Jane Gould (Rebecca Field) is the main villainess from "Today I Do," episode 6.15 of Criminal Minds (airdate February 16, 2011).
Backstory[]
Jane's backstory revealed that she had been raised by her grandparents until their deaths while Jane was in middle school. The loss of her grandparents caused Jane to act out; committing vandalism and property destruction to get attention, resulting in Jane getting kicked out of a pair of foster homes. Shortly before the episode's events, Jane began cutting herself, but seeing as how that wasn't getting her the attention she craved, she later became a stalker.
Jane began pursing a 25-year-old woman named Gail Langston, who was seeing treatment for depression. She used info about Gail to befriend her, and also copied parts of her look to keep their bond alive (in the case of Gail, buying a scarf identical to Gail's). Jane began instilling her own self-help methods into Gail, but once Gail began improving, she realized that Gail wouldn't need her, and she later resorted to abducting Gail. The deranged Jane took Gail to an old house she once resided in, and continued her version of helping her; which included punishing Gail by beating her legs with a hammer. When she realized that her efforts were futile, Jane killed Gail and dumped her body in a lake.
Events[]
In the episode's events, Jane targeted a new victim in the form of Molly Grandin, who was being treated for anorexia. She befriended Molly in the same fashion she did for Gail (buying a purse that matched Molly's), and later abducted and manipulated her as well. Jane would beat and abuse Molly when she "disobeyed" her, mainly by seeing and bringing up her abusive boyfriend, Lyle Donaldson. In a twisted attempt to show how wrong Lyle was for Molly, Jane stalked Lyle and intoxicated him, leading to a sexual encounter between them. The villainess later left Lyle handcuffed to the bed in the house where Molly was held, while revealing that she recorded their tryst.
Jane later went upstairs and showed the video to Molly, who (after watching) stated that she was better than not only Lyle, but Jane as well, and she brandished a small sharp stick and pointed it at Jane. At that moment, Lyle (having broken free from his shackles) ran upstairs and tackled Jane, only for Jane to grab Molly's weapon and plunge it in Lyle's neck, killing him instantly. Molly managed to escape out of the house during the struggle, only to be run down by Jane in her car. Still clinging to life, Molly was taken by Jane to a nearby lake, where Jane planned to kill Molly with a knife and leave her body in the water. She was later stopped by the BAU, and it was there that Molly regained consciousness and escaped Jane's grasp. Jane's attempt to chase Molly was thwarted by local police, who handcuffed and arrested her. As Molly was tended to by the BAU, Jane continued to rant that she was trying to help Molly, as she was being taken into custody.
Trivia[]
- Rebecca Field later played psychotic villainesses Suzie Foster and Gwen on Body of Proof and Zoo, respectively.
- Jane Gould has drawn comparisons to Annie Wilkes, the iconic villainess from Misery; mainly due to their methods of abuse towards their victims. She is also similar to Lifetime villainess Rachel Sullivan, as both women resorted to harsh methods to "help" their victims, and killed them when they became (in their minds) a lost cause.