Erica Shepherd is the main character of NBC's The Enemy Within. She is a former CIA operative, now known as the most notorious traitor in American history and serving life in a supermax prison.
History[]
Early Life[]
One day, her daughter (Hannah Shepherd) didn't show up for school. One of her daughter's teachers called her up about it causing Erica to race home to check the house to see where her daughter was. On the porch, she found a phone which immediately started ringing. Erica picked up the phone which presented her with a video call where the call showed her daughter on a bench in a park. The call was from Mikhail Tal who was threatening her daughter. He demanded the names of the 4 CIA agents who were responsible for preventing his bombings. Initially, Erica refused but Tal started counting down; saying that when he gets to 0 that he will kill her daughter which triggered Erica to give up the names: Steven Hailbach, Brian Lanich, Desiree Villareal and Laine Heffron. Though she had saved her daughter's life, Tal then went on to assassinate the 4 agents. Because she didn't want her daughter to feel the burden of how 4 agents were dead because of her, Erica didn't tell anyone that the reason why she gave up classified information was that her daughter's life was at risk. Therefore, Erica became known as one of the worst American traitors for leaking classified information to a terrorist and was subsequently trialed and found guilty and placed in a specialized prison in Colorado where she was unable to have any visitors, including her daughter.[2]
Deal with the FBI[]
Three years later, Erica was approached by FBI agent Will Keaton with a proposal to help take down Mikhail Tal. In exchange, Keaton was willing to improve her life in prison by allowing her to move to D.C. where presumably, her daughter could visit. She ultimately agreed and was transported to D.C., where one of the terms of her assistance was that she was to wear a tracker which was secured to her subclavian artery which would prevent her from removing it as she would subsequently bleed to death within 60 seconds. She then assisted the FBI with finding Anna Cruz in New York. After being left behind in D.C., Erica took it upon herself to break out by removing one of her teeth leading her to the dentist for an emergency x-ray. She then broke a window and escaped. The vest she wore for the x-ray prevents her tracker from updating her location which bought Erica some time. She then visited her daughter where she saw her leaving school. This moment didn't last long though as she was soon caught by the FBI after they discovered where she was most likely to go. Her daughter watched her being taken away whilst crying that she was losing her mother for a second time. Erica was then transported back to the FBI station where she opened up to Will about why she didn't come forward that she was forced to give up the names.[2]
Appearances[]
| "Pilot" | "Black Bear" | "The Ambassador's Wife" | "Confessions" | "Havana" | "Eye of Horus" | "Decoded" |
| "An Offer" | "Homecoming" | "Chigorin" | "The Embassy" | "Sequestered" | "Sierra Maestra" |