Cassandra Davina (Rose McGowan) is an alias used by the main villainess of "Bombshell", episode 12.19 of Law & Order: SVU (airdate March 23, 2011). The very definition of a seductress, she had a habit of going from state to state seducing swinging men who frequented sex clubs into giving her what she wanted from them, especially money. Furthermore, the serial con artist worked alongside Doug Loveless, her twin brother and incestuous lover, whose supposed name was also an alias.
As part of their scam, Doug faked being Cassandra's abusive and possessive ex-boyfriend and made scenes at the sex clubs that his twin sister went to in order to evoke pity from the swinging men that they targeted. The latter acted fearful of the former in order to make it easier for her to seduce their victims. Sometime before the episode's events, Cassandra had gone by another alias, Priscilla Cruze, during her and Doug's time in Miami, where the latter had drained the bank account of swinger Claude Bailey. For unknown reasons, Doug ended up murdering Claude prior to him and his twin sister traveling to New York City in order to continue their fraudulent activities.
After the twins' arrival, Cassandra changed her name to her current alias and then met married man Jerry Bullard at one of the city's swing clubs, after which she coaxed him into having an affair with her, causing him to spend an incredible amount of money on her under the belief that they were in love. After Jerry was attacked and nearly killed outside the club just before the episode's opening minutes, the Special Victims Unit began investigating the case. Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler first encountered Cassandra when they went undercover at the swing club, with Elliot witnessing the manipulative charm of the villainess first hand. When Doug showed up, he nearly attacked Stabler after he saw him with Cassandra as part of the ruse, leading them to believe that he stabbed Jerry in his groin. However, they soon discovered that his vengeful wife Jane was the real attacker, with her motive being that she had grown frustrated of him blowing all of their money on his mistress.
Cassandra's villainous reveal came when the detectives witnessed her and Doug passionately kissing in front of her house, and they discovered soon after that they were persons of interest in Claude's murder investigation. Believing she had been backed into a corner, Cassandra almost confessed to her villainous deeds when a lawyer appeared in the interrogation room, having been hired by her married lover in order to defend her. The conniving grifter smirked at her luck, and Jerry (still believing she loved him) later posted her bail as well. When Doug asked when Cassandra was going to get him out of jail, the villainess playfully dismissed her twin brother, angering him. The detectives then attempted to warn Jerry about Cassandra's true nature, but the latter refused to believe them. They then confronted him with more of his mistress' lies, with the man eventually becoming dumbfounded at the revelation that Cassandra and Doug were siblings and lovers. Even so, Jerry stated that he "[loved] her in a way [he] never felt with Jane," and also voiced his delusion that he and Cassandra were "soul mates."
Olivia and Elliot confronted Cassandra afterwards while she was out shopping. When they taunt her about how Jerry was aware of who she truly was, the femme fatale smugly told them that Jerry called her earlier, with her illicit boyfriend inviting her to live with him and also saying that he had a surprise waiting for her at home. Alarmed, the pair left the confused woman behind and traveled to her house, where Jerry was waiting by the corpse of Doug, whom he stabbed to death under the mistaken belief that Cassandra would be with him once he was out of the way. This was followed by the villlainess appearing at the scene of the crime and breaking down into tears once she saw that her brother was murdered. The episode ended there, making it unclear as to whether or not she was ever imprisoned for her numerous crimes.
Trivia[]
- Rose McGowan is perhaps best known for replacing Katee Sackhoff as Teddy Rowe during the sixth and final season of Nip/Tuck.
- Rose McGowan also played Debbie Strand in Devil in the Flesh, and played The Evil Enchantress and one of the Blue Moon Beasts in separate episodes of Charmed.
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