Patricia Ashland (Olivia d'Abo) is the hidden main villainess from the 2014 Lifetime film Presumed Dead in Paradise (airdate July 12, 2014).
Patricia is the widowed and estranged stepmother of the film's protagonist, Madison Ashland, who was set to inherit $10 million from her late father once she turned 18. However, Patricia was secretly planning to kill Madison and take the riches for herself.
As part of her plan, she took Madison to St. Isabel, an island that she and her father often visited before he passed away, for a tropical vacation. Patricia enlisted her lover, Blake (the tertiary villain of the film), to have Madison drown during a paddle board excursion. Furthermore, she also switched out Madison's anxiety pills in order to induce a panic attack. Madison barely survived, but it was at the beach house that she saw Patricia making out with Blake, marking Patricia's villainous reveal.
Another part of Patricia's greedy plan was hiring a young woman named Taylor, who was aboard Patricia and Madison's flight, and pass her off as Madison. Once she learned that Madison survived, the evil Patricia sent Blake to capture her. Madison managed to escape, but was eventually found and abducted by Blake. After Madison was captured, Patricia stated to her stepdaughter that all she wanted was to be closer to her, which was contrary to the actual truth — that Patricia had sent Madison to boarding school in order to get her out of the way, and had also moved her around often to keep her from making friends who would notice when she disappeared. Before leaving to join Taylor, Patricia slapped Madison before ordering Blake to kill her, but his reluctance allowed for Madison to beat him up and also escape. When Patricia found out what happened to Blake, she killed him by suffocating him, doing so by shoving a pair of her underwear that she'd given Blake into his mouth and covering his nose.
In the final scenes, Patricia and Taylor prepared to collect Madison's inheritance, only to find that the money was in a lockbox that only the real Madison could open because the key was part of her necklace. Madison's appearance foiled Patricia's plan, and after Taylor confessed everything, both she and Patricia were arrested for their crimes.
Trivia[]
- Olivia d'Abo has played several villainous roles, including (but not limited to) Dierdre in an episode of Psych, and Queen Tambria in the 2014 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty.
- Olivia is most known for playing recurring villainess Nicole Wallace on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
- Olivia would later go on to play villainess Milena in the 2015 Lifetime film Stolen From The Suburbs.
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