Villainess Review: Carlene Ballentine (Law & Order: SVU)

On June 26, 2022, the entertainment world was hit with the shocking and heartbreaking news that Mary Mara passed away at the age of 61. I myself figured that the name was quite familiar, and a gut feeling I had told me that she had done an episode of Law & Order: SVU. It was based on seeing that name when I went on the Law & Order Fandom site a few times, and sure enough, when I searched for Mary Mara online, my gut was right. Among many other appearances, Mary Mara did appear on SVU, doing so in the episode, "Pure."

The central focus of the episode was the sudden abduction of Kaley Sellars, a teenage girl who was set to go on a date. SVU's search for Kaley ended up involving a psychic, Sebastian Ballentine, who appeared out of nowhere to assist on the case. One person who wasn't buying this was Elliot Stabler, who went from cynical to irate when Sebastian continued his act, as some of the things he mentioned involved Elliot's wife. Speaking of wives, Sebastian's wife, Carlene Ballentine, actually appeared, along with their son, Henry J, as she was worried about her husband and his work on the case, which took a tragic turn when Kaley was found dead.

However, a look into Sebastian revealed something quite sinister: his real name was Henry Palaver, and he was a serial rapist from Canada. Henry's choice of victims was teenage virgins, and DNA evidence ended up revealing that he had an accomplice in his assaults, which was none other than Carlene. Carlene's interrogation only saw her demand to see her husband, a request that was denied, and it came out that Carlene and Henry met when the latter was in prison. She abstained from sex during Henry's final two years in prison, but they never consummated due to Carlene not being a virgin. She became an accomplice in Henry's assaults to please him, and she also admitted to killing Kaley to cover for her husband, as well as abducting Sister Peg, a nun, and holding her captive in a shipping container.

Stabler and Olivia Benson rescued Sister Peg, who revealed that Carlene lured her under the claim that her son was in trouble, which was followed by Carlene knocking out Peg and locking her in the container. That wasn't all Peg revealed, as she informed the pair that she heard Carlene scold Henry J, doing so by telling him that she "picked the wrong baby." This led to the revelation that Henry J wasn't Carlene and Henry's child. His actual mother was a woman named Dannette Lancour, but when she was eight months pregnant, Carlene attacked and killed her before ripping the baby from her womb. As the insane madwoman revealed, Carlene committed her actions figuring a baby would make Henry remain faithful to her, but surprise, surprise, it didn't work. Carlene was arrested for all of her crimes, and she was met with venomous and misogynistic scorn from Henry/Sebastian, which was followed by Carlene pleading with her husband to not say mean things to her.

"Pure," was the 18th episode of SVU's sixth season, and aired on March 8, 2005. It featured quite a chilling and twisted villainess in the form of Carlene Ballentine, and regarding Mary Mara's performance, it was absolutely brilliant. Carlene was deranged, malicious, and immensely delusional, but as amazing of a villainess as she was, one thing I can't help but harp on is how she was willing to do everything for a man who is a sexual deviant, a serial rapist, and a devout misogynist. Carlene was every bit as monstrous as her husband was, maybe even more so, as between the two of them, she was the only one who was willing to kill--doing so (as we found out) twice. Mara acted out Carlene's insanity very well during her interrogation scenes, and overall, she portrayed this role to absolute perfection.

Mary Mara acted on several different TV shows, including (but not limited to) Nash Bridges, ER, the original Law & Order, Ally McBeal, and Nip/Tuck. Her appearance on SVU wasn't her only villainous role, she also played another evil accomplice, Judith Anderson, in an episode of Criminal Minds. Mara's final role was in the 2020 film, Break Even, and at the time of her passing, she had been retired from acting.

Check out Carlene Ballentine's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!