Spencer

Spencer Gilman is Isaac Gilman's son. Spencer shares Bree's love of science, prompting his father to suggest that he mentor Bree. He also enjoys tennis, chess, music, and video blogging.

Background
Spencer works for Neutrogena and was recognized as the Employee of the Month in July of 2007. He is a Research Scientist who has been with the company for three years. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from UCSD in a record three years, graduating in 2004. His area of study was ribozymes with a special focus on autocatalysis.

A Call For Help
Through investigative work and help from members of the forums, Taylor, Daniel and Jonas were able to track down Spencer's MySpace and e-mail accounts and urged fans to contact him. They hoped that Spencer would have information about the serum his father, Isaac Gilman, was making to help make Bree "Trait Negative."

When confronted, however, Spencer replied, "although I'm a scientist like him, I have no idea what compound you guys are talking about. So . . . Everyone. Stop. Trying. To. Contact. Me. I've spent the last several months of my life mourning over the loss of my father. All these questions you guys are asking bring up some sad memories of him."

Nevertheless, community members along with Jonas and Nikki Bower continue to sent him messages asking for help. After Daniel and Sarah discovered the papers of Spencer's father in a Resistance time capsule, Spencer participates in an online chat ans reads a letter from his father. As a result, he became more sympathetic to the TAAG's cause, saying "I know I said I didn't want to get involved in all this stuff, but after reading my Dad's papers, I kind of feel like it's the right thing to do. My Dad would want me to help . . ."

Once Spencer agrees to help, TAAG go to the Neutrogena building and wait in the parking lot, making Taylor wonder if they'll make him mad for intruding on his work. When he finally leaves the building, Jonas and Sarah accost him, Jonas trying to explain what is going on and Sarah injecting her own comments in, annoying Jonas. Spencer tells TAAG they have to move their car out of the private lot otherwise he'll get in trouble. Afterwards, Spencer and Taylor bond over a plate of cheese and crackers, and deduce that there is a formula for a trait-negative serum somewhere in Isaac Gilman's notes, but they were unable to read it as Sarah accidentally got the documents wet when she was retrieving them.

Saving Bree
With the help of members of the forum, TAAG discovers that they can create the serum using trait-positive blood. With the help of a mole from inside the Hymn of One, they are able to locate where it is being stored, and Spencer proceeds to train TAAG on how to perform their designated tasks in the break-in. The operation goes off without a hitch, and they retrieve the blood. Spencer borrows a lab from his friend Ira Cronenberg, and he and Taylor get to work and make two vials of the serum. Soon After, a Shadow breaks into the lab and ruins the research, though he is unable to destroy the serum after Spencer locks it in a metal cabinet.

On the day of Bree's ceremony, Spencer lags behind in getting ready, causing the rising tensions between Sarah and Jonas to come to a boil. After they are found by Bree's Watcher, TAAG takes part in a high-speed chase that ultimately results in a car accident. The accident smashes the serum, though Spencer still has the backup stored at his friend's lab. Sarah goes back to get it, and the others head to the airplane hanger that Deep Throat said The Ceremony would be in. Spencer figures out that playing a certain sequence of musical notes will open the entrance, and programs the keys into his cell phone.

Spencer doesn't have much involvement in Bree's rescue beyond this point, and watches alongside Taylor and Sarah and Bree dies. Spencer is the one holding the camera in the final video where Jonas plays a voicemail from Bree telling him she loves him. After Bree's death, Spencer spends the weekend moping around the house, and decides to go back to work in order to regain structure in his life. He posts a blog telling community members to go easier on Taylor, who had come under fire for expressing her desire for Bree to die so that Jonas would pay attention to her, and cites that she was only sixteen and still had some growing up to do. He also reveals that he wanted to save Bree so badly because she was the one thing in his life that he couldn't find a scientific answer to.

Trial and Error
Spencer begins to miss Sarah and Taylor, and decides to visit them in Texas one last time bore going off to work. Spencer has a fun day hanging out with Taylor and bugging Sarah, but is informed by a video message from Taylor on his camera that he has to move on and can't try to live in the past. Spencer takes her advice and heads back to Los Angeles for work, bidding a fond farewell to the blogosphere, and reminds everyone of where he'll be if they want to go on another adventure.

Shortly after Spencer returned to work, Neutrogena sent him to Switzerland for a conference. Spencer begins texting Taylor from Switzerland, often leaving messages that are regarding swiss chocolate. After returning from the conference, he was contacted by a girl named Charlie from the United Kingdom who was trying to find a way to make her friend Kate trait negative. Spencer tells her about the serum, and sends the remaining vial to her, which she successfully uses on Kate a few days later.

Spencer's help is next enlisted by Daniel, Taylor, and Jennie in their mission to rescue Jonas from the S.S. Hathor's Song. Spencer helps Taylor sneak onto a supply boat heading to the ship. Once, on board, Taylor and Spencer reunite with Jennie and Daniel. They are, however, immediately fired upon by the ship's Order-based crew. The four escape off the ship and wash up on a Mexican beach, but Spencer is severely injured by the gunfire and is bleeding profusely, especially from his stomach. The four of them wait on the beach until Jonas and Sarah arrive, and Taylor and Jennie assist Spencer off the beach to bring him to a hospital.

LG15: The Misfits

 * Main article: LG15: The Misfits - Pilot

In a proposed spinoff produced for LG15: The Show Is Yours, Spencer has completely recovered from his injuries sustained on the S.S. Hathor's Song. He is contacted by Taylor after she is informed of Sarah's betrayal, and immediately rushes to her side after she pledges to rejoin the fight against the Order despite being told to stay where she was by the Resistance. He arrives late in his car, and later admits that he left without telling his girlfriend where he was going. The two of them set out to locate a former Order Agent who went rogue and killed an Elder. Upon arriving at his house, Spencer voices his fears that something bad might happen. Taylor tells him that he's being foolish, and as soon as she turns her back, Spencer is attacked by Linc, who was under the impression that he worked for the Order. Afterwards, Linc lets them inside to treat Spencer's wounds, and initially chooses not to help them, he inadvertently joins them after Order agents show up on his doorstep moments later.

Print media

 * Spencer is mentioned in passing in the final chapter of LonelyJournal15 as one of the allies of TAAG whose been in hiding through the duration of the story.

Etymology

 * Spencer comes from a Anglo-Norman surname meaning "Dispenser of Provisions."