Kate Lockley

Kate Lockley is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Angel, portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm. Kate first appears in the episode "Lonely Hearts". She is a young, skeptical detective for the Los Angeles Police Department.

History

Kate first meets Angel while investigating a case undercover involving the brutal murders of several patrons of D'Oblique, a popular singles bar. After encountering Angel as he leaves the site of another murder, she instantly suspects him to be the killer, unaware that Angel had actually been attempting to stop the real killer (a parasitic demon looking for the perfect host). Angel escapes, and Kate becomes obsessed with finding him to the point that she searches the Angel Investigations offices without a warrant. After she is attacked by the real killer and saved by Angel, she helps him to bring the killer down. Kate subsequently clears Angel of all charges, and Angel offers his services to her whenever she needs them.

Kate's subsequent encounters with Angel lead her to trust him as a helpful stranger, and she, in turn, assists him, using her position on the police force to provide him with information about some of his cases. Furthermore, she finds herself attracted to the enigmatic private investigator, although she won't admit it, even to herself.

Kate was raised by her widowed father, Trevor, who is also a police officer, who taught her to put her emotions aside and to take care of herself at all costs. When she discovers that Angel is really a vampire and subsequently discovers his past as Angelus before his soul is restored, her black and white view of the world is shaken, and she delves into the darker side of Los Angeles. On one such investigation, Kate finds her father's lifeless body- completely drained of blood.

After her father's death, Kate struggles with her relationship with Angel; she undeniably has feelings for him, but blames him in part for failing to keep other vampires away from her father (despite knowing about Angel needing to be invited into a dwelling by the resident). She subsequently becomes increasingly adversarial toward him by taking her newfound hatred of all vampires out on him. Obsessed with ridding the city of "his kind," Kate is the first to investigate any calls matching the "otherworldly" profile, even if it's out of her jurisdiction. She develops an intense dislike for Wolfram & Hart and the clients the law firm represents, but at the same time shows an equal resentment to Angel for exposing her to this world.

Her obsession with supernatural cases becomes her own undoing: after Angel attacks a cop who had brought back deceased police officers as zombies in an attempt to cut down on crime- unaware or unconcerned that the zombies use excessive force to deal with relatively minor crimes such as jaywalking-, she is eventually fired from the LAPD. Kate calls Angel and blames him for ruining her life, then attempts suicide by taking prescription pills with hard liquor. After he has his fabled epiphany, Angel goes to Kate's apartment. He breaks down her door and holds her under a cold shower. After her life is saved, she thanks him and then harshly orders him to leave.

That evening, Kate and Angel come to a reckoning and she forgives him, believing there is a higher power at work and they're not alone in the never-ending battle against the forces of darkness. When Angel asks her why, she replies that she never invited him into her apartment.

She never appeared again on the series, possibly due to Elisabeth Röhm joining the cast of Law & Order. However, in one episode soon after her last appearance Angel mentions to his friends that they no longer have a friend on the police force.

Kate reappears in the seventh issue of Angel: After the Fall, saving Connor from a group of demons. She is unaware that Connor is Angel's son. She established an antiquities business after her departure from the LAPD, and has been using her business connections to learn more about the supernatural and the occult. She has stocked her hideout with an arsenal of ancient to modern weapons. She is seen leaving to blow up a demon army. This actual event takes place the same night as "Not Fade Away."

Some time later, after L.A. was restored to normal, she once again encounters Angel and reopens Angel Investigations. However, there are several difficulties due to Angel's new fame status (since many clients are actually fans and admirers rather than people who need help), plus an upheaval in demonic activity. The current Angel Investigations consists of Angel, Kate, Connor and Gwen (although her status is questionable since Connor wants her gone due to her recent betrayal).

In the Angel & Faith series, it is briefly mentioned by Gunn that Kate is back with the LAPD leading their new supernatural investigations unit, as the existence of the mystical world has since become public knowledge following the subsequent events of "Chosen" and "Not Fade Away".

Writing and acting

• Kate was originally conceived as a much darker character. In the unproduced episode "Corrupt," she was a detective deep undercover as a prostitute and addicted to drugs.
• Elisabeth Röhm said "I thought Kate was this incredibly powerful young woman who is fantastic at what she does, but at the same time, just a girl. There's a great line in Notting Hill when Julia Roberts says 'I'm just a girl wanting a boy to love me.' I think that's a part of Kate and a part of everyone who is really great at what they do. They're actually just the girl or boy who's real and has the same problems as everybody else. She's this tough, smart cookie, but she just wants to be loved and she doesn't know how to do it."
• Röhm on the relationship between Kate and Angel: "I think that Kate and Angel are kind of meant for each other but in a way, you can see them become best friends."
• About the character's departure: "Well, I was the first season of the show, I was part of the original cast and loved doing it, but by the second season, I had my own show on TNT called "Bull" so I had to go back & forth between my show & recurring on ANGEL, and then after that I was offered LAW & ORDER and Joss & I decided it would be impossible for me to go from New York (where I was a regular on L&O) to Los Angeles for ANGEL. And we had a great opportunity for it to end dramatically, and it was very satisfying for both of us."

Appearances

Canonical appearances

Kate has appeared in

Angel

Kate appeared in 15 episodes and one unaired episode.

Season 1 (1999, 2000) - "Corrupt" (unaired), "Lonely Hearts", "I Fall To Pieces", "Rm w/a Vu", "Sense & Sensitivity", "Somnambulist", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "The Prodigal", "Sanctuary", "To Shanshu in L.A.".

Season 2 (2000, 2001) - "Dear Boy", "The Shroud of Rahmon", "Reunion", "The Thin Dead Line", "Reprise", "Epiphany".

Angel: After the Fall #7

Non-canonical appearances

Kate also appears in Angel expanded universe, including the Angel comic Hunting Ground.

See also

• "Corrupt"