  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, 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. |
| “ | This is your room now. I'm keeping you. | „ |
| ~ Tommy after kidnapping Bahni Desai. |
Thomas "Tommy" Larson is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Target Rich". He is a mentally ill stalker who kidnaps the object of his obsession, a young, female college student, and brings her to live with him and his elderly, abusive father.
He was portrayed by Leif Stennart.
Early life[]
Tommy is the only child of Paul and Cheryl Larson. Paul, a violent, mean-spirited alcoholic, frequently beat his wife and son, to the point that the family was visited several times by Social Services. Each time, Cheryl covered for her husband and denied that he ever harmed her or Tommy. Eventually, Cheryl committed suicide, leaving Tommy alone with his father, with no one to protect him against Paul's rages.
As a teenager, Tommy was arrested several times on misdemeanor voyeurism charges; Paul always bailed him out of jail, only to beat him so severely that he had to be hospitalized. It was about this time that Tommy began to withdraw into a delusional - and increasingly violent - fantasy world, which only worsened when Paul suffered a heart attack and became dependent on Tommy as his caretaker.
As an adult, Tommy got a job as a deliveryman for a Chinese restaurant. After delivering to Bahni Desai, an attractive young college student, he instantly became obsessed with her, and developed an intricate fantasy in which he would bring her to stay with him and his father and they would live happily ever after.
In "Target Rich"[]
After stalking Bahni long enough to learn her routine, Tommy ambushes her in the parking garage of her apartment building, knocks her unconscious, and takes her back to his house, where Paul is asleep. He carries her to the attic and tries to place her in a trunk, only to wake her up. When she tries to escape, he pulls a knife on her and forces her into the trunk, stabbing it several times - each time narrowly missing her - when she refuses to be quiet.
Later that night, he lets her out of the trunk, puts a collar around her neck, and binds her to the ceiling. He turns on his cell phone, with which he directs a camera he has attached to the ceiling, and tells her he is going to watch her every move. She tries to destroy it, but he stops her. That night, Tommy brings Paul his dinner, but accidentally spills his drink. Enraged, Paul knocks the plate out of his son's hands, and demands that he clean up the mess. He then goes the attic to bring Bahni some food, which she recognizes as being from the Chinese restaurant where she frequently orders takeout. Realizing that he must work there, she asks him how long he has been watching her; replies that he has watched her long enough to know he wants her.
Meanwhile, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) becomes aware of Bahni's kidnapping after investigative journalist Joy Struthers, daughter of BAU Supervisory Agent David Rossi, comes to her father for help in finding her, having been writing a story about her kidnapping and those of several other female college students in the area. The BAU initially suspects Sam Burnett, a cab driver seen following Bahni on the night of her disappearance, but he says that he had only been concerned about her because she was drunk, and had driven away after seeing a man he assumed was her boyfriend walking with her. His cab's GPS confirms his alibi, and the BAU lets him go.
Struthers is convinced that Burnett knows something about Bahni's kidnapping, however, and calls his cab service so she can ask him questions. When she starts asking him about Bahni after he picks her up, however, he becomes violent and shoves her against a wall. When Struthers mentions another missing girl, Kathy Miller, he alludes to having killed her and three other girls Struthers has been writing about. Fortunately, Rossi and the rest of the BAU arrive before Burnett can hurt Struthers, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia having tracked her cell phone after Rossi started worrying about her. Struthers reveals that she recorded Burnett's confession with her phone as the BAU arrests him.
Burnett denies kidnapping Bahni, but describes the man he saw walking away with her in such familiar terms that Rossi suspects that he knows him. Profiling the kidnapper as someone who went to school with Burnett with a history of petty crimes involving voyeurism, he tells Garcia to cross-check student records with criminal records, and she finds Larson.
Bahni devises an escape plan; she puts spice from her food into her drink, shakes it up, and then throws it in Tommy's face. She then tackles him to the ground, and the noise provokes Paul to come into the room to find out what is going on. He recognizes Bahni from TV news coverage of her kidnapping, and hits Tommy in the face, berating him for what he has done. When Bahni thanks Paul for saving her, however, he ignores her and tells Tommy that they have to get rid of her. He then tries to strangle her, knocking Tommy to the side and destroying the camera when he tries to stop him. Tommy, having finally had enough of his father's cruelty, charges at him and strangles him to death with his own cane, while screaming, "How's this for being a man?"
At that moment, the BAU charge in, having found the house thanks to Garcia. They arrest Tommy, who appears to be in shock after killing his father. Tommy asks Rossi of his father is really gone as the agent puts him in handcuffs, prompting a perplexed Rossi to ask if he knows what he has done. Tommy replies that he does, and surrenders quietly. He is then imprisoned for kidnapping and murder.
Trivia[]
- Tommy is inspired by multiple real-life and fictional criminals:
- Fusako Sano, a Japanese kidnapper similarly culpable of confining a girl in an attic space and terrorizing her into compliance, albeit for nine years until she was rescued.
- Freddie Clegg, the main antagonist of the novel The Collector and the Academy Award-nominated film adaptation.
- Kent Kingsley, the secondary antagonist of the slasher film The Toolbox Murders, the son of serial killer Vance Kingsley, who Kent kills to rape the teenage girl Vance took captive. The girl then killed Kent to break herself free. The film is reportedly inspired by a series of murders in Minnesota.
External links[]
- Tommy Larson on the Criminal Minds Wiki
