Occupation: Congressman

Relationships: Marilee Wells, Leigh Purcell

Appearances: Season 3

Who’d Play Him: Kristoffer Polaha

The Congressman Behind the Conspiracy: Seth Walker was a powerful congressman who presented himself as a polished public servant while secretly operating an elaborate criminal enterprise. Intelligent, arrogant, and accustomed to manipulating everyone around him, Seth treated politics, business, and personal relationships as tools for increasing his wealth and protecting his secrets.

Seth hired Brett Armstrong as his public-relations director, but the appointment had little to do with Brett’s political talents. Seth knew that his wife, Marilee, was restless and deliberately placed Brett near her as a distraction while he pursued his illegal business dealings. Brett quickly began an affair with Marilee, unaware that Seth had anticipated—and even encouraged—the betrayal.

Seth’s closest accomplice was Leigh Purcell, with whom he was also having an affair. Leigh helped him identify vulnerable people who could be drawn into his schemes, including Alex Reynolds. Knowing Alex was eager to establish herself as a serious businesswoman, Seth invited her to invest in a supposed oil venture in Costa Mesa. Alex secretly withdrew ten million dollars from Blackthorne-Reynolds and created Stratotech as an offshoot company, never realizing that the oil field was fictitious.

Seth corrupted the Land Commission by making a large donation in exchange for a drilling variance, despite a survey showing that no oil existed beneath the property. In reality, Stratotech was being used to traffic armaments to Panama and other destinations in Central America, implicating Blackthorne-Reynolds in the sale of illegal weapons to an embargoed nation.

Anyone who threatened the operation became expendable. Adrienne Fallmont, a former associate who knew too much, was strangled in her home. Geologist Logan Mackenzie later demanded a larger share of Stratotech and died in a suspicious car crash. Although Seth concealed his involvement, surveillance footage placed him at Adrienne’s home around the time of her murder. Brett discovered the recording and used it to blackmail Seth for a percentage of the profits and protection from suffering an “accident” of his own.

Leigh’s growing love for James Blackthorne created another threat. She had originally entered James’s life as part of Seth’s plan, but her feelings became genuine and she began begging Seth to let her confess. Seth refused and threatened her into silence. When Stormy and Eddie discovered the true purpose of the Costa Mesa operation, James ordered them to hijack a truck carrying the weapons and replace it with an empty vehicle.

The missing shipment sent Seth into a rage. He ordered Leigh to persuade James to return it and warned that he would kill him if she failed. On the night of the Filmmaker Awards, Leigh finally confessed her involvement to James. After he refused to surrender the shipment, she summoned Seth to her hotel room and confronted him with a gun. Seth easily overpowered her and shot her when she threatened to expose him. When James arrived moments later, Seth shot him as well, leaving Leigh dead and James critically wounded.

Seth then went to the Los Angeles Theater and cornered Alex and Heather Rydell in the ladies’ room. Demanding the location of the stolen weapons, he took both women hostage and forced them onto the roof. After Jordan attempted a rescue and was shot in the shoulder, Seth demanded fifty million dollars and a helicopter, planning to take Alex and the pregnant Heather with him.

As the helicopter hovered thirty stories above the street, Brett climbed onto its ladder to save Heather. He struggled with Seth, and the congressman fell to his death. The man who had manipulated his wife, corrupted government officials, defrauded Alex, murdered his associates, and nearly destroyed Blackthorne-Reynolds ultimately died while attempting to escape the consequences of his own conspiracy.