Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Evil season 4!
Summary
Sister Andrea is facing some of her biggest foes yet inEvilseason 4. Introduced in season 2 of the Paramount+ horror-drama show and played by Emmy winner Andrea Martin, Sister Andrea is one of the nuns living at the Church where David is headquartered, though unlike others there, she takes no nonsense when it comes to the priest’s behaviors. Sister Andrea has also served as a close advisor to David Acosta, given their shared sensitivity to seeing real demonic forces, putting her in direct opposition to Leland Townsend.
Evilseason 4has seen Sister Andrea’s role continue to increase, becoming a bigger part of the various cases David, Ben and Kristen are involved in, while also coming face-to-face with a number of new and dangerous demonic forces. She also gets the biggest step up on Leland yet as she teams up with Sheryl to baptize the child intended to be the Antichrist, nearly bringing Leland’s world to an end. As the apocalypse seemingly draws nearer, Sister Andrea is expected to be an even more important figure in preventing the rise of Satanic forces.
Why Was Evil Canceled After Season 4 & Could The Show Be Saved By Another Streaming Service?
Paramount+ canceled Evil and will end after season 4, but another streaming platform could still pick up the horror show for a fifth season.
Alongside Martin, theEvilseason 4 cast includes the returns of Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Marti Matulis, Brooklyn Shuck, Skylar Gray, Maddy Crocco, Dalya Knapp, Christine Lahti and Michael Emerson, while also introducingGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Chukwudi Iwujias David’s new Entity handler, Father Dominic Kabiru. Despite its acclaimed run thus far, the show is coming to an end with season 4, and showrunners Robert and Michelle King are keeping the stakes higher than ever while also staying true to their dark sense of humor and unique cases.
As the end of the show draws near,Screen Rantinterviewed Andrea Martin to discussEvilseason 4, how she feels about the surprise cancellation of the Paramount+ hit, Sister Andrea’s bigger role in fighting demons this season, the demons yet to come in the final few episodes, as well as her potentialOnly Murders in the Buildingseason 4 return andMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 4chances.
Martin Has “Mixed” Feelings About Paramount+’s Decision To EndEvil
The decision to bringEvilto an end with season 4 has left many audiences disappointed, particularly as the Kings have reached new and exciting heights with every new season. For Martin, she admits to having “mixed” feelings about this decision, expressing equal parts of being “disappointed” and “grateful” at getting to be a part of a show with so many layers to it:
Andrea Martin: It’s mixed. I feel disappointed that I won’t be able to carry on in a show that I think is such high quality, high artistry, really. And examines really important subject matter, science and faith and psychology. It’s got everything in it. I’m also grateful that I had an opportunity to work for three years, I think, on the series, and get to meet those wonderful actors. So it’s a mixed bag. I wish we had more to do. I mean, that’s the bottom line.
But unless some miracle happens, I think that’s it. But I think what you’re going to see this season is magnificent. I know for my character, the arc they wrote has beautiful scenes, unexpected, and I loved playing them. I had more to do, actually, in the last season than I’ve had in previous seasons, and especially the last four, so I feel really grateful.
Sister Andrea & Father Ignatius' Arc Is One Of Martin’s Favorites
While much of the season may see a bigger focus on her character fighting demons directly,Evilseason 4 has also seen Sister Andrea become closer with Wallace Shawn’s Father Ignatius, helping clear out a demon burrowing its way into his side as he grapples with the grief of Monsignor Korecki’s murder, with the two having had a close relationship. Letting down her no-nonsense guard, Sister Andrea successfully rids the demon from Father Ignatius by sympathizing with him, which proved to be one of Martin’s favorite arcs in the show, particularly with her fondness of Shawn:
Andrea Martin: I’m so glad you asked that, nobody has brought that up. No one that I’ve talked to. Oh, my gosh, look, Wally’s a few years older than I am, but I was in awe of him and his career when I was starting out in New York and the theater, and he was iconic, really. In the experimental world, and as an author, as a playwright, as a character, as a personality, as an actor, really. I was floored that I got to work with him. He’s such a gentle soul, hard worker, it has so much depth when you’re acting with him. I’d be looking at him and think, “My god, this is Wally Shawn that I’m working with.”
So, I loved our scenes together, I thought they were so tender. I thought that was beautiful, that we’re both of a certain age, really, and could confide in one another. That we’re both from the Church, and yet his journey was different than mine. Sister Andrea is a real believer, Father Ignatius isn’t, and so they wrote great conversations for us examining that. And then to look at grief, and have that wonderful scene where Andrea can understand and talk to him, really, that was a highlight for me. So, thank you for mentioning it.
Martin Has A Unique Explanation For The Greater Demon Presence InEvilSeason 4 (& That Wild Antichrist Baptism)
Prior seasons of the show have certainly seen plenty of demonic foes, thoughEvilseason 4 has arguably seen the biggest to date, with one in almost every episode, particularly ones facing Sister Andrea. In reflecting on this greater influx of demonic figures, Martin ultimately feels it comes from “evil in the world has increased”, thus making people more susceptible to being haunted by them:
Andrea Martin: Well, I think the evil in the world has increased. When evil in the world, and when hate increases, when violence and cruelty increases, when discord increases — I’m putting these in quotations — more “demons” show up. That can be the hate that we carry. I didn’t talk to the Kings about this. I don’t know what they had in mind, but I certainly felt that way as the character, that Sister Andrea was having to fight more evil, more demons, because there was just more of it.
When it came to filming season 4’s epic Antichrist baptism scene, Martin recalled the surreal nature of shooting it, including shooting in a church that was “kind of deserted”, and broke down the various levels that she and her co-stars were operating on:
Andrea Martin: Well, we shot it in a church, it was really pouring rain. The church was kind of deserted, like so many churches are these days, they’re going bankrupt. I got to work with Wally Shawn, I got to work with Christine Lahti, there were so many levels happening. One nostalgia, one the gruesomeness of this baby — the Antichrist, as you say — but then the little baby becoming a sweet baby. There were so many levels that we worked on in the scene. But you know, what makes a good scene is what’s the sole motivation of that. And I think that it was written and achieved that. I was just a small part of it.
Audiences Haven’t Seen Martin’s Favorite Demon Yet (But There’s “So Much Physicality” Involved)
In looking ahead at the show’s final episodes, Martin also went on to tease that her favorite demon in the entirety ofEvilhas yet to be seen. As she teased it, she found herself “reliving” the experience of filming with it, and the “physicality” required for her battle with the dangerous foe:
Andrea Martin: Well, you haven’t seen it yet. I keep getting the last episode and the one right before it confused. It’s in the last four, this demon that I’m referring to. There was so much physicality in it. Oh my god, ah, I’m reliving it. The props, and it was difficult to hear this demon, because the prosthetics were so kind of intrusive and serious, and he had to look a certain way, and I had to rattle off — because I was battling him — a lot of words, at the same time picking up props and having to kill him. So, it was a very challenging scene with a very challenging demon. And that’s coming up, but I think the fans will be very satisfied by it.
Martin “Cannot Believe” ThatEvilHas Not Been Recognized By The Emmys
Across its four seasons,Evilhas had one of the most impressive runson television when it comes to critics, with the past two seasons, in particular, landing a rare 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the consistent acclaim for the show, it has yet to be recognized by such major awards ceremonies as the Emmys or the Golden Globes, something that has left Martin in a state of disbelief as the show is “doing something different than anything else on TV”:
Andrea Martin: Let me just say this to you. I hadn’t seen a lot of the writers on the set, they’re kind of sequestered in writing. And we don’t do table reads for the writers. But I did meet a couple of the writers at the closing party, and I walked up to them and with the deepest sincerity — and I mean this, I’ve been working a lot in my life. I shook their hands, and I said, “You are extraordinary writers. What you’re able to achieve and what you can give an actor, I’ll never forget it.”
I don’t know, to be able to do what they do, include psychology, science, faith, religion, all these different stories, make them tie together. I don’t think people understand the skill that it takes. I cannot believe that the Emmy Awards did not acknowledge Evil, the writers, the direction, the actors, I think the show’s doing something different than anything else on TV. So that’s how I feel.
Joy Won’t Be Back ForOnly Murders In The BuildingSeason 4 (But Martin Is Hopeful For The Future)
Another of Martin’s major recent roles has been a recurringpart inOnly Murders in the Buildingas Joy, the love interest to Steve Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage from his early days as an acting star. As season 4 moves the story to Los Angeles, and season 3 saw the two break up, Martin confirms that she will not be back for the next chapter, though does express her hopes at returning in the show’s future:
Andrea Martin: You and I both want to see Joy back. Well, she certainly wasn’t in this past season. I guess anything can happen. They’ve got a lot of guest stars, and everybody wants to do that show. And I don’t know, the answer truly is I don’t know. Would I love to bring Joy back? I think Joy loves Charlie on the show. But, you know, stories take different directions, it’s really hard to honor every single character. It’s hard to write every character story in a weighty way. So, she’s gone for now, but maybe she’ll come back. Put the good word out there! [Chuckles]
Martin ThinksMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 3Was “Enough” For Nia Vardalos
Another major property Martin has been a part of isNia Vardalos’My Big Fat Greek Weddingmovies, with the most recent being the third installment, while no talks of a fourth movie having surfaced in the year since. When asked about the possibility of another movie, Martin seemed doubtful another would be made, recalling howMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 3was made in particular to honor the late Michael Constantine and “the land that he came from” and that, from her perspective, “three is enough”:
Andrea Martin: I haven’t talked to her about it, but my sense is three is enough. This was really in honor of Michael Constantine, her heart was so full with his passing, and she really wanted to honor him, and honor the land that he came from, Greece. So, my sense is that it’s completed now. But I don’t know for sure. I actually don’t know anything for sure. [Chuckles]
AboutEvilSeason 4
In Evil season 4, Kristen, David, and Ben continue to assess cases that involve wayward technology, possessed pigs, demonic oppression and infestation, a dance muse conjured by alleged witches, and an evil relic. Throughout, Leland attempts to lure Kristen into raising a baby Antichrist who was conceived with her ovum. David is recruited by the Vatican’s secret service to “remote view”, a paranormal ability to see the unseen to detect evil. Ben is hit by an ion beam, causing him to see visions of a taunting jinn until he discovers an unusual solution to banish it. Finally, all three realize they only have a few weeks left to assess cases because the parish has decided to disband the team due to a lack of funds. This culminates in one last confrontation with Leland and the 60 families that make up Evil in the modern world.
Evil
Cast
Evil is a psychological mystery series that follows a skeptical forensic psychologist, Kristen Bouchard, who teams up with a Catholic priest-in-training and a tech expert to investigate purportedly supernatural incidents. The series delves into complex themes of religion, science, and the nature of evil through its deeply layered narrative and character development. The show stars Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi.
