Steve Murphy

"*Never forget, you're the smart one. You can do anything. And I'm proud of you, Shaun.*"
—Steve Murphy[src]

**Steven "Steve" Murphy** was the younger brother of Shaun Murphy. He died while they were both young, by falling off of a train the two boys were climbing on, causing Steve to break his neck.

## History

### Before the show

Although it’s unknown when Shaun was diagnosed, he has Autism and the fact that he wasn’t like other kids meant that he was bullied at school and abused by their father Ethan. Steve always protected Shaun, regularly defending him from kids who picked on Shaun. When their father killed Shaun's rabbit, Steve spent the night trying to help it. Unfortunately, they could only go to a hospital where the doctor who they asked, Aaron Glassman, told them that there was nothing he could do.

Later, Steve moved with Shaun to an abandoned breakers yard to live there and avoid their father. Steve continued to take care of Shaun, once giving him a toy scalpel which Shaun has always cherished. Steve once organized an event with other children so that Shaun could make friends while playing hide and seek with the other kids. While they were walking on top of a train, Steve tripped, fell off, broke his neck and died.  Shaun tried to help Steve, even going to Doctor Glassman for help, but he was tragically unable to.  This tragic event served as a catalyst for Shaun to pursue a career in medicine.

At Steve’s funeral (which was attended by Shaun, their parents and Glassman), Shaun refused to return home with his parents, wanting nothing more to do with them. Shaun blamed himself for Steve’s death for not saving him, though he's also tried to hold Ethan to account for causing it all.

### Throughout the show

Shaun has regularly talked about Steve and even seen visions of him talking to Shaun. He appeared to Shaun when he was nervous about his first lead surgery and later helped him get through it when he was suffering what appeared to be a panic attack. While Shaun was crawling through the wreckage of a brewery in an attempt to save Lea, Steve's hallucination appeared and told him that she was not worth saving because she did not love him, and that he should stop trying to be the hero. Steve kept insisting that it wasn't worth it despite Shaun protesting that he always said he could do it. Despite Steve's warnings, Shaun decided to continue through the wreckage.

When Isla - a young girl who was a patient of Shaun’s - was upset because she blamed herself for an accident she and her parents were in, he told her about Steve's death while comforting the young girl.

When Shaun found that Doctor Lim had been stabbed, the dire condition of someone else that he cares about reminded Shaun of losing his brother and his guilt over Steve's death experienced flashbacks to it. When Shaun broke down while trying to help Lim, Steve appeared to his brother, appearing at the age he would’ve been if he had survived and wearing green surgical scrubs. Steve reassured Shaun that he had no regrets about running away and that his death was not Shaun's fault, urging his brother to let go of his guilt and save Lim.

After Lea gave birth to her and Shaun's son, they named him Steven Aaron Murphy in honor of Shaun's brother and Doctor Glassman.

## Personality

Steve was very protective of Shaun, seemed to be the most at ease with Shaun's autism and was better able to communicate with him. He thought of Shaun as the smart one and saw that he could do anything. Steve also regularly gave Shaun a lot of useful advice (which Doctor Andrews and Lea both thought was good).

## Trivia

* Dylan Kingwell also portrayed Evan Gallico in "Point Three Percent".
* Before "The Family," Steve's exact cause of death was never explicitly stated aside from the fall causing it. In flashbacks, Steve was seen with a head injury when Shaun had sought out Glassman's help after the accident, implying that he had suffered a severe head injury that had killed him. However, Shaun revealed to Isla Liu in "The Family" that Steve had actually broken his neck when he fell which is what killed him.

## References

1. ↑ "Friends and Family": Season 3. Episode 10. [[]] (writer) & [[]] (director). [, ].
2. ↑ "Burnt Food": Season 1. Episode 1. David Shore (writer) & Seth Gordon (director). [September 25, 2017].
3. ↑ "Mount Rushmore": Season 1. Episode 2. David Shore (writer) & Mike Listo (director). [October 2, 2017].