| “ | What are you afraid of? That I'll take advantage of you? Afraid you'll say yes? | „ |
| ~ Katrina Ludlow trying to seduce Rey Curtis. |
Katherine McGurk, better known as Katrina Ludlow, is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Empire". She is a ruthless, power-hungry charity fundraiser who helps real estate mogul Julian Spector murder an employee who is standing in the way of a multimillion dollar deal.
She was portrayed by Julia Roberts, who also portrayed Queen Clementianna in Mirror, Mirror.
Biography[]
Ludlow was born Katharine McGurk into a working-class family, but as an adult she changed her name and reinvented herself as a charity fundraiser and member of New York City's social elite.
She regularly elicits multimillion dollar investments from wealthy businessmen and politicians with her charm and sex appeal; she also occasionally sleeps with men to get their money. She often works with real estate mogul Julian Spector, who supports several of her charities and with whom she is raising funds to build Spector Stadium, a mega sports arena.
When Gilbert Sanderson, an official with the surety company backing Spector in building the stadium, threatens to revoke his bond, Spector conspires with Ludlow to kill him. After seducing Sanderson, she slips Viagra in his drink, which aggravates his heart condition and causes him to suffer a massive coronary.
"Empire"[]
When NYPD Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Rey Curtis question Ludlow about Sanderson's death, she claims to have barely seen him that night. When they question her about her relationship with Sanderson, she admits to having slept with him the night he died and implicates Spector in killing him.
Fearing Spector's retribution, Ludlow seeks Curtis' protection by becoming a witness for the prosecution. She tells Curtis that Sanderson gave her the Viagra to give to Sanderson, telling her it was a homeopathic aphrodisiac. She and Curtis hole up in a cheap motel in upstate New York for two days before Spector's trial, during which she tries to seduce him. The happily married Curtis resists her advances but confides in her about his wife's worsening multiple sclerosis, saying that he hopes she would die peacefully if the disease caused her too much pain and suffering.
During the trial, Sanderson's lawyer reveals Ludlow's past, including the fact that she was kicked out of prep school for cheating. Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy and Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael discover that she defrauded one of her charities for $5 million, and that Spector offered to protect her in return for killing Sanderson. They try to charge her with murder, but she threatens to destroy their case by accusing Curtis of planting the Viagra on Sanderson unless she gets complete immunity from prosecution. She also claims that she and Curtis slept together to further discredit him.
An outraged Curtis testifies to save the case and his reputation, denying having done anything inappropriate or illegal. Spector is found guilty of murder, but Ludlow walks away scot free. She approaches Curtis outside the courthouse and rationalizes her actions by saying she will be part of history through her association with the stadium; she then sneers at him to "go home to your wife".
External links[]
- Katrina Ludlow on the Law & Order Wiki
