Evil Was Originally Going To Kill Leland In Season 1 (With A Twist)

The possible Antichrist was the least of Dr. Kristen Bouchard's (Katja Herbers) worries by the time the "Evil" series finale came around, but things could have been much stranger had creators Robert and Michelle King gone with their original plans for antagonist Leland Townsend (Michael Emerson). During that first season, the CBS program may not have been afraid to get weird, but it still had yet to shed the weight of its network television shackles. Back then, there were talks of killing Leland and replacing him with, well, himself.

"Evil" never shied away from introducing twisted or alternate versions of its lead characters, from the demon Kristen of Season 2 to the "family man" Ben (Aasif Mandvi) in Season 4. However, back in its early days, the Kings considered taking Leland out of the "Evil" equation entirely. "We were going to kill him at the end of the first season, and yet his doppelgänger in Des Moines, who's an insurance adjuster, pops up and starts taking over for him," Robert King recalled to TV Insider following the fourth and final season. "We really were into the idea of doubles then."

Instead, for Season 1's penultimate episode, "Justice x 2," the Kings reworked the idea entirely into a power move for Kristen as she reveals the truth about his past. Rather than throwing out the idea entirely, Kristen exposes Leland's previous life as Jake Perry. "You're a 'nothing man' from Des Moines who is using the imagery of Satanism — a Satanism you probably don't even believe — to pretend you weren't the third-chair tuba player in the Roosevelt High School band," she tells him. 

Since the Kings would have simply replaced Leland with another Michael Emerson-shaped character, it's unlikely that the cast dynamics of "Evil" would have changed. That said, the CBS-turned-Paramount+ drama would certainly have lost something in the banter between Kristen and her psychopathic, demon-obsessed nemesis. And, in truth, that moment in "Justice x 2" was a long time coming.

Additionally, this darkly funny "Evil" deleted scene proves that Leland had earned his place on the "Evil" cast. There's so much context that extends all the way back to the first season that may not have landed so brilliantly if the New York-based Leland had been replaced by an Iowan insurance adjuster with a penchant for evil. Emerson could certainly have pulled it off, but part of the success of "Evil" was that it always had a clear antagonist in the love-to-hate Leland.

While the show has since ended, concluding with Leland's imprisonment in the demon cabinet from Season 2's "S is for Silence," fans have been calling for Kristen and company's return. Even Stephen King has championed "Evil," joining our hopes that the show could one day be revived in some form.