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| “ | The emotional release I would feel by pressing that button... Well, that was just a little too overwhelming to pass up. | „ |
| ~ Adrian Bale bragging about his murders. |
Adrian Bale is a supporting antagonist in the TV series Criminal Minds. He is an overarching character in the pilot episode, "Extreme Aggressor", and is the main antagonist of the third episode, "Won't Get Fooled Again".
He was portrayed by Tim Kelleher.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Adrian Bale came from a broken home and, as a child, fit all the criteria for sociopathy - animal cruelty, pyromania, and bed-wetting. As an adult, Bale became a serial bomber, creating his own unique explosives. This would put him in the line of fire of the FBI, when criminal profiler Jason Gideon of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) was assigned to his case.
After Gideon tracked him down, Bale took a hostage and threatened to blow him up. Gideon was able to talk Bale into surrendering and once Bale was in cuffs, gave the all clear. This proved to be a mistake, as Bale triggered the bomb anyway, killing six agents and the hostage. When referring to the incident later, Bale said he couldn't help himself.
Bale's crimes earned him a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. During his sentence, he developed a cult following online whom he communicated with over the Internet, giving them tips on building bombs.
Criminal Minds[]
"Extreme Aggressor"[]
Bale and his lasting effects on Gideon are mentioned in this episode, but Bale himself is never shown.
"Won't Get Fooled Again"[]
One year after Bale's arrest, one of his followers used his designs to cover up his crimes (forgery). After discovering that the bombs match Bale's design, Gideon goes to interview Bale in prison. Throughout their conversation, Bale offers no information. Instead, he takes the opportunity to taunt Gideon over how the latter's lapse in judgement led to the deaths of seven people. He also dismisses Gideon's threat to make his life much worse than it already is if he is involved, or if he does not help catch the copycat.
Despite Bale's lack of co-operation, Gideon understands him enough to know that if he wasn't involved before, he would want to be now. With a bit of help from Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, the BAU is able to hack Bale's accounts by sending him a keytracker virus through email. Through this, they discover his fan club and eventually the copycat bomber David Walker, who had done business with one of the victims. Unfortunately, Walker is able to escape.
Like Bale before him, Walker locks a necklace bomb onto a hostage. He sends the hostage to the local police department with a ransom demand, while he hides in a nearby building. A police sniper spots him, and BAU Agents Aaron Hotchner and Elle Greenaway go to confront him. However, before the arrest can be made, Gideon receives a call from Agent Derek Morgan, who has just discovered an email Bale sent to Walker. In it, Bale expresses his regret at giving himself up only to face a life sentence. Hearing this, Gideon realizes that Walker intends to kill himself and try to take the agents with him. Seizing the radio, he orders everybody to get out. Thanks to this, everybody except Walker is able to make it out alive. Unfortunately, this leaves the FBI and PD in an awful predicament, as the hostage is still wired up and his pay load will detonate in less than two and a half hours.
Gideon realizes they have one last recourse: having Bale tell the bomb squad how to deactivate the bomb. Gideon has Bale brought over from Georgia, and tries to negotiate a deal with him. Bale says that he will cooperate on two conditions, that he wants to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital and he wants Gideon to say that Bale "beat" him in Boston, and to accept the blame for the people who died and apologize to their families. Gideon agrees to Bale's demands, writing out his "confession" and personally reading it to Bale, who takes sadistic delight in his nemesis' apparent defeat.
With that Bale instructs a bomb squad officer on how to safely disarm the device, with the understanding that if he lies or refuses to help, his deal is void. Following Bale's instructions, the officer is eventually able to isolate the two main wires, a red and a blue one. Gideon asks Bale which wire they should cut to disarm the device. Bale tells him its the red wire. With only seconds left, Gideon tries to verify his answer, all the while reminding Bale of his deal. When Bale continues to repeat his instruction, Gideon makes his decision - telling the officer to cut the blue wire. The officer does as instructed and the bomb is safely diffused. As the hostage is released safely, Bale is seized an irate Hotch and taken back to prison, his deal cancelled and his privileges revoked.
Once Bale is gone, Greenaway asks Gideon how he knew Bale was lying. Gideon tells her that during their earlier interview, Bale had said that the emotional release he got from setting off a bomb was too overwhelming to resist. Having learned from his mistake, Gideon simply took Bale at his word.
Defeated, Bale is taken back to his maximum security cell in Georgia, where he will now spend the rest of his life. Gideon escorts him and shortly after arriving, reveals that carried out his earlier threat. He informs Adrian that he told all of the other inmates that Bale is a police informant. Before they part ways, Gideon taunts his former tormentor with his own words, telling Bale that he could not pass up the "emotional release" of seeing him locked up forever. As the cell door closes, Gideon walks away in triumph, leaving Adrian Bale to his fate, surrounded by men who will kill him at the first opportunity.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Bale appears to be inspired by Eric Rudolph, a.k.a. "The Centennial Park Bomber", a serial bomber and terrorist responsible for targeting civilians and first responders alike.
External Links[]
- Adrian Bale on the Criminal Minds Wiki
