EVIL
“Justice x 2” (Episode 112)
January 16, 2020

Last week on EVIL, David was admitted to Harbor Hospital following his Christmas-time stabbing. He spent most of the episode in a over-medicated infused haze and, as a result, experienced some Twilight Zone-level oddness and evil. Neither David nor the viewers were sure what was real and was not but things were pretty horrible. A truly terrifying episode on so many levels. 

Catch up on all of our EVIL coverage with our deep dive recaps here. Let’s dive into the penultimate episode of EVIL‘s Freshman season … BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!!

Comedy Club. We open tonight on a comedian doing his (not so) tight 5 at a mosrly empty bar/club. He’s doing a whole “in my country” shtick and has a delightful accent. I found his deadpan delivery hilarious. An attractive and well dressed woman is in the crowd and she is very into his act (she may be the only one at this venue that is).

After his set, the beautiful young woman from the audience comes up to him to cmpliment his set. She’s taken aback to find his accent is just part of his act. She introduces herself as Sonia Kamanazi (Emayatzy Corinealdi). He is Lando Mutabazi (Gbenga Akinnagbe).

Sonia’s Townhouse. Sometime later, they head back to Sonia’ place. Small talk ensues and Lando is very impressed at how swank her apartment is. Sonia attributes her success to “anticipating disasters” and playing the market appropriately. There is an awkward moment where a gun falls from Lando’s pocket. He scoops it up, embarrassed, and says he carries it because he’s been jumped a couple of times on his way home. Sonia doesn’t like guns but when he places the coat and gun on her banister across the room, she moves past the moment.

Sonia pours Lando a scotch and continues to talk about how she has followed him for a long time. She mentions he used to do a joke about dancing and that he should bring it back. Lando is clearly flattered to have such a long time fan.  Lando asks her to do the old dancing joke she mentioned and Sonia launches goes into a very specific telling of a joke about how killing cockroaches resembles doing a “cha cha cha.” It sounds like she memorized a scene, so accurate is the retelling of this joke.   

Lando’s demeanor shifts from smile-y and flattered to one of alarm. He looks at his scotch as though it has been poisoned and asks who she is? She chuckles at how odd a question that is.

“Sonia. Why, who are you?

Lando has basically lost all color in his face at this point and says it’s time to go. He gets up to leave and Sonia bashes the back of his head with the bottle of scotch. 

Kristen’s Office. Kristen is in her office, flustered and rushing. Seems she is late for a court date and DA Louis Cormier is calling wondering where she is? She says she’ll be there in 20 minutes and he (unnecessarily) tells her how bad this looks. Whatever is happening involves our original EVIL friend, Orson LeRoux (Darren Pettie), who is sitting in the courtroom, praying with a rosary. 

Kristen tells Cormier that she can’t see how LeRoux gets let out and hangs up the phone. As she heads for the door, she is distracted by a man’s voice, chanting.

Kristen follows the sound outside and finds Andy at the back of the yard, legs criss-crossed on the floor under a tree, chanting. She’s visibly relieved that it wasn’t some crazy from her job but he’s obviously embarrassed to be found out. Andy explains that it’s a mantra from Kagyu Buddhism he learned while in Tibet. Kristen asks if he’s a Buddhist now and appropriately calls him on his hypocrisy for chastising her Catholic job dealings. Andy gets way defensive. 

“Buddhism’s not a religion. It’s, it’s a practice.” 

Kristen gives a wonderfully passive aggressive, “okay” to this lame response from Andy. She tells him she has to go to court and is running late. Before he lets Kristen go, Andy reminds her that the Everest expedition is coming up in three months and that she needs to decide if she’s going to lead the trip because there is a prep meeting in Denver next week. Kristen responds that she’s not answering now because she is late for court, asking if they can talk about it later. 

Cut to Ben dropping David off at a spiritual house call. David explains a woman is hearing a demon and wants some advice.

(Pretty sure my neighbors can hear a demon when my kid doesn’t want to brush his teeth at bedtime).

Ben’s eye-roll is super loud and he tells David to call him if there is actual supernatural crap to “debunk.” David, by the way, is still in a lot of pain and moving very gingerly. His arm is in a sling.

David knocks on the door and lo and behold, it’s Sonia! David steps back outside to give  Ben a wave that he’s good. Ben drives off and David goes inside. 

Courthouse. Dwight Ferrell (Dan Bittner), from the “Vatican III” episode, is on the stand in his orange jumpsuit, claiming he killed the people that Orson LeRoux was convicted of killing. This is in addition to the three Hispanic boys that Dwight previously confessed to killing back in November.

Images flash back from the crime scenes from the Hispanic boys and from the scenes from Orson’s alleged crimes. One of the images that flashes shows Orson as the killer.

As Dwight is outlining how he killed the people he later confessed to, Leland enters the courtroom and sits down in the gallery. Kristen spots him and stares at him.

He looks pleased with the progress in the case. Dwight tells the Court how he snuck into the houses during Orson’s open houses and he would hide in closets until the home owners came home. He recounts how he allegedly killed the husband, mother and children last. Why is Dwight coming forward now?

“I’m looking for redemption.”

He doesn’t want a man like Orson in jail forever, unjustly convicted. It’s a very convincing testimony, in so far as its gruesome but earnestly spoken. For his part, LeRoux is sitting at the defense table, still praying with the rosary beads from earlier. So devout, this one. Kristen turns to look at Leland who just looks so evil, relishing in her frustration. 

Kristen leaves the courtroom and finds her friend, Detective Mira Bird, in the hall. Kristen is adamant that there is no way Dwight is responsible for the additional murders. Mira said the D.A.’s forensic psychologist saw a similar M.O. pattern, thus validating the claim.

Kristen tells Mira that the forensic psychologist is Leland Townsend. (Last episode, while David was in the hospital, Kristen told Mira that Leland was an enemy of David’s). Kristen pleads with Mira to not help the defense.

“LeRoux will be released, and he will kill again.”

That’s really asking Mira to take one for the team.

Sonia’s Townhouse. David sits with Sonia and makes sure she realizes he’s not actually a priest. She knows, she just needs advice. Sonia explains about hearing a voice in her head, quiet and nonverbal at first but which grew into a whisper. Sonia thinks it’s God’s voice, quoting 1 Kings 19:12, which talks Elijah hearing a “small voice” which turned out to be God’s voice.  Sonia tells David the voice told her to kill.

David responds that God would not tell people to do evil things. Sonia counters with a passage from he book of Saul where God told Saul to kill them man and woman alike (1 Samuel 15 if you’re reading the Bible along with us).

As all children of Catholic school may have learned, David explains that the Old Testament has a very different vibe (and a very different sort of God) than the New Testament. Old testament God had a reason to be so aggro.

“God needed to protect his chosen ones.”

David notices a spot of collected blood on the floor as he finishes his catechism lesson. A tea whistle blows. Sonia goes to the kitchen to make some tea and asks if God doesn’t need to protect his chosen ones any longer. David continues talking about God 2.0 in the New Testament as he examines the blood splatter more closely. He sees there is a trail of blood and continues to talk to Sonia as he follows the trail. It stops at a door.

David listens at the door and hears muffled screams. After a glance back at Sonia (who is shaking something into a mug – what is she putting in the tea?), David opens the door and finds it leads to the basement.

David steps into the darkened room, standing at the top of the basement stairs. A man, it’s Lando, flops into view, bound and gagged on the floor, terrified and screaming through his gag. Sonia comes up behind David and whacks him in the head with a lamp. David tumbles down the stairs.

Oh holy hell.

David lands in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Sonia looks crazed. 

“Forgive me.”

Opening Credits.

Bouchard Home. Andy and Lynn, the oldest daughter, are in the kitchen scrolling through a set of recent medical results for Laura. There is lots of red indicators when, according to Lynn, there should be lots of green. Andy calls Laura’s physician who was just about to call Kristen as it turns out. He wants Laura brought in now.

“That time we discussed, I think it is now.”

Andy is confused, he has no idea what the “time” we discussed means, nor what “procedure” may have to be performed on Laura if there is “regurgitation.”

[Ed Note: I understand we’re supposed to be getting the idea that Andy is not up to speed on his daughter’s medial condition but this doctor is being infuriatingly oblique in his coded messages. This is a little girl’s life dipshit, don’t be coy or talk in allusions. Ugh.]

Long story short from the Doc, Andy is to get Laura to the hospital in the next 30 minutes!

Andy goes to the girl’s bedroom where he finds his three younger daughters talking about zombies and how best to take them out.

Totes normal girl talk.

Andy tells the girls to get ready, post haste because he has to take Laura to the doctor. Laura starts freaking out. She calms down when Andy tells them ice cream will follow the visit to the doctor. To be fair, that would help calm me down too.

Andy calls Kristen and gets no answer. Andy gathers himself in his bedroom as the girls get ready. He sits on the floor and starts his meditation practice. This one is different than the one we heard earlier. Lynn sees him from the bathroom, she looks confused. Don’t worry, Lynn, your mom was also confused.

Courthouse.  Kristen couldn’t pick up the call from Andy because her cell phone is in her bag and switched off. She’s listening to Orson and his defense attorney, Ema Serpagli (Jordana Spiro), disparage the testimony Kristen has given previously.  Later, Mira on the stand, her turn to be questioned. In response to a question from the defense, Mira testifies that when Dwight was arrested, he said he had more victims. Also, that he had killed the three families that Orson LeRoux was convicted of killing.

The defense attorney asks if Mira believes Mr. LeRoux should remain in prison for murders committed by Mr. Ferrell? No, he shouldn’t, Mira agrees. On the question of a false confession, the defense attorney asks Mira why she believes Dwight really committed the murders he’s now confessing to?

“Mr. Ferrell led us to trophies he’d buried from these families.”

A reminder that when we saw Dwight previously, it was established that he kept trophies from his murders, trophies he kept in the wall of his miscarried baby’s room. Mira describes the trophies Dwight kept from the LeRoux murders: fingers from one, a pacemaker from another, and the murder weapon from the third. Kristen scribbles a note and passes it to the DA. The DA says he has some questions for Mira but first, he needs a short recess.

Sonia’s Pit of Hell. David is propped up on the far wall from Lando. He surveys his new wounds and the damage done to the old ones. His ankle is very swollen, his head is bleeding and his stitches have opened on his abdomen causing even more blood. Lando, across the way is strapped to a chair, gagged and screaming.

Sonia comes downstairs with an Alexa device she sets down next to Lando. She takes a seat in between Lando and David. She apologizes to David for getting him involved. David interrupts her, explaining he is hurt and needs medical attention. She tells him that is not possible. David, getting angry, tells her that his friend dropped him off and will be back soon to get him.

Sonia removes Lando’s gag which looks exactly like the gag ball that Marcellus Wallace was wearing in the gimp scene in Pulp Fiction. What a crazy lady to just have this lying around.

Sonia uses the remote to play a radio program from 1994, Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants” playing. Sonia stares at Lando with hatred in her eyes. When the song ends, two DJ’s talk about the race relations between the Hutu’s and Tutsi’s in Rwanda. The DJ’s are implying that the Tutsis are inferior to the Hutus, laughing that the Tutsis are like cockroaches.

Lando tells Sonia that wasn’t him on the air, although he admitted to working at the radio station. Sonia tells Lando that broadcast was from April 4, 1994, three days before the massacre started.

David tries to break up the increasingly tense situation between Sonia and Lando, imploring Sonia to talk. Sonia tells David that the radio station, Radio 2, encouraged the Hutus to take to the streets to murder Tutsis. She points at Lando, announcing that he is “Jean Bakunda,” one of the DJs from Radio 2. Lando denies this.  

“I am Lando Mutabazi, an immigrant from Rwanda.I suffered, too, just like you.”

Sonia goes to a cabinet in the basement and takes out a machete and walks up to Lando. She puts the machete to his cheek, proclaiming he knows nothing of suffering. Lando pleads with Sonia, he is not who she thinks he is. 

David reminds Sonia she called him there to talk about this evil she felt was oppressing her and reminding her that killing Lando would be evil. She is flipping out now, screaming that he continued to broadcast for 100 more days, encouraging the murder of the Tutsi people with machetes like the one she is holding. Lando is firm that was not him, that he is a comedian.

Sonia continues the broadcast from 1994. The “jokes” coming from the speaker are … disturbing.  To say disgusting is a gross understatement.

The joke segment ends and “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men comes on. David tells Sonia this is the voice of revenge and she should listen to God’s voice.

“He is the voice of justice.”

Suddenly, the whooshing sound of wind rises up through the vent in the basement and Sonia goes into a brief, trance-like distraction. David’s voice is drowned out, like someone under water. He and Lando have a conversation that you read with closing captioning but it’s very difficult to make out otherwise.

Basically, David pleads with Lando to admit what he did and beg for Sonia’s forgiveness. David tells him that Sonia is merciful and truly a good person at heart. Lando responds that he was under orders from the government to work at the radio station as an engineer.

At “engineer,” the spell holding Sonia’s attention is broken and she turns to face Lando. Lando continues to plead, saying that he hears the screams of the children that were massacred every night. Sonia isn’t feeling too sympathetic as she stands over him with her machete.

“Let me help you with that.”

Thwack, and off goes Lando’s ear. It bounces along the ground.  Ew. Lando is screaming in pain. David is horrified, just screaming.**

Commercials.

Courthouse. Court reconvenes and Mira is back on the stand, now with D.A. Cormier questioning her. Cormier asks Mira if she is writing a book about the Dwight Ferrell case? Mira is not happy about this knowledge being out there. She acknowledges that is true.

Mira and Kristen are having a death staring contest during this testimony. Cormier supposes that her book sales on the serial killer, Dwight Ferrell, would be increased if his body count was racked up? Immediately, the defense attorney objects. The judge reminds Attorney Ema that there is no jury. Mira says the book sales would be improved by the truth. What a non-answer.  That concludes Mira’s testimony and maybe, probably her friendship with Kristen.  

Oxwell Hospital. Andy and the girls are at the hospital to meet with Laura’s doctor. Thankfully this is Oxwell Hospital and hopefully not affiliated in any way with Harbor Hospital. We’ve had enough of that place. Dr. Hal Docker (Michael Hayden) is talking to Andy, explaining the blood tests results and the actions that he will take. Essentially, Laura’s mitral valve is getting worse, not better.

Andy is all, “so what do we do?!?” Dr. Docker recommends an immediate cardiac catheterization procedure. The doctor is insistent that the procedure needs to be performed immediately because of the stress Laura’s heart is under. Andy wants to get in touch with Kristen before they start, but the doctor wants to proceed ASAP.  

“It’s too dangerous not to deal with this now.”

Andy calls again and gets Kristen’s voicemail. Frustrated, Andy tells the doctor to go ahead. 

Sonia’s Pit of Hell. Blood is spurting from Lando’s wound as Sonia presses a tea towel to his head. What a kind assailant. Lando is whimpering that Sonia is going to cut him up piece by piece. David pleads for her to show mercy and Sonia responds that what she did WAS merciful. David and Sonia exchange more biblical passage-based arguments about the righteousness of using a sword but Sonia’s unmoved. She leaves the bloody boys and heads upstairs to get a first aid kit.

David stands up himself up against the wall with great difficult and begins to holler for help through the vent that so captivated Sonia’s attention earlier.

In a great tracking shot, we follow David’s voice up through the shaft and out on to the street. His voice fades more and more the higher we go, so that by the time we’re on the sidewalk, no one could possibly hear his cries. Talk about a metaphor of crying out into the darkness and no one hearing you.  

Courthouse. Kristen is now on the stand. DA Cormier has Kristen recount the time that Orson attacked her when she was testing his capacity to stand trial for murder.

Orson, across the courtroom, mouths “I’m sorry”to Kristen. This catches her off-guard. The Defense Attorney Ema begins her cross examination. She contends that Orson attacked her because Kristen taunted him. Attorney Ema questions Kristen’s credentials as a doctor. The Attorney Ema presents evidence that Kristen said that LeRoux would never get out of prison and Kristen admits to saying that, but makes clear that it was said after LeRoux attacked her.

Attorney Ema, really wanting to make her point, reiterates that Kristen taunted LeRoux a second time by telling him that he won’t get out of jail until he is 100 because prisons have good healthcare. All the while, Leland is in the back, looking so pleased with how this is all going. Kristen counters that those words were said after the attack. Not satisfied, Attorney Ema asks if Kristen routinely taunts her patients? Kristen, not to be outfoxed, testifies that LeRoux was not her patient and she had resigned from the case.

“Resigned or been fired?”

Sick burn, Attorney Ema!

Sonia’s Pit of Hell. David and Lando are continuing to scream for help at the grate. A dog being walked on the street stops to bark at the grate, hearing the cries for help. The dog’s owner is looking at her phone and not paying attention. She tugs on the leash to walk away. David hears the barking fade away. Lando knows Sonia is going to kill him and whimpers that he is maimed for life. David urges Lando to tell the truth. Lando explains that he is not a soldier, just a comedian. David wants Lando to explain that to Sonia, saying she is struggling with herself. 

Just then, they here something from the street. It’s dog lady, she’s come back and is saying “Hello?” into the void. David and Lando scream again for her to help them. Sonia returns from upstairs and is angry at David for bringing another person into this situation. She puts the machete to David’s throat but stops when she hears her doorbell ring.

Sonia squeals with frustration that someone else is here now but heads  upstairs, machete in hand. Before opening the door, Sonia turns on the TV where a horror movie is playing. She turns the volume way up. She walks to the door and puts the machete in the umbrella stand. Dog lady asks if everything is okay inside and Sonia insists all is well. Sonia moves to close the door, but dog lady is insistent that she needs to know all is well. 

“I really hate how New Yorkers don’t care about each other.”

In the basement, Lando is screaming for help. At the door, Sonia tells dog lady that she had a horror movie up loud. Dog lady is not convinced and moves to call the police. Sonia admits she’s acting cagey as she reaches for the machete. She fumbles for it and finally gets her fingers on it. Sonia switches gears and says her and her husband were doing some “role playing.” She gives a little too much detail, but enough that dog lady buys it.

Dog lady even recommends a sex toy shop, “the Pleasure Palace on Wyeth,” and the ladies end the conversation without bloodshed. The MVP dog has the final say, however, with a long, low, “grrrrrrrrr.” Good boy!

**True Story, New Yorkers are just always horny, so this is a completely plausible excuse that most passerbys would accept.**

As dog lady leaves, Ben shows up and kind of just barges into Sonia’s place as he introduces himself. Sonia is caught off guard by his entrance and grabs the machete. She says David is out back but Ben is distracted because his phone is ringing.

FYI, The machete is the same length as her back. IF YOU HURT BEN THE MAGNIFICENT, I’LL CUT A BITCH.

It’s Andy on the phone  and he’s looking for Kristen. He kind of intimates that maybe Kristen isn’t picking up Andy’s call because he thinks maybe she is with Ben … if you know what I mean. Ben doesn’t pick up on this word choice and says he thinks Kristen is at court — which is where Kristen told Andy she’d be.  Andy explains what’s happening with Laura and after some back and forth of trying to reach Kristen, Ben tells Andy that he’ll go to the courthouse and tell her.

Ben hangs up and apologizes to Sonia. he tells her there is an emergency and asks her to tell David he’ll be back in about an hour. Sonia is just keeping that machete behind her back this whole scene. Ben rushes out. Do you think he knows how close he just came to crazy?!?

Commercials.

Courthouse. Now begins my favorite scene in all of EVIL to date. It’s going to take a lot to dethrone this bit of television.

Kristen is in the Courthouse rotunda area, trying to turn on her phone but it’s all scrambled and then just turns off. Leland approaches her from behind, goading her that her testimony didn’t go well. He suggests Kristen’s testimony actually seemed to sway the judge in favor of LeRoux when things weren’t looking so good for him before.

Leland tells her he warned her so many times to not get involved with David and just go home to her daughters. He even mentions the gift her husband gave her to go climbing that she wasn’t taking. Like a switch, Leland drops his feigned lighthearted persona and the camera zooms in on his sneering face.

Leland says he’s going to do for Kristen what God did for Job even though Job only had three daughters. Point blank, Leland tells Kristen he is going to kill her daughters, kill her husband and then burn down her house. He will leave her alive so she can sit with the realization that she is responsible for their deaths. All because of her obstinacy and need to win.

(This sounds very much like to the pain from The Princess Bride, which incidentally was a book read by Kristen to her daughters in the first episode).

The camera zooms over to Kristen’s face and she just shuts him down mid-threat.

“God. You talk too much.”

Kristen turns around and just unloads a season’s worth of wrath down upon Leland’s impotent head. He starts to threaten that he is not to be trifled with but Kristen has zero fucks left to give.  

We learn that Leland Townsend is actually Jake Perry, an insurance adjuster from Des Moines. Leland’s face goes white. Kristen starts rattling off all the facts she’s  learned about him: he moved to New York, changed his name to Leland Townsend and went to college to become a “forensic psychologist psychopath.” Girlfriend is nowhere near done.

Kristen continues that she learned all this this from the genetic matter he left on a glass in her kitchen which she ran through a database with the help of a detective friend and got a match (I feel like that bit of divulged information, the detective friend part, is going to come back to bite Kristen in the ass in the future). Leland tries to say that the “Devil can use anybody” but Kristen is steamrolling right now.

Kristen hurls more embarrassing facts about Jake Perry, such as he was known as “Jake the Flake,” was the shiest boy in high school and played tuba in the marching band for the class of 1979 at Roosevelt High School. Kristen also knows about his first wife, who wanted to have kids, but couldn’t because Jake the Flake had some “trouble getting it up.”

“I mean, you’d think if, if the Devil had anybody to inhabit, he’d use a better specimen.”

Leland has heard enough and starts to threaten her again. Kristen isn’t done and she’s not. She says Leland is a “nothing man” who uses the imagery of satanism, which she doesn’t think he even believes, to pretend he wasn’t the third chair tuba in the Roosevelt High School band. She walks off telling Jake to “get a life.”

BOOOOOM. Mic drop. Michael Emerson’s lip trembling after she walks away is top notch seething. 

Ben arrives in court and finds Kristen. 

Sonia’s Pit of Hell. Sonia is standing over Lando, wielding the machete, asking which hand he writes with because she is going to chop it off in what looks to be an homage to Stephen King’s Misery. Lando is screaming and David is pleading with her.

David urges Lando to tell her the truth. Lando confesses his role in the massacre: he was told what to say, but he never hurt anyone. He admits to saying the things they heard on the radio broadcast. He said he’s a comedian who loves Robin Williams (don’t we all, amiright?) and Richard Pryor. His job as a comedian is to punch up at those in power. The Tutsis were rich and in power and comedians do that: make fun of the people in power. David tells Sonia that was a confession, for her to acknowledge it and let Lando go. 

Oxwell Hospital. Kristen and Ben arrive at the hospital and finds three of her daughters chanting the same thing Andy was, and in the same pose. Kristen looks horrified. The girls spot Ben and jump up and cheer for “Ben the Magnificent!”

The girls drag ben to the table they were chanting at and Andy tells Kristen that Laura is okay and in recovery. Kristen quickly changes focus on the Buddhist chanting and says they should discuss it before introducing religion to the girls. Andy gets defensive, again, and blames the internet for introducing them the chanting. It wasn’t him, he says.  

Sonia’s Pit of Hell. Sonia is back with David and Lando in the basement. She is reliving some of the horrors from the time of the massacre. She tells them she was in the church when the massacre began. She was attacked with a metal pipe. Her sister was not as lucky as Sonia recalls that half her face was sliced off. Sonia laid on the ground, pretending to be dead. She laid there and heard the atrocities unfolding around her. Sonia talks about the Hutus murdering babies by cracking their heads on the walls of the church. And, all the while the devastation occurred, the radio and its jokes, Lando’s jokes, served as the soundtrack to her nightmare.

Sonia hears the whooshing sound again as she turns Lando’s gun over in her hands. David sees the change in her. She walks over to Lando and points it at his head, telling him that God will see everything she does, and she seems to be okay with that. Lando frantically apologizes. The whooshing sound stops. Sonia thanks him and forgives him. She tells Lando his soul is clean and kisses his brow … and then shoots him in the head.

Damn, gurl.  

Commercials. 

Back  from break, we’re still in the Pit of Hell. David is freaking out, asking why Sonia killed Lando when he asked for her forgiveness? Without emotion or remorse, Sonia tells David that she forgave him. David is confused as to why she killed him then?

“But not for revenge. For justice.”

Sonia takes out her cell phone and calls 911. She reports that a man has been killed, confessed she did it and gives her name and address. She also requests an ambulance for an injured man. Without another word, she heads upstairs, leaving David with Dead Lando.

The camera zooms in on Sonia’s whooshing crack and a disgusting looking cockroach crawls out of it.

Court Room. Judge Shire is ready to issue her ruling on the LeRoux matter. This is a post-conviction trial so, no jury. She overturns Orson LeRoux’s conviction, believing the testimony from Dwight Ferrell and Detective Bird. The judge tells Orson he is free to go and gavels the proceedings done.

Orson’s wife is distraught, telling DA Cormier that Orson is going to kill her. Before LeRoux goes, Judge Shire asks to hug him and gives Orson her personal Bible to help him find peace.

Oxwell Hospital. Laura is in recovery after her procedure. Mom, Dad and the sisters are there. Laura’s sisters are asking questions about the procedure and if she has a scar? When Laura’s doctor comes in, the girls want to see cool shit from the procedure but Kristen and Andy step out into the hallway to speak with him alone.

Sometime between the tests to prep Laura for surgery and the actual procedure, Laura’s heart valve repaired itself and is now completely healed. Dr. Docker does not have a medical explanation for this. He tells the Bouchards that young patients are mysterious. 

“Sometimes they heal unexpectedly, sometimes even miraculously.”

As you can imagine, Kristen and Andy are beyond relieved at this news. 

Bouchard Home. That night, girls are in their beds, practicing the Buddhist mantra, the same one from the waiting room. Kristen and Andy are in their own bed talking. Kristen tells Andy he should go to Denver to start the climb prep work. He’s insistent that it’s her turn and that he can handle home while she’s gone. Kristen says this decision isn’t about anything other than what’s best for her. She has a career that is challenging to her and she’s enjoying it.  She’s not ready to give that up.

Andy decides he won’t do the climb either. He’ll go to Denver to set it up, but will have someone else do the climb. Kristen asks Andy about the chant he was reciting earlier and what he was praying for? Andy tells her it was a Tong-Lin. It is an exchange, he explains. Kristen asks what he was exchanging?

Andy hesitates but tells Kristen he asked for Laura to be healed in exchange for his life.

This makes Kristen sit up and look at him. He tells her not to worry, that is was just a mantra. Kristen, I don’t blame you for freaking out, what with all the freaky deaky stuff you’ve seen in the last few months.

Leland’s Office. Leland is in another sparse therapy office, it looks like on his same floor but it’s not his office. Leland is the patient in this therapy session and he’s whining about how Kristen continually sucks his joy away and makes him feel impotent.

“She has this way of getting to me.”

The therapist, whose voice is low, slow and sinister, asks if Leland’s talking about sexually impotency? Leland means it metaphorically and cites Kristen’s rip on marching bands.  

“That’s a worthy entertainment.”

I agree, Leland!  Leland is very unhinged. He wants to kill “her” by ripping out her heart.

(I’m suddenly fearful for Sheryl, of all people).

The therapist asks why he didn’t rip out her heart and Leland says it’s not part of the plan … unless the plan has changed? We finally see Leland’s therapist and it’s a large furry, horned, hoofed beast sitting in a chair. He’s a take on the Baphomet or “Satanic Goat” image.

Goat Therapist tells Leland that he should find someone else to remove Kristen’s heart and then they will eat it … together.

“Now tell me about your dreams.”

End scene.

**Historical Note: On April 6, 1994, the plane carrying Rwandan president, Juvénal Habyarimana (a Hutu), was shot down. On April 7, 1994, a military militia of Hutus commended a bloody campaign of eradication of the Tutsi population (and moderate Hutus). According to a 2011 article from the BBC, “organised gangs of government soldiers and militias hacked their way through the Tutsi population with machetes, or blew them up in churches where they had taken refuge.”

The animosity between the two ethnic groups dates back to at least the Belgian colonization of the country. After 100 days of murder and vicious killing, often by machete, estimates say that some 800,000 Tutsis (about 70% of their population) and moderate Hutus had been killed. In a footnote that relates to this episode, the Hutus used radio station broadcasts to coordinate the attacks.

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Thoughts. 

Where to start? Leland, Ben, Kristen or David?

Leland. He’s a fraud … or is he?

Ben! Do you know how close you came to death by machete?

Kristen. What a badass!

And, David. How much more can that man be expected to take? 

These episodes are just so damn good that the hour flies by. And they sure pack a wallop.

Leland. He’s really Jake from State Farm! I was cheering as Kristen ripped him to shreds. I fully believe Leland is afraid of her (who wouldn’t be when the woman ripped open your neck with a butchers knife?) And we got some good looks at his gnarly neck scar. Although as someone who was in the marching band in high school, I get particularly hurt when people rip into it. I agree with Leland: it IS worthy entertainment. I fear that Leland will enact some revenge for the way Kristen found out about him, and that makes me fearful for Sheryl. Or for Mira. 

David. I absolutely hand to God said, “oh fuck” when David fell down the stairs, knowing the recovery problems he’s been having and the extent of his injuries.  Andy has zero clue. He thinks Ben is a threat. Wait till he meets David. 

The title of tonight’s episode is “Justice x 2.” I’m trying to figure out who the other justice is for? Clearly Sonia feels like she now has justice for her sister. So, maybe it’s Kristen and Leland? Or, maybe it’s for Laura? With her heart healed, she won’t be robbed of a life not lived. 

Speaking of, how DID Laura’s heart heal? Does Andy’s mantra mean he’s going to die? I actually think there’s a connection between Lando’s confession and Laura’s miracle. And shit! Kristen’s three other daughters were saying the same chant!? Back in the second episode Kristen was talking to David about her problem with miracles: that only some get them and if prayer helped she should shame the saints. The only thing different between Laura’s diagnostic EKG and the procedure to repair her worsening heart valve, was the chant by the daughters. Did they accidentally exchange THEIR lives for Laura’s healed heart?

LeRoux. Leland has to have a plan for him. Random side note, I’m not sure why Dwight Ferrell was the spelling this episode and it was clearly Dwight Farrell in the episode “Vatican III” back in November. 

How is there only one more episode this season? There are so many questions to wrap up. Well, the next episode doesn’t air until January 30, but we have the preview. The God Squad investigate whether a pregnant woman is carrying evil babies in the season finale.

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EVIL airs Thursday nights on CBS at 10pm (ET/PT).  We’ll be live tweeting from time to time so check us out on Twitter! 

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Thank you for reading along! Leave a comment below for discussion. Follow us on social media for up to the minute updates on EVIL, including recaps and lots of other pop culture news you need to know on Twitter @popcultureview and Instagram @pop_culture_review. You can follow me on Twitter @SheilsMcGangsta.