Evil continues its singularly fun ride in season 3

The one certainty about Paramount+’s Evil is that it thrives on being utterly weird and oddly sexy. Robert and Michelle King’s series pulls no punches when it comes to bizarre visuals and storylines, from seductive demons to oddball exorcisms to a bloodied Michael Emerson gleefully sitting in a bathtub. It’s equal parts entertaining and scary, all while pondering big ideas about the morality of life. It is, in other words, unlike any other horror drama on TV right now. The good news about season three is that the show builds on all of those reasons that make Evil a must-watch. The not-so-good news? On some level, it treads the same waters.

Don’t get us wrong: Evil remains exceptionally fun, thanks to the outlandish cases that psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), priest David Acosta (Mike Colter), and contractor Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) find themselves handling for the Church. Their job is to determine if clients are facing potential miracles, hauntings, or worse. But the final deductions about the occult are often up in the air, uniquely examined through both faith and science. For instance, this season’s premiere has the team looking into whether a machine can determine what the soul weighs and what might happen to it after death. Underneath a ludicrous execution, which boasts a splendid Wallace Shawn cameo, Evil throws in weighty questions about how humanity views the very concept of having a soul.

What’s more, the stakes between Kristen and David’s sexually charged bond are heightened (a round of applause for Herbers and Colter’s undeniable onscreen chemistry, please). After sharing a heated kiss, right when he officially became a priest no less, the simmering aftereffects impact their friendship. It doesn’t help that her husband, Andy (Patrick Brammall), is back from Nepal permanently. Obviously, Evil throws in a demonic narrative here for good measure as David starts getting more visions in his head. It’s already established that he loves his frequent nightmares that lead to conversations with supposed entities. And this time around, David doesn’t even need to get high to experience them.

Much like Ben’s nighttime succubus visits in season two, it’s hard to know if it’s David’s guilt manifesting here, or if any of his dreams are real. But with Evil, as infuriating as it may be, guessing is half the fun, right? Speaking of Ben, he struggles to figure out his shifting stance on the science vs. spirituality debate. And who can blame him, given that his daily work includes sizing up the existence of ghosts and whatnot? It’s a believable turn for him. Unable to move on from these pressures, and suspicious of what’s going on between his co-workers, Ben finds himself in an understandably lonely place. Heck, even Kristen’s four chatty daughters tell him he isn’t “Magnificent Ben” anymore. Mandvi’s performance is a highlight, we should note: The actor captures Ben’s somberness but brings some much-needed levity to scenes simply with a perfected eye roll or sarcastic comment.