Cheers to Kerry O'Malley for a Criminal-ly good performance as a bad mother.

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In only a few scenes on this week's Criminal Minds

, the accomplished stage and screen actress created a complex portrait of a Midwestern mom who abandons her disturbed 13-year-old son (the deeply creepy Sterling Beaumon

). You almost couldn't blame her, since the budding psycho started his serial-killing spree in utero — consuming his unborn twin!O'Malley delivers an equally chilling turn as another Mother From Hell in the current horror flick Case 39. In that one, she traps her demonic daughter (Jodelle Ferland) in an oven and turns up the gas — yet you still end up sympathizing with her. Next she'll guest-star as a killer cougar in the Nov. 11 episode of Bones. Kerry's Emmy-nominated big brother Mike isn't the only O'Malley who should be feeling seriously Glee-ful these days.Did Kerry O'Malley capture your attention on Criminal Minds?

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