Paula Stronin

**Paula Stronin** (Venus Terzo) is the main villainess of the 2011 Lifetime film *Gone* (airdate June 27, 2011). She is a state health commissioner whose financial advisor is Duncan Hall.

## Introduction/Events

Her first appearance in the film saw her speaking at a press conference in order to address the shortage of the current flu vaccine, which contributed to the fact that at least 12 people died from a particular strain of the influenza virus during the ongoing flu season. Paula stated that the matter was being addressed on both a regional and federal level. Additionally, Amy Franklin (the film's protagonist) had a 9-year-old daughter named Emily and was employed at a hospital that a journalist named Ed Borden was laid up in. This information was used by a group of conspirators who sought to silence said journalist for catching on to the fact that they stole the vaccine in order to sell it on the black market and earn themselves millions of dollars.

On the day after the press conference, they orchestrated the "murder-for-hire" plot on Ed, beginning with two of them working together to kidnap Emily. A male member of the sinister faction made a threatening call to Amy, claiming that if she refused to follow his instructions "to the letter," her daughter would be murdered. Later on, another participant in the conspiracy revealed their identity; Liz Cook, a corrupt cop and the film's hidden secondary villainess, shot her partner Dennis Baldwin dead in front of Amy as part of her original plan to frame her as a murderer who she had to kill "in self-defense."

Towards the film's climax, Amy entered Paula's mansion, where the latter was hosting a celebration of her upcoming retirement from public service. With Duncan by her side, she told their guests about a "wonderful opportunity" to assist her in creating a "new and visionary care facility." Her speech was interrupted when Liz rang her doorbell, having found out from Amy's mother about where her daughter planned to go. At first, Paula and Duncan doubted her claims, with the pair trying to reassure her she was not present before letting her search inside said mansion.

It was not too long after that both Liz and Amy engaged in a brawl on the house's second floor after the former pointed her gun at the latter as part of her new plan: to falsely arrest her and then have her take the fall for killing Dennis. During their fight, the two women ended up rolling down the stairs—landing right in front of Paula, Duncan, and said guests. As the unscrupuloushenchwoman resumed her wrongful attempt to detain Amy, she pleaded with Paula to help her find her daughter, after which she tried to publicly out Duncan (the film's hidden tertiary villain) as one of Emily's kidnappers and the man who called her earlier; by then, she had figured out his ties to the scheme.

## Reveal/Arrest

Dismissing their visitors and wanting a peaceful resolution to the situation, Paula took Amy down to her cellar, with Duncan and Liz (who continued holding Amy at gunpoint and was also the other kidnapper) accompanying the pair. She disclosed that her late husband, who died four years before the film's events, used said cellar as a workshop. Though Emily was no longer there, Paula scolded Duncan and called him an "idiot" for bringing the girl to her house in the first place, exposing herself as the ringleader of the aforementioned conspirators. The villainess cemented her reveal by mentioning that she agree to assist him in stealing the vaccine and preparing to admonish him further for being willing to commit murder, only for Duncan to slap her in response.

He then unveiled the rest of the truth as he reprimanded her: her motive for becoming a criminal mastermind was that she was millions of dollars in debt. Paula confirmed what he said by briefly voicing her belief that she "had no choice" but to go along with organizing the conspiracy, which had been Duncan's idea from the start, so that she could resolve her financial situation. Additionally, after he proclaimed that he would show her how "real business" was done by having himself and Liz shoot Amy to death in front of her, Paula became unsure of what to say to them, and she displayed cowardice by wordlessly walking back upstairs. The film's conclusion took place on the following day, and she was last shown in a TMRP Channel 6 report while she was being arrested for her crimes.