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Warning: Post contains spoilers
CBS series “Evil” season 1 episode 12 “Justice x 2” finds a stand up comedian Lando Mutabazi (Gbenga Akinnagbe) kidnapped by supposed fan Sonia Kamanzi (Emayatzy Corinealdi). Sonia summons Catholic Church assessor David Acosta (Mike Colter). Contractor and professional skeptic Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) drops David off, promising to pick him up at 4. As Sonia explains, God has been supposedly talking to her. However, David spots blood on the floor and discovers Lando tied up in the basement. Sonia believes Mutabazi is a former radio host from Rwanda whose jokes perpetuated eventual violence carried out by the Hutus against the Tutsis.
Sonia holds both Lando and David captive in her basement, insisting that God speaks to her and that she needs to bring justice to Mutabazi. While David doesn’t disagree about Lando’s past, Acosta argues that the justice Sonia seeks is revenge, and aligned with the vengeful Old Testament God rather than the merciful New Testament God. Kamanzi multiple times freezes, staring at a crack in the wall which appears to whisper.
In court, forensic psychologist Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson) attempts to get convicted murderer Orson LeRoux (Darren Pettie) acquitted. Instead, Dwight Ferrell (Dan Bittner) confesses to Orson’s supposed murders. DA Lewi Cromier (Danny Burstein) summons forensic psychologist Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) to the courthouse. Shortly before leaving, Kristen finds her husband Andy (Patrick Brammall) chanting some sort of mantra that he explains is Buddhist. Homicide Detective Mira Byrd (Kristen Connolly), Kristen’s old friend, provides testimony suggesting LeRoux is innocent. Leland threatens Kristen, but Bouchard outs Leland as ordinary Jake Perry, a former insurance adjuster from Des Moines, Iowa, twice divorced. Townsend is merely a re-invention, a self-appointed villain.
At the Bouchard household, Laura’s (Dalya Knapp) test results show that her heart valve hasn’t yet healed. Andy thus rushes Laura along with the rest of the Bouchard girls Lynn (Brooklyn Shuck), Lila (Skylar Gray), and Lexis (Maddy Crocco) to the hospital. Oddly, after an emergency operation to assess her heart valve. the doctor reveals that it’s healed. Andy admits to Kristen that he recited his mantra, offering to exchange his life for Laura’s.
Observations:
“Evil” S01E12 “Justice x 2” sees both Orson LeRoux and Dwight Ferrell return. I appreciate the juicy twist about Leland essentially being a nobody. As the episode ends, Townsend appears in a therapy session with a talking goat with horns. It’s unclear whether this is a manifestation of Leland’s own mind, or supernatural evil. Regardless, Townsend’s nefarious actions, aided by his network-of-horror, are poised to continue.
There’s a fascinating examination of justice with Sonia as the harbinger, and Lando the accused. While both David and Sonia agree that Lando is far from innocent, their interpretations of God’s wishes and accordingly Lando’s sentence, differ. Sonia claims God speaks to her, and visual cues hint that she’s hearing what she believes to be God’s voice through an almost cross-like crack in her basement wall. The last shot of this crack features a cockroach crawling out of it. During his radio days, Lando joked about squashing Tutsi’s like cockroaches.
Where “Evil,” excels is its ambiguity and nuance. Although most of its happenings are seemingly explainable through the actions of humans, there’s a Lovecraftian element which retains the notion of supernatural meddling. For instance, the continued red motif; a psychic warns Kristen to avoid wearing the color red, and it’s become a de facto symbol of evil. Sonia dons a red dress before kidnapping Lando. Likewise, Townsend or Jake Perry clearly fostered an ever-growing network of evil dubbed The 60. But is there any supernatural work at play or merely the actions of malicious humans? It’s yet unclear, and that plus its complex material makes “Evil” a continually engaging watch.
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