Previously on Criminal Minds
In a circular room which has windows on one half which look out upon the vast estate in Virginia and dark mahogany wooden shelves with ancient books with broken spines on the other half, stand three young women across from the desk. The large mahogany desk with wooden engravings in each corner is sat in the middle of the room, so that the person sitting behind it is facing the door made of the same mahogany wood with a glossy finish and gold door handle.
Sitting behind the desk is an aging man in his 60s leaning back in the dark, and comfy looking desk chair. The girls stand nervously, close to the door looking at their father wondering why they were called from their bedrooms at this time of the night.
In her office at the BAU in Quantico, Virginia Garcia reading from a newspaper column during her research on the Lear family tells the team over the phone that the Lear’s live on a vast estate, “Known to the locals as ‘Lear’s Landing’ which houses Master Lear and his three daughters.” From her computer scanner she knows that the Lears own most of property and businesses in Virginia and the surrounding states and are quite wealthy. Lear was once very generous with his wealth, donating much of it to various charities; but, after his wife’s death all of that changed and he became one of the most greedy, unaccommodating landlords in the country.”
Then, the scene where Lear faces his three daughters in his office is once again playing, but this time Lear stands up from behind the desk in a rage, his face turning an unflattering shade of red and wagging his finger yells, “Cordelia you are written out of my will and should go live as far away from me as you can.”
Cordelia leaves the room crying while the other two daughters, Goneril and Regan snicker and giggle amongst themselves. When Lear leaves the room to speak to his servants, Goneril and Regan both go behind their father’s desk and try to squeeze themselves in his large desk chair; both fit perfectly.
End of flashback; Current Episode Begins
Agents: Prentice, Morgan, Jareau, Rossi, Dr. Reid, and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia are all seated in the round table room waiting for their leader, Agent Hotchner (colloquially known as Hotch) to arrive.
With his briefcase in hand, Hotch makes the team wait a mere thirty seconds before he takes his seat at the head of the table and says, “Ok, let’s get started” in his voice which means business.
Garcia then stands up, stumbling in her bright yellow high heels, and grabs the remote, “Ok crime fighters this is a bad one. Last night in rural Virginia a pair of bright blue eyes were found callously removed and left on a private estate in rural Virginia.” Garcia says as pictures of the crime scene flash showing the discarded eyes, clouded from no longer being in their sockets, discarded on a tiled, and expensive looking driveway.
“Just eyeballs, no body? How is this a BAU case?” Asks Agent Jennifer Jaraeau, better known to her team and family as ‘JJ’ inquisitively.
“Well, my furry friends” Garcia says flashing a new picture on the screen of a massive estate, “here’s the rub, two days ago longtime billionaire and businessman known by Lear divided everything he owned- I’m talking estate, houses, summer homes, businesses, literally everything - among two of his three daughters without explanation. These eyes were found at one of his former country homes now inhabited by this daughter, Regan Lear and her newly wedded beau, Cornwall who wedded last night.” Garcia finished explaining, panning photographs of the people she was talking about.
As soon as she finished, “Given the public presence of the Lear family and the fact that the call came from a servant and not one of the family members, the Director wants this contained and kept out of the media” Says Hotch in a serious tone of voice which no one on his team would question.
“You know in many cultures, the eyes are the avenue to the soul and are considered very beautiful and coveted after. Eyes are mostly liquid and after being removed from the body become cloudy and will disintegrate within several hours.” States Dr. Spencer Reid in a very matter-of-fact tone as if he was reading from an encyclopedia.
“The eyes could be symbolic, a punishment which says that ‘you saw the wrong thing so now you will never see again’” posited Rossi while looking at the manilla casefile in front of him.
“What bothers me is the disposal method.” States Morgan, “They were left in the middle of the driveway. No attempt to hide the eyes. This could mean that the act of removing the eyes was carried out by a member of the Lear family and that they are certain that their servants won’t talk either because they are paying them off or because it is a common occurrence” suggested Morgan. “Have we got a DNA hit from the lab on the eyes yet, baby girl?” Asks Morgan fondly.
“Not yet, sugar. When I know, you’ll know” says Garcia, winking at Morgan.
Hotch decides that this is enough brainstorming and chooses this as the appropriate time to step in, “In any event, the Lear estate is only a 45 minute drive north of Quantico. When we get there, Prentice and Morgan head to the Lear estate to talk to Regan and her new husband, Rossi and Reid track down the daughter who was cut out of the will and find out why, Reid I want you to coordinate with Garcia and learn everything you can about the Lear family, and JJ and I will go talk to the other daughter. Wheels up in 5 minutes.”
With that everyone gets up from the table to get their ‘go bags’ while Garcia heads back to her lair.
In the car, Hotch says the quote as they arrive at the crime scene: “‘Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.’ Mahatma Gandhi.”
***
The Profile Briefing
In the centre of the local FBI field office with their backs to the bulletin board which has pictures of victims and the information related to the case, facing a room full of local FBI agents and police, Hotch begins the profile briefing. “We are looking for Regan Lear, now Cornwall and her husband who we believe have carried out a vicious act of retribution against a man who displeased her”.
“In their marriage Regan is the dominant personality. Growing up under Lear and now as his heir, she knows how to use her power to justify her immorality to get what she wants,” remarks JJ.
Prentice then pipes in to say, “Cornwall on the other hand, is submissive in the relationship. This could be due to the fact that his entire world changed following his marriage to Regan. After marrying Regan he had access to all kinds of wealth he had never seen before and this will be reflected in a personality change. He may be unstable.”
When Prentice finishes, Reid walks forward, using his hands to gesture to what he means, “Regan is most definitely a sociopath who has no ability to feel empathy. She likely manipulated her father into giving up his estate early. She is the brains behind the operation and is likely the one pulling the strings.”
“Cornwall on the other hand is not a sociopath. He is easily manipulated likely due to a trauma in childhood. He will have issues with abandonment and this will be expressed in a low self-esteem” says Rossi.
“Now removing the eyes is important. This tells us that Regan wants her victim to suffer. It's a lot of work to remove the eyes clean out of their sockets without causing major hemorrhaging. This tells us that someone knew what they were doing, at least enough to stop the victim from dying” informs Morgan.
The room tenses at the mention of the removed eyeballs and Morgan gestures to the picture displayed on the board. The local agents look nervous, sweat beading off the younger ones who are just starting out their career and are not accustomed to such gorey acts.
“She clearly has an army of people willing to defend her and breaking into that network will be the key to finding her.” Says Hotch.
“We are not ruling out the sister as a potential accomplicance but as of now Goneril seems to be cooperating with our investigation and while Regan is clearly a sociopath, Goneril is not demonstrating the benchmarkers we typically look for.” Says Reid pointing to the picture of Goneril for emphasis.
“While we do not suspect her involvement at this time Cordelia says that both sisters are highly manipulative so if Goneril is seen near the crime scene, call for backup.” Says Morgan, hoping that a young and eager FBI agent looking to move up the ranks doesn’t try to approach Regan and her entourage by himself and get killed or maimed.
“Regan and her connections to both family money and servants makes her highly dangerous. The sisters clearly have an endgame and a thirst for power so do not attempt to approach or talk to them alone. Thank you” concludes Hotch and the local agents and police disperse, beginning their new task of tracking down Regan.
***
In the square, windowless interrogation room made of brick and mortar with a one way mirror on one of the four walls, houses the FBI’s newest fugitive, Regan Lear (her married name hasn’t officially changed in the two days following her marriage). It's late and is technically the same day as the profile briefing. Regan was apprehended quickly; she was found with an army of servants and followers near Dover Point, Virginia and was hiring a boat to take her into international waters, presumably until this blew over and she could come back into the country without being a suspect.
In the interrogation room which feels claustrophobic, like the people inside were underground, the storm raging outside continues to be audible as the pattering of rain hits the metal roof and every few moments there is a crash of thunder that is so violent that its like the force shakes the foundation of the FBI headquarters.
Inside ‘the box’, Morgan stands with both hands on the table in fists, leaned over so that his head is at eye level with the FBI’s new fugitive, Regan, “Come on Regan guilty people don’t feel the need to try and flee the country” says Morgan, frustrated that the interrogation isn’t going anywhere quickly.
He begins to wander behind Regan who sits at the interrogation table in the middle of the room, looking at the one way mirror. Regan seems calm, confident that she will get away with what she’s done; she sees nothing wrong with her actions.
The Prentice wanders from the left side of the room to sit in one of the two chairs across from Regan, “You know Regan, I’m on your side. You did nothing wrong.” says Prentice, trying but failing to empathize with here, “but the problem is that there’s big beef-heads in the FBI who think that their job is to pry and so if you don’t tell us what happened, I’m not going to be able to convince them that you have no criminal wrongdoing.” Says Prentice, holding the manilla casefile in her hands and resting them on the table.
There was a crash of thunder and the electricity in the room went out. Five pot lights made the room so dark that you could not see anything. Every ounce of light was drained from the room. No one made a sound, and then 30 seconds later, the electricity was back.
It was then that Morgan’s cell-phone chimed alerting him to the fact that they finally got a DNA match on the eyeballs, they belong to another wealthy businessman called Gloucester. Like everyone in Virginia knows about the Lear family, the same can be said about the Goucesters; only, these eyes were from Gloucester Senior himself. This was confusing to Morgan and quickly and wordlessly, showed the text to Prentice his brows furrowing.
“Regan, like I said, you did nothing wrong, we just have to account for the eyeballs that we found so we know that no crime was committed” Said Prentice, prodding Regan for explanation.
“Finally, someone agrees with me” states Regan in an irritatingly high-pitch voice that would drive anyone insane. “You know the government does not belong in the affairs of private citizens. If my nosey little night servant hadn’t called the police over something on my private land, I wouldn’t be here.” States Regan as she looks at her manicure, fidgeting with a fingernail, bored.
“Exactly Regan, so if we can just clear this up, you’ll be on your way” States Prentice with a convincing smile. Really, Regan wouldn’t be going anywhere except a cell. After talking further with Cordelia the team found out about the declarations of love and how they determined who would get what amount of property from Lear. Goneril got a share because she exaggerated her love for Lear but Regan, she was over the top. Of course, Regan didn’t care about lying, she just wanted her father out so she could be in charge. Goneril informed the team that when she had asked her father to leave her house over a disagreement which she wouldn’t explain, Regan refused to allow him to stay with her and sent him to live in a homeless shelter.
“Fine, I’ll tell you that I’ve dealt with the insubordination from my servant who called you already. He’s been,” she paused, choosing her words precisely, “disposed of effectively.” She says, smiling with a grin so sinister that the entire team grasped the true meaning of her words.
“Alright, what about the eyeballs, whose are they?” Asks Prentice, wanting to inquire about the servant’s probable untimely death but also knowing that was Regan’s tactic to get the interrogation off course and exercise control.
“Agent, you should know that a woman in my position is quite vulnerable. She always has to be the lady of the house and keep order beneath her or she will quickly be overthrown. She cannot accept one ounce of insubordination; she must be a, a, a snake” she finishes with a grin, so that the way her teeth poked out of her mouth, she looked like a serpent.
“Yes, I understand you completely Regan, it's hard to be a woman. But let’s start with the eyes. Who did they belong to?” Asks Prentice, trying to stay on-topic and keep control of the interrogation.
“Oh, like I said a woman cannot accept insubordination. The man that these belonged to tried to side-step my power in my own home by going to my father. That old man is going insane, you know?” Says Regan, again trying to derail the interrogation.
“A name, Regan” Says Prentice frustrated, but with a smile nonetheless.
“Gloucester” Says Regan, smiling like she was a child and folding her hands so that she looked younger, more innocent across from the experienced agent.
Morgan continued to watch from the back of the room, waiting for an appropriate moment to strike, “You know Regan, he was on your property. You were probably justified in your actions. I’m just curious if it was you, if you actually had the guts to do it yourself.” prodds Morgan, hoping to get under her skin.
“Well of course I did!” Shouts Regan standing up from her chair, and turning to face Morgan, she was in a rage.
“I don’t think so. I think that you talk about being the snake, when really you are the rabbit who the snake tangles and squeezes the life out of. You have no power.” Once again gaslighting Regan so she’ll talk.
“If I didn’t want to ruin my nails, I would have gouged out the eyes myself, but of course I had a servant do it. My husband and the butler held Gloucester by the arms as he screamed and writhed under their hands. He begged me not to do it, but alas how weak would I look if I let him go? I ordered the servant to take a spoon and remove his eyes.
Oh how he screamed. I laughed in his face as he begged for his life. Oh, I wasn’t going to kill him so fast, I wanted a show. Truth be told, I was a little bored that day and the gouging of his eyes was great entertainment. It was violent. It was enthralling. It was perfect. That is how you keep your power, by continuous shows of force so that no one questions you, ever.” Says Regan, sitting back in the chair and crossing her left leg over her right leg as she calms back down.
“Regan, you just confessed to attempted murder, but let me tell you something while you live out your days in an orange jumpsuit behind bars, remember that you were the one that stripped yourself of your power” Says Morgan, only two inches from her face.
As Morgan and Prentice turn to exit the room, another foundation-shaking crash of thunder is heard through the interrogation room and it drowns out Regan’s protests and shrieks. Morgan and Prentice send in a uniformed officer to restrain her as she beats her fists against the two way mirror, wailing to be let out.
When they get outside the room Hotch tells them all good work and that they should go home to get some rest. The team was resigned to the fact that they would never get all the answers to Lear's secrecy. At least now they knew that it was much more sinister than they once thought.
Reflection:
In the play, King Lear, Shakespeare was successful at showing how absolute power corrupts absolutely, and how power can lead to justify immoral acts. In doing so, Shakespeare created several characters through which we can see the sinister side of power. In Lear, in Act 1, Scene 1 we see how when Lear has a lot of power, he can carry out immoral acts such as sending Cordelia away when she disobeys him and threatening to kill his most loyal servant. Lear’s two greedy daughters, Goneril and Regan, are intended to represent how power can go to one’s head and can cause them to be greedy and ignore morality. Regan in particular is vain, ruthless, and cruel such that she enjoys using her power to inflict pain and humiliation on others with less power. This was demonstrated when she enjoyed Kent being in the stocks and when she ordered Gloucester’s eyes to be plucked out and then sent him to blindly feel his way to Dover.
Since King Lear is a play, there is no narrator, but to capture the omniscient effect of the audience who sees asides and character’s doing things which are not revealed to other characters until later in the play, I chose to use a third person, omniscient narrator. This also fits with the television show, ‘Criminal Minds’ because that show also features an omniscient perspective as most introductions to the episode show the unsub committing some sort of crime or muder.
Shakespeare uses several structural features that I try to recreate in my adaptation. For example, Shakespeare makes use of the prophetic fallacy to demonstrate how the weather matches Lear’s emotions and can act as a method to foreshadow future events. Here, in my adaptation, I also try to use prophetic fallacy to create so that the weather matches the mood in the interrogation room. The use of a storm in my piece, like Shakespeare, also acts to foreshadow future events. In my piece, the weather which begins when the interrogation starts helps to foreshadow Regan’s confession and arrest. In the play, Shakespeare uses the weather to help foreshadow the climax and tragic death of Lear. Shakespeare also makes use of prioritizing information as he wants to underscore the immorality of certain characters. This is done particularly when parts of Act 1, Scene 1 are recounted in laters acts and scenes to remind the audience of what happens. I think Shakespeare also prioritizes the immorality of characters like Regan by including lines which don’t necessarily advance the plot, but tell us a lot about her character. For example, while Goneril is the first to suggest that Gloucester have his eyes plucked out, Regan insists that the second eye should be plucked as well. This tells us that she is sadistic and likes to see others in pain. I have tried to prioritize this in my story by labelling Regan as a sociopath and the “brains” of the operation. I also tried to demonstrate this in her snotty way that she would approach the interrogation, as if she did nothing wrong.
Some of the language features that Shakespeare makes use of is a simile, exaggeration, repetition, and metaphors. Although Shakespeare was not good with time, I included facts and figures to try to draw importance to certain things, such as the lights flickering. I used a metaphor when I tried to compare Regan to a snake to show her personality. I used a simile when I compared her appearance and the way she smiled to a child to show how she can manipulate her appearance to be innocent. I used exaggeration when having Regan describe her issues with power and where Garcia says that the Lear’s own literally everything in Virginia. This was used to show that the Lears are wealthy. I use repetition in the “foundation-shaking” ability of the thunder to draw importance to the storm.
Shakespeare’s play can be considered a comment on power and morality as the characters who have power are corrupted to be immoral. I try to continue this message through my writing by having the ‘unsub’ in my “Criminal Minds” episode be a rich heiress who has recently inherited a lot of wealth.
Comentarios