Sergeant First Class Hector Lucian Williams (United States Army, callsign: Hammerhead) was a fictional character on the CBS television series The Unit. He was portrayed by Canadian actor Demore Barnes.
Hector was a Unit operator assigned to Alpha Squadron of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (1SFOD-D) (official cover as the "303rd Logistical Studies Group"). He was an experienced marksman, and frequently served as a sharpshooter for the team. According to his uniform, he had both Special Forces and Ranger special skill tabs. Williams was likely the most diverse member of Alpha Squadron. He served as one of the team's medics, and was possibly an SF medical sergeant prior to joining the Unit. He was also cross trained in breaching demolitions. He, along with Charles Grey, also served as an instructor in close quarters battle for a SWAT unit, and designed the deliberate assault plan for the Braydon School Takedown in the "In Loco Parentis" episode. He was fluent in Arabic and Spanish, as well as Papuan Tok Pisin, and could speak German, Portuguese and a Pashto/Urdu dialect. Hector's cover was that of a "logistics clerk".
In Season 1, Hector was engaged to the daughter of a retired paratrooper who looked upon Hector with disdain due to his career in "logistics." The paratrooper was familiar with Colonel Tom Ryan, and asked for Hector to be transferred to the 82nd Airborne Division. Ryan let the father know subtly that Hector was not in logistics, but actually a member of a counter-terrorist organization. The father's attitude toward Hector changed, which Hector's fiancée noticed. He came clean to her that he was an operator, and she, not seeing job security out of the Army in his future, ended the relationship.
In Season 3, Hector met a woman named Annie at a local bar. She was a waitress and former US Army medic who happened to know Tiffany. They went on a date and then shortly thereafter (with some encouragement from the other Unit women) met up at a local motel in a nearby town. While there, Hector discovered Tiffy and Colonel Ryan having an affair.
During the Season 3 episode "Five Brothers," Hector was killed when he was hit in the neck with a bullet fired by a sniper as the team made its escape from Hezbollah during the rescue mission in Beirut; the sniper's bullet ricocheted from a bone in Hector's neck into his chest whilst caring for injured team-mate Charles Grey. The irony of this is that during the episode, and also during the episode's promotional spots, the team member Charles, Hector's roommate, is speculated as being killed, but survives the ordeal due to Williams' medical efforts.
The cover for his death was that he was transporting documents across an airfield in Turkey when unexploded ordnance blew up, rolling his jeep and killing him instantly. This scenario is called "Play 16."
In the Season 4 episode Hero, the team receives intel that Hector's shooter is currently in Manila and is tasked with tracking him down and eliminating him. After the mission, Mack and Charles visit his grave site to pay homage to their fallen brother. The grave is located in Janesville, Wisconsin in a family plot.
Awards and decorations[]
The following are the medals and service awards fictionally worn by Sergeant First Class Williams.
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Trivia[]
- Williams' death became a controversial topic with fans. None of the cast, including actor Demore Barnes who portrayed Williams, were aware that his character would be killed off until they received the script for the episode. The character was a fan favorite, and the writers and producers chose to kill off Williams to retain an air of believability in the storylines that some times the good guys and heroes do get killed in combat. There was also a significant number of fans who at first believed that Williams was killed off in secret on the orders of Colonel Tom Ryan by an unknown assassin, due to Williams accidentally catching Ryan dead to rights in an affair with Tiffy Gerhardt (Mack's wife) at a hotel they coincidentally all wound up staying at off post. It was theorized that Williams was killed off by Ryan to keep the affair secret, though the idea of Ryan killing off Williams was disproven in the series plot later.