Villainess Review: Dee Baxter (The Wayans Bros.)

Who remembers The WB? The original WB Network? Hard to believe that it's been almost 30 years since that network launched, and would go on to become this big thing--keeping up with what was now the Big Four networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox). The whole thing started in early 1995, and it ended up leading to the launch of Kids' WB that fall (that's another story). The network had their trademark shows, and among their earliest hits was The Wayans Bros., the memorable sitcom that officially put Shawn and Marlon Wayans on the spotlight.

I remember watching that show religiously on The WB, and while the show really had a lot of memorable moments, I want to discuss the episode, "Fire!," which had quite a stunning plot. The central plot involved an actual fire at the Niedermayer building, mainly the newsstand,where Shawn and Marlon worked. It's originally believed to be an act of arson, and regarding suspects, Shawn, Marlon, Pops, and Dee are all suspected, as is T.C., who wasn't even in the area, but according to building inspector Dreyfus, "From the way you're dressed, you had to have done something illegal." So afterwards, Pops gives this big speech claiming that they shouldn't break and shouldn't turn on each other, but he's the first one to try to point the finger. In Pops' case, it's Dee.

We get treated to the first of four alternate summations of each character committing the arson, and Dee's summation is the first one. In this one, we see Dee as a masked villainess in a ninja outfit, doing all sorts of somersaults over the infrared sensers before finally reaching the newsstand. Once there, Dee removes her mask, and in an ominous heel turn promo, Dee reveals her motive. She faced getting fired from her job, which was a small part of the episode's story and was mentioned in the opening. As the summation showed, Dee turned heel by planning to set the fire, with the end result seeing Dee hailed as a heroine who saved the building, while covering her true role as the villainess behind the arson. Dee later gave a maniacal cackle after setting the fire, and watched in sadistic glee before leaving the scene in the fantasy summation.

Of course, as we all figured out from jumpstreet, none of them did it. The fire was caused by a faulty wire. It was just one of those things. Even so, it was a hell of an image. Let's dive in deeper, shall we?

"Fire!" was the fourth season finale of The Wayans Bros., and aired on May 20, 1998. Anna Maria Horsford portrayed Deidre "Dee" Baxter, having joined the show's cast in the middle of the second season and served as a regular until the show's cancellation. Dee briefly turned heel for this episode, as we were treated to a short fantasy summation that portrayed Dee as a maniacal villainess capable of, well, wanton destruction. Dee's summation was the best one out of the four, and the reason was obvious. The other summations showed the other characters (especially Marlon and T.C.) in a comical light when it came to the accusations against them. Dee, however, was portrayed as being purely evil, psychotic, and viciously sadistic. I absolutely loved Dee's brief heel turn in this summation from the episode; Dee's heel persona was absolutely delicious and truly epic, from her outfit of choice to her mannerisms, and I truly loved Dee's evil cackle as well! I have a feeling that Horsford actually got a kick out of actually playing a villainess in that summation. It was a great way to act against type, and she truly pulled off unleashing Dee's heel persona brilliantly.

Anna Maria Horsford is, perhaps, best known for her regular role as Thelma Frye on the NBC sitcom, Amen, and she is also known for playing Betty Jones on Friday and Friday After Next, which also co-starred the late, great John Witherspoon (Pops from The Wayans Bros.). Horsford also appeared in the 2001 film, How High, which starred rappers Method Man and Redman, and she worked with the duo again in the short-lived Fox sitcom, Method and Red. Recently, Horsford recurred on the short-lived sitcom, B Positive, and guest starred on Bel-Air; she's also appeared in episodes of 7th Heaven, Grey's Anatomy, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Conners (among many other shows).

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Check out Dee Baxter's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!