EVIL Season 1 Episode 11 Review: Room 320
Jessica Lerner
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Is anyone else's head spinning right now?
There are a lot of words that can be used to describe EVIL Season 1 Episode 11, but the one that comes to mind is confusing.
I spent the entirety of the episode wondering if I, too, had been massively overmedicated, as I had no idea what was happening half the time, though maybe that was the point.
I've lost count -- not that I was keeping track -- of what still needs to be answered, but after this episode, some questions have become increasingly clear.
How does Matthew Chapter 13 Verse 25 connect to what's been happening on the show? Is it in any way related to Euler's triangle, or is that a separate matter altogether?
Grace: Hi.
Acosta: Hey.
Grace: You have a question?
Acosta: I … I do. Should I be afraid here?
Grace: Anyone with God doesn’t need to be afraid.
Acosta: But I don’t know if God is with me.
Grace: He is. He’s there.
Acosta: Where? I don’t see him.
Who, exactly, is this Richard Ghana?
It can't be a coincidence that Acosta's attacker just so happens to be Rose390.
There has to be more to this guy, who viewers have never heard of before, than just this, right? There has to be something we're -- or I'm -- not seeing.
This lack of clarity is just one of the reasons why Ghana being revealed as Acosta's attacker felt like a copout on the writers' part.
Ghana is an individual viewers know very little about.
Before this episode, viewers had no idea who he was, let alone that he even existed, and we got essentially no information or background about him.
All fans got were snippets here and there, but no real motivation for why he would attack Acosta.
Did Ghana do all of this simply because he was high on a drug akin to bath salts? That makes no sense.
Mira: Does David have any enemies?
Kristen: Yes.
Mira: Who?
Kristen: Leland Townsend.
Mira: How do I know that name?
Kristen: He’s a forensic psychologist, works with the DA.
Mira: And he’s an enemy?
Kristen: Yes.
Mira: OK, anybody else?
Kristen: Well, David’s work, our work, takes us into the circle of many ill people.
Mira: Ill as in …
Kristen: Psychopathic.
Being possessed by a demon or under the tutelage of Townsend would be a sufficient enough reason, but there was no mention of Townsend and barely any reference to possession.
It just seems as if the writers threw everything at the wall from the past 10 episodes and went with whatever stuck.
It's like they knew the end of the season was approaching and remembered, "We still have a bunch of loose ends to tie up. We should get on that."
Of course, The Powers That Be could reveal something in the next two episodes that magically makes everything seem sensical, and I'll be laughing about what an idiot I was.
Who knows?
When in doubt, trust the writers -- until they give you a reason not to.
This episode wasn't a complete waste as it did provide an excellent look at everyday evil.
Sometimes, the series gets bogged down trying to distinguish if a "case of the week" is demon-related or just the normal evil human beings are capable of.
Harlan: Don’t call her. It’s her shift. The one with the squeaky shoes. Squeak, squeak, squeak. We call her Nurse Plague. You’re the guy who was mugged, right?
Acosta: Yes.
Harlan: Watch out for her. Crazy bitch. The squeaky shoes. You can hear them down the hallway. I’m Harlan.
Acosta: David.
Harlan: We got to stick together, David. Most black patients die in hospitals from accidents: bleeding out internally, complications after surgery, infections. But it’s not random. It’s because of nurses like Plague. They torture and kill us, and then she collects our hospital wristbands as trophies. Don’t say I said anything. Go to sleep fast.
That uncertainty is one of the things that makes the series great, as it neither confirms nor denies the existence of God and demons; it's just left up to the viewers.
However, it can feel a little wishy-washy, as if tackling the very real evil that exists within humanity won't ever get a shot.
Episodes like this one and others that end up focusing on the darker elements of human history like slavery and torture have produced some of the best scenes of the series.
Bloch was the worst kind of human being, getting some sort of perverse sense of pleasure from killing her patients. That shot toward the end with the multiple hospital wristbands was chilling.
However, it was sometimes unclear if Bloch was really the villain in all of it, or if Acosta was merely hallucinating, courtesy of his pain medication.
Some of the scenes, such as the reappearance of Grace and the monsters taking Harlan away, were obviously hallucinations, but they were indicative that something bigger was going on.
It was Acosta's brain trying to make sense of what was happening and give him a way out of the neverending nightmare.
He is one resourceful priest-in-training, but Kristen is pretty resourceful, too.
Kristen: David, are you all right?
Acosta: Kristen, help. Help.
Bloch: David what is going on here? Just look at you. You’re gonna kill yourself like this. Just push the call button if you need anything. You’re only making this worse for yourself, David.
Coming to Acosta's rescue was everything, and she was a complete badass in the process. She knew right away something was off and took no prisoners in getting Acosta the proper care he needed.
Andy doesn't realize how lucky he is to have a wife like her.
This episode also introduced viewers to Judy AKA the Kristen before Kristen.
From what little we saw of her, she seems a bit off and a tad on the eccentric side but knowledgeable and skilled nonetheless.
From her psychoanalysis of Ghana and being able to triangulate his location based on the view from his window, Judy was clearly a valuable member of the team. The question then becomes why she left in the first place.
Something must have happened that pushed her over the edge and led her to quit, yet it doesn't seem to involve any sort of squabbles with her former coworkers.
Ben was perfectly comfortable calling out Judy for her haughty attitude, and though reluctant at first, she had few qualms about helping Acosta.
What did give her pause was looking for Ghana in the first place.
Ben: This is Kristen.
Kristen: Hi.
Judy: So you’re me?
Kristen: I’m …
Judy: You’re David’s type – smart, intellectual. Where did you go to school?
Kristen: OK, um, why don’t I wait outside.
Ben: Judy, you’re being a bitch.
Maybe something bad happened during one of the cases -- supernatural or not -- that was reason enough for her to leave.
With only two episodes left in EVIL Season 1, it's unclear whether viewers will get answers before it ends, especially when there are so many other loose ends to tie up.
Some stray thoughts:
- Though I found most of the references to previous episodes confusing, I did like the reappearance of Mira Bird and Grace. Those felt like more natural spots to reintroduce them, as opposed to the whole Ghana is Rose390 thing, which makes no sense as of now.
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Is it weird if I'm starting to miss Kristen's girls? As annoying as they are, it felt like they should have been included, especially since Rose390 was reintroduced. Though, there is no way that Kristen would have allowed them to play The Haunted Girl again, let alone with a dangerous, unstable man, so I get that.
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Is it weird to hate Nurse Bloch more than Townsend? Sure, she killed a bunch of patients, but Townsend has done way worse things. It's probably just because I enjoy watching Michael Emerson play the character.
So what did you think EVIL Fanatics?
Did you find the entire episode confusing, or were you able to make sense of it?
How is Ghana connected to all of this? What was his motivation for stabbing Acosta?
What were your thoughts on Judy?
Don't forget to hit the comments below to let me know your thoughts. In case you missed the latest episode, remember you can watch EVIL online right here at TV Fanatic.
Jessica Lerner was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in October 2021.
