Villainess Review: Brooke and Elaina Cooper (Tracking a Killer)

This weekend's wave of Lifetime movies began with the anticipated Tracking a Killer (originally known as Fatal Frenemies), which centers on Haley Longford and her quest to show out in her school's track meet. Her teammates consists of friends Abby Harris and Elaina Cooper, though their race ends in a heated confrontation between Abby and Haley, with the latter being revealed as having issues with anger. Later in the film, Abby is found dead inside the girls' locker room; a shocking death which has been later ruled as a homicide.

Haley's past anger issues and her recent confrontation made her suspect #1, and the film sees Brooke Cooper, Elaina's mother, comfort Michelle Longford (Haley's mother) regarding Abby and the suspicion towards Haley--who was placed under house arrest. Another possible suspect included Gina Jones, one of the track coaches, as many believed that she was in an illicit relationship with Dylan, one of the students. However, Gina ends up dead as well--bludgeoned to death with a shotput ball. Regarding the rumors, Dylan later revealed that Gina was actually his birth mother, not his lover as everyone assumed.

Haley ended up suspected in that killing as well, as Haley's DNA was on Gina's fingernails, though it was revealed that Gina confronted Haley after catching her jogging late at night. However, a video of Haley's outburst from weeks prior made things even harder, but Brooke and Elaina continued their support, until Haley turned up missing, as Michelle's visit to the Cooper house saw Brooke lambasted Haley and flat out accuse her of killing Abby, adding that she was dangerous and had anger problems, with Elaina at her mother's side. Michelle left upset over this betrayal, but returned to the house, where Brooke left and went to her shed...where she had Haley held captive.

So Brooke was behind Haley's abduction, and she later informed Haley that she was protecting Elaina, as she killed Abby. Brooke's plan was to take Haley to the track, record her confessing to Abby and Gina's murders, and then Brooke would stage Haley's suicide. Michelle's attempt to rescue her daughter resulted in her getting knocked out and captured by Brooke, who informed the entering Elaina that she was "cleaning up another mess." Elaina later revealed that she killed Abby, adding that Abby caught her with Haley's shoes and thought she was going to steal them, leading to a confrontation that ended with Elaina bludgeoning Abby with one of the shoes.

As for Gina's murder, that was committed by Brooke, as Gina met with Brooke to inform her that she saw Elaina with the shoes, leading to Brooke killing Gina and enlisting Elaina to plant the shoes in Haley's room to frame her. Elaina was on the receiving end of immense verbal lashing from Brooke, who ended up fighting with Michelle after she escaped her restraints. Brooke ordered Elaina to grab a shovel to attack Michelle, but just as she was about to do so, she was stopped by Luke, who arrived with a pair of detectives, with Brooke claiming that Michelle was attacking her. Brooke's story isn't bought, and both Coopers are arrested.

Brooke Cooper: The reason why I was looking forward to this movie was because I saw Marvista's trailer months ago, and in Trailers Always Spoil fashion, it revealed Brooke and Elaina as villainesses. Brooke Cooper was played by Ashton Leigh, and she did an amazing job in this role. Brooke was the personification of the "Bitch in Sheep's Clothing" trope; she displayed a kindly demeanor throughout, but it clearly masked her viciously evil persona. She was very ruthless in her quest to cover up for her daughter, and even her loving mother act was just that...an act, as we see her berate and insult Elaina during both of their reveals. Leigh played Brooke's (feigned) warmth very well, but she really shined when she acted out Brooke's demented and psychotic nature.

This isn't Ashton Leigh's first time playing a villainess; she made a villainous appearance on CBS' Saturday morning series, The Inspectors. Leigh has also appeared in episodes of Breakout Kings, NCIS: New Orleans, and Cobra Kai (to name a few).

Elaina Cooper: Despite showing shock over Brooke's actions in the climax, Elaina proved beforehand that she was every bit as villainous as her mother. The film showed that she had some hints of jealousy of not only Abby, but Haley as well, though Elaina masked them very well, along with her role as Abby's true killer. Elaina was willing to cover her tracks and allow her best friend to be accused of two murders that she didn't commit, proving that being a False Friend and a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing is hereditary. Sahara Ale played Elaina Cooper in the film, and she really played out Elaina's friendly nature very well, but also did a good job in Elaina's attempts to mask her villainous demeanor. Other than this film, I've only seen Ale in an episode of Walker, but I do hope she does more Lifetime films in the future; I could see her playing a secondary protagonist to perfection.

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Click here for Brooke Cooper's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki, and click here for Elaina Cooper's profile as well!