Villainess Review: Kadisha Abdullah (Conviction)

One of the many reasons why I enjoyed the 2016-2017 TV season was ABC's series, Conviction. I was sold on this for one reason: Hayley Atwell. It's because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I'm a fan of Hayley Atwell; she played Peggy Carter in the MCU's first Captain America film. In this series, Atwell played Hayes Morrison, a former First Daughter who is blackmailed into leading the Conviction Integrity Unit, which investigates possible wrongful conviction, with the position coming after Hayes' arrest for cocaine possession. I really loved this show, and even though five years have passed, I'm still upset that ABC pulled the plug on this show. However, I still have my good memories of that series, including the show's third episode, "Dropping Bombs."

CIU had a doozy of a case in that episode, as the subject of that episode's case was Rodney Landon, a professor who was convicted of planting a bomb inside a mosque on September 11, 2011--the 10th anniversary of 9/11. A pair of factors didn't help Landon's case; for one, he actually had blueprints of the bomb used in the attack, which killed an imam and three others. The other detriment: Landon was a huge Islamphobe; a trait he doubled down on even during his trial and in the episode, where he was visited by Hayes.

Hayes also visited Kadisha Abdullah, the imam's widow, and it was a visit that saw her daughters voiced their anger over Hayes working to exonerate Landon, as his xenophobic conduct was enough to convince them that he was behind the bombing. Kadisha, however, gave kind words in regards to her late husband, and also supported Hayes on her quest. That quest, however, would lead to Hayes actually suspecting Kadisha after Landon was discovered to be planning a different attack, not the one that occurred on the day in question. Hayes' suspicion had to do with how Kadisha spoke about her husband, and it was personal with Hayes--as she remembered it was the same way her own mother spoke about her husband after knowing about his affairs.

With that, CIU decided to look into video footage of Kadisha visiting the mosque leading to that fateful day, and after seeing shots of Kadisha carrying her purse, we see one of her with a much bigger bag on that very day. Seems big enough to carry a bomb, and based on that, a visit to the house saw Kadisha scowl as the bag was found and revealed to contain residue from the explosive. As it turned out, Kadisha's husband had been having multiple affairs, leading Kadisha to plan to kill her husband in an act of revenge. She found Landon's plans, built the bomb, and planted it in the mosque office on that day, leading to the deaths of her husband and three others. So Kadisha is exposed and arrested, and Landon will remain in prison because he stabbed a fellow inmate. It all works out.

"Dropping Bombs" aired on October 17, 2016, and featured Anna Khaja as villainess Kadisha Abdullah, the first one-shot villainess of the series. Kadisha was also, IMO, Conviction's best villainess, another case of a show getting it right the first time when it comes to their wicked women. Kadisha was scorned, vengeful, and bloodthirsty; the fact that she decided to use a bomb as part of her evil plan showed that Kadisha wasn't bothered by possible additional casualties (she caused three others), as long as she got her murderous revenge on her main target: her cheating husband. Kadisha even went as far as borrowing a proverbial playbook from a crazed Islamophobe, which truly showed the depts of her maniacal rage. Khaja's portrayal of Kadisha is why I'm a fan of hers; she acted out her feigned mourning very well in her scene with Hayes, but unfortunately, we really don't get a villainess rant from her. I'm certain if we did, Khaja would have shined in regards to acting out Kadisha's anger and her evil demeanor.

Anna Khaja's credits also included recurring on Quantico as Sita Parrish, the mother of Priyanka Chopra Jonas' Alex Parrish, and she also appeared in episodes of Bones, Lethal Weapon, The Good Place, Bull, and The Blacklist, among many other shows. Regarding other villainous roles, I haven't found any that I know of. Khaja's performance as Kadisha Abdullah was very stellar, and I know she would definitely excel in another villainous role if given the chance.

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Check out Kadisha Abdullah's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!