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| “ | See how little pressure it takes to kill a man? | „ |
| ~ Fremont as he "instructs" Mala to kill their latest victim. |
Thierry Gervais, also known by his alias of Bernard Fremont, is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Slither". He is a con artist and serial killer who swindles and murders wealthy people in order to live in luxury. He is also the former lover and "mentor" of criminal mastermind Nicole Wallace and NYPD Detective Robert Goren's arch-nemesis.
He was portrayed by British actor Michael York, who also portrayed Tybalt in the 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Count Vertigo and Montague Kane in Batman: The Animated Series, Ares in Justice League Unlimited, Kanto in Superman: The Animated Series, and Pterano in the Land Before Time franchise.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Fremont was born in France, but grew up in a slum in Thailand, where he learned to survive as a con artist and thief. He would employ his charm and air of high-class sophistication to trick wealthy people into letting him join their social circles, then kill them and steal their money and possessions.
In 1988, he met a young woman named Nicole Wallace and made her his lover and "protégé", having her seduce wealthy men so he could rob and murder them. He also ensnared heiress Hilary Marsden, who became his most ardent disciple and Wallace's rival for his affections. Insanely jealous, Marsden planted passports belonging to their victims in Fremont and Wallace's luggage, and they were arrested at Bangkok Airport when security checked their bags. Wallace was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Fremont was sentenced to only eight after informing on her.
Years after being released from prison, Fremont relocated to New York City and accumulated a harem of young, impressionable women who served as his accomplices. Led by Fremont, they would insinuate themselves into the lives of wealthy people, kill them, and steal their money and possessions. Fremont continually discarded and replaced many of these women, except for Marsden, who remained his most loyal follower. Nevertheless, he remained obsessed with Wallace, whom he regarded as his "greatest creation".
"Slither"[]
In 2005, Fremont resurfaces as the brains behind a robbery ring targeting wealthy people, aided by Marsden, a young woman named Sammie and a gay man named Marcel. Marsden poses as a real estate agent to obtain information on the targeted houses, while Fremont, Sammie, and Marcel pose as party planners to drug and kill their victims and ransack their residences.
Fremont meets a screenwriter named Wes Banyon and asks him to write a screenplay about his life. Banyon promises to portray Fremont's life as a "hero's journey" in order to be invited to his parties and have sex with Sammie and Marsden, but in the screenplay he characterizes Fremont as what he really is - a psychopathic petty criminal whose charm is paper-thin and whose sexual prowess is in decline. When he reads the screenplay, Fremont flies into a rage and orders Hilary, Sammie and Marcel to kill Banyon. Their latest marks, Russell and Monica Corbett, discover Banyon's severed head during a party in Banyon's loft, so Fremont orders Marsden to kill them. Marsden overdoses them with heroin; Russell dies, but Monica survives.
Detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames of the NYPD's Major Case Squad investigate Russell's murder and discover Marsden's and Fremont's involvement. Goren also learns of Fremont's history with Wallace, who has since become his archnemesis. They detain and interrogate Fremont and Marsden, but they are released thanks to a lawyer hired by Marsden's sister Mala, whom Fremont is secretly grooming to be Marsden's replacement. He manipulates Mala into strangling Marcel, whom he blames for his and Marsden's arrest.
Goren tries to get to Fremont by telling Marsden about his involvement with her sister, but Marsden remains devoted to him and refuses to talk. Nevertheless, Goren manipulates Fremont into believing that she informed on him, tricking him into confessing. He is taken into custody, but Mala bails him out. Moments later, however, Fremont is fatally poisoned, offscreen, by an unidentified woman, who then disappears. Goren believes that the mystery woman is none other than Wallace, and that she murdered Fremont as revenge for turning her into a criminal.
Trivia[]
- Fremont is primarily inspired by Adam Worth, a.k.a. "The Napoleon of Crime", a career criminal specializing in white-collar crimes with his personal gang of accomplices, and who was the inspiration for Professor Moriarty, the main antagonist of the late Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.
- Fremont's crimes are derived from French-Indian serial killer Charles Sobhraj, a.k.a."The Serpent". Sobhraj killed tourists and hippies on the Eurasian "Hippie Trail" with his accomplices to rob them, as well as became a national celebrity when returning to France after he got away from a legal technicality, until he was extradited and imprisoned for good.
- Fremont is also inspired by Giacomo Casanova, an Italian globetrotter and womanizer who wrote his own autobiography.
External Links[]
- Bernard Fremont on the Law & Order Wiki
