Lauren Williams (Donna Mills) was the true main villainess from "Blackout," episode 4.13 of Cold Case (airdate January 14, 2007). She was a former supermodel and the matriarch of the wealthy Williams family; the ex-wife of Stanford Williams and the mother of Tad and Ginny Williams.
Lauren was hated by the rest of her family, mainly due to her narcissism and controlling as well as verbally and emotionally abusive demeanor towards both of her children, while her marriage to Stanford ended in divorce due to him cheating on her. On January 11, 1996, Lauren appeared at the family home as an uninvited guest of her grandson (Ginny's son) Matthew Merriman's 13th birthday, and antagonized her entire family, as well as her ex-husband's then-fiancée, Diane Gilbert, during a blackout that occurred after Lauren's arrival. Among many verbal lashings was Lauren referring to Stanford as a pedophile in front of Tad and Ginny.
However, along with her abuse, it was revealed that Lauren was a child molester, and her victim was none other than her own son, Tad. At some point following her divorce from Stanford, Lauren turned heel and seduced Tad when he was only 13 years of age, committing her habitual incestuous act in a twisted way to prove to herself that she was still beautiful and could attract any man she wanted. On the day of the blackout, Lauren had her sights set on her grandson Matthew. The demented villainess coerced Matthew to live with her for an undisclosed period of time, and afterwards, she took her grandson to the family pool and was about to seduce and make out with him before she was stopped by Tad.
Tad confronted his mother about what he did to him and was about to do to Matthew, with Lauren responding to Tad's accusations that she used him by stating that they used each other, and that no one would ever compare with her on beauty. The lights came back on after their argument, but later on, Ginny turned off the lights and confronted her evil mother, who was drinking alone by the pool. Ginny had figured out that her mother was trying to sexually groom Matthew due to remembering that she had done the same to Tad. Ginny's indignation was met with callousness from Lauren, who simply insulted her daughter as "plain" and claimed that she wouldn't know about love due to her lack of looks and success with men. She ended up pushed into the pool by Ginny out of anger, and after Lauren refused her daughter's help and gloated that she still had power over Matthew, she was drowned by Ginny in a rage.
Trivia[]
- Donna Mills also played villainess Abby Cunningham on the TV series Knots Landing.
- Donna Mills later played psychotic villainess Evelyn Moore in the Lifetime film, Deadly Revenge.