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| “ | Why do you keep resisting me?! You awoke this gift in me. You of all people should understand that we have to do this mission together. | „ |
| ~ Finster trying to convince Barry Flynn of his "mission". |
Carl Finster is a major antagonist in the crime drama TV series Criminal Minds. He is a mentally ill and delusional vigilante who was born with a rare condition where he can literally see peoples' words as they speak, and the main antagonist of the Season 8 episode "Magnificent Light".
He is portrayed by Raphael Sbarge, who also portrayed Wayne Hankett in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Davis Scolfield in Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.
Biography[]
Carl Finster was born with a neurological condition known as synesthesia. The condition manifested itself as the ability to see peoples' words in colors. In both childhood and adulthood, Carl was very socially inept because of it and regarded as abnormal or not wired right. When he was ten, he had a dream that his condition was a superpower and he was a vigilante who murdered evil people along with a partner. The dream made Carl feel alive, however, because his condition made him feel like an outcast, he tried to hide it and even cover it up, wearing blinders, but nothing helped. As an adult, Carl eventually began to think the color of the words related to what type of person the speaker was, with red being evil, green being envious, orange being liars, and white being good.
One night while Carl was in a bar, he saw a man whose words were red and was in his own words "the epitome of evil". He tried to warn the police about the man, but they hung up on him. Six hours later a carjacker killed a mother and her baby. Hearing about it in the news, Carl was convinced that it was the man from the bar. However, it wasn't, and another criminal was captured and confessed to the murder. Despite this, Carl deluded himself into believing that it was the man from the bar, and that he could have saved the mother and baby, had he just killed the man himself.
At some point in his life, Carl got a job as an accountant at a bank. However, his condition caused him to judge the people over the phone and when he would see their words as red, he'd lose his temper with them. One of his co-workers filed a complaint against him and he was fired. Feeling like a loser, Carl contemplated suicide until he discovered a motivational speaker named Barry Flynn whose words encouraged him to use his condition to help others. Carl took this as to mean he should become what he was in the dream, a superhero who kills evil people. Sometime when attending a Barry Flynn seminar, Carl saw a man named Lincoln Bell whose words appeared as red, interacting with Barry. After the show, he followed the man home and slashed his throat, leaving red paint on the wall that said "Hear Your Evil, See Your Evil".
In "Magnificent Light"[]
Carl goes to another Barry Flynn seminar and finds an "evil" woman, Cynthia Strobl, interacting with Flynn. Afterwards, he follows her home and slashes her throat, leaving the same message on her wall.
He later kidnaps Flynn and holds him prisoner in his apartment, refusing to let him go until his hero "understands" him. He explains his condition and "mission" to Flynn; when Flynn asks when this "mission" will end, Carl replies that it never will.
Carl goes to his former workplace and gathers up all the names and contact information of the people who called him, determined to kill the "evil" ones. His former boss intercepts him to prevent a scene and tries to talk him out of the building, but Carl sees the man's words, and accuses him of being jealous before leaving.
Carl takes Flynn to the home of Janet Dodd, one of the "evil" customers, and breaks in after until her husband leaves; he then shoots her dead, over Flynn's desperate objections. He then leaves a new message behind: "Hear your red, see your red."
Meanwhile, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) investigates the murders, initially suspecting Flynn himself. When Flynn is kidnapped, however, they realize that killer is one of his fans, who has an erotomanic obsession with him. They profile the killer as a single, emotionally immature man in his late 30s or early 40s who has poor social skills who religiously attends Flynn's seminars. They theorize that he has trouble holding down a job, and that his obsession may have been triggered by getting fired; they then deduce that he killed his first two victims out of jealousy after seeing them interacting with Flynn. When the killer leaves behind the "see your red, hewar your red" message, Agent Spencer Reid realizes that he associates red with evil, and may suffer from synasthesia. Technical analyst Penelope Garcia cross-references recent firings in the area with the guest lists of Flynn's seminars, and finds Carl. The rest of the BAU talks with Carl's boss, who shows them Carl's color-coded logs of customer calls, and they realize that they have found the killer.
Flynn tries to convice Carl that he understands his mission so Carl will let him go, but Carl insists that he witness one more killing. They go to target Howard Jeffson's house, only to discover that Jeffson has moved and sold the house to Stephen Caldwell and his his wife and children. Caldwell tries to get rid of Carl by promising not to call the police, but Carl decides to kill him after seeing his words in orange, meaning he is lying. Flynn begs Carl not to kill them, but when Carl sees his words in red, he becomes convinced that Flynn is evil and stabs him. Fortunately, the BAU arrives in time to stop Carl from killing Flynn, with Agent Derek Morgan telling him that the first man he killed was not in fact the carjacker. Carl sees Morgan's words in white, and realizes what he has done. Stricken with remorse, he drops the knife, and allows the BAU to arrest him. He is then imprisoned for life.
Victims[]
- Lincoln Bell - Throat slashed, stabbed thirty times post-mortem.
- Cynthia Strobell - Throat slashed, stabbed thirty times post-mortem.
- Janet Dodd - Throat slashed.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Carl is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- James Homes, the American perpetrator of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting at a movie theater, similar in psychological illness, appearance, and background.
- Robert Liberty, a.k.a. “The Candlelight Killer”, an American mentally deranged serial killer who travel the country with accomplices, decorating murder scenes with candles and leaving messages scrawled on walls for police.
- Arthur Richard Jackson, the Scottish stalker and attempted murderer of American actress Theresa Saldana, with similar delusions of grandeur and M.O. of assault while targeting a public figure he was fixated on.
- John Hinckley, Jr, the attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan, which instead killed one of his aids, modeled off Taxi Driver, a movie staring Jodie Foster, who he stalked since college and wanted to impress.
- Mark David Chapman, the assassin of John Lennon, who he killed in New York City after a failed attempt to meet him in person.
- Douglas Breen, the main antagonist of the 1977 book and 1982 film adaptation The Fan, a serial killer and stalker of actress Sally Ross obsessed with impressing her, them taking his rage out on her.
- Travis Bickle, the protagonistic villain of Taxi Driver, a vigilante rampage killer on a citywide spree in New York City motivated by rescuing a sex worker from her pimp.
- He is the sixth villain in Criminal Minds to suffer from erotomania. The others being: Vincent Shyer, Maggie Lowe, Mike Hicks, Ben Bradstone, Bill Rogers, Diane Turner, Dana Seavers, and Kevin Peck
External Links[]
- Carl Finster on the Criminal Minds Wiki
