Villainess Review: Caitlyn Lynch (Medium)

There are a select number of episodes of Medium that I do recall watching when they aired, and among that collection is the three-parter, "How to Make a Killing in Big Business." Though Allison Dubois found herself back working at the DA's office by this point, Part 1 saw her contacted by a woman named Caitlyn Lynch, who was offering Allison a job at her workplace, the prestigious Lydecker Corporation. The pay's immensely high, though even after meeting with Caitlyn, who reveals that she has the same gifts that Allison has, Allison's not sure about accepting, especially since there's a big serial killer case occurring at the same moment.

Despite all of this occurring, Allison does accept the job, with Caitlyn happy to show her the ropes. Regarding the case, Allison does see a living face connected to the murders of various women, and that face happens to belong to a detective: Brad Auerbach. Part 2 sees Allison more and more convinced that Auerbach is the serial killer, and that conviction grows when she has a vision of a confrontation between Auerbach and Lee Scanlon. The vision ended with Scanlon shot and killed, but in real time, it's Scanlon who took down his former colleague. Meanwhile, Caitlyn continues to get Allison used to the corporate world, and it's in this installment that Allison meets Justin Lydecker, the son of the CEO, Douglas Lydecker. Allison notices something's off with Justin, and as the final moments of Part 2 showed, "off" was an understatement.

So as Allison's vision uncovered, Justin was the killer, and Part 3 showed Allison's attempt to inform Caitlyn met with evasive statements, as well as a meeting with Douglas that revealed that Justin had pretty much been a psycho since (as early as) high school. Sadly, Allison couldn't report to the DA about this, as the company owned her visions. Regarding Justin, he was in Mexico "getting treatment," though a vision revealed that Justin refused to take his medication, while another one saw Justin actually kill his father. She got the inevitable call to Caitlyn, who informed Allison about what "happened": a terrorist attack claimed the life of Douglas Lydecker. Allison couldn't believe what Caitlyn was saying, and regarding Caitlyn's reasoning, it was to "protect" the company, as the truth would be damning.

Caitlyn pretty much forced Allison to continue the ruse, but later on, Allison envisions the murder again. This time, she also sees Caitlyn waking up, which revealed that her so-called genial boss actually knew that Douglas would be killed by his son. A confrontation saw Caitlyn actually deny everything, but a news report would detail the arrest of Justin Lydecker, as he attempted to kill Ariel's teacher. Caitlyn watched the report and became nervous, and her nerves increased when Allison returned with Manuel Devalos, where everything was revealed. As it turned out, Caitlyn wanted to climb the corporate ladder, but needed Douglas out of the way, with her chance coming once she overheard her boss' plans to send Justin away to Mexico. The scheming villainess suggested to Justin that he should use the trip to kill his father, and after the murder's committed, Caitlyn paid off the officials to pass the murder off as a terrorist attack. Realizing that she was fully cornered, Caitlyn terminated Allison (who was happy to accept), and was arrested.

The three-part episode, "How to Make a Killing in Big Business," was part of Medium's fifth season, the show's last on NBC. Parts 1 and 2 aired consecutively on May 4, 2009, while the conclusion aired a week later on May 11, 2009. The arc featured Tracy Pollan as the evil Caitlyn Lynch, and in the first two-thirds of the arc, Caitlyn was so welcoming and gracious to Allison, especially Part 1, as she seemed to be a big fan of Allison, her work, and her gifts. Despite her demeanor in the very beginning of Part 3, Caitlyn's warmth remained, but once Caitlyn turned heel after Douglas' death, we see the true Caitlyn Lynch: a villainess who was willing to lie, cheat, and (as the climax revealed) kill to get what she wanted. Underneath that altruistic demeanor was a diabolical and ambitious corporate shark, and she was also quite the manipulator as well. I loved Pollan's performance; she played Caitlyn's genial attitude very well during a vast majority of the arc, but once her heel persona was unveiled bit-by-bit, we see Pollan truly shine as she acts out Caitlyn's ambitious and ruthless demeanor. All of these factors make Caitlyn Lynch one of Medium's best villainesses.

Tracy Pollan is best known for appearing on the hit sitcom, Family Ties, as Ellen Reed, the girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton, who was famously played by Pollan's eventual real-life husband since 1988, Michael J. Fox. Pollan has worked with Fox a few times, appearing on Spin City and an episode of her husband's short-lived self-titles sitcom, and she has also appeared in episodes of Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Pollan has also played Beth Holloway-Twitty in two Lifetime movies about the Natalee Holloway case.

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