'Evil' Episode 7 disturbs fans with Leland preaching that men need to 'put women in their place' for rejecting them
This article contains spoilers for episode 7: 'Vatican III'
Just when we thought Leland Townsend couldn't get any more creepy, disturbing, and downright abhorrent, he does something to remind us of how some men constantly feel the need to overpower women - or teach them a lesson, if you will, for something as simple as rejection.
On tonight's episode of CBS' ongoing supernatural thriller 'Evil', as Kristen Bouchard investigates the 'possessed' woman who admitted mid-exorcism that she killed a boy, she comes across a sign that she had seen scribbled on one of the journals gifted by Leland to her daughters. It's a demonic symbol and one would think this is the extent of Leland's deplorable agenda, but he takes things to a whole other level later in the episode, after he overhears a young boy get rejected by a barista.
The boy, Sebastian, got turned down by a waitress called Linda who worked at a coffee shop. Seeing the look of dejection on his face, Leland invites him in for therapy, but the advice he offers is the farthest thing from any sane person's thought process. Leland tells the young boy that men need to take action for women acting so brash about their advances. He hooks Sebastian up with websites approved by religious communities, where men discuss the need to teach the women who have rejected them, a lesson. In simpler terms, take revenge for their supposed audacity to turn them down.
@evil Oh, please. Let me have about ten minutes of time with Leland. That whole "women in their place" crap? That doesn't fly with me. I think Leland needs to scream. @MichaelEmerson #EvilCBS #LovingEvil
— Roseann's Artisan Studio (@RoseannStudio) November 15, 2019
Taking note of the disturbing nature of Leland's advice and psyche both, viewers flocked to social media to express the harrowing reality of how rampant this mindset and vendetta is in real life. "I think the best/scariest part of this show is that "Leland's" are everywhere irl. I've known two men like him and it was just as scary as it is on screen," shared a fan on Twitter. Another fan just straight up addressed the morbid nature of Leland's preachings to such an impressionable mind, noting: "Leland is making me uncomfortable. I don't know how I feel about this." Shocked and outraged that someone as unstable as Leland can even provide a sensitive service like therapy, another fan asked: "Explain how Leland’s still licensed to provide treatment to anyone!"
A fan even drew an interesting parallel of how common this kind of ideology is on online forums like Reddit, saying: "So Leland is full on Reddit male personified, incel...negging..lack of morals." Summing up for the rest of the fandom's thoughts on this outrageous claim, a fifth fan shared: "I have never hated a tv character as much as I hate Leland!! He is just a nasty "human being" and he NEEDS to go ASAP!"
'Evil' airs on Thursdays at 9 pm only on CBS.