Catherine Moore

**Catherine Elizabeth Moore** (née McAllister) is the overprotective and savvy grandmother of John Moore. She is a guest-starring character in ʼThe Alienistʼ, portrayed by Grace Zabriskie.

## Character Overview

Mrs. Moore is an elderly woman with a delicate and elegant appearance. She has silvery hair styled more often than not in a chignon, and wears austere but elegant dresses in the shades of black, burgundy and blue. She also wears minimal but refined accessories such as necklaces, or rings. Mrs. Moore wears rounded spectacles when reading.

Mrs. Moore is an opinionated woman who gladly took on the role of matriarch of the Moore family. Although she is strict and very careful to maintain a respectable façade in high society, she is also a loving grandmother who really cares about the success and health of her grandson, John. Mrs. Moore is quite determined to ensure the wellbeing of her grandson by setting up meetings with potential fiancées during afternoon teas at Moore house.

She's not fond of modern technology, and find the telephone to be a dreadful machine.

## Biography

Mrs. Moore is the matriarch of the Moore family. Following the disagreements between her son and her grandson John, exacerbated following the death of Johnʼs brother, Mrs. Moore welcomed John into her home. Since the engagement between John and Miss Julia Pratt was broken, Mrs. Moore made matchmaking her favourite pastime, presenting John with a series of high society young women.

In the spring of 1896, Mrs. Moore was in constant struggle with her grandson John and his immoderate passion for alcohol and prostitutes. Although the woman made no mention of her grandsonʼs vices, she was well aware of them as proved when she directed Miss Sara Howard to Two-Ton Annie's brothel to look for John.

In an attempt to return John to the right path, Mrs. Moore hosted an afternoon tea with and Mrs. Abigail Bell and her daughter, Caroline, hoping to arouse the interest of her grandson towards the young woman. Unfortunately, the conversation brought to mind the sad memory of Johnʼs dead brother when Caroline inadvertently mentioned her fear of water.

Mrs. Moore kept informed about the investigations into the murders through the newspapers and noticed a deterioration in her grandsonʼs mood, without knowing, however, what it was due to.

Mrs. Moore was glad to know that her grandson had stopped drinking alcohol and expressed her support and pride when John accompanied her to a fundraiser at the *Gala and Secret Auction at the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty on Children*. Back home, Mrs. Moore was pleased to meet Miss Sara Howard waiting for them. She left her grandson in Saraʼs company, hoping the two of them would spend a romantic afternoon, unaware of the gruesome subjects of conversation between the two.

When Mrs. Moore received a visit from Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (who was looking for his friend John), the two talked about the recent investigations and the basic elements of psychopathology. Interrupted by Johnʼs return, the woman confessed to her grandson that she had no fear of psychopaths.

She sadly passed away before she could be happy that her grandson John was about to settling down with Miss Violet Hayward, a young woman from a good family whom she would have appreciated very much according to John.

## Memorable Quotes

**Mrs. Moore**: “*You're irresponsible, John, but you aren't cruel.*”
**Mrs. Moore** (about the telephone): “*Oh! Loathsome machine!*”
— Silver Smile

**Mrs. Moore**: “*Laszlo was just explaining the difference between a common murderer and a multi-murderer.*”
**John**: “*Laszlo now, is it? Please tell me you haven't come here just to frighten my grandmother!*”
**Mrs. Moore**: “*I'm not the least bit frightened by these psychopaths.*”
— Castle in the Sky

## Appearances

* Ep. 3: *Silver Smile*
* Ep. 5: *Hildebrandt’s Starling*
* Ep. 6: *Ascension*
* Ep. 10: *Castle in the Sky*
* Ep. 3: *Labyrinth* (mentioned)

## Notes

* In Caleb Carr's novel, Mrs. Moore is terrified of the possibility of becoming a victim of H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who caused a sensation in the 19th century. H. H. Holmes become famous for killing an unspecified number of victims – ranging from canonical 9 to confessed 27 to even hundreds in popular culture – in his "Murder Castle," a building with several torture chambers where his tenants met a gruesome death.
* As a pun to the novel, in “Castle in the Sky” she said to her grandson, John that she's not afraid of serial killers and psychopaths after an afternoon tea with Dr. Laszlo Kreizler.

## Gallery

* Screencaps
* Behind the Scenes

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gina Gionfriddo (writer); Clare Kilner (director); (July 26, 2020); "Labyrinth". Episode 3. *Angel of Darkness*. TNT.
2. ↑ Hossein Amini (writer) & Jakob Verbruggen (director); (January 22, 2018); "The Boy on the Bridge". Episode 1. *The Alienist*. TNT
3. ↑ Gina Gionfriddo (writer) & Jakob Verbruggen (director); (February 5, 2018); "Silver Smile". Episode 3.*The Alienist*. TNT
4. ↑ E. Max Frye (writer) & James Hawes (director); (February 19, 2018); "Hildebrandt’s Starling". Episode 5.*The Alienist*. TNT
5. ↑ E. Max Frye (writer) & Paco Cabezas (director); (February 26, 2018); "Ascension". Episode 6.*The Alienist*. TNT
6. ↑ Cary Joji Fukunaga, John Sayles & Chase Palmer (writer) & Jamie Payne (director); (March 26, 2018); "Castle in the Sky". Episode 10.*The Alienist*. TNT