Villainess Review: Anna Mill (Law & Order: SVU)

"Caretaker," a twentieth season episode of Law & Order: SVU, began with a grisly scene, as Julian Mill and his daughter Rachel were both found stabbed to death. Also stabbed was Charlie Mill, the younger offspring, who clung to life before fatally succumbing to his injuries. Anna Mill, Julian's wife and the mother of Rachel and Charlie, was interviewed by Olivia Benson and Amanda Rollins about the deaths, with Anna reacting with shock and horror over the loss of her husband and children. Regarding suspects, the family's nanny, Delores Alverez, was one, though Anna spoke fondly of Delores when asked about her. However, Anna later changed her tune and voiced her regret over hiring Delores, as Anna not only believed that Delores and Julian were having an affair, she also believed that Delores could be the killer.

As the episode progressed, however, we learned that Anna (a lawyer) is a bit of a criminal, as she was running a Ponzi scheme. It wasn't enough to officially label Anna as a killer, but a pair of Anna's tennis shoes with Rachel's blood on them? That would definitely do it. Olivia and Fin Tutuola grilled Anna and presented the shoes to her, with Anna claiming that she wears those shoes to work, but after seeing Rachel's blood on the right shoe, Anna broke down and eventually confessed to killing her husband and her children, claiming that they were all better off without her.

As it turned out, Anna was actually facing jail time due to her scheme, and she decided to kill her family due to her twisted belief that they were suffering and would continue to do so without her in their lives. The episode revealed that Anna stabbed Julian a dozen times, Rachel three times, and Charlie twice, with the brutal attacks committed while all of Anna's victims slept. She even allowed Delores to be accused of the murders, and speaking of Delores, she revealed to Olivia that Anna kissed her and said goodbye to her that night prior to the murders. Despite this, Anna claimed that she wasn't herself and was outside her body when she killed her family, and even blamed her actions on trying to be a woman who could have it all and failing to do so.

Despite the indication of premeditation, Anna faced second-degree murder charges, but in the end, Anna was only convicted of killing Julian. Olivia theorized that the jury refused to believe that a sane woman could kill her children in the manner that she did, but as she voiced her theory to Peter Stone, she received another call that revealed that Anna committed suicide in her jail cell, doing so by hanging herself.

"Caretaker" was the seventh episode of SVU's twentieth season, and aired on November 1, 2018. I remember seeing the promo for this prior to the airdate and seeing Sasha Alexander in it, and I just had to watch. Alexander is known for playing Caitlin Todd during the early years of NCIS, and spent seven seasons as Dr. Maura Isles on TNT's hit series, Rizzoli and Isles, co-starring alongside L&O franchise alum Angie Harmon. I was also hoping that Alexander would be the episode's villainess, and my hopes were answered, as she played a twisted and immensely delusional villainess in Anna Mill.

Anna Mill was a woman who truly believed--in her mind--that she did everything for her family. At some point prior to her crimes, that might have been true, emphasis on "might." What was saw after Anna's confession was a wave of delusion and, IMO, arrogance, as she believed that she was the only person who could keep her family afloat, and blamed the pressures of trying to have it all for actually murdering her husband and children. In all regards, Alexander played Anna's emotions perfectly, and did a wonderful job acting out Anna's stress, heartbreak, and insanity throughout the episode.

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