The Perfect Halloween Binge on Netflix Is This 96% RT Horror Series With 4 Terrifying Seasons

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If you’re looking for a spooky show to binge-watch this Halloween, look no further! Created by Robert and Michelle King – the team behind the legal drama The Good Wife – Evil takes a different approach, exploring the intersection of religion and science. The series is based on the creators’ long-standing discussions about the nature of evil and its origins, and draws inspiration from the work of real-life investigators for the Catholic Church.

The show Evil first aired on CBS on September 26, 2019, and has since been available on various streaming services. Though the creators wanted a fifth season, the show was unexpectedly canceled during its fourth season, with the final episode released on August 22, 2024. The producers were given four extra episodes to wrap up the story, which they’ve called a “mini-fifth season.” Evil was primarily a Paramount+ show, and all four seasons are still available there. Seasons 1-3 can also be found on Netflix, and Season 4 will likely be added to Netflix eventually, but is currently exclusive to Paramount+.

Evil Takes the Procedural Format to the Next Level

Halloween just isn’t the same without a spooky story or scary show, and ‘Evil’ delivers perfectly. It explores the world of the supernatural, focusing on demonic encounters. What sets it apart from other horror shows, though, is its smart way of connecting religious ideas with real science and how society works.

The show Evil raises thought-provoking philosophical questions, builds suspenseful horror, and keeps you invested in the characters’ relationships. Critically acclaimed – even earning praise from prominent figures – it boasts a remarkable 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Beyond its quality, Evil is incredibly binge-worthy because of its format. Each episode presents a new case for the central team to solve, creating an addictive viewing experience that leaves you eager to find out what happens next.

What makes the show Evil stand out is how it connects the detectives’ personal struggles to the mysteries they investigate. This goes beyond typical crime shows, making it especially addictive. While other shows might touch on how an investigator’s life impacts their work, Evil delves much deeper. The main characters, Kristen, David, and Ben, truly represent the show’s core idea: the tension between skepticism and belief. Their internal conflicts often reflect the cases they’re trying to solve.

Each central character grapples with a unique blend of belief and skepticism. While both Kristen and Ben approach things with doubt, they do so in different ways, often finding common ground. David, in contrast, consistently maintains a belief in the supernatural. However, Kristen tends to lean on less concrete, ‘softer’ scientific explanations, while Ben prefers ‘hard’ evidence. Throughout the series, each character’s journey emphasizes key themes and beautifully reflects them.

Evil Has Not One but Three Protagonists Portrayed With Depth

Kristen is a forensic psychologist who is naturally cautious, shaped by her understanding of how people and the legal system work. Her expertise in manipulation and differing perspectives brought a new dimension to the team – something Ben and David hadn’t had before. Ben, on the other hand, approaches things with skepticism based on his background in science and technology. Unlike Kristen, who has seen the darker side of human behavior, Ben doubts the supernatural because he understands the complex, often explainable, mechanisms behind seemingly unexplainable events.

David embodies faith and initially appears as a somewhat innocent man exploring a vocation to the priesthood, caught between the worlds of psychology and the supernatural. However, the story soon reveals he’s surprisingly capable of confronting the growing demonic activity on Earth. While many supposed possessions and spiritual events turn out to be explainable natural occurrences, the gradual unveiling of Leland Townsend’s sinister plot and network of allies confirms David’s instincts about a genuine demonic threat are correct, ultimately leading to…

Okay, so Evil really digs into religion, but it’s not just a simple good versus evil story. It’s more about the tension between needing proof – being skeptical – and believing in things you can’t explain. What’s fascinating is watching the main characters shift their beliefs as they investigate these cases, each filling in the gaps in what they thought they knew. But it goes deeper than just a battle between belief and doubt. Guilt is a huge theme, and it’s not presented as a clear-cut issue of right and wrong. Each character wrestles with it in really messy, complicated ways, where their need for connection and meaning clashes with their actions. Honestly, the way this show reflects real-world struggles is pretty unexpected and impactful.

Ben feels guilty about turning away from his Muslim faith, which caused a rift with his mother, and for being involved in a scientific project that was ethically questionable. Kristen struggles with the challenges of being a mother, often finding it harder than her work investigating the supernatural. She’s haunted by difficult choices she’s made, like taking a life to protect her family, and the fact that she wasn’t held accountable. David is burdened by guilt over infidelity. These personal struggles highlight the characters’ dedication to living by their own principles, even though their emotions sometimes get in the way. However, these aren’t simple battles between good intentions and bad feelings. Instead, these smaller storylines add nuance to the larger plot, showing that life isn’t always black and white.

Evil Is a Result of a Decades-Long Debate Between the Writers

As a long-time TV fan, I’ve been following Michelle and Robert King’s work for years – they’re a husband-and-wife writing team who really hit their stride in the early 2000s. Their first show together was actually a legal drama called InJustice, which premiered back in 2006. But what I find fascinating about their latest show, Evil, is where it came from. They told the Christian Broadcasting Network it grew out of decades-long conversations – a really interesting dynamic because Robert is a devout Christian and Michelle identifies as a secular Jew. He tends to look at the root of evil through a religious lens, while Michelle leans towards psychological or scientific explanations. It makes for a really compelling creative tension, and you can definitely feel it in their writing.

The creators of the show Evil bring a deep understanding of religion to the series, which is why it treats the topic with such respect. While Evil isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions and challenge religious ideas, it avoids making fun of people’s beliefs. Most shows only approach topics with a scientific viewpoint, often relying on stereotypes when dealing with religion. However, Evil gives equal respect to both science and faith, and the writers deserve praise for successfully balancing these two perspectives without favoring one over the other.

The story of Evil was inspired by the personal lives of its creators, as well as the Catholic Church’s practice of investigating claims of supernatural events. The Church has a team that objectively verifies whether these events are genuine – for example, they investigate before allowing an exorcism or confirming someone’s sainthood. The characters David, Kristen, and Ben’s jobs in the show are based on similar roles that real people hold within the Catholic Church.

In a CBN interview, the Kings explained that the connection between the characters David and Kristen mirrors their own relationship. Like themselves, David and Kristen genuinely value each other’s thoughts and viewpoints, despite having different opinions. They listen respectfully and engage with each other, and even when they disagree, their conversations challenge them both to think more critically about what they believe.

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2025-10-30 06:11