Evil's Christine Lahti on Sheryl's Regrets and Her Quest for Redemption

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 10 of Evil, "How To Survive a Storm."]

A Category 5 hurricane hits New York in Thursday's episode of Evil, but it's not as deadly as the battle between Sheryl (Christine Lahti) and Leland (Michael Emerson). Sheryl has been out for blood ever since she found out that Leland nearly killed her youngest granddaughter, Laura (Dalya Knapp), for the sake of his own agenda. As the hurricane makes landfall, Sheryl takes advantage of the chaos: She sneaks into her office to tank Leland's company's stock, then poisons him using pills she stole from Dr. Boggs (Kurt Fuller). But just as she puts a knife to Leland's throat, a demon knocks her over the back of the head, giving Leland the upper hand. Sheryl is unceremoniously tossed from a fourth-story window, and the fall proves to be fatal.

She survives just long enough to share a moment in the hospital with her granddaughters, and then with Kristen (Katja Herbers), who offers to let David (Mike Colter) administer last rites. Despite making her opinions on the church clear, Sheryl accepts. It's a testament to what Christine Lahti sees as Sheryl's desire for redemption. "She really fought," Lahti told TV Guide, "and she really tried her hardest to prevail. And ultimately, she couldn't against the forces of Leland and his demons."

Still, Sheryl's fight wasn't in vain; before she died, she left videos for Kristen and Andy (Patrick Brammall) explaining Leland's crimes, giving Kristen the evidence she needed to put Leland away. The episode ends with Leland in custody — leaving Kristen to decide whether she wants to care for baby Timothy, who may or may not be the Antichrist. 

"How To Survive a Storm," written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and Anju Andre-Bergmann and directed by John Dahl, was originally Evil's fourth season finale, before the show was canceled and given four "bonus" episodes to wrap up the story. But the fact that the end is in sight for Evil doesn't make Sheryl's death any less brutal. Below, Lahti spoke to TV Guide about Sheryl's "traumatic" end, her character's regrets, and what it really takes to dismantle a glass ceiling. (For more, head here for series creators Robert and Michelle King's take on this episode.)

Christine, I'm so happy to get to talk to you about this episode, but I'm sad about what we have to talk about.
Christine Lahti: I know, I've been in mourning ever since we shot this. It was a little bit traumatic.

When did you find out that Sheryl was going to die?
Lahti: I think it was the day before they released the script. You know, I was really so thrilled because they were writing for Sheryl on a level that was so fantastic this season, and she was starting to find redemption, and starting to feel like maybe she wasn't going to be as evil as she had indicated that she would be. Because I always thought that she was playing the long game, trying to bring Leland down and infiltrate his [organization] — she wants power, for sure, and she's not doing it in an ethical way. She wants power at whatever cost. But she also wants to bring Leland down. And I think once he threatened to kill her granddaughter, all bets were off. But I was thinking, "Wow, they're really writing for my character." And then I got the call from Michelle King the day before they released [the script for] this 10th episode, and she said, "I just want to tell you that you're going to be killed in the next episode." I thought, "Well, OK, that's really sad. But in a show called Evil, if it's between Sheryl and Leland, I think Leland is going to prevail."

She has really been on this rampage for the past few episodes, but then what kills her is just getting knocked on the back of the head and thrown out the window. Granted, it's by a demon. But I was curious how you felt about the way Sheryl died.
Lahti: I guess it's not a very elegant way to go, but she certainly does go out in a blaze of glory in terms of the fight. I think she really did find redemption. Getting those tapes to Kristen and Andy, that's everything, because that's good. She knows that no matter what happens to her, Leland will go to jail or be killed or something. Something bad's going to happen to him, no matter what happens to her. So I think ultimately it was selfless. To me, it was heroic.

I spoke to the Kings about this episode, and they were telling me that originally, Sheryl had more dialogue in the hospital, and then they realized that it was starting to feel unrealistic that she was able to speak that much. Did they make those changes before you filmed, or did you film a version with more dialogue?
Lahti: Well, I haven't seen this final version, so I guess they kind of cut out a lot of the dialogue. I trust them so much. I'm sure they did the right thing. Because, yeah, when we filmed it, I did have quite a bit to say, and it was a little hard to do it, because I thought, "How sick am I?" I'm almost dying. Organs are collapsing, lungs are collapsing, everything's shutting down. How able would I have been to really speak? It probably makes sense that there was some dialogue cut.

When David is giving her the last rites, what do you think Sheryl is thinking?
Lahti: She's not a religious person. I think she wants forgiveness, though. She wants to find redemption and forgiveness. So maybe at that point it's like, "I'll take it wherever I can get it, even if it involves the God that I don't necessarily believe in." She probably has gratitude for that.

Sheryl says that getting involved with DF was a mistake. What do you think her regrets are in the end?
Lahti: Her lust for power overtook her, and I think she had regrets that she wanted power at whatever cost, even if it meant making the world more filled with disinformation, and actually being a troll, and doing the work of the dark side of life. Because ultimately, what did it lead to? She got a glass ceiling — I mean, yeah, she shattered it, but are the women really going to be able to take over DF? What she found out was that the world of the dark side, the satanic world, was even more patriarchal than the regular world. I think it made her realize, "I put my grandchildren at risk, and for what?"

I'm curious specifically how you made sense of how Sheryl was willing to go along with what Leland did to Kristen this season, having a child with Kristen's egg without Kristen's consent.
Lahti: Yeah, that was hard to rationalize, honestly. For me, I always thought of the long game. Like, "I'll go along with this, but ultimately I'm not going to try to help raise the demon child."… It was, "Let me play along and let me get Leland to think I'm a total ally, and then I'm going to take over." That's how I, Christine, justified it. I think Sheryl was intrigued by the possibility of an Antichrist, but she doesn't believe in any of that sh--. She does have an ability to see demons now, because it's like being able to see people's auras. She can see their bad sides. But I don't think she really believed in [the idea that] this is going to be the end of the world and the Antichrist. And I think that maybe it was also a way to get back in cahoots with Kristen. Like, maybe if this baby happened, then there was a way for Sheryl to have some kind of reconnection with Kristen.

ALSO READ: Evil creators Robert and Michelle King break down Kristen's big decision and that 'devastating' loss

I also wanted to talk a little more about the glass ceiling in Sheryl's office. Tell me about filming on that set.
Lahti: It was so incredibly helpful to have the actual glass ceiling [so] that I couldn't even stand up straight. I'd have to crawl or hunch over. I don't have to imagine anything; you just have to react to what is there. So that was fantastic. They actually cut out a moment where you see Sheryl in her office, unscrewing some of the metal bolts that hold up the ceiling, that preceded the cracking and then the final breaking of the ceiling. But then I look at the episode, and I think, "Well, that would kind of give it away." Better than you just cut from Sheryl going, "I think it's time we get the men together," with that knowing look to the other women, and then you see the glass ceiling just crack. And you think, "Oh, they were up to something."

What was it like filming your fight scenes with Michael Emerson?
Lahti: Oh, so fun. First of all, Michael Emerson is just a complete joy to work with, and so game and so open. It was all choreographed, but we got to give our ideas and improvise and play around, and it was just great. He's so the opposite of the character he plays in this show. He's just the most gentlemanly, kind, sweet, sensitive human being. It's so funny to see him play this evil motherf---er.

Well, I really enjoyed Sheryl's story over these past few episodes. I'm sad to see her go, but I thought it was a really satisfying season for her.
Lahti: I did too. And it means so much to me that you say it made you sad that she's gone, because she did some bad sh--. The fact that you could find any kind of empathy for her means a lot to me. Because, you know, she put her daughter's husband on a shelf and drained his brain fluids.

New episodes of Evil Season 4 stream Thursdays on Paramount+.