‘Evil’ Season 4 Episode 11 Review: “Fear of the Future”

A lot of Evil Season 4 Episode 11 feels like someone just said “screw it. Going to do what the fangirls want.” And honestly? Good for them. After a crushing episode we’re still not over — and probably won’t be over anytime soon — giving us a chance to have a good time is exactly what we needed. Even so, we can’t enjoy ourselves too much because the dreaded end is still hanging over our heads, and “Fear of the Future” leans into that in a way that both makes sense within the context of the story we know so far…and makes no mistake about how bogus the series’ cancellation actually is.

Or, um. Sure. It’s only David and Ben discussing the end of the assessors’ program, not any real-world commentary. So true. Whatever they want us to believe…

Anyway.

Since the episode features someone who claims to be a visitor from the future, let’s jump right in with this: Why was there no time traveler sent back to warn The Powers That Be against canceling this series? We’d be happy to give it a try ourselves. Maybe the Doctor can help? Also: “SKIP THE INTRO AND THE SHOW WILL BE CANCELLED. OOPS” was a personal attack. Absolutely rude.

The visitor from the future

Honestly, if Ellie had only been someone Sheryl used to babysit, and if her sole contribution to the fanfiction dream of a plot that is Evil Season 4 Episode 11 had only been to get drunk with Kristen and trade stories about the dearly departed, that would have been enough. It’s nice to get to see her having a totally normal, free sort of moment, even — and especially — right smack in the middle of so much loss. Not only are Kristen and Ellie totally real for hiding from the crowd that’s sharing fond memories of “that time Sheryl gave the drummer her panties,” but at least the illusion of our hero getting to do the girl talk thing with someone who gets what she’s lost genuinely works for us. While it lasts, that is.

Throughout “Fear of the Future,” it’s so delightful to get to watch Katja Herbers and Anna Chlumsky work together. To reiterate our point above, they’re good even as just…two women having canned margaritas (chased down by wine at their little afterparty) and going off about everything from Sheryl’s weird hatred of animals, to how cool she was (she was!), to David’s obvious love for Kristen. But when Ellie starts to claim she’s Future!Laura and Kristen does everything she can to get rid of her, both Herbers and Chlumsky really up their game.

At one point, when Kristen tells the would-be messenger from the future how “hurtful” her actions are, Chlumsky responds in a way that makes us really start to believe she is Laura. Something about her “I’m sorry” and the massive amount of pleading remorse she embodies screams “Mommy’s baby girl knowing she’s done wrong.” Additionally, something about the way she carries herself in that moment feels, somehow, like it really could be the character Dalya Knapp has spent four seasons building…all grown up. From there, the sh**t well and truly hits the fan, and every time Ellie reappears, Chlumsky makes her a little more frantic, a little more unhinged, and a lot more dangerous.

As far as the conclusion to this “is it supernatural?” mystery goes, well…ok. Not sure how, but it manages to exist in such a way that’s both disappointing and satisfying? It makes sense that everything Ellie knows about Lexis and Timothy would come from watching Sheryl’s last message to Andy over and over. And, yeah. It doesn’t take the level of genius necessary for time travel to see that David loves Kristen (and Kristen loves David). But…it doesn’t make a lot of sense for some of the things Ellie knew about the girls to have come from Sheryl’s recording to the son-in-law she hated. And, somehow, it makes even less sense for an absent father to share so much with the fellow patient he’s hooking up with behind his wife’s back.

Besides, it’s annoyingly fitting, yet painful, to think about Kristen bonding with another woman over her dead mother’s badassery…only for that woman to be her husband’s mistress, who’s funeral crashing and lying about ever having known Evil Grandma in the first place. And, yeah, we’re here for this marriage ending and Kristen being tough about laying down the law with Andy. But, somehow, despite being giant hypocrites that have rooted for Kristen to cheat on him all this time…we don’t like the idea that this man, who was always away to begin with, gets to be the one to be unfaithful to her. Either way, Boring Andy is gone. Is that rational? Eh, not really. Do we care? Probably not!

Now, we have three whole episodes to try to really do the hard work of getting the other half of Ellie’s prophecy to come true. You know the one, but we’re going to drop it here anyway. Because we need a second to scream about it. Obviously.

“Six months from now, David is going to leave the priesthood and move in with you.”

TV gods, we pray…and let us say, amein.

Ben! The! Magnificent!

On one hand, Evil 4×11 gives us yet another absolutely hilarious moment of “Ben the Magnificent” getting bombarded by Kristen’s chaotic daughters…and then immediately nope-ing the f**ck out. We cannot stress enough how much we continue to love all the comedic work Aasif Mandvi does on this series. With that being said, he can — and does — do so much more. In “Fear of the Future,” Ben is once again put in the position of being the good friend, the rock, the person whose arms Kristen can (quite literally when she first gets home from dealing with Andy) collapse in without it having to lead to anything or be fraught with all that constant tension she shares with David. And, once again, Ben delivers. More to the point, Mandvi and Herbers deliver.

Not only does Ben comfort Kristen in a way that no one else can, but the choices both actors make give us a clear picture of him taking it one more step — Ben the Magnificent is now Ben the Protector. In the embrace, Ben looks like he’s shielding Kristen. Also of note, he vows to kill Andy. Clearly, there’s some valuable comic relief here. Kristen needs to laugh between all those sobs, and we needed to get a break from all the pain with her. However. Ben the Protector does not seem to be joking. Mandvi is so quiet, so calm, and completely matter of fact in the way he delivers his line — “I’ll kill him” — and it just works. Why? Because Ben knows Kristen always has to hold it together and be so strong for everyone, but now he can be strong for her.

Throughout Evil Season 4 Episode 11, Ben continues to stand with, and stand up for, Kristen. Obviously, he jumps into action when it’s time to figure out what the deal is with Ellie’s little gift for Timothy. He also uses that photo (a brilliant) Laura took of Ellie’s license plate to get to the bottom of who she actually is. But when it comes time to tell Kristen what he learned, he’s gentle with her; he’s cautious about it. Once again, Ben knows better than anyone how tough his friend is, but she goes through so much loss in so little time, he also knows someone needs to look out for her. That someone is him.

That also explains why, when David tells him about the assessor program being shut down, he asks if David has told Kristen yet. He knows keeping the truth from her will only make things worse in the end, and he’s also just worried about her having to absorb one more blow. And…speaking of David…um. Well. Who tells him about the Andy fiasco and urges him to go to Kristen? Ben the Magnificent. That’s who. What a shipper king.

“What is wrong with loving her?”

In Evil Season 4 Episode 11, with things at the church falling apart and Ben trying to nudge him in a certain (obviously correct) direction, David reaches a breaking point. And when he does, Mike Colter delivers one of his best performances yet. As Ben pushes, and pushes, and pushes, we can see the frustration building in increments. At one point, Colter’s face basically screams “FML not this again.” But David tries so hard not to react, to keep his feelings right underneath the surface like he always does — no matter what it costs him. This time around, though, it’s just too much. And he simply…explodes. Because that’s what happens when you hold too much back for too long — eventually, what is forced to simmer will still boil over.

“You don’t think I think about this every. single. day??!! I am committed! I am sworn! Here!! I am pledged. To god!! And if that sounds like the Middle Ages to you, f**ck it! I am the Middle Ages. Because I am sick!!! Of all the broken promises in this world. And all the other sh**t!! And evil. Five minutes on this computer, and I want to put my…f**cking head in an oven…Or. Commit to something. Above it all. I will not. break this promise. Even…if it breaks me. Even…if I….even if I need Kristen.”

Colter fully embodies the physical strain it takes on David to hold back, the anger over his circumstances and this impossible choice he has to make, and his pure agony. He really, truly needs Kristen. Exactly like how she needs him. And just like we really, truly need them to burn the world down already. The intensity Colter puts into David’s passionate speech, to the point of needing to catch his breath and not even being able to get the last part out until he forces it, is truly a work of art. We don’t need David to tell us that keeping his vow is breaking him because Colter becomes a crystal clear picture of heartbreak and angst.

That this happens here, now, as Ben and David are discussing the unfair, illogical end to their work together, should be no surprise. Not only is David watching the woman he loves try to cope with far too much, watching her world fall apart all around her, but he can’t even keep this one thing stable for her. He has no power over any of it, not even this — including, and especially, his own feelings. And need we even point out that, without the program, there’s no safe excuse for spending so much time together? On top of all of that, this is work that David believes in. So, he’s also losing something — not solely the someone — that he cares about. Deeply.

And, uh. To get back to the idea of Father Acosta not having a safe excuse to see his girl again without the work: Can David and Kristen be left alone behind a closed door together, like, ever? No. They can not. As long as there’s the work, perhaps, they can be together without being together. But that’s…about to be over. So, yeah. Of course this is the time for David to let loose, especially with Ben pushing him to do all the things he wants to do but also is fighting so hard not to. After all, so much that struggling takes a toll on a person, regardless of how strong their convictions are.

More on Evil Season 4 Episode 11

• Was gonna try to make a joke and say too bad no one can time travel to tell Thomas J. not to go back for Vada’s mood ring…but hm. Nope. Forever too soon. Not funny.
• …guess “Fight the Future” was already taken…
• There is. So much. Information. At the very beginning.
• “Jesus, Father. You don’t take good news well.” Evil is a comedy. Forget everything I said about the angst.
• “It feels like a Black bluff.” “I’m sorry. The Black what?” “They — they suddenly promote a Black person to a position of power when there’s no power left.”
• “Grandma probably would want it this way. Don’t you think?” She so would. A badass party for our Evil Grandma.
• “Like how can you hate a cat?!” Kristen gets me.
• “She was cool.” Crying. Redemption arc complete.
• “Kurrrrtttt!!!!” Once again, Kristen is me, and I am Kristen.
• The kitchen scene. Kristen putting distance between herself and David, only for them to wind up right back next to each other, is such a big deal. That force that always brings them back together is so much stronger than both of them combined.
• “I guess you’re gonna say God works in mysterious ways?” “No. But he does.” What in the Middle Ages flirting. He can’t even comfort her after her mother’s death without the two of them, eventually, giving each other those stupid, little grins of theirs. They’re insane.
• One thing the Kings are gonna do is have Richard Kind play a judge.
• “He’s also in love with you.” “…why do you say that?” “Because I can see it.” Girl, who can’t? You’re not special! (If this was the only crumb, I would’ve still screamed about it. But whew, did this episode feed us!)
• “Six months from now, David is going to leave the priesthood and move in with you.” “…I’m sorry???” Eh. I‘m not. Let’s do this!
• Did…did the demon just do a line of Sheryl’s ashes?
• The thumping of the cradle and the ticking clock. Sound!
• “Mom, you look nuts!” “Yeah? Well, this is what I look like in the morning.” A queen. Also love the bit with her struggling to get her shoes on.
• Oh, Unhinged!Kristen is back! The power in her stance when she poses in Andy’s doorway. And the complete IDGAF attitude as she just…sweeps everything off the top of his nightstand.
• “Here’s how this is gonna work: this place costs $20,000 a month. I’m not gonna pay for $20,000 hand jobs anymore. You want them? You can go to a bus stop. I don’t want you calling me. Or my daughters. I want you out of here in a week.” !!!!
• …which, of course, makes her sobbing in Ben’s arms hit that much harder. Oof.
• “Maybe just let him get an STD and…die in agony.” Her mommy would be so proud.
• “Yeah, and that David was going to leave the priesthood for me. And fall in love with me in six months.” Ben’s shrug is basically that one Oprah gif. As it should be. Everyone knows, sweetie.
• Her head? On his chest? This friendship.
• “…is Father Acosta our dad now?” No, seriously. Evil 4×11 is fanfiction come to life. Love that!
• “…but he doesn’t want us.” You know what? Maybe Leland and Sheryl should have killed Andy last season.
• “You should go to her.” “Why?” …
• It’s the way she packs up the box labeled “ANDY’S SH**T” for me.
• The “could you hold me” scene is…honestly? I’d like to discuss the chemistry, the tension, the vulnerability from both actors in the moment, the slow coming together, the way that hug is somehow more intimate than a lot of the sex scenes I’ve seen…but my brain breaks every time I think about it. So, like. They were insane for that.
• I hate them.
• They are fighting the pull of gravity and failing! And the way it’s filmed with their hands? What about the staring? The moments of relief when they let themselves…melt? Amazing.
• Fan service is good, actually! Keep it up!
• The way he’s just left…frozen? WTFFFFF.
• Colter remains so good at just reacting. The look on his face when the lawyer tells David they have to cancel this series “close down the assessor program” is a lot.
• “It’s my understanding the program is successful.” “It’s not about success anymore; it’s about money.” They came for the overlords’ throats with this. Good.
• #SaveEvil. I said what I said.
• Christina. F**ck this man.
• “I thought we were successful.” “We were!” Exactly!
• Love the long look before Ben asks David why he’s a priest.
• “I mean, you and her. You’re meant to be together.” I’ve been saying!!!
• “You. love. her. I heard you two. Hmm? If I had two lives, one would be for God and one for her.” Get him, Ben.
• Like, I feel for him. I get it — I swear I do. But get him..
• “Well. You are me. Why don’t you tell me?” Mama and Evil Grandma raised you well, kiddo.
• The scene where Leland blackmails Dr. Boggs into helping him with his insanity plea is entertaining AF. The face Michael Emerson makes to punctuate the “I am, in fact, insane” line is hilarious…and also kinda menacing. Not to mention, every fiber of Kurt Fuller’s being is screaming, “I do not want to be here, and I do not want to help this man” …right up until it’s more like “oh, God. He’s got me,” with a dash of pure and complete dread.
• “You change representation, and I will eat your brains. Out of your skull. Like soup.” First of all, uh. Never judge a book by its cover, folks. Second…how often, on this series, does Emerson actually get to play a Leland who is terrified out of his twisted little mind? Oof.
• “Lila, not everything is about you.”
• Love how they really draw out the suspense with Kristen opening that package.
• Also love Brooklyn Shuck getting a moment as Lynn takes her turn with the spooky app and gets harassed by Ellie. The jump scare’s a great touch, too.
• Yo, pass the popcorn, George.
• The. Suspense. Is. Killing.
• …no one, apparently.
• Kristen is so real for cracking up and being like “…yup” to hearing she is out of a job, on top of being out of a mother, taking care of a kid she didn’t ask for but that’s her flesh and blood, and also out of a husband.
• …but did they have to end the fun shipper episode with poor Mommy Kristen, all alone with baby Timothy? It’s so sad. Something about the way the camera pulls out just makes it even more tragic?
• Baby’s her “only sunshine” indeed.
• Guess we’re covering six months’ worth of time in the next three episodes, considering Ellie had better have been right about David moving in.
• …but to be serious for a moment: Kinda afraid telling us it’s going to happen means it…won’t?
• “Fear of the Future” indeed.
• Can Leland’s lawyer save Evil for us?

What did you think of Evil Season 4 Episode 11 “Fear of the Future”? Leave us a comment!

New episodes of Evil release each Thursday on Paramount+.