Kathy is the antagonist in the third season of Sweet Magnolias. Everyone knows that Kathy is up to no good, so her return becomes a cause for concern. Kathy is played by Wynn Everett.
Kathy is Ronnie’s sister and Dana Sue’s sister-in-law. A lot of people in Serenity do not know her, including her niece, Annie, as Kathy left town years ago. She traveled, saw the world, and returned to her hometown at the end of the second season.
Kathy does not get along with the Magnolias, and as soon as she returns to Serenity, she starts creating problems for them, starting with vandalism. Her return worries the Magnolias as well as Ronnie, and for good reason.
Kathy’s grudge against Dana Sue
Years ago, Kathy used to work at Sullivan’s and hoped to own it one day. She gave her everything to the place, but it eventually went to Dana Sue and Ronnie because Miss Frances told the bank that they were trustworthy and Kathy was not.
Although it has been years since then, Kathy never tried to build something of her own and still holds a grudge against Dana Sue; she thinks Dana Sue took away what she deserved. When Ronnie finds out that Kathy is back, he visits her and asks her to leave his family alone.
This makes the situation worse. One of the other reasons for Kathy’s dislike for the Magnolias is that Kathy always wanted to be a sister and a friend to Dana Sue, but the two never got along.
On the other hand, Dana Sue shared the love and friendship that Kathy desired with Maddie and Helen. Kathy cannot digest the fact that Dana Sue’s friends are more important to her and that for Ronnie, Dana Sue is more important than Kathy.
Ronnie knows his sister too well to know that she is here to play games, and he is not wrong; vandalism was Kathy’s first move. She wants to poach Dana Sue’s employees, and the first one on her list is Erik, Dana Sue’s trusted sous chef and friend.
She offers Erik a job at Z’s. She wants him to run the kitchen there, but Erik refuses. However, when Erik takes some time off from work, he decides to work for Kathy as a menu consultant because he does not know about Kathy’s feud with Dana Sue.
Apart from this, Kathy shows up at Annie’s birthday party uninvited and creates a scene. She insults the Magnolias and ruins the day for Annie, who leaves the party in tears, while Ronnie has no choice but to make his sister leave.
Erik and Kathy do not see eye to eye, and Erik eventually quits. This infuriates Kathy, and she trashes the kitchen at Sullivan’s. She does not leave behind any evidence, as there are no signs of forced entry and Kathy made sure to disable the cameras.
Kathy’s change of heart
Dana Sue and Ronnie know that Kathy is responsible for trashing the kitchen because Ronnie finds a code word, which he and his sister used when they were young, written on one of the mirrors in the kitchen.
Ronnie confronts his sister about creating problems for his family, but Kathy refuses to admit that she trashed the kitchen. She makes it clear that she is not going anywhere until she gets what she deserves, and everyone knows that she only comes back for money.
Ronnie decides to pay her in order to make her leave Serenity. Kathy gets what she wanted and is now ready to leave the town again. However, she had started seeing Bill after returning to Serenity.
As Kathy believes that Bill is the only person who understands what it is like to be haunted by one’s past, she asks him to leave the town with her, but Bill refuses. Unlike her, he wants to take responsibility for hurting people and trying to be better.
In fact, he makes her understand that it is important for her to apologize for her past mistakes. Kathy goes to meet her brother and sister-in-law before their vow renewal ceremony and gifts them her grandmother’s tea set that Ronnie always wanted.
She admits that she took away things from Dana Sue and apologizes to her. The two women mend their differences, and Dana Sue tells her that she will pray for her happiness and peace. Kathy then leaves the town for a few days, but not without Bill.
Also Read: The love triangle in Sweet Magnolias season 3 explained
