Minerva Stone/Medusa (Black Scorpion)

Minerva Stone
Minerva Stone/Medusa with one of her stoned victims

Minerva Stone, aka Medusa (Lisa Boyle) is a villainess from the 2001 TV series Black Scorpion, which made a first appearance in the episode 01X07 "No Stone Unturned" and a second one in the episode 01X13 "Fire and Brimstone". She made a third appearance in 01X18 "Power Play".

No Stone Unturned - Episode 7

When Minerva was a child, some boys sprayed her with some water during a halloween prank but it actually turned out to be acid. Rejected for a long while because of her scarred face, she finally managed to recover its beauty thanks to the minerals from her "river of rejuvenation" which is a sort of magical water.

She is now the official owner of a ritzy mineral spa that she uses as a cover for her illegal activities. She indeed plan to seek revenge on all the men who rejected her and, for this purpose, created for herself a costume, the new identity of Medusa, and a dangerous weapon called a "plaster blaster" which allows her to turn people to stone. With the assistance of her two oversized sidekicks Marble and Granite (who both appear to be madly in love with her and who are treated by her as personal slaves as well as henchmen), she starts to turn all the men who rejected her into statues. Her stoned victims are then placed by her two henchmen in her rock garden located in the basement of her health and beauty spa.

Although no details are given about what Medusa's victims feel after being turned to stone by her, it later turns out that they are still conscious but totally unable to move. Besides, it will be implied that she seeks to keep them alive by leaving air holes in their statues, and also that they're subjected to an unbearable heat, judging from the great relief of the Dr. Phineas Phoenix after being released by the main protagonists in another episode (01X13), claiming that he was "burning alive in there". Anyway, after a councilman and then a TV anchorman had suffered this fate (her fifth and her sixth victim, respectively), Medusa goes after her "next work" which she considers to be her "masterpiece" : the protagonist Detective Steve Rafferty. She indeed intends to make him "her pet rock forever" because he rejected her in the past too. For this purpose, she wins a night with him at a police charity auction and then attracts him in her rock garden where she intends to turn him into stone. In the meantime, Minerva also tries to kill the protagonist Darcy by deception. She invites her in her health spa so that she can give her a "full treatment". After giving Darcy a massage and having some chitchat with her, she claims to give her a seaweed body wrap by restraining her in a sort of seaweed predicament bondage in which her body is wrapped and compressed by seaweed. Despite Darcy complaining about this treatment starting to cut off her blood circulation, Minerva replies that she can trust her and that she will be back to check on her in five minutes. She then puts the steam control to the maximum and leaves the room. The steam-filled atmosphere appears to drastically increase the seaweed pressure and Darcy, who is gasping for air, desperately tries to call for Minerva before being strangled to death. She is finally rescued by Steve Rafferty who revives her by CPR, while Minerva comes back and pretends it was only an accident.

After the disappearance of Steve during his night with Minerva, Darcy (under her identity of Black Scorpion) goes to the health spa in order to stop Minerva and easily defeats her two henchmen. When she's about to fight against Minerva, the latter takes her "plaster blaster" from its hiding place and turns Black Scorpion/Darcy into stone. She then has this new statue placed in her rock garden by her two slaves, triumphantly stating that her collection is complete. To one of them who is surprised that this statue doesn't have air holes, Minerva replies that it is because she wants her dead. She eventually orders them to go back upstairs with her to finish her massage, letting her last victim slowly dying by asphyxiation in her stony prison. However, Black Scorpion manages to break the stone in which she was trapped with her magic ring, and then uses it to free every Medusa's victims, including Steve.

After some twists and turns, Black Scorpion finally prevented her to take her revenge by destroying a hydroelectric dam and Medusa falls into the river and is wrongly presumed to be drowned.

No Stone Unturned Gallery

"It's my own invention, I call it the plaster blaster " "what does that do?" "I'm so glad you asked!"

Turning her fifth victim into stone

Leaving the crime scene with her new statue before the police arrive

Occasionally using her living statues in her rock garden as pieces of furniture

Her victims often have only time to see her smile before being permanently plastered

She seems to love playing with her plaster blaster

Having Darcy trapped in her seaweed body wrap

(gasping) "I think it's cutting of my circulation" " You'll be fine. Trust me."

"I will back to check on you in five minutes"

"Now it's my turn to victimize you."

Only Black Scorpion can now save all these men from a stony oblivion

Except if she's herself trapped into stone

Minerva having Black Scorpion trapped in a statue without air holes (condemning her to a slow death by asphyxiation) "My collection is complete"

"Back upstairs to finish my massage."

Game over?

Fire and Brimstone - Episode 13

In a more secondary role, Medusa indeed makes a second appearance in the episode 01X13 "Fire and Brimstone".

Medusa, uses her plaster blaster against the Dr. Phineas Phoenix in order to free another antagonist, and then against the Steve's car (making him having a car accident). She also uses it against Steve's feet during a street fight between Black Scorpion and her henchmen, and takes advantage of his temporary immobilization to kiss him on the mouth. Finally, Medusa is affected by a sort of love steam which makes her and the other antagonist fall in love, and they're presumed to be both arrested.