Adrianne Palicki found a cathartic way to get revenge on those responsible for canceling her critically acclaimed series Lone Star earlier this season — by imagining that they were her victims in her turn as a serial killer on Criminal Minds.

"How did you know?" she laughs, jokingly adding, "Those bastards!"

Palicki, the tall beauty best known for her role as tough but heartfelt Tyra on Friday Night Lights, will play what she calls a "psychopath" on tonight's episode of Criminal Minds (9/8c, CBS). "She comes from a very dark past," Palicki explains. "She was abused by her father — sexually and emotionally. She met a person she feels is her equal, and they go on a killing spree. It's kind of like Natural Born Killers."

Still, she adds, "It's one thing to play a killer, but to go into that darkness where she doesn't see what she's doing is wrong — it's scary, but fun."

Less fun was the quick cancellation of Lone Star. "It was a smack in the face," she says. "It's like being with someone who tells you, 'I want to marry you,' and the next day, they're moving out."

Though Tyra left FNL to attend college, Palicki appears in the series' finale, airing this spring on NBC. "It was so therapeutic" to return for the show's conclusion, she says. "I'd already ended the show. I was excited to move on, but when I'd watch it as a fan, it was that feeling you get when you've graduated high school and all your friends are still there: I'm missing out on everything."