Boss' Kathleen Robertson Checks Into Bates Motel For Season 2

To some of us, she'll always be a little bit Clare Arnold from Beverly Hills, 90210, but more recently, Kathleen Robertson showed off her sexy, confident side in Starz's Boss, and coming soon she's headed to A&E's Bates Motel, playing another sexy, confident character from the sound of it. Robertson joins Michael Vartan among the newcomers to the creepy, suspenseful cable drama.

TVLine says Robertson's joining the second season of Bates Motel in the role of Jodi, "a smart, sexy businesswoman and artist who's as hard-charging as she is successful." A description like that sounds like a good thing for a character, but when I picture a woman like that in Bates Motel, I picture Norma Bates looking ruffled and threatened, especially if these traits prove a nuisance to her for whatever the reason. Or I picture her making friends with Norman Bates and then something bad happens to her.

But TVLine says it's not clear whether or not Robertson's character will fit into Norma's world or her teen son Norman's. Either way, she might want to watch her back, just to be safe… as if there were such a thing as "safe" for a character on Bates Motel, right? What we do know is that she's the kind of woman who gets what she wants. She's a natural born leader and she's unafraid to "use her arsenal of brains, charm and creativity" to make things work for her in her personal and professional life. That's awesome Jodi. But seriously, watch your back.

As mentioned, Robertson's recent list of credits included the role of Kitty O'Neill in Starz's political drama Boss. Before that, she appeared on Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Medium and a show called The Business. But many of us will always know and associate her best as Clare Arnold on the original 90210, a character who started out young, feisty and troublesome, but grew into one of the better female characters on series, jumping from potential love interest to Brandon, to girlfriend to David and finally the girlfriend of Steve Sanders, played by Ian Ziering, who recently made his comeback with a starring role in Syfy's Sharknado.

Robertson's own more recent credits include a number of TV movies, including Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden. And soon enough - well, 2014, anyway - we'll see her checking into Bates Motel. And she's not the only newcomer to join the series. Last month, we learned that Alias' Michael Vartan was set to play a role in the series next season, along with Rebecca Creskoff and Kenny Johnson. Creskoff will play Christine, Norma's first female friend. Vartan has signed on to recur as George, Christine's recently divorced older brother. He develops a crush on Norma (Probably not a good thing!). And Johnson will play Caleb, Norma's estranged brother. I smell trouble. But then again, that's about all anyone can smell around Bates Motel, isn't it?

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site.