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| “ | Why me? Why him? Why couldn't I be the perfect mom and have the perfect kids like all the other moms? Why? I DESERVE THAT! | „ |
| ~ Carla Hines revealing the depths of her narcissism. |
Carla Hines is the overarching antagonist of the two-part Criminal Minds episode "The Inspiration/The Inspired". She is a narcissist who manipulates her son, Jesse Gentry, into trying to kill his twin brother, Wallace Hines, because she sees the latter as an obstacle to her fantasy of the "perfect family".
She was portrayed by Camryn Manheim.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Carla is a narcissist whose entire self-image revolves around a fantasy of being the "perfect mom" with "perfect kids".
She had a relationship in college with a man named Bill Robbins that resulted in pregnancy. She was overjoyed at first, but when she unexpectedly gave birth to twin boys, Wallace and Jesse, she quickly found the pressure and responsibility of taking care of two children too much to bear, especially after Robbins descended into full-blown paranoid schizophrenia and drifted away from his new family.
Eventually, she decided to give up one of the boys for adoption. She chose to keep Wallace because she felt he loved her more, while she put Jesse up for adoption through her church. Her lawyer, Mark Anderson, handled the adoption, and years later gave Jesse a job as a paralegal at his law firm.
Wallace, meanwhile, proved to be a disappointment to Carla by developing hallucinations and paranoid delusions like his father's, and getting in trouble with the law when he stalked his ex-girlfriend Heather Clarke in high school. Carla also believed, correctly, that Wallace secretly resented and even hated her. This wounded her fragile ego so much that she decided he had to die.
She found Jesse through Anderson and reached out to him, pleased to discover that he had grown up to be successful and well-liked. She also sensed in him a ruthlessness and lack of empathy much like her own, and so came to believe that he was the son she should have kept, and the one who could help her get rid of Wallace. She asked Jesse to kill his brother, and Jesse agreed; unbeknownst to Carla, however, Jesse was secretly planning to kill her, too, having always resented her for giving him away. What neither of them knew, however, is that Wallace had become a serial killer of women who reminded him of Heather and was wanted by the FBI.
"The Inspiration"[]
Carla first appears when she goes to visit Wallace to ask him if he had anything to do with Heather's disappearance, which she learned of from TV news. Wallace denies any responsibility, even though he did in fact murder her. He then hallucinates that Carla vomits up a tooth, just as his other victims had when he forced them to ingest pieces of Heather's head; terrified, he slams the door on her.
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), which is investigating Wallace's murders, searches Carla's house, and Agent Aaron Hotchner questions her about Wallace's whereabouts when she comes home from work during the search. Alarmed, Carla asks what Wallace has done.
"The Inspired"[]
After the BAU mistakenly arrests Jesse for Wallace's murders, Carla destroys everything that could connect her to Bill, fearing that her plans could be exposed if her sons' parentage became public knowledge. She then goes to a train station to meet with Jesse, but she finds the BAU waiting for her instead.
They take her in for questioning, and Hotchner asks her about giving her sons up for adoption, gaining her sympathy by talking about the challenges he faces being a single parent to his young son, Jack. Carla then laments that she feels cheated to have a son like Wallace and insists that she deserves to have perfect children "like all the other moms". Hotchner - who, unlike Carla, is an unconditionally loving parent - hides his contempt for her so he can find out who her sons' father is. She refuses to tell him, however, so he is forced to let her go.
Carla later meets up with Wallace and Jesse at the church where she gave Jesse up for adoption. She tricks Wallace into believing that the three of them are going on the run together so as to lure him in for Jesse to kill, thus fulfilling her fantasy of getting rid of Wallace and having the "perfect son" in Jesse. She is unaware that Wallace and Jesse have started killing together, and that Jesse wants to get rid of her so he and Wallace can be "partners in murder".
Carla embraces Wallace one last time and tells Jesse to "do it fast". Much to her surprise, however, Jesse turns on her and puts a meat cleaver to her throat. Wallace, who still loves his mother in spite of everything she has done, pulls a gun on Jesse and threatens to kill him if he doesn't let her go. Jesse reveals Carla's plan to kill Wallace, who nevertheless tries to save his mother, leading to a struggle between the brothers in which Wallace shoots and kills Jesse.
Carla, however, believes that Jesse killed Wallace, unable to tell the difference between her own children. When the BAU bursts in moments later and arrests them, having deduced Carla and Jesse's plan, Carla insists that Wallace tried to kill her and Jesse, and that Jesse was merely defending himself and her. She is surprised, however, to find that they have brought Bill with them, who identifies Wallace, despite not having seen him in years. As the BAU takes Carla and Wallace into custody, she shakes her head at her son in disgust as he begs her to help him.
External links[]
- Carla Hines on the Criminal Minds Wiki
