The villainous Cynthia Cole
Cynthia Cole (Roxanne Hart) is the main villainess from Bones' second season finale, "Stargazer in a Puddle" (airdate May 16, 2007). She is the mother of 22-year-old Chelsea Cole, the episode's murder victim.
Chelsea was diagnosed with Winters Syndrome, which caused her to mentally remain a child while her body continued to age. During Dr. Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth's investigation, they visited Cynthia, who stated that Chelsea loved the stars, hence the numerous drawings. She also revealed that the diagnosis came while Chelsea was subjected to brain surgery, and she accused Joe Mellon--a social worker--of not only Chelsea's murder, but sexual assault, claiming that he was inappropriate with Chelsea.
Mellon was cleared as a suspect after his interrogation, and Cynthia was faced with accusations of being violent towards her daughter. While the abuse allegations in both cases were false, the cause of death was uncovered: a medication overdose. After noticing Cynthia's collection of medication, a further investigation revealed that it was for AIDS, and that Cynthia had the disease. Once the same chemicals were found inside Chelsea's body, it led to the shocking reveal that Cynthia had killed her own daughter with her AIDS medication, with Brennan and Booth confronting the villainess and arresting her. Though it was originally believed that Cynthia was an evil woman who killed her daughter out of exasperation over tending to her, Brennan's visit to Cynthia in prison revealed the whole story.
As it turned out, Cynthia was dying of AIDS, with her original medication failing her and an experimental drug making her feel worse. Knowing that she was dying, Cynthia attempted to place Chelsea with a foster home, only to have no takers, and not wanting to leave Chelsea all by her lonesome with no one to care for her, she decided to kill her daughter. While the pair were at a park, Cynthia gave her medication to Chelsea, resulting in her daughter's death, and she later left a small stone with the words "I love you" on Chelsea's body. Though Cynthia committed her act believing that she would be dying and leaving Chelsea on her own, Brennan provided a surprising reveal: the experimental drug was working. Cynthia was left feeling immense remorse for her actions, which Brennen stated were committed out of mercy.
Trivia[]
- Roxanne Hart later played serial killer Doris Osgood on The Closer'.
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