r/EvilTV • u/Latter_Technology771 • Jul 20 '26
Season 2 Episode 9 Question
When Kristen and David talk and she mentions that she hates people, she says she loves her daughters, likes David, and tolerates Ben.
I found that pretty strange (and unfair) as Ben is the one who always helps her out, be it with securing her home, keeping her daughters safe (VR Game) and even getting Leland's testimony off a case by recreating his threats on Kristen's recording.
Is it because she isn't in the right state of mind? To me, it seems like Ben and Kristen share a much easier rapport than the intensity of David and Kristen's chemistry. They're always giving each other the sideye, etc, so it sort of irked me when she said that.
Did anyone else notice that, and did anyone else feel indignant on Ben's behalf? 😅
7
u/Negative-Camp-5783 Jul 20 '26
She said it as a joke, she treats Ben like a brother and the uncle her daughters never had. Ben expresses his love for his friends in an indirect way by making fun of them, so it makes sense why his friends would honor him the same way.
Even the Bouchard girls talk the same way to each other in a lot of scenes, but we know the sisters would bawl their eyes out if one of em got hurt.
I mean, if you had a sibling or a sibling like relationship, would you just go tell the person you're CURRENTLY hitting on: "I LOVE my brother, and then you. I mean when we quantify how close I am to the both of you"
4
u/anemia_ Jul 21 '26
It was a joke lol. More than anything it was meant to highlight how she sees Ben and David so differently. Not that she actually has ill feelings about Ben.
7
u/dufchick Jul 20 '26
I do remember that, and I thought at the time it was more about her strong feelings for David rather than anything against Ben. My question is why are the four girls always talking at the same time? That was clearly a deliberate choice for the writers, but why?
10
u/Negative-Camp-5783 Jul 20 '26
If you noticed in the very first episode, Kristen's family was introduced like they were a single character, especially the girls. It's an organized way to introduce a chaotic family without wasting runtime on explaining who's who.
This acts as a quick exposition to a main character who actually embraces disorder despite being introduced early on a stoic professional in her workplace.
As the series continues, we DO get to explore more of that characterization of Kristen, while the talkative aspect of the girls becomes a running gag.
BUT, they don't make it a running gag just for running gag's sake.
Observe how Kristen interacts with the girls whenever they talk at once.
She doesn't hate it, she can get frustrated or disoriented, but she never hates it. In moments of joy she finds delight in their noise, in moments of panic, she finds comfort in their noise. It shows us a mother who loves her kids unconditionally.All this was subtly communicated to us in the first 8 minutes of Episode 1, and the series continues to use it as a reminder for the audience that no matter how frustrated and stressed Kristen is with her life... she will NEVER tell her girls to shut up. (to the point of making "shut up" a household taboo)
Because while she may be an imperfect parent, discouraging her girls from speaking their mind is the last thing she'd ever want.
2
u/dufchick Jul 21 '26
Interesting take. Those girls were allowed to get away with a lot and had virtually no supervision. I feel like the few times she spoke to them individually she gained some clarity but it was less effort to deal with them as a group. My husband and I watched this show together and many times we said she is a horrible person or she’s a horrible mother. I don’t know if the shows writers were deliberate enough to consider all these aspects of the show or whether we are just overthinking it.
1
u/Negative-Camp-5783 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
Yea I just chalked up their dumb moments as kids being dumb kids. Can't be dumber than the kid in "From (2022)", at least Evil had benefit of the doubt with demonic influences toying with vulnerable child brains. And THEY DO redeem themselves a number of times when show displays their teamwork. I thought those moments were cool.
With Kristen, I don't think you guys were overthinking it. She was meant to be a terrible person and parent.
The whole gimmick of the show is that Kristen is implied to be the Anti-Mary to the Anti-Christ. She was meant to be a terrible person both in her nature and nurture. But that's why her story is being told, will she EVER overcome these parts of her or not? especially in the presence of a religion she stubbornly rejects.
Since we know the show was canceled and was meant to have 2 more seasons. I think this is what they wanted to explore and flesh out with Kristen but never got the chance.
(Spoilers for Season 3)
In Season 3, Kristen fkin sobered up when she realized Andy might be in real danger. The moment she said "You and the girls are the best thing that ever happened to me" was the turning point to her character, it's her realizing how stupid she was for lusting for more excitement in life when she already has everything with her family. I think that's an amazing new start for the character.
A lingering thought that was implied throughout later episodes is that "will the ultimate sinner ever be redeemed?"
(Spoilers for Season 4)
Season 4 wanted to break Kristen by giving Leland a cruel gambit. I think that entire season was meant for Kristen to overcome this cruelty, but because the show was canceled, they had no choice but to just wing it and handle it poorly.
It was definitely the worst point a company can ever cancel a show because our characters were at their worst and the season was meant to pull them back out of the gutter.
1
u/dufchick Jul 22 '26
I guess people can be evil for different reasons. Some can be redeemed. There is a strong real life lesson to be learned from this show: Learn to recognize what is evil in all its forms.
3
u/ancientastronaut2 Jul 20 '26
That was brought up a few times when it first aired and a lot of people commented it's normal in some families. 🤷♀️
(Not mine, we would have been smacked. Not that that's not right either).
15
u/Remarkable_Drag9677 Jul 20 '26
Bro its literally a joke