Elle Greenaway
Encyclopedia
Elle Greenaway is a fictional character
from the CBS
crime drama
Criminal Minds
, portrayed by Lola Glaudini
.
, a skill that would prove to be useful to the BAU. Elle's mother is Cuban
, and she is fluent in Spanish
, as seen in "Machismo". Her father was a police officer
who was killed in the line of duty, as was fellow profiler Derek Morgan's father.
, who had recently returned to active duty in the BAU, used her file as a guide and labelled her impatient, instructing her to correct the characteristic. After being hired, Greenaway quickly became good friends with the team's media liaison, Jennifer Jareau
(JJ).
Greenaway was relatively successful in the BAU until the Season 1 finale, The Fisher King (1). During the finale, Randall Garner, a psychotic unsub (the FBI term for an unknown subject, differentiated from a "suspect", whose identity is known), ambushed Greenaway in her apartment and shot her. He then reached his fingers into her bullet wounds and wrote the word "RULES" on the walls with her blood. After this trauma, Greenaway went on a four-month leave of absence in an attempt to heal and move on with her life. Despite having physically recovered
from her injuries, she remained psychologically traumatized, as seen in the post-shooting changes in her personality -- once open to others and full of laughter, Greenaway became distant, withdrawn and hypervigilant.
When she returned, a case involving a serial rapist affected her deeply, and after panicking during an undercover
operation — an action that prevented the team from obtaining probable cause
to hold the assailant in custody — she shot the alleged rapist in cold blood. Claiming that he had drawn a gun on her first, Greenaway was ruled by local authorities to have acted in self-defense
, although her BAU colleagues clearly thought otherwise. Reid, in particular, blamed himself for not having seen the signs of her impending breakdown and prevented the shooting, because on a previous night he had dropped by her room to check on her and saw that she was drinking, and had a worrisome affect
.
A short time after the shooting — during the episode The Boogeyman — Greenaway resigned from the BAU. Handing in her badge and gun to Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner
("Hotch"), she told him that she wasn't admitting guilt
and added that if she had to do everything again, she wouldn't change a thing.
With her resignation, Greenaway left the BAU permanently and was eventually replaced by Emily Prentiss
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
crime drama
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
, portrayed by Lola Glaudini
Lola Glaudini
Lola Glaudini is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Elle Greenaway on the hit CBS series Criminal Minds, and for her role as Agent Deborah Ciccerone on the award winning HBO series The Sopranos....
.
Background
Before joining the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), Greenaway was assigned to the FBI's Seattle field office with a specialty in profiling sexual offendersSex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
, a skill that would prove to be useful to the BAU. Elle's mother is Cuban
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and she is fluent in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, as seen in "Machismo". Her father was a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
who was killed in the line of duty, as was fellow profiler Derek Morgan's father.
Time at the BAU
Elle Greenaway joined the BAU directly after success in the pilot episode Extreme Aggressor. Unit Chief Jason GideonJason Gideon
Jason Gideon is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Mandy Patinkin. Along with Agents Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss, he seemed to be the traditionally academic of the group...
, who had recently returned to active duty in the BAU, used her file as a guide and labelled her impatient, instructing her to correct the characteristic. After being hired, Greenaway quickly became good friends with the team's media liaison, Jennifer Jareau
Jennifer Jareau
Jennifer "JJ" Jareau is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by AJ Cook.- Back Story :During various episodes, JJ has described growing up in a very small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She collected butterflies as a child, and also lost her sister to...
(JJ).
Greenaway was relatively successful in the BAU until the Season 1 finale, The Fisher King (1). During the finale, Randall Garner, a psychotic unsub (the FBI term for an unknown subject, differentiated from a "suspect", whose identity is known), ambushed Greenaway in her apartment and shot her. He then reached his fingers into her bullet wounds and wrote the word "RULES" on the walls with her blood. After this trauma, Greenaway went on a four-month leave of absence in an attempt to heal and move on with her life. Despite having physically recovered
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....
from her injuries, she remained psychologically traumatized, as seen in the post-shooting changes in her personality -- once open to others and full of laughter, Greenaway became distant, withdrawn and hypervigilant.
When she returned, a case involving a serial rapist affected her deeply, and after panicking during an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
operation — an action that prevented the team from obtaining probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...
to hold the assailant in custody — she shot the alleged rapist in cold blood. Claiming that he had drawn a gun on her first, Greenaway was ruled by local authorities to have acted in self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
, although her BAU colleagues clearly thought otherwise. Reid, in particular, blamed himself for not having seen the signs of her impending breakdown and prevented the shooting, because on a previous night he had dropped by her room to check on her and saw that she was drinking, and had a worrisome affect
Affect (psychology)
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...
.
A short time after the shooting — during the episode The Boogeyman — Greenaway resigned from the BAU. Handing in her badge and gun to Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner
Aaron Hotchner
Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Thomas Gibson. He is a Supervisory Special Agent within the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and has appeared from the series' first episode, originally broadcast on September 22, 2005. Hotch begins...
("Hotch"), she told him that she wasn't admitting guilt
Admission (law)
An admission in the law of evidence is a prior statement by an adverse party which can be admitted into evidence over a hearsay objection. In general, admissions are admissible in criminal and civil cases.At common law, admissions were admissible...
and added that if she had to do everything again, she wouldn't change a thing.
With her resignation, Greenaway left the BAU permanently and was eventually replaced by Emily Prentiss
Emily Prentiss
Emily Prentiss is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Paget Brewster. Prentiss first appeared in "The Last Word" - episode nine of season two, replacing Agent Elle Greenaway who had quit in "The Boogeyman"...
.