Celebrate Evil With TV Guide's Exclusive 100 Best Shows Portraits

"It's like we are kind of like a trinity, the three of us," Evil's Aasif Mandvi told TV Guide. "David feels like he's always looking to the heavens, Kristen is always looking at like the human, and Ben is kind of planted into the earth."

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Katja Herbers has brought out a fascinating danger in Kristen, who killed a man at the end of Season 1. "She doesn't seem to be a victim of this act; she also seems to be weirdly put in her power by it," Herbers said. "She now knows that she can just take these guys out, and I think that's kind of in the back of her mind… She's just like, 'You don't know half of it. You don't know what I could do, you motherf---er. I could just kill you.'"

"Evil is a show that makes you understand yourself or your own motivations as a person a little more intricately, and I think that's a scary place to be," Mike Colter said.

"My theory is that Ben is Jesus. And that we're going to find that out, maybe in Season 9 or something," Mandvi said. "Because he's a carpenter and his name is Ben, which — in Arabic, Bin means 'son of'... It's all right there! I don't think the Kings would even realize they've written it."

"Their tone has a bit of a wink," Herbers said of Evil creators Robert and Michelle King. "They also often cast actors that bring a certain lightness or that have a bit of a comedy background to do these really scary things." 

"Evil in the first season was something out there, and in Season 2 it's something inside," co-creator Robert King told TV Guide. "It's inside our team, it's inside the Church itself, and it's inside Kristen, and inside her daughters, too, or one of her daughters."

"She flirts with the idea [that she's possessed] for a second with the burning of the hand, but then also she's kind of mocking herself for doing that," Herbers said of Kristen's reaction to committing murder. "I don't think she's possessed. I don't believe in possession myself; Kristen doesn't believe in it."

Priest-in-training David is approaching his ordination in Season 2. "He doesn't shy away from trying to be the person that breaks down barriers in some way, shape, or form in the Catholic Church," Colter said.

"He's a little bit of a myth buster," Mandvi said of his character. "While David is talking to God and Kristen is trying to figure out mental health, Ben is just like, 'Could be the air conditioner.'" 

"I think she's moved by David because he genuinely wants to be a good person," Herbers said of her character's attraction to Colter's. "He's going to marry the frickin' church just to do good. Like, who does that?"

"Maybe the optimism is that there are people that care about evil — that actually recognize it and want to address it, whether it comes from a place of religion or a place of psychology," said co-creator Michelle King. "That is one thing that all the characters are in agreement about: that evil exists in the world, and you need to address it."

Evil's move to streaming has been freeing for the cast. Herbers said, "I think Kristen should be allowed to say 'f---' after the things that she goes through."

"I remember reading, and I was like, 'Oh, this is a great line,'" Mandvi said of a Season 2 scene when his character's sleep demon removes her retainer before she bites him. "Either this demon really has a retainer, which is crazy — like, why? Or if Ben thinks it's in his imagination, then why did he come up with a demon that has a retainer? Why not just come up with a demon?"

"The fact that we are able to have this debate amongst ourselves as characters and still work together, and still genuinely care for and appreciate the other person's point of view is something profound, and it invites that kind of same dynamic among people who are watching," Colter said. 

"We really take on a lot of relevant political sociological issues through the lens [of a horror show]," Mandvi said. "It's difficult to do that, and to do it well, and also to mine in comedy… Even within the framework of horrific things happening, there'll be an absurd comic element."

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