EVIL
“Vatican III” (Episode 107)
November 14, 2019

Last week on EVIL, the God Squad investigated a prophet, Grace Ling, from Flushing, Queens (my hometown!). The Church is worried about Grace because some of her prophecies are identical to prophecies made over 500 years ago and recorded in the super secret, “Poveglia Codex.” Few people know about the Codex and only Popes have ever seen the thing. Grace is taken into custody on an ICE raid before she is able to help the God Squad fill in missing info in the Codex. Meanwhile, Leland is revealed to be Grandma Sheryl’s new boyfriend and Kristen cuts a bitch to get him to leave her house. But, not before he brings the girls red devil diaries. The episode ends with Grandma Sheryl sleeping with Leland and the bed erupting into flames. But, like, metaphorical flames. I think Leland has passed some of his demon seed into Grandma Sheryl! Yikes!

Now,on to an all new episode of EVIL … BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!

Coffee Shop. Sebastian Lewin, our old IT fraudster from “3 Stars,” is back in our life and trying to score a date with the pretty girl (Evelyn Giovine) working the register at a coffee shop. He’s super awkward and she politely turns him down. As he walks out, Leland is there and tells him it was nothing Sebastian did. Nope, it was all the pretty girl; women love to lead men on you know.

Leland follows him out onto the sidewalk, telling Sebastian that he has a therapy practice and gives him his card. Jonathan is reluctant to accept an invitation for therapy, but Leland insists the therapy isn’t for him, rather, it’s for the women rejecting him. As this talk goes on, Sebastian moves out of the way of some passing women. Leland gives his first lesson: Jonathan shouldn’t move for women, women should move for him. As if to prove his point, Leland walks away and two women part ways like the Dead Sea as he barrels through them.

The Church. David, Kristen and Ben are being individually interviewed by a panel sent by the Pope to discuss Grace the Prophet and the codex. As befits their individual personalities, David talks reverently about Grace’s prophetic ability (and her detainment by ICE). Kristen talks about the sinkhole Grace accurately prophesied but no one can foretell the future so that’s a no on prophecy. Ben talks about being skeptical of the whole thing and then gets offended by the trio’s questions around his Islamic faith. The questions get increasingly personal and the Italian trio asks David about his relationship with Kristen, and to Kristen, they ask if she’s on birth control.

The larger concern of the panel is that Grace the Prophet’s prophecies are worse than what is prophesied in the Book of Revelation.

Monsignor Korecki intercepts the team as they’re getting ready to leave and shows them a video of a women the Church believes to be possessed. Cut to a video of Bridget Farrell (Annaleigh Ashford, doing some amazing possessed work here), currently undergoing an exorcism, confessing to the murder of a little boy named Enrique. Bridget is mostly submerged in a bathtub with a priest questioning her and her voice goes from female to very masculine when she recounts the murder. Bridget adds a detail that she called Enrique’s parents to tell them “their child went to hell,” but she was laughing during the call.

Monsignor Korecki gives a little background on Mrs. Farrell, including that she recently miscarried and started having seizures during it. Then she started speaking in Latin and Aramaic. Monsignor Korecki is the most emphatic we’ve seen him as he pushes back against Kristen’s attempts at reason.

“This woman is possessed and the demon used her body to kill Bridget is innocent. The demon is guilty.”

The Monsignor wants the God Squad to investigate to see if there really was a murder that matches the details Bridget laid out and help the church with this liability issue.

Afterwards, the Monsignor asks David to stay back. Alone, David tells him that Grace the Prophet was sent back to China, to a reeducation camp. This is disconcerting to the Monsignor because the Vatican dispatched their top men (the Italian trip we just saw) to look into this matter. David is skeptical these are the top brass from the Vatican, as they were focused on the wrong things: Ben being a Muslim and Kristen’s lapsed Catholic status. David says they will cooperate if they panel apologizes to his team. Monsignor Korecki is incredulous, The Vatican does not apologize (heavens, no!). David doesn’t care.

“Then they should stop asking my team about their sex lives.”

David leaves the room and rejoins the team. Kristen has a friend in homicide that she can ask about the (possible?) Enrique murder. There is a nice nod to friendship when Kristen tells David to let them know if she and Ben ever get in the way of his job.

“It’s never going to happen.”

Kristen is rock climbing with her friend, Mira Byrd (Kristen Connolly), reminiscing about their mountain climbing days. Mira is the cop Kristen referred to earlier and she turns the conversation towards Enrique. Kristen gives just enough detail to make Mira go from smiling to stone-faced. Kristen knows things the police didn’t release, specifically, the prank call after the abduction. Mira tells Kristen there are actually three kids missing and each of the families got a prank call from a laughing man.

Mira presses Kristen on where she got her information from but Kristen claims confidentiality privilege. Mira name of Enrique Ruiz and two other missing Hispanic boys whose families received similar prank calls. Mira is pressing her brass that this is a serial killer and needs support from Kristen on what she knows. Mira adds that a red car was seen by each abduction, a detail for Kristen to corroborate.  

“This killer will kill again so … whoever you’re dealing with, just watch out.”

Opening Credits.

Farrell House. Kristen arrives at the home of Dwight and Bridget Farrell and there is a faint sound of growling … Okay. Dwight Farrell (Dan Bittner) opens the door to greet her. David and Ben are already there. Kristen confirms three missing Hispanic kids, but no bodies. Kristen tells David her cop friend believes the kids are dead and that this is a serial killer, adding in the detail that the kids were all last spotted getting into a red car. The team heads into the garage and bingo, red car.

Kristen tells Ben she doesn’t believe in demons and suspects Bridget might have dissociate identity disorder, also known as split personality disorder. She thinks she can suss this out if she questions Bridget.

Father Amara is conducting the exorcism when Ben and Bridget enter. I notice there are no sunglasses this time. David tells her that Bridget’s demon’s name is “Howard.” He advises her to not get tripped up by Bridget’s anger, and that “Howard” comes in and out.

Kristen talks to Bridget about the murder of Enrique. “Howard” is in control right now and says the little boy was easy prey at the bus stop. Kristen asks about the other kids? “Howard” says that Enrique needed company in that grave. Kristen asks for the names of the other boys but “Howard” is playing coy. Kristen goads “Howard” by reminding the demon that no one knows to be afraid of a serial killer unless they show the victims. Howard taunting Kristen that she’s trying to use child psychology.

“Do your best, bitch.”

If y’all don’t get nightmares from that, you’re made from heartier stock than me!

“Howard” gives directions to the graves where the kids are buried at the corner of Wizard Lane and Paz Road. “Wizard of Paz,” get it? “Howard” has a sense of humor. “Howard” gives the names of the kids as Luis and Facundo. No last names because, “Howard” adds, it’s too hard to talk when you have blood in your mouth. Kristen confirms that “Howard” killed the boys by smothering them. Yep, just like this …

Which is when “Howard” lurches forward and attacks Kristen. David has to physically drag Bridget’s form off of Kristen. 

Sometime later, Kristen and David are talking. Kristen looks disheveled, as you can imagine after being attacked by a demonically possessed person, but is otherwise okay. She doesn’t see an ethical dilemma for her in talking to the police because Bridget knows details the police haven’t released and Kristen isn’t treating her. David counters that by being employed by the Catholic Church as a psychological assessor, Kristen is bound by a duty of confidentiality in this case. The unspoken caveat here is that they are working on the assumption that they don’t think Bridget will kill again (if a patient tells a therapist they plan to commit a crime, the therapist is permitted to inform the police).

Kristen asks if this stuff weighs him down? David says they need to take a break and Kristen offers the drink they were supposed to have a while back.

Holy Hell, the temperature in the room just went up with the smoldering looks these two have for each other.

Sadly, David breaks the moment by telling Kristen that before any drinks, the Italian trio wants to speak to them again. Kristen isn’t really interested in being interrogated by the Italian trio but David promises her that personal questions are off limits now.

Sorry, but, goddammit! I know Kristen can’t get her dream from the other night out of her head right now, because that’s what I’m thinking about and you know you are too!

Leland’s Office. Sebastian has come for a session with Leland. He’s unsure about what to do and  Leland tells him to talk about the first thing that comes to him. They talk about what happened in the coffee shop. Sebastian feels ridiculed, humiliated. Leland calls Linda in the coffee shop a whore for tips. Sebastian wants to find a new coffee shop but Leland isn’t having that at all. He tells Sebastian not to give away his power like that.

“You hold the power to make your life what you want.”

Leland tells Sebastian that he needs to get back at Linda and if it’s done right, she’ll be too embarrassed to go to the police. Besides, the police don’t always believe women because they “overreact” and are “emotional.” Leland tells Sebastian that if Linda “crapped” on him, then he should “crap on her.”

Insert major eye roll here. 

The Church.  The Italian trio wants to interview the team separately but David insists they are to be interviewed together. The focus of this session is what Grace drew for David while in ICE detention. David explains that he didn’t get to see it long enough and then a guard threw out her work.  And, they cannot find said guard to question him.

David asks about Grace the Prophet’s earlier drawings and whether the trio fit those into the Codex? The Italian trio gets real squirrel-y here and even more so when David artfully insists that the God Squad should be allowed to see the full Poveglia Codex. Checkmate, David.

The Italian trio brings the God Squad into a secure, sterile room with the actual, original Poveglia Codex. It’s on a glass table with cotton gloves next to it. Real National Treasure handling of ancient documents treatment here. The Head Italian uses the gloves and insists on being the one to turn the pages – the need to protect the ancient pages is paramount.

Kristen spots a loose page sticking out of the Codex and asks the Head Italian to open the folded piece of parchment. It’s a Hierarchy of some sort but the legend is missing from the page. They haven’t been able to decipher it in all these years.  This is where the Italians felt Grace the Prophet would have been instrumental in decoding.

Ben remembers there were surveillance cameras in the visitors area of the ICE detention center; maybe they caught some of what Grace drew? The Italian trio are talking amongst themselves when Kristen mutters aloud that she recognizes a shape in the map. She takes out her phone and snaps a picture. The flash goes off and raises the ire of the Italians.

Amateur move, Kristen! Stealth girl, silent mode! SMH!

Bouchard House. Kristen runs home and heads straight to her room. She pulls out the red diaries that Leland gave her daughters and sifts through each one until she finds the Knifed Pig drawing in the diary which matches the Knifed Pig sigil from the Hierarchy in the Codex. Gasp!

Commercials.

A toilet flushes and we see Sebastian is in a bathroom, prepping for his meeting with Linda. A little gift box with a bow sits on the counter. Sebastian goes to the coffee shop and cuts in front of the line, hands Linda the present and tells her he doesn’t feel right about what happened the other day. He hands her the present and as he walks away, we hear Linda scream after opening the box.

In case you missed the cue, Sebastian shit in the box. He “crapped” on Linda, just like Leland suggested.

Bouchard House. Kristen shows David the matching sigils in the Codex and diary. Kristen fills David in on the Leland-Sheryl situation. He’s utterly gob smacked at this.

I’m gob smacked that Kristen believes that was a coincidence! Naive much?

David feels that Leland is targeting Kristen, knowing there was no way Leland dating Grandma Sheryl was an accident. I chuckled when Kristen assures David that Grandma Sheryl broke it off with Leland.  David recommends she burn the diaries, because who knows what else is lurking in there.  Kristen asks the right question when she asks how Leland could draw a matching insignia from a 500-year old book.

David Googles the sigil and we learn that it represents “Anatas.”

“The great beast. The mighty king in the hierarchy of devils and demons.”

Side Note: This Wikipedia page David is on is real and and does list Demon Sigils. Now, the show has replaced the Sigil for “Barbatos” from the real page and inserted “Anatas.” The description David gives does borrow a bit from Barbatos, including “ruling thirty legions of demons.”

Kristen asks a general question about sigils and David explains that they are symbols with magic powers that demons use to recognize each other. Kristen, still stuck on Leland being a psychopath rather than a demon,  sums up David’s theology lesson thusly:

“Leland is psychopath who uses the metaphor of demonology to give his pursuits meaning?” 

Kristen’s doorbell rings, she gets up to answer it as David warns her to call him if Leland comes back. There is more than logic at play here, he warns. Kristen tells David he’ll have to restrain her from killing Leland if he comes back.  It’s Mira at the door.

Kristen introduces Mira to David as an old climbing buddy (and not as a cop). She introduces David as a priest-in-training and not as the main character of her nightly sexual fantasies.

David excuses himself to go do some “priesting.” After he leaves, Mira asks if Kristen is “fleabagging,” with a knowing look. We’re hoping this is a reference to the British show, Fleabag, with its premise of casual sex and not to Urban Dictionary’s gross definition of “fleabagging.”

Kristen changes the subject quickly, asking if Mira wants a drink? Mira moves from discussing Kristen’s kids to the missing boys. She shows Kristen pictures of the three missing boys, all picked up at a bus stop in Hempstead (a town in Nassau County, the county adjacent to Queens).  Mira again presses Kristen for where she got her prank call information and Kristen tells her there is provider-patient privilege here. Mira counters that Kristen doesn’t have a practice anymore, she checked.

Mira ups the stakes and tells Kristen her possession of non-disclosed information that she refuses to name a source for makes Kristen vulnerable as a person of interest. Kristen asks if she needs a lawyer but Mira non-answers that that’s a question for Kristen to answer. She also plays the friends card. Mira leaves behind the pictures of the boys as a reminder for Kristen to do the right thing. Well set up and well played, Mira. 

Farrell House. Dwight is mewing about Bridget being malnourished and Bridget spits in his face. “Howard” says that Dwight doesn’t really care about Bridget. Dwight, in a broken voice, tells the team he is terrified of his wife. Father Amara takes the weepy man outside and David and Kristen sit close to Bridget’s bed.

Kristen asks “Howard” who he intends to kill next? Howard tells Kristen he has lost interest in her and asks if all men lose interest in her. He wonders aloud when David will lose interest in her? “Howard” is rolling Bridget’s around with subdued glee. Kristen shows “Howard” the pictures of the three boys, asking who the next friend for Enrique is? Howard is shrewd and knows this is a question to tell the police. “Howard” doesn’t like Kristen anymore and won’t answer.

Kristen switches gears, asking about Bridget’s miscarriage. She shares that she had one too. David gives a surprised look. Bridget and “Howard” have a back and forth battle for control and then a barrage of voices comes forward inside Bridget. David asks if “Howard” intends to kill again? Bridget starts writhing in her restraints and then falls unconscious.

Kristen goes to the corner of Wizard and Paz with the pictures of the murdered kids. It’s kind of a wooded, desolate area. She calls Mira asking for complete anonymity. Rather than tell Mira who the killer is, Kristen will tell Mira where the bodies are buried.

I guess that’s something. 

Leland’s Office. Sebastian tells Leland about how well the package delivery went and wonders what’s next? Leland tells him needs to tap into that powerful feeling and find a community.  Leland shows him a website called the “Incel Army” who share Sebastian’s negative feelings about women. This is a group that wants to put that feeling into action! Leland tells Sebastian he got him a temporary pass into their circle but, as always, Leland has a tit for tat.

“There might be a service required of you.”

Commercials.

The Church. Ben was able to obtain the Grace surveillance footage from the ICE detention cell. They all watch the video and try to decipher what she’s writing. They make out the “massacre of the innocents.” It’s a concept from the Bible where King Herod slaughtered all male infants under the age of 2 (Herod was trying to root out the prophecized Messiah, the promised King of the Jews, who stood as a threat to him. We would eventually know this person as Jesus).

Kristen asks who the innocents are now? No one answers. I will! Women who reject fragile male egos from Leland’s Incel Army and Howard’s child victims … for a start.

David shows the Italian trio the Hierarchy of Demons map from earlier and assures the Italians that the symbols are demon sigils. Kristen counts 60 of them. Sixty Sigils for Sixty Demons. Dun dun dun! The 60! This concept has been mentioned in EVIL since the first episode.

Kristen asks for a copy of the Hierarchy and is met with a loud, Italian no. David implores them in Italian and walks away with them. He slips Kristen his phone and she starts taking pictures of each of the sigils. Better stealth mode here, guys and a high five for teamwork! 

The Incel Army. The Incel Army are having a WebEx. There are 4 of them, and they indoctrinating Sebastian into their culty, misogynistic  lore. The lead Incel-er suggests they take these evil women “out.” Sebastian is slow to mean that “put” means kill, not date.  They discuss different methods to kill women.  Leland is watching this whole meeting from his own tablet.

Farrell House. Bridget is speaking in a foreign language. David understands what she is saying and tells Ben and Kristen the demon is threatening to come back with 7 more demons, worse than him. David thinks this is a sign that the possession is nearing the end. David suggests Dwight rejoin them in the room.

Ben goes to the kitchen to get Dwight when overhears him talking on the phone about Bridget confessing to the murders. Ben pretends like he doesn’t hear that part and makes himself heard after Dwight hangs up the phone. After Dwight leaves to be with Bridget, Ben hits redial on the phone, Dwight had called 911.

In the bedroom, Bridget is back, no “Howard” voice this time. Dwight is cradling her in his arms as police sirens draw near. Dwight tells Bridget they will have a new baby and now the police sirens are deafening.

Kristen runs out to the front yard, flipping out as she assumes Mira is working off of her tip. Mira reassures Kristen that this arrest has nothing to do with Kristen or what they talked about. Bridget is brought out in handcuffs screaming she didn’t do it. Ben and David come out to the lawn where Kristen is and Ben tells them they need to talk.

Commercials.

When we return, Ben tells David and Kristen he overheard the end of Dwight’s conversation and that he’s the one who called the police. Kristen confirms that Mira said they received an anonymous call claiming to have evidence. David and Kristen think Bridget and her busload of mental passengers is actually innocent and they both believe that the husband did the crimes. They note that Dwight never left them alone in the room with Bridget. Ben isn’t totally sold.

“I want to agree with you, but she knew where those kids were buried.”

Kristen talks about a psychological condition called “coercive control” where a criminal husband can control his spouse and force her to hide the crime and in some cases, take the blame for the crime. Ben scoffs and says that psychology is “like religion for grad students.” Word, Ben. Word.

Kristen thinks since they both had equal access to the red car, Dwight could have planted the evidence on Bridget. Ben asks what’s next and David thinks it’s time he offered Dwight some “spiritual counseling.”

The way he says it, it sounds like its let’s it about to get all “Luke Cage” up in here.

Later that night, David returns to the Farrell house. It’s got police tape across the front door so he sneaks in the back. David finds Dwight grunting (reminiscent of the growling sound we heard when the team arrived on site the Farrell house?) and working a box out of a hole in the wall in what would have been their baby’s room.

There’s a crib and teddy bears in there for crying out loud.

Dwight notices David and he says he “found” where Bridget saved souvenirs from the crime scene, including some kid’s toys and a HUGE bloody knife. Dwight is hyperventilating and crying as he tells David he was trying to keep these things from the cops to protect his wife.

Now, I’ve seen enough Dateline episodes to know a lying husband when I see one and Dwight doesn’t let me down. Dwight grabs the knife and with an inhuman scream, lunges at David. David manages to evade the lunge and wrestles with Dwight. HE gets Dwight into a choke hold and holds him in that position long enough to get him to pass out.

Everyone can let out that breath now. See, Luke Cage! David inspects the “souvenirs,” but something even more interesting catches his eye. He picks up the floorboard Dwight removed to conceal the items and one of those demonic sigils is drawn on the back of the floor board in pencil.

What the Hell? Well, Hell I guess. My puns are a sickness, sorry. 

The Church. Back at God Squad headquarters, the team is poring over the photocopies of the Hierarchy purloined from the Italian trio. David is able to match up the sigil from the floorboard to one of the 60 from Hierarchy of Demons. David tells Ben and Kristen he found that sigil on the floorboard where Dwight hid the crime souvenirs. Kristen asks if Dwight was arrested and David confirms this and that Bridget was released. Ben asks what these demons symbols are? Kristen finds the symbol associated with Leland and Ben worries that Kristen’s been converted to one of God’s warriors.

David sees something in the Hierarchy map and fast walks to his room to look at an art book on his desk. The team follows. David finds the demon sigil and other ones on every page. He is clearly upset at this revelation. Kristen wonders if this artist is one of Leland’s psychopaths? Ben asks who the artist is? David struggles with his reply.

“My father.”

End scene.

***

Thoughts.

Aight. I need some blood pressure meds after this one. The 60 are real! We get a glimpse as to where they are starting to fit in. And it’s not going to make me sleep better at night. Leland is confirmed as one of them. And maybe even the King?!? They’ve only positively identified 2 of them. I wonder what is stamped on the inside of Brenda’s mask, remember her from the last exorcism episode? I shudder at the thought of her. 

I love how Ben questions EVERYTHING. He even thought psychology’s answer to Bridget and Dwight’s twisted marriage sounded as much like hocus pocus as religious dogma does. Love him, never change, Ben!

That Incel Army thing is a little, I don’t know, chilling? There’s enough macho BS around without Leland fueling puny male egos online in a vacuum. I feel like Sebastian and the Incel Army are going to cause a little trouble coming up. Leland has too much time on his hands and not for nothing (such a NY saying), there’s lots of cases in the Queens criminal court system that would need a forensic psychologist’s assessment. I feel like the Queens criminal court is still backed up from the Son of Sam from 1977. Leland should have more to do. Just sayin. 

I’m still curious about Kristen’s mom; I have questions about the, uh, lasting effects from her tryst with Leland that weren’t answered this episode. Grandma Sheryl didn’t make an appearance this episode, which just makes my curiosity deepen.

Did Leland’s seed, like, spawn in her? I know she’s of an age where reproduction isn’t biologically possible, but in demonic sex, all things are possible.

Side Note: If you’re looking to get into the EVIL fandom and interact with like-minded members, PCR’s official recommendation is to join the “EVIL Fans (CBS)“ FaceBook group! It features Top Notch Admins and a respectful and engaged community. **PCR is not an admin in this group, just a happy member.

EVIL airs Thursday nights on CBS at 10pm (ET/PT).  We’ll be live tweeting from time to time so check us out on Twitter! 

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