|
| Gary Bell | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed By | Ryan Cartwright |
 | |
| First Seen | Pilot |
| Last Seen | 2x13 "God's Eye |
| Status | Living |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 22 |
| Family | Sandra Bell (mother) |
| Profession |
DCIS Agent |
| Alpha Type |  Transducer
|
Gary Bell is a Transducer who can read electromagnetic wavelengths with mind power alone. Hacking into cellphone signals, television broadcasts, and WiFi frequencies without any hardware is his specialty. Gary has been diagnosed with high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (more commonly known as ASD). He has idiosyncratic and compulsive tendencies, echolalia, and has difficulty empathizing with others.
Background
Not much on Gary's past and private life is known, other than the fact that he lived at home with his mother. It isn't clear yet if his father is involved with his life, but Gary has never mentioned his father nor any desire to interact with him during the show. His mother seems to care greatly for him, but is struggling with his growing independence. There most likely aren't any siblings, though that has not been confirmed.
As a person with Alpha abilities he works on Rosen's Team for surveillance and various search tasks. At the office one of his responsibilities is the team's electronic equipment, for example to administrate their servers.
Between the first and second seasons of Alphas (2011-2012), Gary was sent to work for the NSA. The organization made him "spy on [his] friends", but did not accommodate his routines. Following an autistic meltdown, he was sent to Binghamton Building 7, where a chip was implanted in his nervous system and he was released into the general population.
Though it was eight months between the end of the first season of Alphas and the start of the second, Gary still mourned Anna Levy. Following his release from Binghamton, Gary integrated 10 seconds of multiple prolonged screams into his morning routine to help him express this feeling. When Gary was made aware that this behavior alarmed and upset his mother, he chose to move from Sandra's house into the office in order to spare her upset, rather than changing his morning behavior.
Abilities
Gary is a transducer who can perceive and manipulate electromagnetic wavelengths. Gary can perceive electromagnetic signals and waves as streams of lights and colors all around him to literally read texts, hear transmissions, and watch videos being transmitted or simply connect to the internet. using his ability Gary can hack into cellphone signals, television broadcasts, WiFi frequencies etc. using only his mind.
Gary's abilities and skills make him incredibly efficient in hacking into restricted computer systems and tracking individuals through their digital devices as he can literally connect with electronic signals. Gary's ability can be dampened if the signals surrounding him are encrypted as he stated in "The Unusual Suspects" to Agent Clay that he could feel the signals but not reach them.
An absence of technology and wifi makes Gary's abilities difficult or even impossible to use. However, In "Alphaville", when Gary was separated from technology in the forest he realized that he could perceive all manner of electromagnetic waves including those found in nature, for example discerning the communication between plants and insects, hearing faint but distinct signals being passed back and forth.
A downside to Gary's ability is the potential to be overwhelmed by incoming electronic signals as seen in "Rosetta", when Anna Levy incapacitated Gary by streaming an E-mail bomb to a specific signal Gary was reading forcing him to absorb a tremendous amount of data all at once.
Trivia
- Gary cannot read Nokia signals as they function on a different platform.
- Gary cannot drive but often wishes he would be allowed to, and asks frequently. He has only driven once in the series under Bill's supervision after Gary helped him solve a kidnapping case.
- Due to the nature of his Alpha ability, he can be affected by a DoS attack, an attack hackers use on online servers.
- Gary does not like going to the salon with his mother Sandra Bell. This could be because of the loud noises that occur in the salon.
- Microwave towers interfere with Gary's abilities.
- Gary's bedtime is 9:30 and he gets cranky if woken after. If he misses his bedtime, he will stay up all night just to keep his schedule. He also gets up at 7:42 am each day, calls his mother at 8 (after he screams, but before breakfast) greets his coworkers at 9am, and calls his mother at 3:14pm at work each day.
- Gary has stated that he's "a 32 on the CARs Scale," which would place him toward the mild end of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
- Gary's autistic tendencies make it more difficult to lie, a social skill for most people. However, as revealed in The Unusual Suspects, he has been practicing telling white lies, and his facial tics and mannerisms make it difficult for people like Eric Latreaux (a micro-expression-reading Alpha) to determine if he's telling the truth.
- Gary often feels like he is capable of doing more than people give him credit for and wants people to treat him like an adult.
- Gary moved from his mother's house into his office
- The primary reason for this is that Gary's post-Binghamton routine of screaming every morning before breakfast upsets his mother.
- Due to the nature of Gary's neuro-divergent brain; he is immune to Nina's form of telepathy.
- Gary is also immune to the effects of a photic stimulator.