This article contains discussions/references to murder, physical and sexual abuseCriminal Minds tends to stick to a villain-of-the-week formula and one of these memorable criminals is played by Jackson Rathbone. Criminal Minds follows the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), a team within the FBI who uses profiling and behavioral detection to find the culprits behind America’s most heinous crimes.
The series has always taken a villain-of-the-week style of storytelling approach, introducing criminals usually over one or two episodes. The most memorable unsubs (unidentified subjects) in Criminal Minds usually had longer arcs, but some like Rathbone’s made a strong impression with much less screen time.
Jackson Rathbone’s role in Criminal Minds came right in the middle of his time playing Jasper Hale in the Twilight film saga (which is based on the books by Stephanie Meyer). As part of the massively popular and successful vampire franchise, Rathbone's Jasper was a vampire least able to control his bloodlust. Surprisingly, that role and his one in Criminal Minds ended up having some similarities. Jasper’s aggression and impulsivity can be seen in Rathbone’s performance in Criminal Minds. It may be only for one episode, but Rathbone makes his short stint on the procedural a memorable one.
Jackson Rathbone Plays Adam Jackson In Criminal Minds
Jackson Rathbone as Amanda Jackson in Criminal Minds.
Jackson Rathbone plays the unsub Adam Jackson in Criminal Minds' season 4, episode 20, “Conflicted” - a serial killer who targets several students on Spring Break. Like many of the antagonists on Criminal Minds, Adam's early life was marked by tragedy as his mother died when he was five and his stepfather abused him. Due to the years of abuse, the BAU discovered that Adam had developed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), where an alter emerged: Amanda. Seeking revenge, Amanda abducts men who resemble her stepfather and murders them. The BAU also learns that Adam doesn't remember when the crime is committed.
Although Rathbone dId his best to give a memorable performance as Adam, the episode has been criticized for perpetuating harmful stereotypes towards individuals who live with DID (the show implies that individuals living with the disorder are violent or abusers). Criminal Minds is also not alone in how it reinforces negative stereotypes of DID as this is also an issue that is still occurring in the media today.
Adam Jackson Is Similar To Other Serial Killers
Reed standing in a room in Criminal Minds.
While the psychology behind Adam’s Dissociative Identity Disorder, and the lasting effects of childhood trauma are not agreed upon in the scientific community (via Psychology Today) there are serial killers from history who greatly resemble Jackson Rathbone’s unsub in Criminal Minds. Henry Lee Lucas was a serial killer from the 1970s-1980s who also grew up in a violent and abusive household (via Time). Lucas lost his father and was abused by his mother, much like Adam, though with the parental role reversed. Like Adam, Lucas also threatened his parent with a knife, though Lucas actually succeeded in murdering his mother.
The other figure Adam bears a close resemblance to is the notorious murderer, John Wayne Gacy. Like Adam, Gacy took to only targeting men and his crimes resemble the sexually violent ones committed by Adam in Criminal Minds. He would similarly kill his victims by asphyxiation (via Esquire). While it's no secret that Criminal Minds often uses real-life figures to help create some terrifying unsubs, the writers seemed to forget that they have a responsibility to make sure that they have a responsibility to make sure that they are not spreading misinformation.
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