Summary

• Evil season 4 explores nature vs. nurture through baby Timothy: Leland believes he is the antichrist while Kristen bets on nurture.
• Leland’s grand plan involves raising Timothy as an evil being, while Kristen and Ben trust nurture over genetics in guiding children’s behavior.
• The Evil series finale may reveal Timothy’s true nature as potentially the antichrist, while emphasizing the impact of environment on evil tendencies.

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Evil season 4The nature of evil is a major concern throughout Evil, with the show’s thematic focus embodied through the character of baby Timothy. Ever since season 2, the Paramount+ series has questioned what it is that makes someone evil. Through various subplots, the show has explored whether a person’s DNA, or some missing chromosome or combination of DNA strands could cause someone to do unspeakably horrible things, or whether it is their environment, their upbringing, and a world that conspires against them through hardship or specific events and moments that foster evil. It may even be something altogether more mysterious and supernatural.

There is no more pronounced example of how Evil grapples with these philosophical questions than baby Timothy. The child was created when Leland (Michael Emerson) combined his DNA with Kristen’s (Katja Herbers) stolen egg, and, using a surrogate mother, Timothy was born with the intent of becoming the antichrist. However, it remains unclear whether Leland’s plan has worked as designed, with Evil season 4 further exploring whether or not Timothy really is the antichrist or just an innocent baby who has yet to have a life imprinted on him. This question strikes at the heart of what Evil is really all about.

Leland Still Believes Timothy To Be The Antichrist

Kristen Raising Timothy Is Part Of Leland’s Grand Evil Plan

Leland seems convinced that his designer baby is destined to become the antichrist. In Evil season 3, Leland is fixated on manipulating Kristen’s daughter, Lexis (Maddy Crocco), believing her to be someone with dark potential. Sheryl (Christine Lahti) was unconvinced; when Lexis visited The Manager, she saw him in his human two-eyed form and not in his true demonic five-eyed creature form. Leland brushed this off, saying that if Lexis wasn’t “the one” then she would still be an “ambassador.” He’s convinced that genetics are most important, and it just needs the right environment to coax the evil out.

Leland applies this theory to Timothy too, and in Evil season 4, the so-called antichrist baby enters the Bouchard family. First, through clandestine visits as Sheryl brings him to see his half-sisters. Then, in episode 10, with Timothy’s father and surrogate mother arrested and in police custody, Kristen, as the biological mother, is faced with the option of taking Timothy in or leaving him to foster care.

The
Evil
series finale will air on Paramount+ on August 22.

This similarly appears to be part of Leland’s grand plan. Despite Sheryl secretly getting Timothy baptized, Leland still believes that the baby’s evil nature will be nurtured under Kristen’s care. And should Kristen accept Timothy into her home, he will have “ambassador” Lexis by his side, and Leland seems certain his plan is in motion.

Kristen And Ben “Bet On Nurture Every Time”

Team Science Trusts That Environment Has More Influence

On Team Science, Kristen and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) lay much more emphasis on nurture. Despite the team’s many demonic investigations leading back to children born through the nefarious RSM Fertility Clinic, they are more convinced that a child’s environment holds greater influence. In Evil season 3, Kristen discovers her missing egg has been implanted in another couple, and when she finds who is believed to have been the recipients, the husband believes he hears growling from his wife’s stomach and thinks the fetus is demonic. Kristen turns to Ben for support, who tells her he would “bet on nurture every time.”

When it comes to Timothy, Kristen will need to take this same stance. Kristen sees a similar situation between Timothy and Lexis, and she’s fairly sure Lexis isn’t evil. In Evil season 3, Grace (Li Jun Li) reassures her that Lexis is good, but Lexis will need Kristen’s help to protect her from the darker forces trying to get her daughter to do bad things. Kristen may need further reassurance when it comes to Timothy, but judging by Lexis’ development into a normal-ish human, she has a chance to create a loving environment for Timothy and thwart any antichrist tendencies.

Why Timothy Probably Is The Antichrist But Not Evil

Just Because He’s The Antichrist, Doesn’t Mean He Has To Act On It

What seems to be the most likely scenario is that in Evil‘s final episodes, Timothy will have the potential to become evil. He could even have the DNA necessary to make an antichrist. Lexis may even be central to this discovery, as her actions, whether well-meaning or not, could set off a chain of events that unleashes something in Timothy.

While the show delves into supernatural themes as imagined through the Catholic Church’s vivid iconography, it tends to land somewhere in the middle of the nature / nurture debate.

However, throughout its five-year run, Evil has always presented a more balanced take on what makes a person evil or not. While the show delves into supernatural themes as imagined through the Catholic Church’s vivid iconography, it tends to land somewhere in the middle of the nature / nurture debate. Characters like the serial killer, Orson LeRoux (Darren Pettie) may be evil, but Kristen may also be evil for killing. She battled those demons, and arguably still does, but her actions were borne from necessity rather than a desire to harm and destroy life. Whether these constitute the same kinds of evil is an open question.

Ultimately, it’s most likely that Timothy will be technically the antichrist. But, under a caring and nurturing environment in the Bouchard household, those tendencies will be neutralized. Evil‘s final episodes will reveal Timothy’s true nature, and in doing so, settle its own internal struggle about what matters more: DNA, environment, or a hostile cabal of evil beings attaching themselves to vulnerable people.