Kate Lockley
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 Elisabeth Röhm as Kate Lockley |
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Kate Lockley is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television program Angel, and is portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm.
Kate Lockley first appeared in the season one Angel episode "Lonely Hearts." She was a young, skeptical detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. She first met Angel while investigating a case undercover involving the brutal murders of several customers of a popular singles bar, D'Oblique. Lockley initially believed that it was Angel himself who was the serial killer, but changed her mind after he saved her life. Her subsequent encounters with Angel in season one led her to trust him as a helpful stranger, and she, in turn, assisted him given her position on the police force. Further, she found herself attracted to the enigmatic private investigator, even though she wouldn’t admit it even to herself.
Lockley was raised by her widowed father, Trevor, who was 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, her black and white view of the world is shaken, and she delves into darker side of Los Angeles. On one such investigation, she finds her father’s lifeless body — completely drained of blood.
After her father's death, Lockley struggles with her relationship with Angel; she undeniably has feelings for him, but blames him in part for failing to keep his fellow vampires away from her father (despite knowing about Angel needing to be invited into a dwelling by the resident), and subsequently becomes increasingly adversarial toward him, taking her newfound hatred of all vampires out on him. Obsessed with ridding the city of "his kind," Lockley is the first to investigate any calls matching the "other-worldly" profile, even if it’s out of her jurisdiction. Lockley has developed an intense dislike for Wolfram & Hart and the clients the law firm represents, including Angel. Once she meets Angel’s challenge, however, Lockley seems to regret it.
Her obsession with supernatural cases becomes her own undoing: She is eventually fired from the LAPD and attempts suicide by washing down prescription pills with hard liquor. She calls Angel and blames him for ruining her life. After he has his fabled epiphany, Angel breaks down Lockley's door and holds her under a cold shower, saving her life.
That evening, Lockley and Angel come to a reckoning and she forgives him, believing there’s a higher power at work and they’re not alone in the never-ending battle against the forces of darkness. When he asks her why, she replies that she never invited him into her apartment.
[edit] Writing
Lockley was originally conceived as a much darker character. In the unproduced, unaired episode, "Corrupt", she was a detective deep under cover as a prostitute, and addicted to drugs.
[edit] See also
- "Corrupt"
