'Evil' Episode 5 uses Ben Shakir's expert skepticism and strip clubs to debunk classic ghost hunting tropes of horror
This article contains spoilers for Episode 5
This week on CBS' latest horror-thriller 'Evil' we find out what goes on behind the plethora of ghostbusting shows that aim at debunking haunted establishments.
The Halloween-based episode five, titled 'October 31', has three very signature horror plots unfolding: a child haunting other kids, an exorcism gone wrong, and of course, a ghostbusting show trying to navigate a haunted strip joint.
In the center of this ghosthunting spree is our contractor Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) who plays the token skeptic on the show within the show, as they go about shooting the haunted strip joint as a four-member team.
We have seen haunted murder houses and insane asylums with crazy dead people that are stereotypes of this horror sub-genre, but a stripper joint just adds that extra flashy bit of interest to things, doesn't it?
Forget cackling kids at an orphanage, spooky exotic pole dancing ghosts are the new it thing! As they go through the place and are greeted by mysterious humanoid mists appearing out of nowhere right before most of the team burst into random nosebleeds, Ben knows something is off.
At first, pretty shaken by how the team secretly records pretty much any and everything that he utters, Ben confirms with Vanesa further that her team didn't have anything to do with the mist.
Being a staunch nonbeliever in ghosts and spirits, Ben goes looking at the one place where his exceptional forte resides: walls.
Noticing a hole in the wall, Ben — eager to prove he's right in calling all of this an elaborate hoax — goes straight at it, trying to tear it down. And once the mystery wall has been broken, he finds a projector inside, that projects ghost images and sprays an odd mist for the spooky ambiance, evidently.
Ben also discovers it is the same mist that contains a chemical, which certain people can often be allergic too. And if you guessed the result of an allergic reaction to the mist was nosebleeds out of nowhere, you, are very, very right.
But now with Ben so effortlessly debunking the haunted mansion, one would think that these ghostbusters are working towards the greater good. But here's the catch: the team, excluding Vanessa, was behind the entire show of the night.
That really makes you think how credible this entire sub-genre of horror is when two men, aiming to gauge the spook factor of a place, stage every element of horror supposedly present in there.
'Evil' airs on Thursdays at 10 pm only on CBS.