If it bleeds, it leads. Kristen Latika Reynolds learned that lesson early in life. Born the middle child of an abusive father and a doormat for a mother, she was relegated to the position of neglect. Her younger sister was the apple of her father's eye, her older sister could do no wrong in her mother's. All of this changed one night during a fight between her parents.
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By the time Kristen graduated high school, Parvani had moved her and her sister to a different town. Somewhere no one knew their story, where they didn't have a clue about Brian or Kelly. Unfortunately, Parvani didn't count on Kristen. On the day of her graduation, during her speech as the valedictorian of her class, Kristen thanked her sister for killing their father. Something that earned a sensational gasp from the crowd. It was a thrill.
From that moment up until She left for college, Parvani and Kristen did not speak. It was a mutual effort, one made easier by Kristen's job. She began as an unpaid intern at a local public access station but through diligent effort and long hours, she became an invaluable asset. Unlike Parvani, the station was sorry to see Kristen go. Armed with their letter of recommendation, she went across the country to UCLA to earn a degree in Broadcasting and Communication. She graduated from there in the top third, but it was her full academic resume that earned her the scholarship to Harvard. It was this fortunate turn of events that ran Kristen into one Bradley Russo.
Both in their mid twenties, there was a chemistry between them that no one could match. While professional extended to personal for Kristen, it didn't for Brad. Sure, there were a few drunken make out sessions over program talks, but nothing ever led anywhere, it was all about business. Kristen wanted to be a star maker, Bradley wanted to be a star and as a team, they were unbeatable. 'The Advocate' was born during those years. Starting as a college radio show that catered to the unwashed masses, Kristen's direction turned it from a conspiracy theorist's dream to a politician's nightmare. Brad was on board for the first few years, using his charm to schmooze his guests and get them to talking about the things that Kristen directed through cue cards. Eventually though, familial pressure took him away and the program floundered under a different host.
Kristen didn't give up. While keeping the Advocate on the slow burner, she continued to nourish the show, giving it better angles, changing its format and hosts. There was a niche for it and she was determined to find it. It was this search that led her to the Linderman Corporation. Meeting after meeting, drink after drink, date after date, Kristen worked her way through whatever name she needed to get her to the next level. Finally, she was granted an audience with a higher up, this time a woman who shared the same desire for professional success. In each other, they saw potential. Kristen was given a position on the fringe of the company, her salary was based as a promotional consultant. It was large enough to buy her a spot on primetime cable and see her show 'The Advocate', the way she always intended it to be. There was only one problem? the host.
It didn't take her long to track Bradley Russo down again, he was a public enough figure that a few phone calls had Kristen on his doorstep with a bottle of champagne. Over dinner, she made the offer. He could be the host, have carte blanche over his opening monologue, she would be the woman behind the scenes, making it all happen. He saw stars, she saw dollar signs. A few short weeks later, 'The Advocate' made its debut and they were a hit. Bigger is always better though and while the rest of the team was enjoying the success of where they were, Kristen was pulling more strings. Entertaining networks, looking for syndication, they were more than interested.
During this time, Kristen and Brad fell away from each other. He started dating a guest that she'd booked and after a whirlwind romance, he proposed. The producer was not pleased with the turn of events but her well practiced false smile was pasted on and she moved on. Sort of.
The bomb was one of the best things that could have ever happened to Kristen. She was in Vegas talking to some of the Linderman Group's more aggressive partners, working a few deals in exchange for more funding. When she saw it on the news, she rented a car and drove until she hit the Big Apple. Brad's world was crushed, but the show had to go on. His pain was exactly what the show needed to drive it, skyrocketing, through the roof. Kristen angled and directed, exposing their audience to the uglier underbelly of what happened. When the evolved were exposed by President Petrelli, she was standing stage side with her arms folded and a smirk on her face. The effect that the event of the bomb had on her was simply this, If it bleeds, it leads. While America bled, Kristen Reynolds led their opinions by a ring in the nose. She alternately promoted and vilified the evolved species, same with ever other faction that she came across.
Brad's pain was exploited for years without his knowledge. He trusted Kristen to do right by him and in a way, she did. She took care of him and kept him on top of the world when his face was in the bottom of a toilet tank. The woman behind the man in ways his dead fiance couldn't ever begin to fathom. She worked diligently to protect his darkest secrets, knowing about his alcohol problem and at the same time enabling him enough to function. He was her putty. Until he found god. Still, his face was one that the public identified with her show, she had to keep him on top, no matter what. When critics panned him, she would feed use her contacts to find a story that would bring him back. Soon his neutral stance became an endearing part of the show, his rating came up and Kristen was able to focus on other issues. Registration.
It was no secret to the public that the Linderman Group was a supporter of Petrelli and his act. Its founder, Daniel, was one of the first to register. While some of her audience thought the show was compromised by being footed by such a company, she sat back and let the record spin. While it was law, registration would be supported by 'The Advocate', telltale by the tiny script at the very bottom of the ending credits urging the audience to get tested and do the right thing. Kristen honestly didn't care, as long as she was raking in the money and keeping up her ratings, hot button topics and issues would always come and go. If wasn't one thing. it was another.
When mandatory registration came around, Kristen was one of the first in line to get her blood taken. Not because she supported it, but because it was a necessary action to get an extended card. Publicly, she smiled and flashed her card. She's always been a law abiding citizen, even if the rules get tarnished every once in a while.
