After the first two episodes of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, I questioned whether the show was placing too much emphasis on the former NFL tight end’s sexuality. After extensive research, I concluded that it was reasonable to consider the possibility that Hernandez’s internalized homophobia, along with the bigotry of his father and the broader sports culture, may have played a role in where his life ended up. However, suggestions that Hernandez was gay were mostly speculative.

This week’s episode of the Ryan Murphy-produced series basically decided to say, “F**k it. Let’s recklessly play up the gay angle!” Yes, the man was raised in a violent home by a violent father in a violent culture, coached in college and the NFL by hard-asses who lacked compassion. But sure, let’s assert that Aaron Hernandez murdered a man, was implicated in several other murders, and took his own life because he might have been attracted to men.

Ryan Murphy has taken the story of a violent psychopath and turned it into a narrative about a gay man struggling with his demons, probably because it makes for more compelling television to Ryan Murphy.

This week’s episode, literally titled “Pray the Gay Away,” opens with Hernandez getting high and having sex with a guy in the university library. When rumors circulate in the school newspaper that someone on the football team is hooking up with men in the library bathroom, Hernandez violently lashes out at another player.

Enter uber-Christian Tim Tebow, the University of Florida’s star QB, who encourages Hernandez to attend his church so that Jesus Christ himself can save Hernandez from his sins. Hernandez doesn’t confess to Tebow what his sins are, but it’s clear from the context that he believes it’s his sexual orientation. He then reads about Christianity’s opposition to homosexuality and, after one last look, deletes all his gay porn.

For a while, things seem fine: he suppresses his sexuality, the team performs well, and he has sex with his girlfriend. However, the gay resurfaces during a Thanksgiving trip home when he encounters his old high school boyfriend, who is now engaged to a woman and rejects Hernandez’s advances. The power of prayer didn’t stand a chance.

Back at school, Hernandez has another heart-to-heart with Tebow, where he alludes to his struggles with his sexual identity without directly addressing them. Tebow reassures him, but after Florida loses the National Championship game, Coach Urban Meyer pushes Hernandez to declare for the NFL draft before he’s ready. It’s the only decision in the episode that doesn’t seem influenced by his sexual identity.

Again, it’s too much. Suggesting that Hernandez’s rumored bisexuality may have played some role in his violent history is one thing, but Ryan Murphy now seems intent on portraying it as the primary motivating factor. He’s not using this as a critique of football culture; he just seems unreasonably and salaciously fixated on Hernandez’s sexuality.