  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | I guess it's true what they say, the house always wins. | „ |
| ~ Curtis Banks' most famous line. |
Curtis Banks is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Snake Eyes". He is a serial killer and gambling addict who commits murder because he believes it increases his luck at the tables.
He was portrayed by Dean Cain, who also portrayed Mike Jergens in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Curtis Knox in Smallville, Marc Shelley in God's Not Dead and Ted Stein in The Dog Who Saved... franchise.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Banks' father was a gambling addict who ultimately ran out on his family and drank himself to death in Las Vegas. As an adult, Banks follows in his father's footsteps as a problem gambler, losing so much money that the bank forecloses on his mortgage. He also had a failed plumbing business with his best friend (and fellow gambling addict) Eddie Langdon. His gambling also takes a toll on his marriage to his wife, Teri, who bails him out financially time and time again, always swayed by his promises to win enough money take her on a romantic vacation to Tahiti, and then quit gambling for good.
Banks loses his job after punching his boss. On his way to a job interview, he buys a winning lottery ticket, and takes it as a sign; he goes on his biggest gambling binge yet, foregoing sleep for two days so he can gamble all hours in Atlantic City. He plans to win fifty thousand to buy in to a million dollar poker tournament, and finances it by borrowing money from loan shark Danny Savino. After losing the funds he borrowed from Savino, Banks snaps and beats the mobster him to death, compulsively leaving eight dollar bills and the eight of hearts (eight being his lucky number) around the corpse.
Banks then goes back to the tables as though nothing happened, and hits a winning streak; from this, he develops the delusion that killing brings him good luck.
"Snake Eyes"[]
In the middle of Banks' gambling binge, Teri tracks him down at a casino and begs him to come home and seek help for his addiction. When Banks insists that his gambling "system" is paying off, Teri finally sees that he will never change, and files for divorce. Accordingly, Banks' lucky streak fizzles out, and he once again loses all his money.
Dejected, Banks tries to make himself feel better by asking out an escort who had flirted with him during his hot streak; she now sees him as a loser, however, and coldly rebuffs his advances. Enraged, Banks beats her head in against her car window, and leaves his signature eight dollar bills and the eight of diamonds around her body. Once again, his luck improves after killing someone, and he starts winning again.
In an effort to stay on his winning streak, he bought a gun on the street and kills a gas station attendant, and leaves behind eight dollar bills and the eight of clubs. This time, however, killing does not improve his luck, and he ends up leaving Atlantic City flat broke. Langdon picks him up and tries to cheer him up, unwittingly becoming Banks' next target as his delusion evolves.
He now believes that he can only improve his luck by killing those close to him, and so reluctantly shoots Langdon dead after giving him an expensive watch he had bought during his hot streak. This time, he leaves behind two eight cards along with his usual eight dollar bills, believing it will "boost" his luck. He also kills a high roller and steals fifty thousand dollars the man had on his person to buy into the poker tournament.
During the game, Banks is irritated by a strange player who tries to touch his lucky black 8-ball key chain, but he is unaware that the strange man is FBI agent Spencer Reid of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), who with his fellow agents has been investigating Banks' murders and had in fact put a tracking device on the keychain. When the rest of the BAU bursts into the casino to arrest Banks, he panics and runs, killing one of the casino's chefs on his way out and disguising himself in the man's jacket.
Banks drives to his sister-in-law's house, where Teri has been staying since leaving him, and tries to talk her into coming back. As she refuses, the BAU shows up with guns drawn, so he takes both women hostage. Agent David Rossi realizes that Banks is stalling until 8:00 to kill Teri and himself, so he goes into the house and acts as hostage negotiator, persuading Banks to let his sister-in-law go and telling him that his father, not Teri, is responsible for what he has become. While listening to Rossi, Banks sees his reflection in the mirror and realizes what he is doing. He lets Teri go, and turns the gun on himself, shooting himself through the mouth.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Banks is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Roberto Spinetti, a.k.a. "The 7.65 Caliber Killer", an Italian-Swiss serial killer of women prostitution, who were robbed and mostly shot to feed his unmanageable gambling habit. He blamed a fictitious loan shark for the murders, but the defense didn’t hold up at his trial.
- Maghfoor Mansoor, a Pakistani-American spree offender with a compulsive gambling problem that turned into an escalating nationwide crime spree, ending with Mansoor being shot by police in New York.
- Jean-Claude Romand, a French spree killer and family annihilator responsible for conning everyone in his life and embezzling from their funds, before he systematically killed his family once he was spiraling out of control, attempting and failing to kill himself at the end.
- Peter Woodcock, a Canadian teenage serial killer of children, who also left miscellaneous items at seems with the same count each time (ten, instead of eight like Banks).
External Links[]
- Curtis Banks on the Criminal Minds Wiki
