Quality often hides in the most unlikely of places, case in point, a CBS supernatural procedural about vatican investigators turns out to be the most fun and inventive horror shows of the last several years. Evil initially doesn’t stray far from the X-FIles investigative formula,pairing a believer and skeptic together in addition to a third party for (mostly) comic relief but demonstrates intelligent writing, great chemistry between the leads, and an appropriately wicked sense of humor. There’s an insidious playfulness behind the different cases, which run the gamut from cryptocurrency schemes and demonic digital assistants, to classic possession and goetic lineages. An easy subtitle for the series might be, ‘the devil is a huge troll’, and each episode demonstrates a keen wit while not afraid to stray into genuinely dark territory. The horrific elements are often truly horrifying, both in subject matter and execution. At the core, the show is about making sense of current reality and where one places their faith and endeavors. It never shies away from covering the darker aspects of humanity, with or without supernatural agenda, even if the tone skews more towards humor than the macabre. Initially the show does a decent job at giving equal weight and creedence to potential scientific or supernatural explanations, even though the metaplot makes no pretense of hiding the presence of supernatural shenanigans. By season 3, the series jettisoned network TV for streaming, where it was truly allowed to unleash its darker potential. Not that it abandoned the zaniness or mischievous aura, but able to take the ongoing story into darker depths, drawing many of the disparate threads into a unified whole that culminates in an epic season finale. The acting is thoroughly excellent throughout, even from a motley of child actors (though some of their antics and constant screaming are insufferable). Unfortunately the belated 4th and final season continues to be delayed due to the strikes, but unless they horribly drop the ball on the various plot threads, I cannot imagine this series deserving less than an: