Evil series post-mortem: Katja Herbers reflects on Kristen's journey and finale shockers
By Mads Lennon
The following post features spoilers for the series finale of Evil on Paramount+
Evil can't really be over, can it? Like the parish closing down the assessor program before its time, Paramount+ has chosen to cancel one of its most successful shows for some strange reason, though we have faith that creators Robert and Michelle King will find a way to continue the story in some shape or form.
So, how does the series finale wrap things up? Well, it doesn't tie up all of the Evil plotlines with a neat bow, but it does set up a fascinating potential future for Kristen and her five children, plus Ben and David. Even Leland seems to get his comeuppance in the final hour, which features some fun callbacks and references to previous seasons.
Evil's last hour has all of the show's most charming elements, including the quirky humor and darkness balanced with striking writing and several heartfelt scenes between our favorite characters, all culminating in an ending that sees David and Kristen in Rome to start the next chapter of the assessor's program, along with Kristen's kids.
But it wouldn't be Evil without some little hints of the darkness still to come. I mean, evil itself hasn't been defeated, and Timothy is showing signs of taking after his father. We chatted with series star Katja Herbers about her character Kristen Bouchard, her thoughts on the show's ending, and more.
1428 Elm: What was your gut reaction, reading the finale script?
Katja Herbers: When I read the finale, I was very excited about it being both, you know, you see us all end up somewhere, so the fans have some idea of where the story ended, but there is still also a potential to resurrect our show because evil hasn't ended.
I thought it was pretty brilliant, when I read it, and then when I saw the episode and laughed so many times and saw how it all played out. Sweet things where, Fenna, the nun from the silent episode shows up at the end. She was sort of a fan favorite, and I actually found that pretty moving. It's just all so considerate. The Kings are just such wonderful people and I feel like it really comes through in their writing. It felt, like, really cared for. Let's put it that way. It didn't feel like, oh, ok, the show is ending, and you'll just fart out a finale. It felt like everything was thought about and I'm very proud of it.
1428 Elm: It feels like an ending, but also a new chapter. What is going through Kristen's mind in that last scene, where she looks down at Timothy and sees something is off?
Katja Herbers: Originally it was scripted slightly different. We goofed around on set and made it different. Originally, it was that I looked at the baby and saw the baby, and then thought like, huh, that can't be right, and then looked back at the baby and it's gone. What we ended up doing, which happened during rehearsal, is where I actually see [something odd about the] baby and I look again, and it's still there. And I decide that it's not a problem. I give him the pacifier and she's kind of like, well, it's still my son.
I think nurture versus nature is a big part of the thematics of the show, and I think Kristen thinks, and is probably isn't wrong about that, that she can love anything back to health or something. So I think she thinks that she can probably love this baby well enough so that he won't be a demon.
1428 Elm: Kristen is such a fascinating and complex female character. Are there any aspects of her characterization that you think you're gonna carry with you?
Katja Herbers: I love how resilient she is. Like, there's nothing that has happened to Kristen that has broken her and everything has happened to her. And I like that. I think one of the first episodes of the fourth season, where I think Ben and David are like, you've seen what's going on? I don't understand. You're having a child with Leland and yet she seemed fine. And I think [Kristen] says well, what am I going to do? Or that was a subtext, I don't know, but go insane or laugh about it. There's always going to be people who are trying to mess with us and trying to take us down, but we have the choice to just keep going, and so she just laughs, and I think that's something that I love about her. I think we could all learn from her.
1428 Elm: Kristen and David's relationship has been one of the show's anchors, but I feel like she and Ben became much closer this season. What does Ben mean to Kristen?
Katja Herbers: Ben is a true, true friend, and I like this season where you see her break down in his arms maybe even twice and he makes her laugh and really truly listens. I think that's also something quite unique on TV. We don't really see those kinds of conversations where people truly listen to each other and are there for each other. I think the friendship between these people and the way that that's written, and maybe some of it is mimicking real life in a way, because Mike [Colter], Aasif [Mandvi], and I did become really great friends. It's quite profound and wonderful.
1428 Elm: There's a moment I loved in the beginning of the episode, where you guys are going through the old cases. Have there been any standout episodes, case-wise, that have stuck with you or that you've thought about a lot over the years?
Katja Herbers: One of my favorite episodes was the silent episode, which Robert directed. I just thought that was such a unique hour of television and so fun to make for us because we couldn't speak, and everything had to happen wordlessly. Also, I felt like that was a very interesting storyline with Fenna, who came back later.
1428 Elm: I have to say I love the episode where Kristen murders Orson because I feel like so many shows wouldn't have gone there. It would have been, oh, someone saves her at the last second, but no, she murders him.
Katja Herbers: I'm so glad you say that because when we did do the murder, there was some worry about, is she going to lose sympathy if she's a murderer? And quite the opposite happens.
1428 Elm: I think it does get frustrating as a viewer, when you get heroes who let the bad guy go and don't do anything. I feel like with Kristen, you knew she didn't have an option, really, because it would have just kept getting worse.
Katja Herbers: I do love that in the end we don't let her [murder Leland], or her friends [Ben and David] protect her from doing it again, because it is not good for your soul to kill someone, even if they deserve it. I mean I had a whole season of being possessed or whatever. I didn't believe I was possessed but crazy, as the aftermath of having killed someone. I do think that was quite a wonderful friendship thing for them to take care of [Leland] in a different way.
1428 Elm: You watch the episodes as a viewer, too, what were some of the moments you really enjoyed that you weren't in?
Katja Herbers: I love watching the scenes that I'm not in myself, to see how it all comes together and one of the scenes that stood out for me, I'll name a dramatic one and a funny one.
I really love the scene between David and Ben, the one where David gets so upset and does say that he needs Kristen or loves Kristen, but he made a commitment and even if it breaks him, he's going to keep his commitment. I don't know that I've ever seen a character like that and I thought Mike's performance was so beautiful, and the way Ben was listening was beautiful. That scene was truly powerful.
And then, in the finale, I mean, what stands out for me, aside from all the big stuff are the smaller jokes, like, "You're muted, Norm." In the Zoom call with people, and you see the guy with the hooves, it's just something so pedestrian like you're muted on Zoom! I mean, that's really the Kings's sense of humor. I think that's also the power of their shows and our show, that it's just so funny and so specifically them.
1428 Elm: Writing-wise, I think it's great that they don't take the easy way out, like with Orson or, as you said, with David. It would have been easy for them to make David quit the priesthood and give him and Kristen a happily ever after, but the choice they made is much better.
Katja Herbers: Yeah, I agree. And I know for a fact that they like writing themselves into a corner. That's literally how they try to end seasons because at the end of season one, they weren't sure if we were going to play that I killed someone or not. We only decided at the beginning of two that it was definitely true. I was told to act that last bit of me putting a cross in my hand and thinking, am I possessed, or what's going on? We did talk about that and they said let's just play with the idea that you did do it, and then we'll figure it out.
1428 Elm: Evil has always had its finger on the pulse in terms of topical social commentary, you guys have addressed AI, everything wrong with the Catholic church, misogyny in the workplace, etc. Is there anything you wish you could have explored more?
Katja Herbers: I'd love to do more with the climate crisis and the pure insane evil of knowingly destroying our livable climate. I can't think of a greater evil, actually, than every living being on this planet at risk because you want to fill your pockets with money. So that would be something that I think we could fill multiple episodes with.
1428 Elm: If the show were to come back, what direction do you think it would take? Do you think Leland would come back or would it be a brand new chapter?
Katja Herbers: Look, I think Leland is in love with Kristen.
1428 Elm: He's definitely obsessed with her.
Katja Herbers: He's truly obsessed with her. I mean he's in a cabinet, and cabinets can open. I don't know. I think it's up for interpretation. He's also in a place where I think he can't hurt her now, but is that forever the case? We don't know.
1428 Elm: Final thoughts on the finale, and what you hope fans take away from it?
Katja Herbers: I hope they feel very satisfied with where we take it and I hope they laugh and maybe shed a tear or something.
1428 Elm: I'm not giving up on Evil coming back.
Katja Herbers: I don't think the Kings are either. I don't think anyone really is.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
All fours seasons of Evil are now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
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