“How to Build a Coffin” is a whole lot of everything we absolutely love about Evil. There may not be a big step forward toward the end of time, but episode 4 of the last season of Evil is unprecedentedly nostalgic about the bad ol’ times of half-hearted exorcisms and our demon-slayer Sister Andrea in all her enigmatic glory. I’m expecting a full-on collision between an enraged Kristen and a mousy Leland later this season. And boy, will that be a treat to watch!
Spoiler Alert
Is Stuart Lawry possessed?
Stuart Lawry’s at a loss for words on live television. It’s not just another day on the job as a reporter, I suppose, because Lawry sounds like a guy having a stroke. But what can he do when he’s literally forgetting the words he speaks on a daily basis? It seems just odd enough for the church to ask their assessors to determine if there’s anything demonic involved. And the first consequential sign of trouble is what Stuart’s wife, Jennifer, has to say about her husband’s condition. All the tests have come out clean, and Jennifer first noticed this peculiar change in her husband just about a month ago. So, about the same time that Anthony Garcia from Delmonte Farms got possessed? This has got to have something to do with the impending end of the world. But what’s tricky about this situation is that Stuart’s possession seems to be contagious. Pretty soon after a sit-down with the supposedly possessed reporter, Ben, Kristen, and David show the same symptoms. For someone fluent in science, it’s pretty odd that Ben’s feeling so clueless about what he’s supposed to say that he greenlights the exorcism in a hurry. And David’s in an even more awkward position when his adulterous congregant seeks his advice in confession, and he finds nothing to say. Kristen’s freak-out over her diminishing cognitive abilities comes at just the right time for Leland, though. But I’ll tell you a little more about that later. For now, judging by the fact that Sister Andrea has actually seen this demon that’s “eating” their words and fattening up, and that she went at it with a pair of hedge shears, it’s safe to assess that Stuart’s actually possessed and in dire need of an exorcism. And if he’s not, the placebo effect could still help him out, right?
What’s eating away at Father Ignatius?
If you haven’t figured it out by now, “How to Build a Coffin” is Sister Andrea’s time to shine. And the timing was perfect for Father Dement to show the nuns why people call the church misogynistic. He handed the nuns a lot more chores so that the priests could spend their time connecting with God. During laundry duty, Sister Andrea’s quite puzzled by the large holes in Father Ignatius’ clothes. Father Ignatius is not too fond of her snooping nature, but Sister Andrea has found a way to take a look at his side and has seen a gaping, fleshy hole in Father Ignatius’ body. What’s worse? There’s a tiny little demon living in the hole, throwing chunks of Father Ignatius out and replacing them with little rocks. For such a cute little thing, a bowl of mini marshmallows seems to be the right trap to set. And the little bugger gets the beating of a lifetime with Sister Andrea’s spatula before he tries his trick on the very wrong person. The little demon can leaf through people’s memories and feast on their grief. So when he tries it out on Sister Andrea, who once left a boy she loved behind and picked God over him, she’s quick to deduce that this is the grief demon. He prefers Tommy, though. We’ve heard Father Ignatius talk about his grief over Father Matt’s death. And it seemed rather normal that a depressed man like him would doze off at odd hours. But apparently, the rocks that this demon was stuffing inside of him were responsible for Father Ignatius’ constant drowsiness. And it was his grief that gave this demon access to his insides.
How does Sister Andrea exorcise the demons?
I guess word of mouth hasn’t gotten to hell yet. Why else would such a pesky little demon mess with the nun who’s sent some big league demons crawling to their dad? The two wreaking havoc in the church are joined at the hip, though. The little one couldn’t have broken out of Sister Andrea’s cupboard without the big one lending him a hand. But no one’s told the big one that you don’t pull a fast one on Sister Andrea and not come to regret it. Pretty embarrassing of you to be a big scary demon and get schooled by a nun, Word-eater! Sister Andrea’s come to figure out the right way of getting the grief demon to get the hell out of dodge. If Father Ignatius is freed from the grief that’s been weighing on him, what would the demon feed on? So, instead of luring the demon with it, Sister Andrea grabs the bowl of marshmallows and makes Father Ignatius talk about the friend he’s been missing. He’s been avoiding the pain of being reminded that Father Matt is no more. And in the process, he hasn’t been processing his grief at all. When a shared laugh over how funny their priest friend was lightens his spirit, the grief demon’s compelled to leave Father Ignatius alone. Father Dement, on the other hand, was going nowhere with his exorcism of Stuart Lawry. It takes a fearless Sister Andrea showing the demon who’s boss for Stuart, Kristen, David, and Ben to get their words back. What better way to kill a demon that’s been fattening up on the words he’s been eating than by puncturing his ginormous stomach with a pair of hedge shears?
Is Andy going to hurt his family?
Kristen was on point about Leland in early fatherhood. The freak’s drowning in diapers because little Timmy may not be a big eater but he poops for a whole village. Four bottles of that swampy transfusion liquid get him Sheryl’s expert assistance on inconsolable babies. But just as soon as Kristen’s voice on the voice note proves to be the only solution to the incessant yowling, Leland gets Dr. Boggs’ assistant to steal Kristen’s therapy records to play for baby Timothy. I don’t know how healthy that is! The jackal that Leland is, listening to Kristen cry at therapy about Laura’s heart condition and how she’d need another baby to cope if Laura were to die gives him the perfect idea. And poor Andy’s brought in for another hypnosis session aimed at making him kill his own daughter. If Laura dies, considering Andy’s always wanted a boy, Kristen would have to take Timothy in. Fortunately, even under hypnosis, Andy’s fatherly instincts win the battle. Unfortunately, Andy stabs himself with the injection that was supposed to give Laura a heart attack. It must’ve been devastating for Kristen to find her husband unconscious in the kid’s room.
And in the ending sequence of this week’s Evil, the dream of normalcy that Kristen was slowly manifesting in her life shatters entirely. It’s understandable that she’s under the impression that Andy is suicidal. She already thinks he’s a junkie. So, suicidal wouldn’t be that big of a stretch. But the dread of that terrifying moment when he was almost about to kill his daughter has lingered in Andy. And deeming himself a threat to his family, he wants to have himself locked up at a mental health facility. The grief demon’s lurking just outside of the hospital room as Kristen breaks down. I guess losing her husband once again would make Kristen the perfect prey for the demon to latch on to. There’ll be plenty of grief to go around.
