of that thing’s existence, Mandvi’s expression immediately changes from one of a scientist who’s found himself a perplexing wrinkle in his working theory to someone who is very, very proud of himself. Proud, even, to the point of being smug. This causes Ben to mock and challenge the djinn, thrilled with his own discovery…

…right up until the purely terrifying part. And wow, does Mandvi turn it up a notch there. Even with the visually interesting choice to show the attack up close and Ben’s powerless struggle against nothingness from afar, Mandvi gives us a very clear picture of what Ben’s going through in both versions of reality. Regardless of the shot. Of course, Evil 4×02 ends with that image of Ben, so utterly lost that he goes for help but doesn’t know what kind of help he actually needs. That final shot of Mandvi’s expression leaves quite the lasting impression — and would no matter where it appeared in the episode.

Needed more than ever

Evil 4×02 tells us, over and over again, that the world needs David Acosta. LeConte tells him directly — more than once. He also tells Father Dominic, after David leaves them, “in the next few weeks, we’ll need him more than ever.” And, notably, Ben also sends David a “we need you” text. It’s that last “need” that seems to be greatest, or maybe it’s just the most important to David. One way or another, “my friends need me. So I’m gonna go do that now.” Does this mean he’s made his final choice: Ben and Kristen over all else? Doubtful, unless there’s something we don’t know yet — that’s not who he is. And yet…interesting.

Let’s back it up, though.

In “How to Train a Dog,” David pushes back against LeConte showing up unannounced. He also asks, point blank, if LeConte just makes up the odd requests as he goes along. But he goes to that strange white room and listens to TJ, then participates in the drawing activity. Why? Because, much like when he ultimately walks away and goes back to his friends and the ~~werewolf~~ robot case, he’s needed. David Acosta has a purpose; he has a role in all of this, whatever “all of this” even is. And he believes.

But we know, through Mike Colter’s performance, that belief and a purpose — a calling, perhaps, might be a better way to describe it? — that none of this is easy for David. When “TJ” just…stares after telling him that story/confession/whatever, Colter again does so much with seemingly so very little. David is unnerved, confused. He knows something is happening but has no idea what. And all it takes for us to see that is a slight narrowing of Colter’s eyes, along with a tiny shrug. Later, when David asks what he’s supposed to be drawing, it’s all about these unsure sideways glances at the other participants in the room before he takes on this intense, determined expression and gets to work.

As it turns out, the work in question is creating a 75% accurate depiction of something he’s never seen before. When he learns about this, and when he sees the evidence with his own eyes, we again have Colter perfectly conveying every bit of David’s confusion and disbelief. He just doesn’t know how he fits into this, much less how he was able to create such an accurate drawing based on…less than nothing. And underneath, or perhaps alongside, all of that is the frustration.

Are we excited to see what else David might be able to see and if that ability can, at all, save us? Obviously. But is it also very intriguing that, after those glances back and forth between the text from his friends and the Vatican’s Friends (capital F) in front of him, he chose Ben and Kristen? Oh, yeah.

Not to mention, as far as entertainment goes? All we can say about some of Colter’s very irritated — moreso than David usually lets on — line readings is simply this: Yes. Please and thank you. Yes. More.

“The Board doesn’t think a woman is tough enough. Prove them wrong.”

Sheryl’s entire journey in Evil 4×02, even with all the other great content in this episode, might be a personal favorite. It is not, however, because any of what she experiences is at all pleasant to watch. The natural question then, would be why I like something that I also…kinda of hate. Anyone who has ever been ridiculed, undermined, underestimated, forced to dry her tears and go back out to do further battle, has had to stand there and not get too emotional in the face of screaming, senseless, and impotent male rage…will know the answer. And it’s simply this: Because we feel seen.

The only difference here is that Greg Bruni has an excuse. As Leland puts it, “the demon inside him is starting to peek through.” But, of course, “real” men doesn’t have that same excuse. They just, simply, are. (See also, coincidentally, the whole recent man vs. bear thing…) And society not only allows but encourages it. The people in power — mostly also toxic, impotent white males — laugh behind our backs, egg each other on. And we all, much as Sheryl does here, stand there and take it.

Christine Lahti’s performance in this episode is absolutely everything. She’s always wonderful, especially when Sheryl’s telling Leland off — as she does plenty in “How to Train a Dog.” But there’s a whole new level of performance here. Especially when Sheryl has to just…brace herself for Bruni’s rabid screaming in her face, as he makes like he’s about to step on her foot just because it’ll show her who’s boss (him) and humiliate her a little more. And again, it comes down to just…how relatable, how unfortunately real, it all is. Right in the middle of the demon…stuff.

So, of course, when Sheryl does get to go back out there and stand up to Bruni, it’s one of the most entertaining parts of Evil 4×02. She is stone cold, brutal, tough. As we all are, when it comes down to it. Which is why they try to keep us crushed beneath their feet, beneath their glass ceilings — they fear us. This, of course, makes the way the boss mocks Sheryl behind her back, all while Leland chuckles along, that much more gut-wrenching. But that’s ok. Because with the way Sheryl vows to get them after she sees the state of her new corner office…we simply can’t wait to see that play out.