USA Network has ordered a pilot for the supernatural thriller Evil Men, in hopes of changing the mood after those five-hour Law & Order: SVU marathons. TV Line reports that the show, starring Dallas Roberts (The Good Wife), focuses on a middle-class man who is commanded by a “powerful entity” to kill “evil men” in order to save his family and his city from destruction. His first target is a “gleeful psycho” played by Clifton Collins (The Event), who ends up tutoring our hero on the subtleties of carrying out an effective supernatural killing spree.
USA’s Original Programming President Jackie de Crinis says that Evil Men is “a highly relatable story that begs the question of just how far we would go to protect our families.” (We think she added “…from demons” while getting on an elevator.) With White Collar ending and Psych and Burn Notice already closed for business, it’s clear that USA wants a series to shake things up, lest the network dedicate even more of its airtime to standard, Law & Order-style crime procedurals. In this show, the supernatural crime world is divided into two separate, yet equally important groups—the middle-class men who must kill to save their families, and the psychos who teach them how. These are their stories.