Evil season 2 is finally returning on Sunday after a brief, yet interminable hiatus. In the wake of that unsettling midseason finale, which saw Kristen (Katja Herbers) literally get away with murder because of her white privilege, Evil is switching gears. The back half of season 2 is kicking off with a highly-anticipated silent episode, which is exactly the kind of big swing we’ve come to love and expect from the best show on Paramount Plus.
The episode, “S is for Silence,” finds Kristen, David (Mike Colter), and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) traveling to a silent monastery to investigate the alleged miracles of a monk’s corpse not decaying and a fun-loving nun with signs of stigmata. However, as this exclusive sneak peek reveals, there’s a far more devilish mystery to unravel than that of the shockingly well-preserved Father Thomas.
As David explains to Kristen and Ben in the clip, the monastery’s residents don’t take vows of silence to deepen their faith, but rather in service of guarding a cabinet that supposedly contains a powerful demon. “The legend goes that if even one word is spoken within the monastery walls, the demon will be out. And if he’s out, he can never be recaptured,” David whispers to the others outside the monastery grounds. While Kristen and Ben might be inclined to laugh this off, David adds that the monks and nuns take it seriously enough to sleep with their mouths gagged as an extra precaution.
Though scenes like this mean the episode isn’t entirely silent, fans who are looking forward to Evil’s take on a silent episode won’t be disappointed. “S is for Silence” is almost completely dialogue-free, and co-creators Robert and Michelle King take full advantage of the format, weaving together wordless moments of slapstick comedy with stomach-churning horror.
“For years — ever since the third season of The Good Wife — we’ve been wanting to do a silent episode, but we could never find the appropriate venue and story engine,” the Kings tell Polygon. “This season, one of the show’s writer/producers, Davita Scarlett, suggested setting an episode at a silent monastery. Then the room came up with the legend discussed in this clip which really gave the silence some teeth. The episode was a real challenge and fun to shoot, but hard to edit. And [we’ll] never do it again.”
Evil returns Sunday on Paramount Plus.
