Created by Robert and Michelle King, best known for the legal drama series The good wife, the bad one is a perfect show to binge this Halloween season thanks to its spooky content. Unlike the realistic political themes explored in The good wife, Wrong is centered around the themes of religion and science. The creators took inspiration from conversations they’ve had for decades about what evil is and where it comes from, as well as from real-life evaluators in the Catholic Church.
The show premiered on CBS on September 26, 2019, and has been made available on different streaming platforms over the years. Wrong was abruptly canceled during its fourth season and the series finale was released on August 22, 2024, even though everyone involved wanted to make a season 5 and fans still want it to happen. Producers were given four additional episodes in the final season to complete the story, which they describe as a “mini-fifth season” within the fourth. Wrong was a Paramount+ property for most of its run, and all four seasons are still in its catalog. As part of a licensing agreement, seasons 1-3 are also available on Netflix. It’s likely that Season 4 will be added to the Netflix library at some point, but for now it’s Paramount+ exclusive content.
Evil takes the procedural format to the next level
Celebrating the Halloween season without a great movie to binge or a horror series isn’t as fun, and Evil is a perfect example. The show delves deep into supernatural phenomena, particularly encounters with the demonic realm. But what sets it apart from other supernatural horror shows is how it cleverly correlates religious concepts with hard science and broader societal structures.
Wrong poses several uncomfortable philosophical questions, builds plenty of tension in unsettling horror scenarios, and hooks viewers into the evolving drama between the characters. The show has been widely praised, including by big names like Stephen King, who wants it to continue, and has achieved a well-deserved 96% average on Rotten Tomatoes. Besides everything that makes this a great series, there’s yet another reason why Wrong be perfect for binging. It follows a procedural style, where each episode brings a new mystery for the main trio to investigate. This format transforms the viewing experience into something almost addictive, constantly drawing the viewer’s curiosity for the next case.
In terms of writing, Wrong‘s strong point is the way it combines the external conflicts faced by the main characters with their personal lives. This is why it cannot be classified as a standard procedural, and this aspect makes it much more fun to binge watch than similar shows. For example, shows like Spirit Hunter Or The sinner explore how the investigator’s personal life affects his or her work, but not to the same extent. In WrongKristen, David, and Ben fully embody the central theme of skepticism versus belief. The challenges they face internally reflect each new case they must solve.
It’s interesting to see how each main character embodies their own personal blend of doubt and faith. Both Kristen and Ben represent skepticism, but in two different ways. They often side with each other, while David remains the one who rightly believes in the supernatural throughout the seasons. Yet there is a clear difference between Kristen and Ben when it comes to each’s reliance on “soft” and “hard” science, respectively. Each protagonist, through their individual growth, highlights specific aspects of the central theme and reflects shows like The X Files in the best possible way.
Evil has not one but three protagonists portrayed with depth
Kristen is a forensic psychologist who doesn’t rely too much on faith. He is someone whose training in social sciences and legal frameworks dictates a tendency to always remain on guard. She brings a knowledge of manipulation and social relativity that the team lacked before being hired by the Catholic Church to join Ben and David. On the other hand, Ben’s skepticism finds its origins in his in-depth knowledge of the exact sciences and numerical systems. The tech expert chooses to doubt the supernatural, not because he has seen too much of the evil in the human spirit like Kristen has, but because he is too aware of the complex machinery behind what most people attribute to the supernatural.
David represents belief. Between psychology and mathematics, David’s spiritual quest towards the priesthood seems authentic, but naive at first glance. However, the series quickly establishes that David is in fact best equipped to deal with the growing demonic presence on Earth. Even though many of their individual cases turn out to be natural phenomena that have been misinterpreted as demonic possessions and other spiritual experiences, the slow revelation of Leland Townsend’s plans and collaborators proves that David is right to always suspect demons, leading to some truly frightening episodes.
The theme of religion is addressed in Wrong through the battle of good versus evil, as usually occurs, but also through the problematic balance between scientific skepticism and belief in the supernatural. As the main conflict evolves, each of the three main characters finds themselves changing their belief systems to incorporate more of what they are missing. Yet other aspects of the religious theme are explored in more nuanced ways than a binary struggle between two opposites. For example, the notion of guilt is very important in the intrigues of each of the three protagonists. In each individual journey, guilt is not a black and white issue. It resides in a morally gray area of life where human needs for connection and purpose collide. The latest season of the series even challenges ideas of the Church in the real world in ways that no one would expect.
Ben feels guilty about his rejection of Islam, which drove a wedge between him and his mother, and about his participation in a controversial project in the name of science. Kristen experiences guilt over motherhood, a job that sometimes seems more difficult than investigating the paranormal. She struggles to accept her own questionable decisions, such as killing someone to protect her family, and feels guilty about the injustice of getting away with it. David experiences guilt for repeatedly breaking his chastity. These personal conflicts reflect how the characters are committed to acting on what they see as their purpose in life, but their discipline is hindered by their emotions. This does not mean that there is a battle between good goals and bad emotions within them. Instead, these small plot points serve to balance the binary logic of the main plot: not everything is good or bad.
Evil is the result of a decades-long debate among writers
Michelle and Robert King are a married couple who have been writing television together for over 20 years, and a new series led by Mike Colter is also coming. Their creative collaborations officially began in the early 2000s, and the first show they created together was Injusticea legal drama series that began airing in 2006. The Kings shared in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network that Wrong was born from deep conversations they had over the past 30 years. Robert King is a devout Christian, while Michelle King describes herself as a secular Jew. He tends to explain evil in society through religion, while she prefers psychological or scientific explanations.
The showrunners’ journey explains WrongIt is an unfailing respect for religion. The series never hesitates to ask questions and challenge religious logic. He often criticizes the institution, but never in a way that mocks those who believe. This is a stance that most shows only have with science, as the subject of religion often falls into stereotypes, but Wrong has a respectful stance with both religion and science. Balancing these two sides of the conversation without completely choosing one over the other is an incredible feat on the writers’ part.
The inspiration for the plot of Wrong came not only from the couple’s life, but also from learning that the Catholic Church has an assessment team that objectively determines whether cases of alleged supernatural phenomena are in fact real. Cases of demonic possession must be assessed before an exorcism is prescribed and performed, for example. Likewise, miracles must be verified before someone is officially recognized as a saint by the Church. David, Kristen and Ben’s work in the Church at Wrong are loosely based on actual roles held by employees of the actual Catholic Church.
According to the Kings in the same CBN interview, the romantic entanglement between David and Kristen is a reflection of their own marriage. Much like the writers, David and Kristen are genuinely interested in each other’s ideas and overall perspective, even if they have contrasting viewpoints. They actively listen to what each other has to say and respect each other’s opinions. They may disagree, but their discussions help them both think more deeply about their beliefs.
- Release date
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2019 – 2023
- Showrunner
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Michelle King
- Directors
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Michelle King
- Writers
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Michelle King
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Katya Herbers
Kristen Bouchard
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Michael Emerson
Leland Townsend