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| “ | What we have is a bond that you know nothing about. But I'll tell you about it. If you ask permission. | „ |
| ~ Malcolm taunting Jareau and Prentiss. |
Malcolm Ford is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "The Company". He is a member of an extensive sadomasochistic sex slavery ring and the abductor of Derek Morgan's cousin Cindi.
He was portrayed by Chad L. Coleman, who also played Tobias Church in Arrow and Bruno Mannheim in Superman & Lois.
Biography[]
Malcolm was born on 19 June 1967 and had a lengthy criminal record for stalking and harassing several women. At some point in 2004 he met Cindi Burns at the local church and began stalking her. The stalking terrified Cindi to the point that she asked her cousin, FBI profiler Derek Morgan, to make a profile of the stalker so he could be tracked down. Eventually Cindi moved to Charleston to try and escape, but was followed by both Malcolm and fellow churchgoer John Hitchens, who was also stalking her. Malcolm abducted Cindi before murdering Hitchens and framing his death as a suicide.
Over the following eight years Malcolm psychologically abused Cindi and broke her down into believing that a group named "the Company" would kill her and her whole family if she disobeyed him. Eventually he forced her to sign a slave contract submitting to his every demand. This allowed Malcolm to torture and sexually abuse her until she was eventually impregnated and gave birth to Malcolm's son Anthony. Anthony was then placed in a cabin with the children of other members of the ring, giving Malcolm further leverage over Cindi. If she behaved then she would be allowed to see Anthony at Christmas; otherwise he would be killed by the Company.
The Company[]
Malcolm is seen at the beginning of the episode driving a truck in Chicago with Cindi as the passenger. Coincidentally Cindi's cousin Desiree Morgan is in the car next to his and recognises Cindi, calling out her name. Malcolm panics and drives away, escaping when Desiree gets into a car accident after running a red light to pursue him. However, Desiree survives and tells Morgan that she saw Cindi. This causes problems for Morgan, as he had previously told his family that Cindi was killed by Blake Wells.
Malcolm makes plans to go into hiding in Canada, attempting to burn the slave contract in order to cover his tracks. Malcolm then drives Cindi to the house of the Maguires, a couple who are also members of the ring. Malcolm ignores Cindi asking him why they aren't going to the cabin, instead hiding his car and discussing how to get to Canada with Mr. Maguire while Mrs. Maguire takes Cindi down to her "bedroom", which is filled with torture devices, Mr. Maguire gives Malcolm the number of a guy who can get him to Toronto that night.
The following night Malcolm attempts to drive to the meeting point but stops so Cindi can pick up his dinner. She begins to cry due to not being allowed to see Anthony until Malcolm brutally chokes her with her seatbelt to shut her up. Cindi goes into the store, but steals Malcolm's gun while he's waiting for his partner to show up. Malcolm figures out she took his gun and follows her in, threatening to have her son killed if she doesn't give it back. Cindi is forced to submit and leaves with Malcolm, but in the process shoplifts a spaghetti package to set the alarm off. The store clerk gets suspicious when Malcolm attempts to force Cindi to leave and hastily pays him before fleeing in his car.
After the police are called, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, who Morgan works for, discover that Cindi has been spotted at the store and attempt to track down Malcolm's car. Morgan and David Rossi successfully pull Malcolm over and arrest him, only to find that Cindi isn't with him. He immediately realized Morgan was Cindi's cousin, taking time to gloat at the latter's anger. Back at the station Malcolm is interrogated by J.J. Jareau and Emily Prentiss, who attempt to provoke him into slipping up by talking about their married lives and ignoring him. They also inform him that the gun used in John Hitchens's murder was traced back to him, but he simply claims the gun was stolen and informs them they have no evidence against him before mocking J.J. about her relationships, telling her that he'll tell her about his and Cindi's "secret" if she asks permission. Morgan then attempts to interrogate him about Cindi, but he manipulates him by saying that "You don't know the love she had for me", knowing that Morgan will immediately assume he killed her. As Morgan angrily screams at him Malcolm mockingly asks him the time, knowing it's 10:30 and Cindi has called a lawyer. Cindi then arrives with the lawyer, fellow ring member Larry Stiles, forcing the BAU to release Malcolm.
Malcolm agrees to take Cindi to the cabin to see Anthony as a reward for helping him. However, before they can leave with Anthony the BAU arrive, having found out the truth about the ring and the cabin's location by interrogating Larry. Malcolm attempts to flee into the woods but is chased by Morgan. Malcolm ambushes Morgan and attempts to strangle him with his belt but is easily beaten down and pinned to the ground by him. A vengeful Cindi takes the opportunity to grab Morgan's gun and confronts them. She reveals she knew Malcolm was lying the whole time and she stayed loyal to save her son and tells her cousin to move aside so she could shoot Malcolm. She is talked down by Morgan. While Morgan's back is turned, Malcolm attempts to run away but is easily cut off and arrested by J.J. and Prentiss. As Malcolm is led away, J.J. mockingly asks him "You want to tell me about that secret now?". It's assumed that the other ring members are arrested afterwards.
With Malcolm's incarceration, Cindi and Anthony were liberated and went to reunite with their family and move in with Cindi's mother Yvonne Burns.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Malcolm is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Cameron Hooker, responsible for the kidnapping of Colleen Stan, involving holding her captive with his wife Janice and raping her while forcing her to sign a slavery contract, using the threat of an all-powerful "Company" to combat her resistance. However, Malcolm actually had the power to carry out his threats whilst Hooker made the whole thing up. Also, while Malcolm killed a competing stalker, Cameron killed another women he struggled to keep captive and rape.
- Don Nichols, the kidnapper and rapist of biathlete Kari Swenson, whose friend was murdered by Nichols and his son Dan when her friend tried to rescue her.
- Anthony Cox, the kidnapper of Yoko Ono’s daughter Kyoko, renaming her and hiding her with the assistance of the now disbanded cult The Living Word Fellowship.
External Links[]
- Malcolm Ford on the Criminal Minds Wiki
