A Kingly Effort

When people talk about this being a new golden age of television, they're usually praising a series from a streaming service, a premium channel, or at the very least a cable network. Broadcast television has been the place of the most boring "common denominator" television for ages, right?

Except that creators Robert and Michelle King made one of the best shows of the last decade in The Good Wife -- not "good for network," but good by any measure. Then they made a spin-off (yes, for a streaming service) in The Good Fight that was arguably even better. (It's certainly more delicious.) Meanwhile, they tried something bizarre and off-kilter in the one-season-and-cancelled Brain Dead... and most recently have offered up a new series (waiting to begin filming its second season) called Evil.

Evil is sort of "The X-Files, but for religious miracles." A trio of investigators investigates unexplained phenomena for the church. Each of the three brings a unique perspective to the mix: a forensic psychologist, a committed seminarian, and a deeply skeptical technology expert. Over the course of a 13-episode season, they uncover a larger conspiracy and acquire a recurring nemesis.

If I say that Evil is without question the least of the Kings' television series to date, know that that says more about their phenomenal hit rate than about major shortcomings with this series. The show still does a good job juggling "case of the week" stories with ongoing development of all the characters and a gradually unfolding "mythology" (in X-Files parlance). But not all of the parts are truly compelling on this show, which is probably why it rates a little lower for me.

For example, much of the story revolves around main character Kristen Bouchard, raising her four daughters essentially on her own because of the world travels of her husband. And those four young girls are written in the most annoying (realistic?) way you could possible imagine four loud, bickering siblings to be. I found myself wishing they had less screen time if only to give my ears a rest.

The show also doesn't always make the best use of all its assets. Christine Lahti is one of the best actors regularly on TV, but here she's relegated to a usually thankless role as Kristen's contrarian mother; an attempt to give her more screen time in the back half of the season comes at the expense of making her character foolish and naive.

But then, there's also a fair amount to like here. The main trio on the show are all fun to watch. Katja Herbers as Bouchard, Mike Colter (of Luke Cage) as David Acosta, and Aasif Mandvi (of The Daily Show) as Ben Shakir are all strong individually (when given separate story lines) and great together (when working as a group). And Michael Emerson (of Lost) gives good villain as he always does, in the role of calculating psychopath Leland Townsend; his character gains more nuance as the season unfolds, and he rises to each new and bizarre challenge the story throws at him.

Evil is not at all a contender for "the best show you're not watching," but if you liked any of the other shows from the Kings, you're almost certain to find something to like in this one -- even though the subject matter seems wildly different. I give it a B, and I'll be looking forward to more of it when they're able to resume production and pick up the story.