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Evil may be nearing the end of its run—after the current fourth season concludes, there’ll be four bonus episodes to wrap things up for good—but the Paramount+ series feels just as energetic, daring, and weird as ever. Take this week’s eighth episode, “How to Save a Life,” which nudged forward some of the show’s big plot arcs while also exploring a question that’s tugged at the mind of many a horror fan: what would happen if you baptized the Antichrist?
In the context of Evil, the Antichrist is baby Timothy: created from Kristen’s stolen egg and Leland‘s demonic sperm; carried to term by surrogate mother Leslie; and cared for mostly by Leland and Kristen’s mother, Sheryl. From the beginning, the dark forces lurking within Evil‘s supernaturally tinged but otherwise oddly familiar version of New Your City have been plotting doomsday, and Timothy is a crucial—probably the most crucial—piece in their demonic puzzle. But their plan didn’t take into account how much Leland and Sheryl would grow to loathe each other. Sheryl joined the dark side during her brief romance with Leland (hard to believe that ever happened, given the current state of their relationship), and stuck with it because she liked feeling powerful. Plus, she came to depend on Leland’s stash of IV “infusions” that kept her looking and feeling much younger than her years. We’ve seen her do some utterly awful things—including, as seen in season three, helping kidnap and drug Kristen’s husband, then staging an elaborate ruse that he was off climbing Mount Everest rather than languishing in a chemically induced coma, because he got in the way of her happiness.
Kristen still doesn’t know about that particular scheme, but she knows Sheryl’s role in the Timothy situation, and their on-again, off-again estrangement seems dangerously close to becoming permanent. That’s devastating for Sheryl, who genuinely loves and feels protective over Kristen’s four young daughters. And as Evil has progressed, we’ve seem her become disillusioned with what Satan has to offer. For one thing, her cool corporate job at a company that aggressively works to make the internet even more toxic (an ongoing Evil theme is technology being manipulated for maximum malevolence) has a glass ceiling, literally. Turns out Satanists are also misogynists! But the last straw comes when she finds out that Leland tried to mind-control Andy into killing one of her granddaughters. Though a stabby physical altercation soon ensues, and Leland cuts her off from babysitting duties, Sheryl knows true revenge will only come if she hits Leland where it really hurts. And what’s her biggest leverage point when it comes to toppling Leland from his esteemed demonic status? The tiny Antichrist!
That’s why, in “How to Save a Life,” we see Sheryl visit Father David in the last place we’d ever expect to find her: church, specifically the confessional. By crossing Leland, she knows her life is in danger, and there’s no sense in going to the cops, because of course members of “the Sixty” (the demonic cabal slowly overtaking the world) have lots of allies in law enforcement. So she lets David in on a little secret, spilling the beans about Timothy. And she has a big, burning question for the incredulous priest: “What happens if the Antichrist is baptized?” He tells her no child is beyond saving and tries to convince Sheryl that even her soul could still be saved, but she’s not there for spiritual guidance. She needs a favor: a rush baptism, conducted during the brief window when the sympathetic Leslie can help her get access to her grandson.
Andrea Martin as Sister Andrea, Wallace Shawn as Father Ignatious, and Christine Lahti as Sheryl. Photo: Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+ David agrees to her frantic request, because he’s David, but also because he’s David, he’s away in service of the episode’s other big plot when the crucial moment arises. Father Ignatius tells Sheryl to just come back the next day, but she’s insistent the baptism must happen right now—as we’ve seen, Leland and company, including “the Manager” (Evil‘s five-eyed, hairy demon character)—are ramping up to some big sinister ceremony with Timothy at its center. An unholy thunderstorm kicks up as Sheryl bangs on the church door, giving us howling winds and an atmospheric power outage, and Sister Andrea echoes Father Ignatius’ advice: come back tomorrow. Left with no more bullshit to weave, Sheryl, who’s met Sister Andrea before, comes clean: the kid is actually the Antichrist. Sister Andrea takes a peek at the infant and, with her sixth sense, immediately realizes Sheryl’s telling the truth. Timothy ain’t no baby—he’s a tiny demon dressed in a frilly little bonnet!
With Sister Andrea now feeling just as urgent about the situation as Sheryl, the two women convince a reluctant Father Ignatius to perform the baptism. When it’s over, Timothy now looks like an actual human baby to Sister Andrea. Whistling a happy tune, Sheryl heads straight to Leland’s apartment and hammers the baptismal certificate, as well as a photo of Timothy being held by Father Ignatius and Sister Andrea, to his door. “Like Martin Luther, motherfucker,” she chuckles. The next day, when Leland collects Timothy from Leslie, the baby’s in an uncharacteristically good mood. Since birth, he’s been a cranky, screechy, spewing little monster, but now he’s a smiling little bundle. That’s odd, Leland thinks, but when he sees the certificate and photo, he realizes what Sheryl’s done—and all he can do is yell in horror.
As the time for the big Satanic shindig approaches (“Stockholders will be there in one hour,” the Manager texts. “Have baby ready/quiet”), Leland tries to figure out what to do. He hovers a pillow over Timothy’s face, but he can’t kill the Antichrist. Total denial is his only option, he decides; he burns the photo and certificate, and tells Timothy “This… did… not… happen! You are the Antichrist!” Timothy has a burbling chuckle about it, and the gathering commences as the men (of course it’s all men) huddle around the pentagram on Leland’s floor, with the Antichrist positioned at its center. “All hail Satan!” they chant, then they all slice their hands and dribble blood around the ceremonial crib. “Our masterpiece is complete,” the Manager crows triumphantly; Leland sneaks a peek at Timothy, sees he’s still grinning, and mutters “Oh, shit” to himself. The episode ends without showing the audience the mysterious red painting the stockholders are all there to see—but we do get one more echo of Timothy’s gleeful giggle leading into the end credits.
New episodes of Evil arrive Thursdays on Paramount+.
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