Karen McClaren

Karen McClaren is an aspiring reporter and a graduate of Berkeley who hopes to someday work for the magazine Rolling Stone.

Wicked City
In 1982, Karen lands a job in Los Angeles after being hired by Diver Hawkes, who runs a paparazzi business specializing in crime reporting. Karen meets "John" (one of the aliases of Kent Grainger) at a bar. Good-looking, charming and a little creepy, Kent offers to help Karen find her "big break" and she gives him her number. Leaving Karen, Kent proceeds to pick up another girl, Emily, at the bar, though the encounter ends in her death.

Later, "John" invited Karen to a Billy Idol concert at the Whisky (evidently plotting to kill her next). When a press conference leads detectives to Emily's head, Karen and her boss Diver sneak into the crime scene to snap photos. They are caught, but Karen tells detective Jack Roth that she saw Emily the night she died. Karen agrees to help with the investigation and meets Jack at the Wiskey as they believe "John" is the killer. When a song dedicated to Karen starts on the radio, Jack realizes that he has lost Karen in the crowd. "John"has moved on to a different victim after seeing Karen with Jack.

While Jack frantically hunts for Karen, it's revealed she has left the club with help from Diver. Scared that the murderer will find her, Diver convinces Karen to use her adrenaline to write a story about the killer, which she does. Diver quickly proofs it and is impressed with her skills. Karen, on the other hand, is still shaken and considered to go home until Diver convinces her to stay - for the story and for her. They end up sleeping together.

The detectives eventually locate Karen and remind her that hiding out in a location the killer already is familiar with is unsafe. They later convince her to work with a sketch artist; the resulting sketch is released to local hospitals (as Kent's latest victim, Mallory, received a head wound and had to visit the hospital).

Later, Karen receives a note from the "Hollywood Strangler" asking if she wants to play. Diver and Kent head to a local library and meet up with the detectives Jack and his partner Paco. Karen tells them that the killer wants her to find a copy of The Phantom of the Opera, which she thinks may explain the killer's motives. As Karen finds the area on the shelf where the book is supposed to be, she is mortified to discover Mallory's head in a box instead.

Another riddle leads Karen and the detectives on the hunt for Mallory's body. Thanks to her role in helping the detectives (though unwarranted), Karen is interviewed on television and receives an offer from The Rolling Stones, which upsets Diver.

When the detectives release a picture of Kent as a child, Kent takes it upon himself to visit Karen at home one night, waking her. Kent asks Karen to be his voice; in return, Karen asks for an interview.

During another television interview, this time live, Karen receives a call from Kent, who tells her the story hasn't had a climax yet. Diver tells detectives that the music playing in the background is a song by Ozzy Osbourne, and suggests the killer may commit suicide. Though detectives are lead to believe the killer may be dead, especially after the charred remains of a body are found after a house explosion, Jack is doubtful that the case is over.

Believing the story of the "Hollywood Slayer" is over, Diver and Karen contemplate running a story about Jack's affair with Dianne, whom they believe is a drug dealer (and unaware that she is actually a cop).

When she realizes that the killer is still at large, Karen goes on television tells the world that she is the voice for the victims. Unfortunately, this also makes her a target - Karen is killed by Betty, her body dumped at the Santa Monica Pier.

Appearances

 * Pilot
 * Running with the Devil
 * Should I Stay or Should I Go
 * The Very Thought of You
 * Heat Wave
 * Blizzard of Ozz
 * Destroyer
 * Goodbye Norma Jean

Behind the scenes
Karen McClaren is portrayed by actor Taissa Farmiga.