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| “ | We gotta get rid of her. | „ |
| ~ Paul after finding Bahni Desai being held captive in his attic. |
Paul Larson is a major antagonist in the Criminal Minds episode "Target Rich" He is the abusive father of Tom Larson, who is made to be his caretaker after Paul suffers a major heart attack, and is largely responsible for his son's disturbed mental state. He later attempts to murder Bahni Desai, the college student his son kidnapped and held captive in his attic, at an effort to hide his crime.
He was portrayed by Robert L. Hughes.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Paul Larson was the abusive, alcoholic father of Tom Larson and the husband of Cheryl Larson. Paul frequently beat the both of them, which resulted in social services being called multiple times to their home. Cheryl would always cover for her husband each time, which led to the abuse intensifying to the point that Tom had to be hospitalised several times due to the severity of the beatings. Cheryl eventually committed suicide, leaving Tom alone to deal with his father.
Paul eventually suffered a heart attack, which required him to have a caretaker. Tom took up this role, and already severely disturbed by the time had to become his father's caregiver, he finally snapped and abducted Bahni Desai, a college student who he frequently delivered to during his job as a Chinese food deliveryman.
Target Rich[]
Paul is first seen asleep in front of the television set when Tom walks in the door holding an unconsious Bahni Desai. While Tom attempts to descend the stairs, they creak slightly causing Paul to wake up and ask if he is there. However, when he doesn't get a reply he goes back to sleep. Later in the day, when Tom is setting up his leash for Bahni, Paul becomes angry when he makes too much noise and asks what he is doing up there. He then goes to the stairs and demands food. When Tom finshes and makes him some, he is distracted by the TV showing a report on Bahni's abduction and accidentally spills a drink that he had opened for Paul. Enraged, Paul knocks over the TV table of food he was eating from and orders Tom to clean up the mess.
When Bahni attempts to escape by throwing spices into Tom's face, Paul is alerted by the noise this creates and goes upstairs to find Tom and Bahni in the attic. Paul recognises Bahni from the news and realizes Tom is the one who abducted her. While Bahni is initally relieved at Paul's arrival, this quickly changes when Paul says that they have to "get rid of her" in order to cover up his son's crime. When Tom attempts to stop him, Paul knocks him to the ground, destroys his camera he used to monitor Bahni, and attempts to strangle her to death. However, Tom gets up and begins strangling his father with his cane, culminating with him breaking his neck with it and tossing his limp body to the ground. The BAU arrives minutes after Paul's death and arrests Tom and frees Bahni.
External Links[]
- Paul Larson on the Criminal Minds Wiki
Trivia[]
- Paul bears a striking resemblence to Glen Whitehouse, the main antagonist of the 1997 drama film Affliction. Both were abusive to their families, had serious drinking problems (though with Paul it is mostly implied), and both end up being killed by their adult sons when they finally get fed up with their abuse.
