Ben's New Job, Revival Update by Aasif Mandvi

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Evil series finale “Fear of the End.”]

Devilish became definitely metaphysical in the final episodes by ending the assessment program that originally brought Kristen (Katja Herbers) into the lives of David (Mike Colter) and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) and sent the two on new journeys.

In the finale, that meant Kristen and David continuing their work in a new setting (Rome), while Ben declined to do so after taking a new job. But as Mandvi points out to TV Insider, the door is wide open for some sort of sequel, and it's not like it would be hard to get the trio back together. Below, he talks about the end of the show, his hopes for more, and why Ben doesn't regret not going to Rome.

Talk about reading the script for the finale and your reaction to Ben's ending.

Aasif Mandvi: We were kind of told that the script for the finale wasn't going to be like a finale where everybody dies, you know what I mean? It wasn't going to be one of those, because I think we all still hold out hope that there's another life for Devilishthat there will be some sort of resurrection. And I think the Kings also wanted to offer our audience some closure, but not a complete closure in the sense that the door is not completely closed. So I knew the tone of the ending. I didn't know exactly what it was, of course, until I read it, but I knew it would be a sort of, not the door completely opened, but the door slightly ajar for a future version of Devilish or something else.

Does Ben have any regrets about not going to Rome?

He makes $650,000 a year! At first I thought, how can these people live in New York City on $65,000 a year? That's a little creative freedom on television. And then I thought, what kind of job does he have that pays $650,000? So I totally understand why Ben doesn't go to Rome. I mean, he's not in love with David. So it makes sense.

What I liked most about the finale was how well we brought the trio together, because they're one of the best parts of the show. We had them burn their files and then drink together in Kristen's garden – even the reference to the Christmas song. That was truly a movie.

It was incredibly cold, and it's amazing how it seemed like it was a nice, normal night, even though it was freezing outside and the fire was the only thing keeping us warm. So we were all kind of holding on to each other and huddled together. But it was fun to remember the different cases that we had worked on over the four years. And it was kind of nice because we kind of didn't remember the song, but in a way that almost felt real because we were trying to remember it but then only half remembering it. But it's so funny, when I saw that scene that I was in, I was just reminded that, just as a warning to everybody out there, if you throw a stack of paper into the fire, the fire gets hot, it burns high. And so half the time we were scared that we were going to burn our faces. But it was great because in that scene we actually formed a kind of bond with each other and were together in that moment where we could actually remember our show.

And what I love about the ending is the satire of the fact that when the Kings write about the cancellation of the review program, they are actually talking about Devilish being canceled by Paramount+. So the criticism of the church and the fact that they don't know what they're doing because they're canceling us is actually their subversive, not-so-subversive-submissive criticism of what actually happened with our show. So I love that, just the satire that I think our fans will understand, you know?

They will. We had that great moment at the end of the finale when Ben stumbles back to Kristen and says “I love you” because the show did such a good job of highlighting the relationships within that trio.

Yeah. That's an example of how when you play a role for a long time and play the relationships for a long time, the DNA of those relationships actually lives in you. As real as they are to our real relationship between me, Katja and Mike, Kristen, Ben and David have a real relationship and that line – I don't remember if it was written as a slip, I think it may have just been written as “I love you” or something, I don't know. But I feel like it kind of lived in my understanding of that relationship that I wasn't even aware of until we were shooting, that he would actually have a hard time saying that. I would have to look at the script again. But I think it felt very organic how that line came out because it was kind of done in a way that just felt like Ben was having trouble expressing these things that he doesn't express very easily.

How do you assess the chances of some kind of revival?

I mean, look, I hope we get through this because I think it's a great show and I think the writing is so good and there are so few shows, I think, in the world of television and streaming these days that — I'm in it, so I'm obviously biased, but I actually think it's a great show and I think the Kings created such an interesting world and the ending was premature. I think we have many more stories and many more journeys with this show, so I don't think the Kings were ever done with it. So I really hope there's a version of this where it gets picked up somewhere else or another streamer comes in or even — it seems like it's dark days for Paramount Global right now. So I don't know what's going to happen there, but it feels like this show deserves more, it deserves another season for the fans and for us. I think we have so many more stories that you want, that we want to tell.

What would you like to explore in a sequel? Because Ben would also have to give up his $650,000 salary…

Yeah, I mean, that's the beauty of it. The beauty of television is that you put your characters in a situation that they're having a hard time getting out of, and then they have to figure out how to get out of it. So if there was another version of this beyond what we're seeing now, there's a possibility that Kristen and David would have to go back to America and Ben would get pulled back in because of his friends or something. I mean, it's television. There would be a justifiable storyline to bring the three of them back together. I mean, Patrick Duffy is back from the dead. Come on. Anything's possible.

What are some of your favorite scenes and episodes from the entire series?

My favorite scenes are always the ones where the three of us do something together and the scenes in the cars where we sing. Those silly things that we do when the three of us play together were always really cool and fun scenes. Also for Ben, who is struggling with his own crisis of faith in terms of his belief in science and this journey that he got to go on and things like – I think of the elevator episode in season 2 with Abbey, the succubus, that stuff, the stuff with Renee and with the other girl that he was with who had an evil twin, and then the stuff with Sohina [Sidhu]. I love the scenes with my sister because we automatically had a kind of brother-sister dynamic and relationship and it was always a lot of fun to shoot those scenes and it just felt really easy to shoot them with her.

The show was so good because everything about it was so unique – like those skip messages in the intro!

I know. Well, that's the thing, the Kings write really unique television shows and there are a few people who do that and do it well. That's another reason why I think the show deserves a longer life, because it's such a unique show and it's so interesting and raises so many questions while entertaining.

DevilishFull Series, Stream Now, Paramount+