Sasha Bruder

Sasha Bruder is the main protagonist villainess from the 2020 Lifetime film, Abducted on Air.

She was played by Kim Shaw.

Backstory/Staged Abduction
Sasha Bruder is a reporter for Cable 4 News in Cleveland, but she longed to further her career and report on bigger stories. At some point, Sasha turned heel by collaborating with her married lover and former professor, Aidan Ferguson, to stage her abduction. The kidnapping took place at the studio in the film's early scenes, with a disguised Aidan taking Sasha to an undisclosed area.

The ruse was quickly revealed when Aidan removed his disguise and romantically embraced Sasha, who expressed joy over their scheme working. The plan was to not only get bigger stories for Sasha, it would also result in Aidan writing a best-selling novel based on Sasha's abduction. The scheme was working; Sasha was becoming the story and gaining massive attention, but once the spotlight started to fade, the villainess devised another plan to further her goals.

Framing Alex Peterson
Sasha confided in her co-worker (and ex-lover) Alex Peterson regarding her ordeal, with Alex inviting Sasha to stay at her place. After accepting the invitation, the evil Sasha drugged Alex's drink, and once Alex felt the effects, she proceeded with her plan to frame Alex as her stalker/kidnapper. The villainess planted photos of herself in Alex's drawer, and later cut her own hand so she could plant her blood on her clothes, doing so with a glove on her right hand to avoid leaving her prints.

As a result, Alex became a victim of Sasha's heel persona, as he ended up arrested and charged with Sasha's abduction, and Sasha became the center attention again. Her spotlight reached the point where she was interviewed exclusively by colleague and veteran reporter Diane Baldwin, which saw Sasha continue portraying herself as a victim of an obsessed Alex. Once Sasha started getting bigger stories over Diane, she became the subject of suspicion from Diane, who continuously grilled her over her abduction. Diane's visit with Sasha's father angered the villainess, leading to Sasha confronting Diane at her home, only for Diane to voice her suspicions to Sasha in response to her outrage.

Murderous Attempts
Later in the film, Diane is reported missing, with Sasha reporting on her disappearance and stating that a home invasion was suspected, while Aidan watched and believed that Sasha had somehow attacked or even killed Diane to further her ambitions. Sasha's glee over her report while meeting with Aidan increased his suspicions, but as the film progressed, the villainess was being targeted by someone who had known about her scheme. That and being confronted by Aidan's wife, Jocelyn, put Sasha in a panic, leading to Sasha accusing Aidan of telling Jocelyn everything about their affair and scheme, which Aidan denied.

Sasha met with Aidan again in the film's climax, coming after she met with Aidan's past lover/student, Lily. It was there that she confirmed what Jocelyn had told Aiden:  she had a deal with a different author, leaving Aidan upset that his lover didn't meet her end of their bargain. The callous villainess continued to lash out at Aidan before taking out her gun and pointing it at her lover/co-conspirator, adding that she would report his previous affair on TV, after which she unleashed her gun and pointed it at Aidan. Sasha boasted that she would kill Aidan and Jocelyn and report the deaths on TV as a murder-suicide committed by the latter, and later stated that she wouldn't let Aidan stop her from her ambitions. The villainess shot Aidan and went over to the Ferguson house and called for Jocelyn, only to be interrupted by a call from her boss, Gavin.

Defeat and Arrest
Gavin informed Sasha that Alex was out of prison and that she needed to report the story; however, while reporting about Alex's release, she was shocked to discover that the report included the reveal that Sasha herself framed him. Sasha ordered the director to cut, only for Gavin (having found out the truth about Sasha) to give the order to continue rolling. While calling Gavin, Sasha was shocked to see not only Diane, but Aidan as well, as Diane staged her own abduction to go undercover to catch Sasha. Diane also revealed that she witnessed Sasha attempting to kill Aidan, while also informing the villainess that she loaded Sasha's gun with bullets. Under Diane's order, Sasha was handcuffed and arrested, with the deranged villainess shouting that she was the victim. The film's final scenes showed Sasha being interrogated and informed that Aidan cut a deal; in response, Sasha demanded that the camera be adjusted to the right for a better angle and to be counted down, after which she treated the interrogation like a news report--adding that she was giving her "exclusive story."