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| “ | Did you see the way he looked at you? He was polite, but only because he had to be. Who else is going to love you the way I do? | „ |
| ~ Berzon emotionally abusing his latest victim. |
Joseph Berzon is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Inner Beauty". He is a serial killer who disfigures women to make them into the image of his deceased girlfriend, who suffered from a facial disfigurement.
He was portrayed by Devon Gummersall.
Biography[]
Early life[]
When Berzon was 11, his mother was severely disfigured in a car accident. Because he was just beginning to go through puberty at the time, he became sexually attracted to women with facial disfigurements. His mother was bedridden for three years until she finally died of her injuries, and he was put in a group home. There, he was beaten by his caregivers, Ted and Cheryl Banks, until they were arrested for child abuse and the group home was shut down.
As an adult, he started working at Delivery Dining, a catering company that delivers food to patients undergoing medical rehabilitation. Through his job, he met and fell in love with Sarah Sherwood, who suffered from neurofibromatosis, a skin disease that caused a large tumor to grow on the right side of her face. Three weeks prior to the events of the episode, Sarah, who had severe social anxiety, had a panic attack while they were out together on a picnic, imagining that everyone around her was pointing at her and laughing. Two days later, she committed suicide by drowning herself in her parents' underground pool. Berzon found her body, which caused him to suffer a psychotic break.
He became obsessed with the delusion that he could "bring back" Sarah by disfiguring women in her image. He chose former prostitutes and recovering drug addicts, believing that they needed his "help". After kidnapping them, he would lock them up in his basement and perform amateur facial surgery on them to make them resemble Sarah, He would also dye their hair to match Sarah's blonde locks, dress them in her clothes, and surround them with her belongings in an attempt to subsume their personalities and make them into a version of her. They would inevitably die from the complications of his crude surgeries, however, so he would throw their bodies into shallow water that was covered by grates, like the pool he found Sarah's body in.
By the time of the episode, he has murdered three women.
"Inner Beauty"[]
Berzon is first seen defending recovering heroin addict Danielle Steinhardt from a man who is trying to sexually assault her. He warns her that there are other, dangerous-looking men in the neighborhood and offers to give her a ride home. She agrees because he seems harmless and claims to have a girlfriend, but when she sees the body of another woman in the back of the car she tries to run. He is too quick for her, however, and renders her unconscious with chloroform.
When Danielle wakes up, she finds that Berzon has locked her up in a makeshift cell in a basement. When she tries to escape, he knocks her unconscious, and then performs a surgery on her that leaves her with a large swelling on her right cheek, just like Sarah's. He then takes her to Sarah's old bedroom and shows her Sarah's doll collection in an attempt to make her into a replacement for Sarah. When he shows her what he has done to her, however, she is horrified by what she sees.
Meanwhile, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) starts investigating the murders. At first they profile the killer as a sadist who disfigures and kills women he sees as surrogates for a woman who hurt or rejected him. They revise the profile, however, after autopsies reveal the presence of painkillers and crude fillers in the victims' bodies - they realize that he is not trying to punish his victims, but rather to ease their pain while he makes them over into the image of a woman he loved and recently lost. Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia researches women in the area who suffered from neurofibromatosis and finds records of Sarah's suicide as well as evidence of her relationship with Berzon, leading Agents David Rossi and Spencer Reid to believe that Berzon is the killer.
Berzon takes Danielle to Sarah's bedroom, and tries to kiss her. She plays along with his delusion, and asks him to take her outside. When he refuses, she hits him over the head with Sarah's hand mirror and runs outside. Berzon catches up to her and tells her that no one will ever love her but him as he takes her back inside. As she begins succumbing to toxic shock from the surgery, the BAU bursts into the house and orders him to let her go. Rossi tells him that he has to accept that Sarah is gone, and that all he is doing is hurting innocent women. Berzon realizes that he is right, and lets her go as the BAU takes him into custody.
Trivia[]
- Berzon is inspired by multiple real-life killers:
- Kevin Taylor, a serial killer of women in prostitution who he strangled when srguing about fees for sex. He was caught in part on the testimony of a fifth woman who escaped a murder attempt.
- Jeffery Dahmer, a.k.a. "The Milwaukee Cannibal", a serial killer/rapist of men and boys motivsted to hold them captive, particularly for lobotomizing them to break their brains and see if they're damaged enough to be compliant to his demands. When a teen boy tried to escape and some officers came to the acene, they let Dahmer take the boy back, and he was later killed.
- Ed Gain, a.k.a. "The Plainfield Ghoul", a killer of women whose remains he turned into clothes so Gein would be reminded of his dead mother.
External Kinks[]
- Joseph Berzon on the Criminal Minds Wiki
