Is Evil woke?
Evil (2019)
TV Show
Released: January 1, 2019
Wokeness Score
8/10
Strongly Ideological
Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key Summary Points
- Tackles systemic racism via hospital bias episodes and police violence cases framed as societal evil.
- Critiques Catholic Church patriarchy through Kristen's challenges to male authority and gender bias in cases.
- Promotes diverse team dynamics modeling progressive tolerance while addressing toxic masculinity and reproductive issues.
Wokeness Analysis
Evil (2019) earns a high wokeness score due to its consistent integration of progressive social commentary into its supernatural procedural format. Created by the Kings, known for politically charged shows like The Good Fight, it frequently frames everyday evils through lenses of racism, sexism, healthcare bias against minorities, toxic masculinity, gun violence, reproductive rights, and critiques of traditional institutions like the Catholic Church's patriarchy. Episodes tackle implicit racism in medical care killing Black patients, police shootings of Black women dismissed as demonic influence, and the Church's hostility toward women and gender equality, with protagonist Kristen repeatedly challenging male clerical authority. The diverse core trio—an agnostic white woman psychologist, Black Catholic seminarian/priest, and Muslim-atheist tech expert—serves as a model for respectful ideological clashes that strengthen the team while advancing messages on disinformation, right-wing extremism, and systemic inequality. Later seasons intensify these elements with storylines on White Christian nationalism, abortion fears post-Roe, incel culture, and reproductive agency, often prioritizing social critique over pure horror or escapism. While entertaining and ambiguous in its faith-vs-science debates, the messaging feels intentional and prominent, shaping character arcs and plots to highlight modern progressive concerns, leading many viewers to perceive it as agenda-driven rather than neutral storytelling.
Plot
Evil follows forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard, Catholic seminarian-turned-priest David Acosta, and tech expert Ben Shakir as they are hired by the Catholic Church to investigate claims of demonic possession, miracles, and supernatural events. Blending horror, procedural mystery, and philosophical debate, the series explores whether evil stems from the supernatural or psychological/societal causes. Over four seasons from 2019 to 2024, the team confronts personal demons alongside cases involving modern horrors like social media manipulation, addiction, and institutional failures, while their own lives intertwine with the investigations.