Villainess Review: Clara Bolton (Magnum P.I.)

I do enjoy March Madness, but the only detriment is that CBS' coverage of the college basketball tournament meant that my Friday shows would be off for two weeks. With the early rounds over and the Final Four set, the Friday shows returned, including Magnum, with the episode, "Remember Me Tomorrow," being as thrilling as the other episodes had been. The centerpiece of the episode saw Higgins being hired by Ella Vaughn, a 12-year-old girl who was looking to solve a triple-homicide from five years prior.

The victims were Jonathan Akamu, his wife, and his daughter (the only surviving member, son Adam Akamu, was at a party on the day in question), and it was identified as a murder committed during a robbery--which was part of a string of robberies in the area. Ella's mother, Phoebe Vaughn, was a detective on the case, but sadly, cancer took Phoebe before she could solve the case. Higgins and Ella's pursuit led them to the weapon (a .38 caliber pistol), and saw them approach several of the family's neighbors, one of them being Clara Bolton, who didn't provide much info.

The episode would later feature claims that Jonathan's wife was engaged in an extramarital affair, with Adam making the statement to Higgins. At the Vaughn household, it was revealed that the person who originally made the claim was none other than Clara, who swore to seeing Mrs. Akamu and her lover together. Clara's proclamation was made to Higgins directly, and it was at that moment that Higgins received a call from Katsumoto, who gave quite a reveal: the gun was registered to Clara's ex-husband. Clara ended up knocking out Higgins with a frying pan, and after Higgins woke up and discovered she was tied up, everything was uncovered.

So as it turned out, the adulterer in that family was Jonathan, as he and Clara were seeing each other. Clara claimed that Jonathan loved her and wanted to leave with her, but in actuality, Jonathan didn't want to leave his family. Clara decided to kill Jonathan's wife and daughter in a maniacal rage, but she ended up killing Jonathan after he returned home early; claiming that Jonathan's expression was a sign that he wouldn't accept her actions. Clara took the jewelry to stage the robbery, and she maligned Mrs. Akamu's good name to cover her tracks, but once she was uncovered, the madwoman decided to turn on the gas on her stove in an attempt to kill both Higgins and herself. Both women were saved in time, and Clara was arrested.

"Remember Me Tomorrow," was the 17th episode of Magnum P.I.'s fourth season, and aired on April 1, 2022. The episode featured Rebeka Montoya as hidden villainess Clara Bolton, another cold case baddie. Clara's reveal showed that she was immensely insane and delusional, as well as needlessly bloodthirsty. She was so desperate to be with her illicit lover that she resorted to murdering his family in cold blood, and even killed Jonathan because she knew that he would disapprove of her evil methods. Clara's statement about being relieved to admit to the killings was certainly not made out of any remorse or guilt; she spent five years covering up her murderous deed with slander against her lover's wife, and she was trying to kill herself and Higgins so she could keep the truth buried forever. In all, Clara Bolton was cold-blooded and cold-hearted, and Montoya played all of the depths of Clara's insanity and delusions perfectly in her reveal to Higgins.

Rebeka Montoya is known to soap fans as recurring villainess Delores Padilla on ABC's General Hospital. In addition, Montoya also appeared in episodes of Psych and Grey's Anatomy, and recently appeared in episodes of 9-1-1, The Neighborhood, and This is Us.

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Check out Clara Bolton's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!