A skeptical forensic psychologist allies with a Catholic seminarian and a contractor to investigate purported supernatural incidents.
Cast and characters
Main
Katja Herbers as Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist hired by David Acosta to help him distinguish between legitimate instances of demonic possession and insanity. Kristen is not religious and does not believe in demons or the supernatural, but finds her skepticism tested many times as she walks a thin line between what science can account for and what it has yet to explain.
Mike Colter as David Acosta, a former journalist studying to be a Catholic priest. He currently works as an assessor, tasked with investigating and confirming events such as miracles and reports of demons. He takes hallucinogens in order to see visions, but he is not sure if they are from God or his own mind.
Aasif Mandvi as Ben Shakir, a contractor who works with David as his technical expert and equipment handler. He plays devil's advocate, providing scientific explanations for supernatural phenomena.
Kurt Fuller as Dr. Kurt Boggs, a psychiatrist and Kristen's therapist.
Marti Matulis as George, an incubus. Matulis portrays other characters in several episodes: AR Demon in "Rose390", one of the Ghoul Orderlies in "Room 320" and Townsend's Devil Therapist in "Justice x 2" and "Book 27".
Brooklyn Shuck as Lynn Bouchard, Kristen's eldest daughter.
Skylar Gray as Lila Bouchard, Kristen's second daughter.
Maddy Crocco as Lexis Bouchard, Kristen's third daughter.
Dalya Knapp as Laura Bouchard, Kristen's youngest daughter.
Christine Lahti as Sheryl Luria, Kristen's supportive, hard-living mother.
Michael Emerson as Dr. Leland Townsend, an expert in the occult who is obsessed with encouraging others to commit evil acts. He has a particular interest in David, stemming from his contempt for those who believe themselves incapable of sin. The episode "Justice × 2" reveals that he is really Jake Perry, a former insurance adjuster from Des Moinesunder the influence of a demonic force.
CBS ordered a pilot for the potential series in January 2019, created by the writing team Robert and Michelle King. Katja Herbers and Mike Colter were cast in February, with Michael Emerson and Aasif Mandvi cast in March. A series order was officially made in May 2019. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m. during the 2019–2020 television season. The series debuted on September 26, 2019. On July 18, 2019, Christine Lahti was cast as Sheryl Luria, replacing Deirdre O'Connell who was in the original pilot. On July 25, 2019, it was announced that Kurt Fuller, who guest starred in the pilot, had been promoted to a series regular. On October 22, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a second season.
Release
Marketing
On May 15, 2019, CBS released the first official trailer for the series.
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a "certified fresh" 90% approval rating based on 39 reviews. The website's critical consensus states, "Smartly-written and effectively unsettling, Evil works best when it dares to delve into the depths of the uncomfortable questions it poses." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Ratings
Home media
released the complete first season on DVD on June 30, 2020.
