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Katherine Hale was a recurring character in the FX series Justified. Hale is the widow of Wynn Duffy's former mentor, Grady Hale, and a special consultant. She is portrayed by guest star Mary Steenburgen.

Biography[]

Background[]

Season 5[]

In "Weight", Duffy requests her help, wanting her to do an assessment and meet with his "Detroit rock and shitkicker hard place" (referring to Ethan Picker and Boyd Crowder). Katherine agrees to do it, but it will cost $50,000 in advance.

In "The Toll", Katherine, Picker, Duffy, and Boyd are at a meeting in Duffy's hotel room. Katherine says asks Boyd for a reason that Duffy shouldn't kill him for losing half of the heroin shipment, before they are all arrested by the Marshals. It's also clear Vasquez has history with Katherine as he is the one responsible for prosecuting her late husband, Grady. The meeting resumes when they are all released, with Boyd offering to give Duffy the half of the shipment in his possession as compensation. As Katherine and Duffy talk in another room, Boyd kills Picker by throwing a packet of cigarettes at Picker, which detonate and kill him in seconds due to the packet containing emulex explosive which Boyd activated by tapping the side of the carton. In the aftermath of the explosion, a stunned Katherine can only tell Mike Cosmatopolis to lock the door. 

In "Restitution", Katherine is seen with Duffy and Mike in the motorcoach. Katherine reveals that Boyd could be of use of them in other areas of expertise as that while he may be sloppy at dealing heroin, he is good at robbing banks. 

Season 6[]

In "Cash Game", she is seen in the hotel room with Duffy chastising Boyd for not finding Calhoun Schreier's money but rather a ledger and documents, and accuses him of stealing the money himself. Boyd angrily tells her and Duffy that he would have ran with the money if he was planning to steal it and she assures him that Calhoun's money is there. She is later seen talking to Avery Markham where she discusses her belief Boyd has been stealing from her. Avery suggests that he would torture the person. 

In "Noblesse Oblige", Boyd calls in for a sitdown with both Duffy and Katherine as he is angered that Katherine didn't tell him that he was robbing Markham's stuff, given his dangerous reputation. Katherine tells him that her and Markham are lovers but that there are other ways she could have set him up if she wanted to. Boyd remarks what Markham would do if he found out that Katherine was robbing him behind his back. 

In "The Trash and the Snake", Katherine spends time getting close to Ava, as they get high on cocaine at lunch and Ava aids Katherine in stealing an expensive tennis bracelet from a jewelry store. Later that night, Katherine brings up Albert Fekus, curious as to why he had a crisis of conscience and told the truth, offering to find him and get to the bottom of it if Ava wants to find him. 

In "Sounding", Katherine sends Duffy to get information out of Fekus regarding Ava's release from prison and mentions how it will be a shame to have to kill Ava as she likes her. 

In "Alive Day", Markham proposes to Katherine in their hotel room and while not saying yes, she does promise to consider it. Markham also talks to her and wants her to come clean about snitching on Grady (which she denies). Duffy suggests the possibility that Markham could be playing her and could be the person that snitched and was asking her to take the target off his back and his sudden proposal adds to that. Katherine says that he will die slowly if she finds out she is being played. 

In "Dark as a Dungeon", Katherine visits Duffy who shows her a file with evidence that points to Markham being the person that snitched on Grady explaining that Gordon Keith, a henchman of Markham's was picked up while shoplifting vodka and that his primary weapon of choice was a shotgun, which was used to kill Simon Poole and Keith made bail after Grady had been killed in prison. Later, she meets with Art Mullen in her hotel room and questions him about why he's so curious as to who snitched on Grady and asks him if being shot by Daryl Crowe Jr. changed him before giving him the same file Duffy had previously showed her and says that the person that snitched on Grady turned her life to shit and she wants to make sure the same thing happens to them. 

In "Burned", Seabass shows up and holds Markham and Hale at gunpoint in their hotel room, demanding a "severance pay". Katherine offers to give Seabass the tennis bracelet that she had previously stolen from her purse, but instead shoots Seabass with a small handgun she has hidden inside of it. Katherine then shoots Seabass in the head to finish him off. She is then later seen by Markham's side at the party and is angry when Loretta McCready refers to her and Markham as "carpetbaggers" and offers the Harlan citizens a much better offer that results in them earning money while being alive and not forced out of their homes.

In "Trust", she calls Duffy ranting about Boyd's plan to blow up the floor under the bank vault while people were present during the party. Duffy admits that he gave Boyd the impression that Markham was moving the money as he began to get skeptic Katherine was getting second thoughts about the robbery due to Markham proposing to her, causing her to call Duffy a bastard. Markham later calls Katherine and tells her that he is going to move his money to Charlotte, which she relays back to Boyd (although this is a trap set by the Marshals to catch Boyd in the act of commiting a RICO-worthy crime). Boyd, however, finds a more underground way to get the money by taking Katherine hostage and forcing Markham to give the money or else he will kill her. Markham holds up his ends and gives Boyd the $10 million as Boyd tells him the truth that the robbery was all Katherine's idea as she blamed Markham for killing her husband. Katherine then turns to ask Markham if he is going to kill her as he stands by the car and contemplates. 

In "Fugitive Number One", Katherine tells Markham that she just learned that Duffy was the snitch and is heading over to execute him, the two reconciling their love for one another after the betrayal as Markham sets off to get back their $10 million. Katherine goes to visit Duffy and Mike in the motorcoach, asking why he snitched on Grady. Duffy says that he killed Simon Poole because Simon was going to rat him out to Grady and wonders why she even cares what happened to Grady since she is in love with Markham. As she prepares to kill Duffy, Mike intervenes and says that they don't have to kill Duffy but announce that he is a rat and leave him to fend for himself and that if she kills Duffy, he will have to avenge his death because he is Mike's boss. Frustrated, Katherine shoots him and a struggle ensues between the two, resulting in Mike being shot five times throughout his body, but not before delivering a fatal blow to Katherine that crushes her windpipe. 

In "Collateral", Markham visits the morgue and says his goodbyes to her corpse, saying that he loves her and that he tried to tell her that he would go after Duffy himself. Markham vows to reclaim his $10 million and gut Duffy from head to tail for her murder. 

Relationships[]

Memorable Quotes[]

  • "Grady was my husband. He was my partner. And here's how it works. You protect your partner, and you avenge them against people who do them wrong. That is something I strongly believe." (to Wynn Duffy in "Fugitive Number One")

Trivia[]

  • In the gag reel for Season 6, there's a split-second scene where Katherine, lying dead at the morgue, wakes up saying "Money?" when Markham tells her he needs to go after the goddamned money.[1][2]

Appearances[]

Season five appearances
A Murder of Crowes The Kids Aren't All Right Good Intentions Over the Mountain Shot All to Hell
Kill the Messenger Raw Deal Whistle Past the Graveyard Wrong Roads Weight
The Toll Starvation Restitution

 

Season six appearances
Fate's Right Hand Cash Game Noblesse Oblige The Trash and the Snake Sounding
Alive Day The Hunt Dark as a Dungeon Burned Trust
Fugitive Number One Collateral The Promise
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