- “I am not a bitch! I'm just protected!”
- ―Kate Lockley to Little Tony[src]
Kate Lockley is a police officer and occasional ally of Angel Investigations, and is portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm.
Biography
LAPD
- “I guess I’m just trying to make a connection. The more I come to places like this the harder it gets.”
- ―Kate meets Angel in a nightclub.[src]
Kate was raised by her widowed father, Trevor Lockley, who is also a police officer, who taught her to put her emotions aside and to take care of herself at all costs. She first meets Angel while both are investigating a case undercover involving the brutal murders of several patrons of D'Oblique, a popular singles bar. She initially believes that it is Angel himself who is behind the killings upon seeing him leave a crime scene, and is so firm in this belief that she breaks into the Angel Investigations offices without a legal warrant to search for him. Ultimately, however, she discovers the truth and drops all charges against Angel. 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.
When she discovers that Angel is really a vampire, 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 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," 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. In the aftermath, Kate calls Angel and blames him for ruining her life, then attempts suicide by washing down prescription pills with hard liquor. However, after he has his fabled epiphany, Angel goes to Kate's apartment, breaks down her door, and holds her under a cold shower, saving her life. When she comes to, she thanks him for doing so, but then harshly orders him to get out.
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.
Fall of Los Angeles
Kate protects Connor during the Fall of Los Angeles.
- “A man wiser than both of us helped me through a crisis of conscience once. He said to me...and I'm paraphrasing here...'In the greater scheme, or the bigger picture, nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win. If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. Because that's all there is.' ”
- ―Kate[src]
After her departure from the LAPD, Kate established an antiquities business and has been using her business connections to learn more about the supernatural and the occult, as well as stocking her hideout with an arsenal of weapons, from ancient to modern. When Los Angeles was sent to hell, she took action by going out into the streets and battling the demonic threat. She met and saved Connor from a group of demons, and took him back to her hideout. Kate reiterated to Connor the message Angel gave her about doing what you can no matter what, before leaving to blow up a demon army.
Joining Angel Investigations
Some time later, after L.A. was restored to normal, Kate once again encountered Angel, helping him reopen Angel Investigations in an old church. However, there were several difficulties due to Angel's new celebrity status (since many clients were actually fans and admirers rather then people who need help), and an upheavel in demonic activity. Among Kate's new teammates was Connor, who she learned was actually Angel's son.
Gallery
Appearances
- Corrupt (script replaced by Lonely Hearts)
Angel Season 1
- 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.
Angel Season 2
Angel: After the Fall
- "First Night" Part 2