Barb Birk (Motive)

Barb Birk (Jennifer Irwin) was a villainess from "Abandoned," episode 2.09 of Motive (airdate July 23, 2014). She was the owner of a diner, as well as the mother of one of her former employees, Jason Birk.
Barb's brief past revealed that her husband (Jason's father) left her and Jason when the latter was eight years old, and it was also revealed that she was difficult to her past employees--one of them being Ross Simpson, who quit working for Barb and opened his food truck, Mom's Grilled Cheese. However, the main target of Barb's bullying was her own son, as she constantly lashed out at Jason and referred to him as a screw-up, saying on multiple occasions that Jason was like his father. 
Sasha King, another employee and Jason's lover, witnessed Barb's verbal abuse towards Jason, and also bore witness to Jason leaving the diner and vandalizing Ross' food truck before assaulting him. Sasha informed Barb that she should stop Jason, only for the callous villainess to refuse and only care about Ross being off her property once Jason was done. Barb watched from her window as Jason beat up Ross, while Sasha ran out to stop Jason. Jason ended up arrested for assault and served 10 months in prison, but as shown in the opening scenes of the episode, Barb continued her abuse even on the day of his release, as she mocked his decision to stay with a friend of his instead of her, while also accusing him of not taking responsibility.
The episode's progression revealed that Sasha became pregnant with Jason's child, but her emails to Jason about the news were read by Barb, who later confronted Sasha at the diner. Barb objected to Sasha's plan to give her baby (a son) up for adoption, stating that the child was her grandson and that she can raise him, as she is already a mother. In response to Sasha's comment about how Barb raised Jason, Barb blamed her estranged husband for how Jason turned out and refused to take responsibility for her bullying of her son, while also threatening to take Sasha's baby and do whatever it takes to do so. Sasha gave up her son to Brett Huntley and his wife, and she was shown watching the Huntleys to make sure the baby was OK. 
Unbeknownst to Sasha, the evil Barb followed her and found out about the adoption, and she made plans to contest the adoption by forcing Sasha to sign away her parental rights. The villainess confronted Sasha with the papers for her to sign, only for Sasha to refuse and refer to Barb as a horrible mother. Barb later snarled at Sasha and grabbed her arm while making a maniacal vow to get her grandson, only to be pushed away by Sasha and knocked unconscious when her head struck the stove. Having seen the depths of Barb's evil personality, Sasha decided to turn on the gas and ignite Jason's lighter to cause an explosion that ended up killing Barb, doing so to keep her son out of her sinister stranglehold.
== Quotes ==
* "I'll fight you. I'll do whatever it takes. I promise you, that baby will be mine." (Barb's threat to Sasha regarding Sasha's infant son, who was also Barb's grandson)
Category:2010s
Category:Blonde
Category:Bully
Category:Business Villainess
Category:Callous
Category:Delusional
Category:Grandmother
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Mother
Category:Psychotic
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Woman Kills Villainess
Category:Demise: Burned Alive
Category:Fate: Deceased