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Posted in: CBS, Review, streaming, TV | Tagged: Aasif Mandvi, Evil, Katja Herbers, Michael Emerson, Mike Colter, paramount, Review, season 3
Evil Season 3 Episode 6 A Depressing Social Media Commentary: Review
Upon the surface, the Evil episode title "The Demon of Algorithms" suggests something far more technical on the surface, but given the Paramount+ supernatural series' track record, it ventures far more into the darker, seedier, and chillingly depressing aspects. So this time around, the team investigates a social media service where people post demonic possessions in a TikTok-type service called TipTop (since Paramount likely didn't want to pay the company or deal with any kind of legal action). Consider this your minor spoilers warning moving forward…
So more things start to unravel as we discover the "demon" infecting David's (Mike Colter) mind and conveniently taking the form of Kristen (Katja Herbers), struggling to battle away his amorous feelings. Given everything that's happened with the character, he's gotten quite skilled at finding ways not to give in. Meanwhile, David, Kristen, and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) are looking at a girl who's speaking in demonic tongues, eating glass, and naturally, cutting herself from self-inflicted wounds in the process as her mother's scared while conveniently posting those bouts on TipTop.
After some sleuthing, Ben discovers the true nature of the videos and tries to record a PSA "exposing" them. While most conventions would suggest positive results, we live in a much different and cynical age as he starts getting the expected negative results since fact-checking serves no purpose in today's misinformation age. We also finally get a resolution between Leland (Michael Emerson) and Kristen's children, played by Brooklyn Shuck, Skylar Gray, Maddy Crocco, and Dalya Knapp, as far as the Animal Crossing-type of app they interact in. Just when you think we get more of the cartoony supervillain vibes, the other shoe drops in regards to his partner-in-crime in Sheryl (Christine Lahti), who we find is taking a far more sinister turn than realized.
Things can always get worse in the world of Evil, but I would never suspect anything remotely close to Saw level. Directed by Peter Sollett and written by Patricia Ione Lloyd, "The Demon of Algorithms" hits some pretty familiar notes as far as social media behaviors and the need to worship the "celebrity" culture. While it's a work of fiction, the attitudes feel just a bit on the nose considering how far many will go in real life for these narratives from sports and politics, let alone the supernatural. Credit is deserved across the board for taking that risk of taking a timely narrative into constructive social commentary as we continue suffering the "plague" from the lack of empathy. New episodes of Evil stream Sundays on Paramount+, with the series recently renewed by the streaming service for a fourth season.
Evil Season 3 Episode 6 "The Demon of Algorithms"
8/10
Upon the surface, the Evil episode title “The Demon of Algorithms” suggests something far more technical, but given the Paramount+ supernatural series’ track record, it ventures far more into the darker, seedier, and chillingly depressing aspects. So this time around, the team investigates a social media service where people post demonic possessions in a TikTok-type service called TipTop (since Paramount likely didn’t want to pay the company or deal with any kind of legal action). The episode is surprisingly effective in terms of contemporary culture without feeling dated, hitting a nerve in society's obsession with social media.
Credits
Director
Peter Sollett
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