Evil's Mike Colter, Katja Herbers And EPs Offer Delightfully Devilish Details Ahead Of The Long-Awaited Season 2

Hop in the handbasket, Evil fans: We're going to Hell.

The supernatural drama, which moved from CBS to Paramount+ between seasons, returns Sunday. But it's been a long time since last we hung out with David Acosta, Kristen Bouchard & Co. — after all, the Season 1 finale aired in January 2020 — so we wouldn't blame you if you were a little hazy on the finer points of where things left off.

The short version? Katja Herbers' Kristen may or may not have killed a man who threatened her family, and subsequently may or may not be possessed by an evil entity. And Mike Colter's David doesn't know either of those things... but he's severely unsettled after having a vision of Kristen frolicking with a demonic being.

Oh, and Satan may be trying to undermine all that is good and holy in the world by messing with a fertility clinic's embryos.

Thankfully, TVLine recently communed with series creators Robert King and Michelle King and stars Colter and Herbers in order to get the scoop on the upcoming season, which will unspool weekly on the streamer. Scroll down to get caught up and to find out what lurks ahead.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "Grab the rosary and pray with everything you've got," how worried is David about Kristen's mortal soul at the start of the season? "He's probably at the 6/7 area, because there's room to grow," Colter says. "There is a bit of like, 'Hmm,' and he's watching her closely. But in no way do I think he feels like he needs to intervene or have a conversation with her, because there's no real tangible evidence of anything, as far as he can see." Funny you bring that up, because...

... there's a chance that Kristen may have committed murder in the very recent past. Viewers will remember that Orson Leroux, the serial killer who threatened to harm Kristen's daughters, turned up dead at the end of Season 1 — right around the time Ben noticed the forensic psychologist scrubbing a bloodstain off her leg. While we can't tell you whether or not Kristen did it, we can say that the mounting pressures of raising four young girls on her own will wear on her over the course of the season. "She's under such incredible stress, but in denial of that," Herbers says, explaining that her character's background as a climber "makes it that she is addicted, in a way, to danger and knows how to operate under high levels of stress." Adds Robert King: "There are some things she's dealing with that she's trying to explain psychologically, but she can't."

Aasif Mandvi's Ben "is always someone not sure how much he should commit," Robert King observes. "He worried about committing too much to any particular philosophy, person, religion." In the new season, however, the skeptic's disbelief in the supernatural will be tested. And that may or may not have something to do with the return of Vanessa, his love interest from Season 1 (played by Nicole Shalhoub), in Episode 4.

The Bouchards' climbing business is "not doing too great," Herbers previews, meaning Kristen's husband, Andy (played by Patrick Brammall), will be away longer than he planned. His homecoming "were great scenes to get to play," she adds, "because obviously, these guys have a lot to talk about — or not talk about — and to figure out, and he comes home to somebody he doesn't quite recognize."

Season 2 gives viewers more of a glimpse into David's classwork (and classmates) at the seminary, and at the time of the premiere, he's two months away from being ordained as a priest. However, as Colter teases, "There are so many things that can happen between now and ordination that could thwart David's plans."

When the pandemic diminished the scope of what would be possible to shoot for Season 2 (see ya, haunted subway station episode!), Robert King says, the show's writing staff started to think about "Who is it that we most want to see in tension with each other?" And one of the most obvious answers was "Leland and David," which led to a storyline in which the former comes to the latter, asking for an exorcism for himself. "That's a great plan on the devil's part, because the reality is also the con: That you're possessed is the truth," the EP points out. "But the con is: Are you meaning it or are you not? And then, what is to come from that?"

Season 2 "was written and filmed as though it would be on broadcast, but we still had [the post-production phase] to play with," Michelle King says. So when the EPs found out that Evil would air on Paramount+, they had a little fun with the looser standards. (Listen, for instance, for Kristen to drop an F-bomb roughly 11 minutes into the premiere.) Robert King notes that the script originally called for Herbers to say "bastard," but "the problem is, you're always looking for the words that network allows you, but they never have the fury or the outrage that she would have [in that situation]." He laughs. "So yes, there'll be a little of that." There'll also be a little more Evil itself here and there. "We had more latitude with the time," Michelle King says re: episode length, "which is great for us."