Joseph Levitt

"*Yeah, I got a few. [...] I wasn't there for my family as much as I should have been. I should have been paying more attention. Put their wants and needs before my own. [...] All I ever wanted was peace and quiet, but now...I'd give **anything** just to see them one last time. To hold my girls, to kiss my wife on the forehead. To tell my son just how proud of him I am. [...] Guess that's life, eh? You don't recognise your mistakes until they really count,*"
—Joseph when asked by Alex if he has any regrets[src]

**Joseph "Joe" Levitt** is a main character and a survivor of the pandemic in *The Langdom Experiment*. He is a main point-of-view character in *Season 1*. He is the father of Sara, Adam and Cassie and the estranged husband of Tracy. Joseph is a former sports journalist who lost his job, after which his wife broke up their marriage due to frustrations over their relationship. Joseph took to living in his RV on the outskirts of Langdom, Missouri, while his wife moved on to the town's deputy mayor, Gordon St. John. When the containment zone was set up around the town and the bioweapon unleashed on the populace, Joseph worked to break into the town and rescue his family.

## Biography

### Early Life and Background

Joseph Levitt was born and raised in Langdom, Missouri with his younger brother Robert. According to Joseph, he and his brother were never close as kids and drifted even further apart as they grew older. In his mid teens, Joseph became the captain of the school's football team and he eventually earned a football scholarship with the University of Missouri in Kansas City. It was at the University that Joseph met Tracy McDaniel, a psychology student. The two married in 1995 after graduating, and Joseph began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Tracy became pregnant in 1997, and the two of them became extremely excited about parenthood. Joseph's football career was at an all-time high and he was on track to become a superstar.

However, Joseph's football career was cut short in 1998, a few days before his child's due date, when his knee was badly injured during a football tournament. The injury made Joseph incapable of playing football professionally for the rest of his life. His daughter Sara was born at the same time that Joseph was still bedbound, resulting in him missing her birth. The family kept living in Kansas City until Tracy fell pregnant again, giving birth to their son Adam. With this, Joseph pursued a new career as a sports journalist and decided to move his family to his hometown of Langdom. This put severe pressure on his marriage to Tracy, which was only worsened by the birth of their third child, Cassie. To escape the stresses of home, Joseph took up a new hobby: camping and hiking. He would spend days on end in the wilderness and became a competant survivalist, sometimes taking Adam with him on his trips.

Finally, in 2017, Joseph once more lost his job, at which point his wife revealed she had been having an affair with Langdom's deputy mayor, Gordon St. John, an old rival of Joseph. In response, Joseph moved out of the house and started living in the family RV in the hills on the outskirts of town.

## Overview

"*Joseph is a man who once had it all: a football scholarship, a career as a successful sports journalist, a devoted wife and a loving family. In recent months, most of this has fallen apart, kicked out of his home and taking to live in an RV on the edge of his hometown of Langdom, Missouri. Joseph is, at his core, a decent man who has endured a lot and cares for his family greatly, more than willing to put his life at risk to protect them,*"
—Joseph's *Season 1* description[src]

### Physical Description

Joseph is a well-built man whose best physical years are largely behind him. He constantly struggles with his weight and often undertakes prolonged camping trips into the wilderness to both keep up his physical health and get away from the stresses he faces with his wife. He had dark brown hair that was extraordinarily thick in his youth - he remarks that he was regularly charged extra for haircuts due to the thickness of his hair - but which is now thinning and grey. Throughout most his life he remained clean-shaven, but once he begins living in the RV he grows a messy beard.

### Personality

Joseph is, at his core, a decent and caring man who is completely devoted to his family, having worked most of his life to support them.

## Death

### Killed by:

* Gordon St. John *(indirectly caused)*
* Himself *(indirectly caused, suicide)*
* U.S Military

While working with Gordon to clear out the Witt Household and take their guns, Joseph is shot in the leg by Gordon. Over time, the injury becomes infected and develops sepsis. Later, he decides to stay behind while Adam, Abby and Cassie escape the town in the RV, telling Adam that he would only slow them down due to his leg and the fact that he is "already dead". He distracts the Turned long enough for the trio to escape the town, then marches up to the soldiers stationed outside the walls. He gives a final scream of rage, lifting his machete above his head, which ends with him being shot repeatedly by the soldiers. Joseph posthumously gets his revenge when the entire horde of Turned, attracted by his scream and the gunshots, descends on the soldiers, massacring them.

## Killed Victims

* Kyle Ericson - throat slashed
* Sara Levitt - machete to the skull *(Infected)*
* Himself - allowed himself to be shot by soldiers *(caused)*

## Relationships

### Robert Levitt

Joseph and his brother Robert grew up together, but never really had contact in their adult lives. When Robert moved away from Langdom, he never returned and the two brothers developed a friendly but estranged relationship. Joseph would often worry about his brother's whereabouts, but would always eventually receive a voicemail from his brother saying he was okay.

### Adam Levitt

"*Who are you?"
 "I'm...I'm Adam Levitt..."
 "You're not just Adam Levitt...you're a man. More of a man than I ever was. You've got to do my job now, son. And I know you'll do great. Because above all...you're **my son**. And I am so, so **proud** of you,*"
—Joseph says goodbye to Adam[src]
Joseph is very close to his only son Adam.

### Gordon St. John

"*Why don't I like you? Are you **fucking** kidding me? You **took my wife**! Destroyed my marriage, my family!
 "Weren't me that did that, Joe. You were not there for her. I was,"
 "I did everything for that woman! And nothing was good enough for her. She's only with **you** to spite **me**!*"
—Joseph and Gordon argue over Tracy[src]
Joseph and Gordon have an uneasy relationship. They both grew up in Langdom but mostly avoided each other. When Gordan ran for deputy mayor, Joseph voted against him, a fact he does not keep hidden from Gordon. Joseph eventually comes to hate Gordon for taking his wife Tracy, not only destroying his marriage but also putting at risk the relationship between Gordon's daughter Abby and Joseph's son Adam. Joseph hated this so much that he decided to live outside of town so he would not see Gordon and Tracy together.

Joseph and Gordon form an unlikely alliance after Joseph sneaks into the containment zone to rescue his family, but makes his disdain for Gordon obvious the entire time. They argue and physically fight over Tracy, which Joseph easily wins. Nonetheless, the two work well together when distracting a large herd of Turned, which reunites Joseph with Adam and Gordon with Abby.

Later, while searching the Witt household for their weapons, Gordon shoots Joseph in the leg, saying it isn't personal but he cannot allow Joseph to sabotage his relationship with Tracy. This act of treachery, coupled with him beating Adam up with his gun, causes his daughter Abby to turn on her father and shoot him in the chest. As Adam carried him out of the house, Joseph shot one last look at Gordon before Abby put him out of his misery. Unbeknownst to Gordon, his shooting of Joseph would ultimately lead to the latter's sacrifice and death.

### Abby St. John

Joseph has a friendly relationship with Abby, seeing her almost as another daughter; Abby, on her part, sees Joseph and the Levitts as the family she always wanted.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* 'Deadly Hypothesis'
* 'The Turned'
* 'No Way Out'
* 'Jaw Breaker'
* 'Cul De Sac'
* 'Containment Breach'

### Season 2

* 'Mad World' *(corpse)*
* 'Dying Fire' *(hallucination)*

## Trivia

* Joseph is one of two members of the Levitt Family to have killed another human, the other being his son Adam.
* Due to his actions in his final moments, Joseph is partially responsible for the Langdom Bioweapon spreading outside of the town and into the rest of the world.