Martha Hanson

Martha Hanson's History

Martha Ann Hanson is the wife of one of Philip's aliases, Clark Westerfeld. Martha was the secretary for the head of the FBI Counterintelligence Department (Frank Gaad), and worked in the same office as Stan Beeman and Dennis Aderholt.

Martha is the daughter and only child of Bill and Elaine Hanson. She lived a less-than-fulfilling romantic life, which left her vulnerable to Clark's romantic advances. She had been dumped by her high-school sweetheart after becoming pregnant (she aborted the pregnancy), and later dated co-worker Chris Amador, about whom she said "I was more involved with him than he was with me."

For over ten years, Martha worked as a secretary in the Counterintelligence Unit of the FBI. She was approached by Philip, who posed as Clark Westerfeld, a supposed Federal employee conducting an internal audit of her department. During their encounters, Clark is able to use romance and ultimately sex to gradually overcome her reluctance to reveal information about her job. When Clark proposes marriage, Martha agrees to put a bug in her boss Frank Gaad's office.

After the bug was discovered, Martha's job and Philip's cover began to unravel quickly. Philip killed and falsely implicated the office technology specialist, in order to protect her. Philip revealed his true appearance to her one evening, in an attempt to comfort her. However, because she could now identify Philip, these actions ultimately meant that Martha was unable to remain in the US. They also put her at risk of being killed by the KGB if she attempted to run or talk.

Stan Beeman initially became suspicious of Martha while under questioning from Walter Taffet. He started surveilling her, and after sharing his concerns with Dennis Aderholt, the two of them engaged in increasingly intrusive activities (Dennis takes her on a date so Stan can break into her apartment and snoop around). As Philip becomes aware that Martha is in danger of being discovered by the FBI, he forces The Center's hand in exfiltrating her to Russia.

The night before her departure, Philip was honest by stating he would not be joining her later, even to visit. Martha settled in Russia where she lived alone. She attempted to learn the language, and was introduced by Volodya to an orphaned girl. Martha is later found in a grocery store being investigated by Oleg Burov. She adopted the orphaned girl and continued to reside in the Soviet Union.

Martha is a conscientious worker. She complained several times about the lax security measures in the FBI Counterintelligence Unit. This made her vulnerable to Clark posing as a Federal employee investigating security leaks in her office.

Martha's extraordinary tolerance for and acceptance of Clark was probably not due entirely to her own loneliness or desperation for a romantic companion. On many occasions she demonstrated compassion and non-judgment towards Clark; these are likely inherent personality traits. Over time, this caused Philip to feel he could tell Martha things he struggled to admit to others or even himself.

Martha could be a fearful person; after seeing news of the Connors family murders on TV, she purchased a gun and began to take shooting lessons. Martha often panicked under stress and had a difficult time acting calmly. When she could not reach Clark while filling out a job application, she left him increasingly hysterical phone messages. Her behavior during her exfiltration could have exposed multiple people (Clark, Elizabeth, Gabriel) and sent them to jail, or even gotten her killed by those who were trying to protect her.