The psychotic Miranda Hurst
Miranda Hurst (Stephanie Bennett) is the hidden main villainess from "The Scorpion and the Frog," episode 4.05 of Motive (airdate April 19, 2016).
Backstory[]
Three years prior to the episode's events, Miranda Hurst was believed to have murdered her roommate, Brita Morris, during an argument. The subject of their argument involved Brita habitually borrowing several of Miranda's things, among them a pearl necklace, which was stuffed down Brita's throat during the murder. Detective Paula Mazur's testimony was key in getting Miranda convicted in her roommate's murder, which she claims was committed by a mysterious male assailant.
During her time in prison, Miranda meets psychiatrist Henry Price, who quickly became smitten with her. During a phone conversation, Miranda bonded with Henry and voiced her innocence, repeating her statement that a man broke in and killed Brita while forcing Miranda to watch, and it was at that moment that Henry decided to find a way to clear Miranda of the murder.
Events[]
Miranda's evil smile; revealing her true personality
In the episode, Price used patient Peter Carver's obsession with roller derby player Dawn Richards as part of his plan, as he met her under an assumed name before entering Dawn's home and killing her in the same exact fashion that Miranda used in killing Brita. Price later drugged Peter into confessing to Dawn's murder, all the while, Miranda's confrontation with Mazur had her sticking to her story regarding Brita's murder. A day after Peter confessed to Mazur and Angie Flynn, Miranda was released on bail, due to her lawyers filing a petition to demand a new trial.
Miranda's reveal came when she saw Price entering her cabin and embraced him, showing gratitude in Price's successful plan. The pair were set to celebrate by having wine together, but at that moment, Miranda turned heel and stabbed Price in the neck with a bottle opener, revealing her true villainous persona to her co-conspirator. Miranda's heel turn also confirmed that she had murdered Brita, and after meeting Price, the villainess manipulated him into committing the copycat murder to get her out of prison, while also killing Price to tie up any loose ends. Miranda smiled evilly as she watched Price bleed to death, and shortly afterwards, the psychotic villainess revealed her pearl necklace and shoved it down his throat, cementing Miranda's reveal as Brita's killer.
Once Flynn and Mazur arrived with other police officers, Miranda attempted to claim that Price broke in and attempted to attack her, but Mazur (who, along with Flynn, figured out Miranda's true scheme) wasn't buying her act. Miranda was handcuffed and again arrested, with Price's murder being added to her list of crimes.
Trivia[]
- Stephanie Bennett also played villainess Charity Julius in The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery.
- Miranda Hurst shares some similarities to Lacey Stubbs, the main villainess from The Trials of Cate McCall. Both women committed murder and feigned innocence in order to manipulate their way to being acquitted, and both ended up re-arrested and convicted after their true colors were shown. However, one difference was that Lacey worked alone in her quest, while Miranda had a co-conspirator (who she later killed).
- Miranda Hurst is also similar to another Lifetime villainess, Annie Weaver, as both of them masterminded copycat murders in order to get released from prison, and in addition, they betrayed and killed their co-conspirators afterwards. One difference is that Annie's plan also included framing someone else (her own daughter) for the murders, while prison release was Miranda's only objective.
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