Kate Lawson (Tales From The Crypt)

Kate Lawson was the villainess in "Ear Today....Gone Tomorrow", a Season 7 episode of "Tales From The Crypt". She was portrayed by Gretchen Palmer.

Background[]

Kate Lawson was the trophy wife of Malcolm Lawson, a wealthy mob boss. She is depicted as arrogant, materialistic, and, given her use of the phrase "our line of business", a willing moll.

Summary[]

Kate first appears as Malcolm is having Glynn Fennell, a veteran safecracker in debt & on the decline after suffering hearing loss, tied to a pool table & tortured for failing to pass his test & open his safe in time. As Malcolm prepares to order Glynn's death, Kate steps in and negotiates a temporary stay in order to play out a wager she has made with her husband. While Malcolm is away on business, Glynn has 10 days to clear his debt or he is to be killed with no further interruptions.

5 days later, Kate meets Glynn at a bar to show off her latest cosmetic surgery: transplanted cat's eyes. As part of her plan, she wants Glynn to break in Malcolm's larger safe, only this time with similar animal modification that she got from her plastic surgeon. When Kate & Glynn return to her home to set up the appointment, she seduces him(as she has gained cat-like emotions, she appears to have gone into heat) and, despite his resistance, they have sex. Throughout the interaction, Malcolm had been surveilling the situation.

Glynn goes to the doctor, where he surgically receives the hearing of an owl, improving him hearing by 10 times as much. He hears clear enough to accurately tell Kate of how bad smoking is for her. As this is the last day before Malcolm's "return", they go to open the safe & Glynn does it with ease. Afterwards, as Kate goes to survey the safe, Glynn pulls a pistol on her. She tries to plead with him, even mentioning that her attitude was a facade & that she enjoyed their night together. To no avail, Glynn shoots her dead, with Kate coughing up a furball before dying.

It isn't until a short time later, when Glynn has cleared out the entire safe & is preparing to leave, that Kate reveals herself, shocking Glynn. As another side effect from her cat surgery, she was given the proverbial 9 lives; though now the number is 8 due to Glynn's betrayal. As Malcolm has also revealed himself, the shock causes a side effect from Glynn's surgery to trigger, replacing the mouth & nose part of his face with the beak of an owl.

The last scene shows Glynn back tied to the pool table & Kate puting because she lost the bet with Malcolm. Apparently, Malcolm had wagered on Glynn's betrayal. As part of their bartering system with the doctor for his experimental operations, they give up Glynn to him as "spare parts" & the episode ends with the doctor hacking away.

Quotes[]

Kate: "I feel like I'm on a hot tin roof." Glynn:"Ever try catnip?" Kate, angrily: "What kind of crack is that?"
"It's too bad my husband comes home tomorrow. If you had any money, you might actually be interesting."
Glynn: "God, life is a bitch sometimes." Kate: "I'll say. All bloody 9 of them, or in my case, 8."