Audrey's Brothel
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Owners
Delroy
Delroy Baker
"What if I got no patience and I hate waiting?"
Played By: William Mapother
"This is my party. You want to party, you got to ask me first."
The vicious owner of Audrey's, the local brothel. He pays protection to Boyd Crowder, but his cruelty quickly turns Ava against him.
- Asshole Victim: Ava kills him when he turns up trying to find Ellen May. Considering he was a psychotic jackass, he isn't mourned.
- Bad Boss: He views his 'workers' as disposable.
- Bank Robbery: He makes three of the prostituted women in his brothel rob a bank.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Delroy is capable of faking concern and charm, such as when he comforts Ellen May following the failed Oxycontin robbery and how he tries to employ Ava. The reality is, he's a monstrous bully who abuses his employees.
- Bullying a Dragon: Tries to push around Raylan and then Ava.
- Character Death: Delroy meets his maker at the business end of Ava's shotgun.
- Domestic Abuse: A classic case, if not for the prostitute angle. He alternates between a lover's concern and sudden, brutal violence.
- Drugs Are Bad: He gives Oxycontin to the women in his brothel in an effort to control and manipulate them.
- Faux Affably Evil: He acts quite friendly and sympathetic to his employees, even while he’s beating them.
- Kick the Dog: His mistreatment of sweet, stupid Ellen May quickly establishes him as one of the least sympathetic characters on the show.
- Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates the prostituted women in his brothel into doing his criminal dirty work, such as securing Oxy or robbing banks.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in two episodes before being killed, but Ava's decision to murder him essentially changes the course of the series completely. If she had given Ellen May to him, she never would have gone to jail, never been forced to inform on Boyd (leading to the collapse of their relationship and his criminal ambitions), and never would have become a fugitive for life, living under a fake name in California.
- Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: When he abuses Ellen May he makes her feel that it is all her fault and that she deserves it.
Nicky
Nicky Cush
Played by: Daniel Buran
A paranoid conspiracy theorist and former pimp. He was the original owner of Audrey's, until Delroy wrested control from him.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Cush's body armor protects everything but his feet. Boyd subdues him by injuring his foot.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Comes with being a reclusive conspiracy theorist.
- Conspiracy Theorist: He has a bulletin board showing connections between different news stories. He's afraid of drones too.
- Crazy-Prepared: How many people keep high-powered weapons and full suits of body armor in their home?
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Nicky is actually able to get the drop on Boyd, Augustine and Picker when they confront him searching for Ellen May. Unfortunately for him Boyd incapacitates him immediately after.
- A Friend in Need: He reluctantly gives Ellen May the keys to his vehicle so that she can evade Boyd and Augustine. When Boyd and Augustine arrive at his house, he distracts them long enough to let Ellen May escape. He does so as a kindness to her, standing to gain nothing.
- This Is a Drill: Boyd threatens to use a power drill on Cush's teeth so that he'll reveal Ellen May's whereabouts.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Years before, he took in Ellen May when she had nowhere else to go and introduced her to prostitution.
Employees
Ellen May
Ellen May
"I just want to come home. Can I come home, please?"
Played By: Abby Miller
Ellen May is a prostitute at Audrey's, a dive bar and even seedier brothel. She works for Delroy, who often abuses the women in his employ when they fail to demonstrate obedience. She finds sympathy and perhaps even friendship with a number of residents in Harlan County, including Ava Crowder and Sheriff Shelby Parlow. Ellen May is sweet, but meek and not particularly intelligent.
- Ascended Extra: Her appearances were pretty sparse, usually acting as an informant or sounding board for other characters. Then in Season 4 she's a major focus.
- As the Good Book Says...: She quotes scripture to Ava after her conversion to Christianity.
- Back for the Finale: Shows up briefly in an Imagine Spot when Raylan is explaining who could've possibly helped Ava escape Harlan.
- Be All My Sins Remembered: Because of her former life (and Ava's words), she doubts that she can be saved. Billy convinces her that her sins are forgiven and she is worthy of redemption.
- Beneath the Mask: On the surface, she seems like a sweet, cheerful hooker. Beneath the surface, however, she's unhappy and wants to exit prostitution. In season 3, she asked to be Dickie's "queen" if he came into money. In Season 4, she admits that she's melancholy and starts seeking solace in a new church.
- Broken Bird: Ellen May is a sweet girl but very damaged by the harsh life she's led.
- Butt-Monkey: Ellen's life has been filled with abuse of all kinds. She's been neglected, addicted, unloved, physically beaten and forced through traumatic circumstances through little fault of her own.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Played with. All the evidence indicates that she did not tell the St. Cyrs about Ava's murder of Delroy. However, after Billy's death, she begs Ava to let her work at the brothel again. She loudly blurts out to Ava that she won't tell anyone about Delroy's murder in the middle of Audrey's.
- Christianity is Catholic: Averted: she needs Shelby to confirm to her that Catholicism even is a form of Christianity.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She was abandoned by her mother at age 3. Later, she found herself with no home and nowhere to go, suggesting that she was either kicked out of her home or ran away. A pimp took her in, and she entered a life of prostitution and drugs.
- The Dog Bites Back: After Boyd and Ava order Colt to kill her, she secretly finds refuge with Shelby and agrees to help him build a case against Boyd.
- Extreme Doormat: Ellen May typically lies down for stronger personalities.
- Functional Addict: She's shown taking Oxycontin several times in the series.
- Grew a Spine: When Ava points a gun at her in Last Chance Salvation Church, Ellen May shows no fear or obsequiousness.
- Heel–Faith Turn: She leaves the sex trade after converting to Christianity at Billy's church.
- Faith–Heel Turn: After Billy's death, she begs Ava to let her work at the brothel again. Even when offered honest work with one of Boyd's born-again relatives, she still wants to work at Audrey's, despite Ava's reservations. Zig-zagged again. While in hiding under Shelby's protection, she says that she needs to "get right with the Lord" before she can reform her life. She also tells Cassie that she has been praying to God for solace, begging him to help her out of her dangerous situation. By the end of season 4, her Christian faith seems solid.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's a prostitute and a drug addict, but has a very solid moral compass despite this. Even though Delroy was a psychopath who tried to kill her, Ellen May feels bad about his death and seeks redemption.
- Lethally Stupid: She shot Arnold while high on drugs. To boot, during a packed night at Audrey's, she blurted out that Ava murdered Delroy, which could have put Ava in danger of arrest or retaliation if widely known. She also contacts old friends from Last Chance Salvation Church, even though she's in hiding after Colt was sent to kill her. Cassie, not knowing the situation, asks around for her at Audrey's, leading Ava and Boyd to realize that Ellen May is still alive.
- Missing Mom: Her mother abandoned the family when Ellen May was three.
- Prayer Is a Last Resort: She prays to God to help her out of her dangerous situation in Season 4. When Limehouse lets her leave Noble's Holler, she believes that her prayers were answered.
- Reckless Gun Usage: She panics and pumps several bullets into Arnold because he came out wearing a bear costume instead of a bunny rabbit costume. She was high on an unknown drug at the time.
- Sad Clown: She has a goofy sense of humor, as seen in her first appearance when Raylan questions her about a case, and later when she flirts with Shelby. Her humor veils more complex emotions, however; see Beneath The Mask above.
- She Knows Too Much: Ava worries that Ellen May will tell the wrong person about Delroy's murder.
- Trauma Conga Line: She ended up in prostitution, gets beaten up and threatened with death by her pimp Delroy, watches her friends Trixie and Krystal die violent deaths, and now endures violence from Ava. Ellen May has endured a LOT of suffering.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Shelby.
- Womanchild: She has a very childlike demeanor. Her relationship with Delroy resembled that of an abusive father and child, and her relationship with Eva has taken on a similar dynamic.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Billy's death, Ava does not want Ellen May working at the brothel again because she is a loose cannon (i.e., shooting Arnold while high on drugs) who knows too much about Delroy's murder. She gives Ellen May money and tells her that she will go to work with one of Boyd's relatives. In reality, she arranges for Colt to kill Ellen May, but Ellen May runs off before he can do so.
Teri
Teri
Played By: Cathy Baron
One of Ava's hookers and a favorite of Johnny's.
- Honey Trap: Acts as a not-too-subtle one to help Boyd trap Albert.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Teri is a sweet young lady with a pleasant enough disposition.
- The Mole: In Season 5, she seduces Cyrus under the nickname "Candy" in order to get information on Boyd's drug shipment for Johnny.
- Morality Pet: For Johnny, who treats her tenderly and does his utmost to protect her.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: In "Weight", she acts as Boyd's honey trap for Albert. We see her at a bar with beautiful hair and nice clothes, in contrast to her more casual and disheveled appearance in other episodes.
- Womanchild: When Johnny goes to her for information about Ellen May, all she can do is whine about how everyone is talking about Ellen May even though she's prettier.
Teena & Mina
Teena & Mina
Played By: Kaitlin Ferrell & Aubrey Wood
A pair of prostitutes often seen with Dewey Crowe.
- Fair-Weather Friend: They're happy to frolic in the pool with Dewey when times are good. However, when Dewey loses control of his brothel and experiences an existential crisis, they're less than sympathetic when he confides in them.
- Ms. Fanservice: Both of them, considering they're hookers. Special mention to seeing their bare behinds while playing Marco Polo naked.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "Weight", Raylan finds them packing up to leave Audrey's after Dewey's departure.
- Those Two Girls: So far, they've only been seen together. They also operate as comic relief much of the time. Subverted in Season 6 when it turns out those aren't their real names and they're not actually sisters. Mina gets a job as a waitress and has lost touch with Teena.
J.J. Corliss
J.J. Corliss
Played By: Willow Greer
A prostitute working for Delroy, and friend of Ellen May.
- Bank Robbery: J.J., Krystal, and Ellen May attempt to rob a bank on Delroy's orders. It doesn't go as planned.
- Character Death: Delroy kills her after a botched robbery.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's a rather pleasant young woman.
- Mauve Shirt: J.J. has some character moments, such as remembering going to the same school as Ava. She recurred briefly before being killed by Delroy.
- She Knows Too Much: Delroy made J.J., Krystal, and Ellen May take part in a bank robbery, in which Krystal was killed. After she helped dump Krystal's body in a slurry pond, Delroy killed her to cover his tracks.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: After deposing of Krystal's body, Delroy casually gut-shoots her with nary a warning.
