| “ | Don't think I can't see right past those angelic faces. One more trick from you two, and I promise I will make your lives miserable from the day I say “I do”. Got it? | „ |
| ~ Meredith making her point to the girls after they play tricks on her and make sarcastic remarks disrespectfully. |
Meredith Blake is the main antagonist of the 1998 live action film The Parent Trap, itself a remake of the 1961 film of the same name.
She was portrayed by Elaine Hendrix, who also portrayed Alexis Colby in seasons 3-6 of the 2017 reboot of Dynasty.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Quotes
- 3 Gallery
- 4 Trivia
- 5 Navigation
Biography[]
Meredith is a child-hating gold digger, who's also spoiled, greedy, snobby, manipulative, vain, and opportunistic. She wants to marry the rich Napa Valley vineyard owner Nicholas Parker for his money. Meredith is only 15 years older than the two main protagonists, Hallie and Annie, the twin daughters of Nicholas Parker and the famous wedding gown designer, Elizabeth James. Meredith has an assistant named Richard, and she shares her plans with him to get rid of Hallie - without knowing that it is really Annie in Disguise, since she and Hallie switched places - by sending her off to a boarding school in Switzerland. Meredith eventually reveals her true colors by criticizing and provoking Annie throughout her stay at the vineyard - especially after Annie in Disguise tells Meredith that she knows that Meredith only wants to marry her father for his money. Meredith is also rude towards people she considers beneath her, such as Chessy, Nick's housekeeper, bossing her around with a servant bell and feigning authority over her.
Meredith chooses The Stafford Hotel for the wedding, and she and her parents see Nick, Annie in Disguise, Cheesy, and Sammy the dog. Sammy almost bites Meredith when she tries to pat him, and Chessy answers: "Good doggy." Meredith then introduces everyone to her parents, Vicky and Les Blake. Hallie, Elizabeth, and their grandfather's butler, Martin, later arrive at the hotel. Meredith eventually sees Elizabeth at the bar, and Meredith asks her to design her wedding gown.
Later, after Nick accidentally falls into the hotel swimming pool after seeing Elizabeth again, the twins tell him about what happened at summer camp, and Nick is overjoyed to see Annie again. Afterward, Meredith is shocked to see Elizabeth with Nick, and is even more shocked to learn that Nick had twins. Hallie then introduces Meredith to Annie, and then introduces Elizabeth as their mother, and Meredith is shocked that Elizabeth is also Nick's ex-wife.
Elizabeth later talks Nick into taking Meredith on a camping trip instead of her, since it would give her a chance to get to know the girls. However, Meredith was not used to climbing mountains, and the girls played a trick on her by putting a lizard on her water bottle and rocks in her backpack. Meredith is handed the bottle and freaks out at the sight of the lizard. After she threatens to make the twins' lives miserable after marrying their father, they call her "Cruella." Afterward, one of the girls puts a lizard on Meredith's head, and she freaks out when she finds it, and it gets in her mouth, causing Meredith to choke.
During dinner, Meredith tells everyone that she does not eat trout, and Meredith ends up being bitten by mosquitoes after the girls replace her bug spray with bottled sugar water. After Meredith goes into her tent to go to sleep, the girls push her air mattress with her on it into the middle of the lake. The next morning, when Meredith wakes up, she finds a bird perched on her and ends up screaming, and Meredith keeps screaming after finding herself in the middle of the lake. Meredith screams: "NICKY!" and stands up on the mattress screaming, and falls off of it and lands in the lake.
After storming out of the water soaking wet, Meredith kicks a pot and tells Nick that the day they get married is the day she ships “those brats” off to Switzerland. Meredith then tells him to choose between her and the girls, and Nick, finally seeing Meredith's true nature, chooses the girls. Meredith throws a screaming tantrum and breaks off the engagement, and throws her engagement ring at Nick's head (which was done off-screen).
It is unknown what happens to Meredith afterwards, but it is likely that either her parents or Richard came and picked her up and she presumably left California for good.
Quotes[]
| “ | Being young and beautiful is not a crime, you know. And for your 411, I adore your father. He's exactly the kind of man I always planned on marrying. This is the real deal, honey. And nothing you do is going to come between us. Hate to break it to you, angel, but you are no longer the only girl in Nick Parker's life. Get over it. (Annie: If this is the real deal, then my dad's money has nothing to do with you wanting to marry him, right?) OK, puss. You listen, and you listen good. I'm marrying your father in two weeks whether you like it or not, so I suggest that you do not tangle with me anymore. You are in way over your head. Is that clear? (Annie: Crystal.) | „ |
| ~ Meredith Blake threatening Annie, while also revealing her true nature to her and trying to marry her father for his money. |
| “ | My, my, my. How sweet. | „ |
| ~ Meredith after finding out about Hallie and Annie as twins. |
| “ | (Hallie: Got it, Cruella.) What did you call me? (Annie: Nothing, nothing. Not a thing... Cruella) | „ |
| ~ Meredith overhearing the twins' nickname of her. |
| “ | (Nick: What's going on?) Here's what's going on, buddy! The day we get married is the day I ship those brats off to Switzerland. Get the picture? It's me or them. Take your pick. (Nick: Them.) Excuse me? (Nick: T-H-E-M, them. Get the picture?) | „ |
| ~ Meredith lashing in fury to Nick after the girls make a fool out of her for the last time and freaking out in a tantrum after he chooses the girls over her. |
Gallery[]
Meredith arriving at Nick's house.
Meredith seducing Nick
Meredith spotting Annie in Disguise
Meredith shows her evil smile to Annie in Disguise
Meredith's screaming tantrum after Nick chooses the girls over her
Trivia[]
- In 2018, 20 years after the film's release, Meredith's actress Elaine Hendrix gave an interview on E! where she stated that she does not believe Meredith is a true villain, believing she only portrayed her as determined and opportunistic rather than malicious.
- Meredith Blake is based on Vicky Robinson from the original 1961 film.
- Meredith has several connections to the original 1961 Parent Trap movie.
- Joanna Barnes, the actress who played Vicky Robinson played Meredith's mother, Vicky Blake in the 1998 remake of the movie.
- The "Reverend Dr. Mosby" she talked to on the phone was either the son or the grandson of the Reverend Dr. Mosby, who officiated Mitch and Maggie's second wedding in the 1961 version of the movie.
- Meredith is very similar to Clarice Kensington, the main antagonist of the 1995 comedy film It Takes Two. Both are middle-class women who still act snobbish and sophisticated, both attempt to marry a richer man just for his money, and both serve as antagonists to lookalike girls due to their greedy and aggressive natures.
