Why does that woman sound like that?

Holy shit I was thinking the same thing. I hated every scene she was in because of her stupid breathy half whisper voice. She drove me nuts! The relationship with her and Hays was easily the worst part of the season. So boring.

which character ??

I did not notice that. However, I did feel that the entire series dragged a bit. 7 or even 6 episodes would have improved the pacing, and much of that could have been removing some of their scenes together.