Gordon Murphy (2024)

Gordon Murphy (previously known to fans as the "White-Haired Man") was the assassin who was thought to have killed David Clarke for the Americon Initiative. It was later revealed that Gordon's attempt murder David failed and he survived.

Biography[]

Season 1[]

He first appears in "Justice", as an associate of Conrad Grayson. He has apparently done work for the Graysons for years as a hitman. Murphy was a member of the Americon Initiative, a secret terrorist organization operating on US soil that claimed responsibility for the Flight 197 bombing; he may have acted as the organization's liaison to the Graysons.

It's shown in flashbacks in season 2 that he was also responsible for helping Victoria hide away Kara Clarke, whom he later married posing as a federal agent. It was revealed the previous season that he was behind the death of David Clarke in prison, having posed as a prison security guard and stabbed him in the chest during a riot to cover up the killing, after being hired to do so by Conrad for some reason.

In "Justice", after being hired by Conrad once again, he kills Victoria's enforcer, Lee Moran, in prison after he is arrested for killing Tyler Barrol based on evidence planted by Emily, clearing Daniel of suspicion. He makes Moran's death look like a suicide and leaves behind a fake suicide note in which he confesses to the murder.

In "Grief," Emily and Nolan track him down. While giving Emily a fake address, Nolan plants cameras in Murphy's house disguised as a cable guy. Murphy, seeing through him, somehow hacks the cameras to place them on a loop and abducts Nolan from his home.

In "Reckoning," Murphy uses Nolan as bait to lure Emily to him, having found out that she is Amanda Clarke. He tries to get the location of the evidence implicating Conrad and himself and gets a fake address. While he's gone, Emily unlocks her and Nolan's bonds and waits for Murphy to return. When he does, she attacks him with an axe and gets into a fight with him. Overpowering him, she intends to kill him to avenge her father, but relents and lets him go.

Later, posing as an airport staff member, Murphy plants a bomb in the government plane transporting the witnesses and the investigator, along with the evidence that will prove the involvement of Grayson Global in the Flight 197 bombing and David Clarke's death. However, he calls Victoria Grayson in the last minute, saves her from the explosion and agrees to give her protection in exchange for money.

Season 2[]

Season two begins with Gordon in hiding from the Initiative. He’s become a target because Victoria was supposed to die on the plane, but he chose to call her, strike up a deal and spare her life. Since then Victoria had been in hiding and in constant contact with Gordon and her daughter. The two of them were working out a deal for Victoria and Charlotte to get new identities and disappear.

What Gordon ended up getting was a classic Victoria double-cross. He came back one night to find Victoria beaten and handcuffed to a radiator with the police on the way. She was going to tell them he did this to her. He was on the run and had to find a way to exonerate himself. He remembered the camera Emily had planted in the cabin and knew there would be footage that showed Victoria was lying. He showed up at Emily’s house to take the video and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

At the end of "Resurrection," he was shot in the back and killed by Aiden Mathis when he tried to kill Emily. She kept his body in a freezer and later used it to frame Conrad for killing him.

At the end of Season 3, David Clarke turned up alive. He claimed that his death has been faked and Conrad held him captive, though he later told Emily that it was someone even more powerful than Conrad.

Personality[]

Murphy was a deadly assassin who worked for the initiative. He showed little regard for human life, having committed several acts of murder without a second thought for the people he is killing. It appeared as though Gordon was a master of disguise, being able toblend in perfectly and remain undetected to those around him. Such an example was he was able to pass through an airport and plant abomb on an American plane without anybody noticing.

The first few episodes of Season 2 showed Gordon in a kinder light. It was revealed he was in a romantic relationship with Kara Wallace, Emily Thorne'smother, and was planning to make his latest job the last. However, it is currently unknown whether or not he truly loved her, or it was a mask for his true self.

Appearances[]

Notes[]

• His meetings with Conrad were "always off the books" according to Carole Miller.
• Met with Conrad a year to the day before Flight 197 went down and again the morning David Clarke died.
• His house is filled with clocks, presumably set to international time zones.
• The white-haired man's employers planned for Conrad to take the fall for Flight 197, not David.
• His name was first heard in a flashback in Resurrection of him and Victoria (who introduced him as an FBI agent) picking up Kara Wallace from the hospital, and is confirmed in Confidence when Aiden and Emily find his I.D. It's further confirmed later in the same episode when Kara calls him "Gordon" in a voice message. However, in Illusion, Helen mentions that "Gordon Murphy" is what people "like[d] to call him", suggesting that it was just an alias after all.
• He learned of Emily's true identity, however apparently never notified anyone from the Initative of it.
• It is unknown if Gordon Murphy had ties with Malcolm Black or worked with him the day David Clarke supposedly died.
  • It's possible Malcolm Black had his own henchman at the prison by coincidence the day Gordon worked undercover.

Known Victims[]

• David Clarke (attempted)
• Lee Moran (Victoria's hired enforcer; killed and made to look like he hanged himself)
• The plane bombing:
  • Agent John McGowen
  • Other airplane staff
• Nolan Ross (abducted and held captive; escaped)
• Amanda Clarke (attempted)

Quotes[]

• "It's chloroform. I'm sure you appreciate the need for secrecy, miss Thorne?"
• "No wire, no phone, no weapon. It's a very dangerous game you're playing. And for what... payback for your father?"

Gallery[]

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