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Thomas Humphrey was a Corrections Officer at Litchfield Penitentiary and was one of Season Four's primary antagonists. He is portrayed by Michael Torpey.

Personality[]

At a glance, Humphrey seemed to be fairly laid back in the presence of his fellow COs, often sharing drinks with them and joking around. He is later revealed to be a sadistic psychopath who tortured and abused the inmates.

Physical Appearance[]

Humphrey is an average-looking white man with brown hair and a medium build.

Biography[]

Before Litchfield[]

Humphrey is a veteran, which is how he was hired at Litchfield. He is also fluent in Spanish.

Season Four[]

In the cafeteria, Maritza and Flaca are playing a game of "Would you Rather?". When Maritza asks "Gun to your head, do you eat ten dead flies or a live baby mouse?", Humphrey interrupts their conversation, warning Maritza in Spanish that he is aware of her drug smuggling scheme in the van. At the end of her next run, Humphrey hangs back until the others leave the van. He invites Maritza into his on-campus house, claiming to have something to give to her. Despite her attempts at refusal, Maritza is taken inside where he has set up a cup containing a baby mouse and a napkin scattered with dead flies. She is then forced, at gunpoint, to play out the very same scenario from her game. Maritza is later overheard vomiting in the prison bathroom by COs Stratman and McCullough. Stratman informs McCullough that he'd witnessed Humphrey take Maritza into his house alone. McCullough wonders if she could be vomiting as a result of pregnancy, but quickly doubts herself as it is far too soon. Stratman replies that he wasn't implying Humphrey had sex with Maritza, but that he may have done something else strange, because Humphrey strikes him as a weird person. He goes on to explain that one night while having drinks with Humphrey, he'd seen him put a cockroach into a blender instead of just stepping on it. McCullough debates whether or not she should tell someone about Maritza, but chooses to remain passive on the matter. Maritza, crying at her bunk, is later found by Flaca. Maritza tells Flaca about the guard and Flaca comforts her.

During the interrogations with Piscatella, the inmates waiting to be questioned are held in a room guarded from outside by the COs. Humphrey decides to stir up tensions between the women for entertainment. He pulls a chair out from under Sankey while she sleeps. The whole room laughs at her but Sankey, being a white supremacist, targets Suzanne Warren, because she is black, and threatens her. Humphrey sees the opportunity and pushes Sankey to hit Suzanne but even Sankey won't go that far. When Sankey flat out refuses to entertain Humphrey, he tries to force her, but Maureen Kukudio offers instead, which leads to her being beaten down by a provoked, manic Suzanne. Humphrey notes he has won twenty dollars after the fight is broken up. Joe Caputo attempts to suspend Humphrey from his job after Bayley informs him of the fight, but Piscatella threatens to pull his entire team if anyone is suspended. The fight helped unite the prisoners through their mutual hate for the guards and fueled the later protest.

In the final episode, Humphrey brings a gun hidden in his shoe into the prison and convinces the other guards to let him. He is escorting Judy King through the prison hallways to her release, when the inmates riot over Poussey Washington's death and Caputo's statement about it. They surround Humphrey, King and McCullough, prompting Humphrey to reach for his gun. Maritza sees what he's doing and quickly pushes him over, leading him to drop the gun. It slides over to where the Hispanic women are standing and Daya picks it up. She makes Humphrey and McCullough kneel on the ground and tells McCullough "Hey, lady CO, get on the ground with your hands behind your head". Soon after, she exclaims "Fucking COs, y'all pieces of shit". The season ends with Daya aiming the gun at Humphrey while he stares her down, and the inmates cheer her on, urging her to shoot him.

Season Five[]

Humps pleads for his life by speaking in Spanish to Daya about his early life. Daya becomes frustrated and shoots him in the leg. He begins bleeding out, and several inmates, including Maritza, begin kicking him repeatedly. Gloria brings him to Sophia and asks her to stitch him up. Initially, Humps refuses treatment because Sophia is transgender, but then relents when the extent of his injury becomes impossible to avoid. Sophia takes him to the prison nurse, who is able to fix him up.

Humps is given a hospital bed in between Suzanne Warren and Maureen Kukudio. He discusses various ancient torture and execution methods with them, simultaneously fascinating and scaring them with the extent of his knowledge. When his speech becomes slurred, Suzanne alerts the nurse, who confirms he is having a stroke. When the nurse leaves the room, Maureen reveals she blew oxygen bubbles into Humps' IV to try to kill him.

The Dominicans wheel a near-comatose Humps into the chapel where he is placed in a photo of all the Litchfield staff taken hostage. They later abandon him in the hallways of the prison, where Judy King briefly finds him but is scared off by his slurred speech. He is eventually returned to the hospital ward. When Red is trying to break into Humps' cell phone, she initially visits the ward to ask him for his password. When she finds he is comatose and figures out it's a fingerprint signature, she slices the skin of his index finger off in order to open the phone whenever she wants. After Leanne's finger is shot off, she and Angie find his cut off finger (which Red had removed to gain access to his phone) and try to replace hers with, however the doctor refuses.

Suzanne eventually notices Humps has stopped breathing and tries to bring him to the attention of the rest of Taystee's group. They hide him in a broom closet. Cindy later returns to take the wheelchair he was placed in. As she topples him onto the ground, Humps makes an audible grunt, though in her haste Cindy does not hear it. Leanne and Angie enter the broom closet and intend to get high. They are disturbed to find Humps' body but Leanne vows to get high regardless. Angie becomes guilt ridden upon seeing the body and ponders whether they are in fact the "bad guys" of the whole situation. The SWAT team eventually discovers Humps' body.

Relationships[]

Family[]

  • Dana Humphrey (sister)

Friends[]

Enemies[]

Memorable Quotes[]

"Well, I just made 20 dollars!"
— Humphrey after making Suzanne and Kukudio fight.

Appearances[]

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