Summary

• Evil Season 4 introduces time travel, adding a new layer of complexity to the supernatural universe. Ellie's claims may not be trustworthy.
• The show's final episodes aren't holding back, with subtle nods to its cancelation and the introduction of new characters and time travel.
• Evil has earned the exploration of time travel, with the depth and care it has treated other supernatural topics over its four seasons.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Evil season 4With the final episodes of the Paramount+ series Evil now underway, the show has added a new element to its arsenal that has the potential to change things dramatically. continue the Evil universe with a spin-off series.

The first of Evil's four-episode mini-season 5 wasn't holding back, either. Instead of going the route that the show usually takes with its monster-of-the-week style format, it's instead looking at these four episodes as a complete story. They started strong, too, with some excellent cameos, a fascinating new heavy-hitting demon played by character actor, John Carroll Lynch, and some narrative twists I doubt anyone saw coming. The episode also introduced a curious new character who has already sewn chaos in the Bouchard family home, and whose presence could be extremely important in the Evil finale.

Anna Chumlsky’s Role Introduces Time Travel To The Evil Universe

Is Ellie An Actual Time Traveler Or A Manipulative Escaped Patient?

As if Evil wasn't already juggling a wide spectrum of genres, the series has now added the potential of time travel to its supernatural universe. Each season has its own themes, and the focus of season 4 is technology. Within this context, the show has tied the episode 1 incident with Ben (Aasif Mandvi) and the Hadron Collider to a potential scenario where it opens up a black hole and, in the future, people can time travel back to specific moments in time.

All this is according to Ellie, played by Anna Chlumsky, who tells Kristen (Katja Herbers) that she is, in fact, her daughter Laura returning from the future to warn her about what's about to happen. She tells Kristen that her husband Andy (Patrick Brammall) is cheating on her, and David (Mike Colter) will leave the church to be with her. Later, she warns Lynn (Brooklyn Shuck) of a battle that will occur when Lexis is 35 that will destroy the world. She then tries to murder the potential antichrist baby Timothy, but Laura (Dalya Knapp) stops her.

It's a lot, but it also may not be true. While Ellie / future Laura seems to have a lot of information about the future, it does lack some amount of detail. It's also very possible that Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) is behind it, as Ben discovers that the woman is actually a patient at the same mental health facility where Andy has been recovering. And she's also probably the woman that Andy has been sleeping with. Given this background, Ellie is not likely to be a trustworthy fount of reliable knowledge.

Evil’s Exploration Of Time Travel Is Earned

Evil Has Explored So Many Other Supernatural Topics That Time Travel Makes Sense

Although Evil season 4, episode 11, suggests that Ellie is just a patient at the mental health facility, there is no proof of this yet. When Kristen learns that Andy has left the facility with Ellie, there's no hard evidence that it's the same Ellie that she met earlier at her mother's wake. A person from the future may choose that name deliberately to put certain events in motion. The Kings are masters at weaving unexpected narratives, so it's still not impossible that Ellie / future Laura is an actual time traveler.

Evil has dealt with all kinds of supernatural creatures in many different forms across its four seasons, and with technology as season 4's focus, time travel isn't such a wild notion. It seems late in the game to introduce a sci-fi element like time travel to the series. However, given how adeptly the writers have covered other future-forward topics, like AI, social media algorithms, ghostly drones, clout-chasing influencers, and many others, Evil has earned this exploration of time travel as a concept, and can do so with the depth, authenticity, and care that the show always has.

Evil's Final Episodes Aren’t Holding Back

Episode 11 Has Kicked off The Mini Season 5 With Some Not So Subtle Nods To Its Cancelation

It's clear that the Kings aren't holding back in these final episodes. The Evil credits message made a pointed jab at the show's untimely cancelation, and when David informs Ben that the church is discontinuing the assessor program, he asks, "but wasn't it successful?" This is likely a pointed remark aimed at Paramount's cancelation of Evil despite its success. These are the types of little details that the show's audience love, so the subtle nod won't be lost to its viewers.

By introducing time travel and new characters to the finale's four-episode arc, it really underlines how the Kings aren't leaving anything behind as they wrap up the series. If Evil season 4, episode 11 is anything to go by, then the last episodes are going to be incredible. Whether or not the creators can actually stick the landing is still unclear, but they sure are shooting for the moon.