Leo Fitzgerald is the shy, bespectacled brother of Justin Fitzgerald and the son of Olga and Vaughan. Seeming far more keen to fit in to Waterloo Road and at the Westbrooks' house, Leo appeared quieter and far less aggressive than his older brother.
In Series 10 Episode 6, Leo and Kevin hack into a multinational company, and in Episode 7, the police come to Vaughan's house at 6am the next morning and say that they have to check and shut down all the IT equipment for that day. That causes complete mayhem at the school.
In Episode 9, Leo meets Mandy, who he had previously only spoken to via Waterloo Road's 'Helping Hands Hotline'. Mandy is revealed to have escaped from a mental health unit, and ends up holding Leo hostage with a pair of scissors in his bathroom. Leo manages to calm Mandy down and says that he cares about her and just wants to help her. Mandy allows herself to be arrested and taken back to the mental health unit.
In the second half of Series 10, Leo develops a serious gaming addiction, staying up until 4am playing "World Quest", and even playing it in school on any device he is able to play it on after Vaughan's laptop, which he originally played it on, is confiscated. Leo ends up breaking into a locked drawer in Vaughan's office to steal the laptop back, but Sonya Donnegan catches him and tries to take the laptop off him, ending in Leo accidentally knocking her to the floor and injuring her head. Leo ends up in therapy following this.
He is also the cyberbully of Bonnie Kincaid, which occurs because he has developed an inferiority complex and just wants to be noticed. He covers his tracks by 'helping' Bonnie to 'block' the cyberbully from messaging her, but then starts bullying her with written notes and graffiti on her locker instead. Eventually, Leo's brother Justin is caught breaking into Bonnie's locker after she asked him to help her, and Justin is wrongly accused of being the bully and expelled. Kenzie Calhoun, however, works out that it was Leo, and Justin is exonerated.
In Series 10 Episode 20, Bonnie confronts Leo about the bullying, and tells him that it is he who needs help and has to live with it, not her. Leo also convinces Vaughan to return to the school after Vaughan had been refusing to go in, defeated and dejected because the school was going to be merged with Havelock High. Leo is last seen celebrating with his family after Waterloo Road is saved from the merger.
Personality[]
Leo's personality is only vaguely revealed throughout the majority of the first half of Series 10. He is surprisingly lonely and self-contained, unlike his brother who appears to be more outgoing and loud. Leo later shows himself to be unexpectedly empathetic, shown by how he emotionally connects with people that others deem dangerous. He has more self-control than his brother, even in dangerous situations. Leo is also quite brilliant, shown by his computer-hacking skills, and even the misanthropic George Windsor labels him as an extremely talented pupil.
Leo's personality is vastly more detailed in the second half of Series 10. Aside from his predetermined empathy, genius and extreme self-containment, Leo displays a genuine affection for Bonnie Kincaid, however he feels seriously embittered when she doesn't return his affections or even, as he saw it, so much as look at him. He also develops a dangerous gaming addiction, which possibly started as a distraction that went out of hand, and started becoming violent when he was not allowed to play on this game.
Leo was very malicious in bullying Bonnie Kincaid, letting out his anger on her through directly texting and emailing her insults and threats, and even going so far as to distribute defaced images of her. When he is finally confronted by the rest of his family, his true colours are revealed. Leo likens his bullying to that of his gaming addiction - he tried it once, harmlessly, and then he couldn't stop. He shows himself to be extremely bitter and reveals that he developed an intense inferiority complex - he just wanted a little more attention than was given, and thinks he has always been second-choice, and the one that nobody worries about, and cannot understand why Justin attracts attention so easily. He feels that his brilliance and empathy isn't enough to attract attention, so he resorts to bullying and abuse.
Trivia[]
- Before coming to Waterloo Road, Leo attended a school called Clayton Vale.
Quotes[]
- "Hi." (first line, spoken to Christine Mulgrew)
- "If it's bunks, I bagsy the top one."
- Leo: "I like Tiffany. She's pretty, don't you think?"
- Justin: "Stop sucking up, Leo, she's just like the rest of them."
- "Guys? I just got a text from Mum. The doctors are dead pleased with her, and she's hoping we can go for a visit soon. That's good, isn't it?"
- Leo: "It's nice in here. Less like a hospital, more like a hotel."
- Olga: "Or a retirement home for the broken-hearted."
- Leo: "It was you, wasn't it? With the predicted grades?"
- Kevin: "I'm pleading the fifth amendment. To the head's son."
- Leo: "I won't tell anyone, honestly. I never tell my dad anything. Doesn't listen to me anyway. If you did hack into the school system - not saying you did - but it would be very impressive."
- Kevin: "No, no, it's not that impressive if you've got the right tools."
- Leo: "The hack you did, the WireData Systems?"
- Kevin: "That was a work of art."
- Leo: "Yeah, well, the police are looking for the artist."
- Kevin: "Yeah, well, they'll never find him. They won't even know I was in."
- Leo: "Then why is the entire Greenock police force tearing the school's computers apart?"
- Kevin: "I broke in, I had a little look around, but, then I made sure I didn't leave a trace. They can't trace it back to me!"
- Leo: "Well, they might trace it to me."
- "This whole thing's Tiffany's fault. Why did you have to start something up with her?"
- "Look...I know how it feels to be lonely. All you wanna do is run away. But I've found, you can't run away from yourself. All of your problems will just go with you. That's why, no matter how hard it gets, you just gotta stick at it. And you'll always have people that care about you. I really care about you."
- Justin: "What the hell has happened to my room?!"
- Leo: "Oh yeah, sorry bro. You had it coming."
- Vaughan: "Hey, uh...I know I'm a lame old man, but, um...fancy shooting up some bad guys?"
- Leo: "You do realise that's a created world game, Dad? There's no bad guys, just...virtual avatars and currency."
- Abdul: "I thought your dad took your laptop away and banned you?"
- Leo: "Yeah, I stole it back. I've got a war to win."
- "I am not going to class! I need a break. I'm going home."
- Olga: "Why can't you find something to do in the real world?"
- Leo: "Because that world is better than this world."
- Leo: "Well, I was gonna do it this morning, but couldn't because I had to have an hour long therapy session with my crazy family."
- Olga: "Well, that's not an excuse, you could've done it last night."
- Leo: "Look, um, I know you've had a lot of therapy, Miss, but, if I'm honest, it's not really for me."
- "Why is everybody having a go at me?! First had Lisa and Shaznay, now I've got you and Kenzie! Why can't you all just leave me alone?!"
- Leo: "I-I didn't mean to! I was so good to her to start with, not like anyone else. And I, I didn't even make it onto her radar. I didn't even get a look in. Just once, it woulda been nice to be noticed!"
- Vaughan: "Meaning what, exactly?"
- Leo: "I have always been second choice, invisible. The one that no one worries about. And it is so easy for you. Everyone thinks Leo's OK, he'll be fine. But I'm not."
- "Dad, there is no point in you giving up your job, and leaving the school when it needs you, because of me, is there? I feel awful enough as it is." (final line)