Ted Sprague

Theodore Sprague
Portrayed by	Matthew John Armstrong
First appearance	Nothing to Hide
In-story stats
Known ability	Induced Radioactivity
Gender
Age	33
Date of birth	August 28th, 1973
Home	Los Angeles, CA
Residence	Ted Sprague's home
Occupation	Medical equipment salesman
Significant other	Karen Sprague (deceased wife)

Theodore "Ted" Sprague is a resident of Los Angeles, CA. He has the ability to emit radiation from his hands.

Character History

Nothing to Hide

Matt and Audrey are investigating the murder of Robert Fresco, an oncologist at UCLA. His body was found burned to a char and emitting 1,800 curies of radiation. A fingerprint found seared into the man's bone is matched using the FBI's CODIS system to Theodore Sprague.

Theodore at the bedside of his comatose wife, Karen.

Matt and Audrey investigate the house and find signs of severe radiation damage throughout: photographs have the faces singed out, there are burns on the keyboard of a computer and around a doorknob, and nearly everything in the bedroom, where the radiation count is highest, is burned and melted into scrap.

Matt finds a chemotherapy prescription belonging to Karen Sprague and issued by Dr. Fresco. He and Audrey travel to Karen's hospital, where they enounter Ted watching vigil at his dying wife's bedside. He readily admits to accidentally killing Dr. Fresco when they argued about Karen's prognosis, and only resists when Matt and Audrey try to take him away from his wife's bedside. He grabs a nurse and holds her hostage, and tells them that he doesn't know what will happen if they shoot him ... he might even explode. Matt uses his telepathic abilities to calm Ted by relaying messages from a comatose Karen. Ted releases the nurse, whose arm is covered in radiation burns. After a last reminiscence, Karen dies, and Ted agrees to go peaceably with Audrey for questioning.

Later, as he is being processed by the police, two small marks are apparent on his neck. They are identical to marks Matt discovers on his own neck.

Seven Minutes to Midnight

Ted is sitting alone in an interrogation room when Matt Parkman and Audrey Hanson come in. Audrey gives Theodore a glass of water. Theodore complains that they won't let him go to his wife's funeral. Audrey tells him that they need him to answer a few more questions. She asks Ted how he's able to do what he does. Ted exclaims that nothing matters since he killed his wife. Matt glances at his radiation badge and notices it's turned red. Ted screams that he just wants to be left alone and doesn't know anything about any nuclear material. Matt tells him to relax, but Ted just gets angrier. He tells them out of frustration that if they want him to be the bad guy then he'll blow the place apart. He grabs the glass of water and it quickly begins boiling. Audrey threatens to shoot him and Ted tells her to just do it. Matt tries to calm Ted down by showing that he's not alone in having abnormal powers. He tells Ted they're just trying to understand what's going on and to relax. He manages to calm Ted down and tells him to take him back to when this all started.

Matt hears Ted think that he blacked out and when he woke up things just started dying. Remembering his own experiences, Matt asks him for how long he blacked out and whether he was drinking. He asks if when he woke up he had bruises on his arms. Ted shows them the mark on his neck and Matt shows the same marks on his own neck. Ted explains that he was in Kansas a few months back having sold a dialysis machine to a university hospital. He went to the hotel bar where he saw a couple from Wyoming, a few professors, and a student from Haiti. The next thing he knew he woke up in his car two days later in Arizona with cuts and bruises on him. Matt asks Ted if he feels sick at all or gets headaches and Ted admits he has headaches. Audrey asks Ted if there are any more dead bodies that they need to know about and Matt defends him, telling Audrey that it's not his fault. Matt tells Ted that he, too, blacked out and lost two days, and now he can't stop hearing people's thoughts. Matt offers a description of the Haitian man Ted saw at the bar and they confirm that they both saw the same man right before they blacked out. Agent Elisa Thayer comes in and several agents take Ted away. As he's being escorted out, Ted tells Matt to find the Haitian. Later, Ted escapes, burning a car in the process.

Ted practicing his power.

Ted lets out a blast of energy.

Godsend

Ted practices his abilities in a cabin in the Nevada desert. He deliberately induces radioactivity in one hand, and then the other.

Memorable Quotes

"Do you have any idea what would happen if you did that? Because I don't. Maybe I'll explode. Maybe I'll take out this whole hospital. Maybe I'll wipe out this city like an atomic bomb! "

- Ted (to Audrey) (Nothing to Hide)

Powers

Ted has the ability to emit radiation. He seems to have some control over the intensity, but judging from the damage to his home and his accidental killing of Dr. Fresco, his ability to control his power is severely limited, possibly more so when he is emotionally agitated.

• After his arrest, Ted boils water at FBI Headquarters, a scene depicted in one of Isaac's paintings.
• Ted puts out 1,800 curies (Ci) of radiation without even coming in contact with radiative material.

Notes

• When Ted escapes from the FBI transport car, he kills several FBI agents in the process. He finds seclusion in a hideaway in the Nevada desert. Hana Gitelman intercepts an email (Wireless, Part 4) and comes to visit Ted at his cabin. Together, they plot their revenge on the people who lied to them. Their plans are cut short when Ted is confronted by a large military force. (How Do You Stop an Exploding Man?, Part 1)
• Ted is based heavily on the engineer, a terrorist character from the 72 minute version of the original pilot. Both men have the same powers, and both men have wives they love very much who die of cancer, probably related to their own radiation powers.
• Ted has an unusual mark on his shoulder which is identical to Matt Parkman's.

Trivia

• Theodore Sprague lives at 93 Laramie Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90016.
• Ted is 5’10” tall, weighs 175 pounds and has brown eyes and hair.
• Ted's IRC username is TEDDIEBEAR616. He sends an email using the name TEDDYBEAR616.

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:Ted Sprague for fan-created theories and other speculation.