Patty Garner (10 Year Reunion)

Patty Garner (Kayla Ewell) was the hidden main villainess of the 2016 Lifetime film 10 Year Reunion (alternately titled Perfect Life, Perfect Lies; airdate October 23, 2016).

Backstory[]

At some point in her past, Patty became part of a quintet of girlfriends who went to Harmony High School together; a group that included her best friends Carly Newman (the film’s main protagonist), Erica Campbell, Rose Crenshaw, and Abby Edwards.

Patty was looking to become the school’s valedictorian and also get a scholarship to Carson-Newman University so that she could move out of Harmony — a town in California that she was unhappy to live in due to her father being absent from her life, her mother being unable to make enough money to even pay rent, and also her friends’ multiple character flaws. To elaborate, she was infuriated at Abby because while she was dating Shane Conley, she had sex with Chase Majors (who was Rose’s boyfriend at the time) after helping him study for a History test because she was in love with him. Furthermore, Patty was also displeased with Rose since she was an elitist bully who gave her a malicious nickname, “Ratty Patty,” during their time at Harmony High School.

After she found out that Abby was going to become Harmony’s valedictorian, Patty went into a rage while she was drunk at a party that took place at Rose’s residence on the night before their graduation, which led her to lace Abby’s drink with multiple ecstasy pills. As a result of her villainous act, Abby subsequently died, with her death later being labelled as the result of “alcohol poisoning.”

Events of 10 Year Reunion[]

10 years later, during the film’s events, Patty (now a successful lawyer) reunited with Erica, Carly, and Rose at a reunion party, where they decided to search for a capsule that contained all of their secrets as well as Abby’s. Carly had suspected that Abby’s death at the party wasn’t accidental, as she had obtained Abby’s coroner’s report, which revealed the true cause of her death.

In order to hide the dark secrets of her past, Patty donned a gardening suit and went after Carly, later burning the report in Rose’s fireplace and then attacking her later on as she continued searching for the time capsule. Later on, she stole a clue Abby had left for her at the barn near her house after knocking out Shane (Abby’s ex-boyfriend and Carly’s love interest). While at a nail salon with Erica, Patty discovered that the former was getting close to the truth about what really happened to Abby on the night of her death. After witnessing Erica pull the time capsule out of the pond outside Rose’s house, Patty murdered her out of panic by bashing her head in with Rose’s shovel. She then tossed her victim’s deceased body down a well close to Rose’s garden. Furthermore, the manipulative villainess placed the gardening suit—which had become covered in Erica’s blood—in the back of Rose’s car, planning to frame her for Erica’s death and also presumably paint her as Abby’s killer; this was Patty’s means of exacting revenge on Rose because of how she treated her in high school. She also reburied the unearthed capsule in Rose’s garden, thinking that none of her surviving friends would find it there.

Heel Turn[]

At the film’s climax, Carly finally found the capsule in Rose’s garden, with Rose herself accompanying the protagonist while she was digging said capsule out of the ground with Rose’s bloody shovel. After Shane appeared and revealed that he had overheard part of their conversation, both women quickly became suspicious mainly due to a note left behind by Abby prior to her demise stating that she had done something “unforgivable” to him. After Rose knocked Shane unconscious out of panic with her shovel, Patty enacted the final portion of her plan by taking the latter’s gun and then pointing the weapon at Rose as the villainess openly insinuated that she was Erica’s killer. While still holding Rose at gunpoint, Patty and Carly walked to a nearby table, with the former putting Shane’s gun down before the latter opened the capsule.

Among the secrets revealed as the confessions were read out loud by the trio was that Abby had intentionally failed her final Calculus exam and allow Patty to become valedictorian; this was a fact that the villainess never knew because she had killed Abby before she got the chance to tell her about it. As the confessions were recited, the villainess continued subtly accusing Rose of being the murderer behind everything. However, Patty’s villainous reveal came when Carly read her confession, when revealed the former’s intense hatred of Abby over her becoming valedictorian, along with detailing much of her motives for the murder. After being confronted by both Carly and Rose (with the former slowly realizing why Patty killed Abby), the villainess cemented the reveal by finally confessing to causing Abby’s demise, claiming that her intent was to only make her “sick,” as well as confessing to bludgeoning Erica to death out of panic as well.

Showdown and Death[]

As she tearfully and briefly showed remorse for all of her evil deeds in both the past and the present, Patty also revealed her rationale for her attempt to frame Rose for her crimes. After slowly realizing that neither of her two former friends were going to keep her villainous secrets, the murderer grabbed Shane’s gun as part of her effort to make both Carly and Rose nothing more than victims of “[the latter’s] rampage.” At that moment, Shane appeared with Rose’s shovel and tried to fight with Patty, only for the villainess to render him unconscious once again by shooting him in his chest.

Patty then quickly began firing bullets at both women as she chased after them into Rose’s house. The villainess continued firing Shane’s weapon as they tried to flee in Rose’s car, with a few of the bullets igniting the car’s gasoline and also starting a fire that quickly resulted in the vehicle exploding. Rose died in the explosion after she was unable to remove her seatbelt due to the extreme heat, while Carly was able to escape in time.

As Patty began her efforts to cover up her tracks, Carly began to engage in a final showdown with her murderous former friend, with gardening shears as her intended weapon. Patty’s attempt to shoot Carly failed when it was revealed that she had run out of bullets during her attempted double murder, but nonetheless, she grabbed Rose’s shovel and began fighting with Carly, knocking the shears from her possession. During their brief fight, the villainess viciously accused the protagonist of never being her best friend, as she had (in her mind) valued “the ‘perfect’ Abby” more than her. The brawl ended with Carly pushing Patty down onto the shears in self-defense, resulting in the latter’s death.

Patty’s Time Capsule Confession[]

My confession:

I hate you, Abby Edwards. For making valedictorian and taking my scholarship. You knew how much it meant to me! I asked you to fail one silly test, drop your GPA half a point. That’s all I needed to escape this town, but you tell me it’s “unethical.” I’ll tell you what’s unethical: screwing the guy you knew your best friend is in love with, or better, screwing your friend’s boyfriend behind her back. Rose may be nasty, Erica shallow, and Carly naïve... but at least none of them are a cheating, two-faced bitch like you.

Best of luck at Carson, Abs... and go to hell.

Quotes[]

“I... I didn’t mean to do it. I swear! I— I just— I didn’t... know that putting all those pills in her drink was going to— I just wanted her to get sick, you know? Like ruin her graduation speech the next day or something. She ruined my life! I just wanted everyone to stop believing she was so damn perfect! (Carly: “I don’t believe you...”) I was drunk, and I just kept thinking, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Stay in this miserable town, and end up like my awful mother? I NEEDED THAT SCHOLARSHIP! IT WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! ABBY DIDN’T NEED THAT SCHOLARSHIP LIKE I DID! SHE HAD PLENTY OF MONEY; YOU ALL ALWAYS HAD PLENTY OF MONEY!” (Patty revealing how and why she killed Abby in a drunken rage)
“When I went to go take Erica to the salon, she— she must have seen that note in the back of my rental... because it was gone after, and by the time I realized it was gone, and she’d already— but she was taking the capsule out of the pond, and I went, ‘What choice did I... have?’ I mean, I had rebury it in a place that you guys hadn’t felt—” (Patty confessing to killing Erica)
“Carly... Carly, I had already put the bloody gardening suit in the back of Rose’s car so she could take the blame for Erica’s death. I— Why didn’t you just believe me? Rose was awful in school! She deserves what’s coming to her! Carly... Carly, you— I never meant to hurt you. I— You should have just listened to me when I said it was time to go— Now... you’re just gonna be another statistic in Rose’s rampage.” (Patty ultimately deciding to kill Carly and Rose for knowing too much about her villainy)
“What if I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to get to the place you’ve all taken for granted your entire lives?” (Patty before attempting to shoot Carly)
“You and I were never best friends! I could never compete with the ‘perfect’ Abby!” (Patty’s last words before her death)