‘Evil’ Season 3: Michael Emerson Hints at Leland’s ‘Bone-Chilling’ Agenda (Exclusive)

Leland Townsend is back with a “bone-chilling” agenda for chaos in Season 3 of Evil. Michael Emerson opened up to PopCulture.com about what lies ahead for his enigmatic and dangerous character ahead of the Paramount+ show’s season premiere Sunday, June 12, admitting that even he doesn’t quite know Leland’s true goal at the end of the day. 

Following the cannibalistic ritual in the Season 2 finale, Emerson said viewers know now more than ever how vast Leland’s web extends. “It just shows you that Leland’s circle is a wide circle and he has a lot of interests and pursuits, and most of them are kind of bone-chilling,” the actor teased. “He’s busy, which is scary when you think what his agenda is – which is mayhem, or misrule – and he seems to have unlimited resources.”

Emerson pondered, “I don’t know where he gets his money, but he seems also to be able to travel at will and to be in 20 places at the same time. So it does make me wonder, and of course, I don’t know and I would never ask, but what exactly is he?” Beyond destroying Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) and David Acosta (Mike Colter), Emerson admitted he’s “not sure” what Leland’s endgame is.

“Well, of course he wants to contribute to the oncoming demon revolution or whatever, but that seems like that’s an agenda for all time,” he pondered. “I don’t know if it’s achievable, but maybe he thinks it is achievable. Maybe that’s it actually. I was going to say, I don’t know his uber mission nor do I want to know, but that could be it.”

Emerson would go on to compare Leland to Iago in Othello, a “mad improviser” just “hell-bent” on making trouble. “He will figure out what is most destructive, and then he’ll go to work to make that happen,” he teased. One of the biggest obstacles in Leland’s way, however, is Sister Andrea, who is “more dangerous” to him than any other character on the show. “She’s a living human with the power, with church magic at her fingertips,” Emerson noted. “She’s trouble and she’s incorruptible, so he has to find some way to bring her down, to have her be cast out or discredited.” Season 3 of Evil premieres on Sunday, June 12 exclusively on Paramount+.