Villainess Review: Angela Martin (Body of Proof)

I remember ABC's Body of Proof series, and I enjoyed binge-watching the entire show a few years back. The series starred Dana Delany as neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner Megan Hunt, whose efforts have resulted in several different killers (and other criminals) exposed and convicted. As the series established, Megan experienced tragedy at an early age: the sudden death of her father, David Hunt, from what was believed to be a suicide.

Now, while I didn't watch the show while it originally aired, I do remember the whole buzz surrounding the show's cancellation prior to the third season being completed. So a lot of issues would be left unsolved, but one thing that wouldn't be a cliffhanger was David Hunt's death, as the season-turned-series finale, "Daddy Issues," revealed that the elder Hunt was actually murdered, with his note appearing to be written under duress. Megan's investigation leads her to another decades-old murder, Lindsay Pratt, who was killed a day before David Hunt. It had been believed that Earl Brown, a convicted serial killer, murdered Pratt, but Earl had denied doing so.

The detective who worked on the Pratt case back then was Glenn Fitz, who voiced his assurance that Earl Brown killed Pratt. Megan voiced her doubts due to the fact that Pratt was killed in a different manner, but all of a sudden, Fitz is gunned down, along with a man named Arthur Wilcox, who was Fitz's partner. Megan looked to inform Tommy Sullivan about her discovery, but instead, she finds Angela Martin, who debuted as the new chief of the Philadelphia PD earlier in "Doubting Tommy." Megan later drove Angela to the medical examiner's office, and informed Angela about her entire discovery, prompting Angela to deliver these words of praise to Megan:

"Gotta hand it to you, Dr. Hunt. You just don't give up."

Pretty nice, isn't it? Doesn't end up that way. After Angela's praise, she follows up with this sinister-sounding statement:

"Unfortunately, that's also going to get you killed."

Angela's heel turn finishes with a close-up of a gun, used to hold Megan at gunpoint, and she orders Megan to drive to David Hunt's office. Once there, everything is revealed. It turns out that Lindsay Pratt was Angela's romantic rival, as she had dated Angela's former boyfriend. In a jealous rage, Angela killed Pratt with a chokehold, and colluded with Wilcox to set up Earl Brown in Pratt's murder. As for David Hunt, he was also killed by Angela, as David was Pratt's therapist, and had been suspicious about the nature of her death. Angela killed David and set it up as a suicide, and had spent 35 years covering up her actions. However, Megan's investigation put Angela right back to work as a villainess--stealing David's body and killing both Wilcox and Fitz.

Angela claimed to Megan that had been atoning for her actions, but Megan clearly didn't buy that, referring to Angela as a cold-blooded killer. Angela voiced her plan to tie up one final loose end, in the form of Megan, stating that she would kill her and portray her as being suicidal, just as she did with David. The villainess ended up meeting a fatal end, shot and killed by Trent Marsh.

Angela Martin debuted in "Doubting Tommy," appeared in the episodes "Disappearing Act" and "Dark City," and turned heel in the series finale, "Daddy Issues," which aired on May 28, 2013--18 days after the announcement of the show's abrupt cancellation. Lorraine Toussaint appeared as the evil Angela Martin during the final home stretch, and while she was portrayed as being dedicated to her job in the early episodes, the finale showed us the real Angela Martin: a ruthless and calculating villainess bent on covering up her evil past. Angela was very bloodthirsty in her quest as well, I truly think she relished not only in killing, but also in using whatever power she had to get away with it. Without question, Angela's heel turn was the absolute highlight of the finale, mainly her words to Megan. It started out a praise, only for Angela to make a transition to her villainous persona and speak ominously before taking out her gun. Absolutely masterful!

Lorraine Toussaint is absolutely iconic; I first learned about her when she co-starred with Annie Potts on the short-lived Lifetime series, Any Day Now, and I've seen her in so much after that. I really loved this role because it was rare for Toussaint, I don't think she's played the villainess a lot, but she really played this role very well, especially when it came to Angela's evil and deranged demeanor in the climax. I've been fortunate to have watched Toussaint on Rosewood (as the title character's mother), and she's largely known for playing Yvonne "Vee" Parker on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. Currently, Toussaint plays Viola "Vi" Marsette on the CBS series, The Equalizer.

One more thing that I can't help but point out. The show never states this, but Angela Martin is clearly based on Stephanie Lazarus, a real-life cold case murderess. Lazarus was an LAPD detective who murdered her romantic rival, Sherri Rasmussen, back in 1986, but wouldn't even be connected to that murder until 2009, thanks to DNA evidence. Lazarus was convicted in March of 2012, and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison. Angela Martin is actually one of two crime show villainesses based on Lazarus, and she was definitely the best one of the entire Body of Proof series.

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Check out Angela Martin's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!