The basis of a good hero is how well they resist the bad guys, conquer evil with good, and all that jazz.

The basis of a good person requires a little more than that. And, a good guy? A woman judges how good a guy is based on how good he is with the kids. (Something about how a guy’s true nature comes out when he interacts with kids.)

It’s only fair to take a good look at our main hero and see how he gets along with all the young people he’s been exposed to…

 

Callen and Astrid

Callen shows a willingness to protect any age, any situation. Innocents should not be harmed, and he doesn’t hesitate to show the extra patience that may be uncalled for, but definitely needed.

 

Callen and Michael

Callen shows a willingness to take the responsibility of being a father. Apparently, he doesn’t want to be a father like he had: an absent one.

 

Callen and Sam’s Daughter

Callen wants to have a decent reputation with young people; mainly in the area of doing what he says he will. Be it showing up, or giving a gift.

 

Callen and Alex

Callen cares even that much more when it’s someone in the foster care system, or another orphan. He’s been there. He gets it. And he’s not afraid to take a step closer to remind someone they aren’t alone.

 

Callen and Alina

Even when younger, Callen wasn’t afraid to play and have fun with kids. He never seems to mind giving of his time. Not then, with Alina, and not now, with Alex.

 

Ladies, what’s the verdict?

I think we have a case of a good hero, good person, and good guy all wrapped into one.

 

#CallenandKids

 

It was the enigma posed to us when we first met G Callen. What does that lone letter stand for? What does it mean? All names have meanings. A story. A hint to one’s past. But, not this letter. It stands alone, just a piece of the alphabet with no real explanation.

Imagine with me, that it’s you.

It’s your name.

A letter.

I’m serious. Take a moment and reduce your name to it’s first initial.

Write it down.

Stare at it for a moment.

I’m serious! Do it. Stare at it. This post will wait for you.

Now, pretend your letter has no story. No meaning. No parents to explain it to you.

And this is what everyone calls you.

Just a letter.

It’s your name.

Forget the people who should have raised you. The people who should have been there. They are gone. Absent.

That’s all you have.

A letter.

Are you panicking slightly? Getting a little teary?

This is what G Callen has dealt with the majority of his life.

Would you want to know what the letter stood for? And, after several long years of being known as a solitary letter, would you give anything to know?

There are words that clearly describe what Callen has been going through, trying to discover what that letter was meant to mean: anguish, anger, confusion, frustration, sadness, loneliness, longing, resentment… And it’s always one step ahead of him.

And so are the people who know.

Eugene Keelson.

Alexa Comescu.

How utterly cruel that these individuals knew and the knowledge died with them.

Tragic. He almost didn’t pull the trigger on Keelson.

Callen acts like not knowing doesn’t bother him. He has everyone believing that he can fully function for the rest of his life without knowing, and, I suppose, he might have to. His caring isn’t necessary, however, since the desire to know is so inbred in us… We secretly need our names.

Names are vital.
Names with a story.
Names with a reason.

“I will find out who I am and who my family was, with or without anyone’s help.” -G Callen

This heart-moving determination from Callen is most likely the reason for the results of our last Callen’s Corner poll. When we asked if you wanted to know what the ‘G’ stood for or not, the majority of you responded that, yes, we want to know what the ‘G’ stands for. (We want destiny to quit playing around! This is causing anguish for Callen, and we can’t have that long-term. We need to know. He deserves to know!)

Being fair, there was a large number of you wanting to never know,  or to find out at the last possible moment, concerned that knowing the answer would take the intrigue out of the adventure.

So, I have a suggestion.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we should receive a new mystery about Callen of equal intensity at the same time we discover his name.

That’d be a great way to continue.

One mystery solved and another begun.

Neverending mystery.

That’s our G.

 

 

#CallensCorner #TheGMystery

I dare you.

I dare you to find G Callen laughing.

His undercover aliases may be free to laugh, but, for some reason, Callen, as himself, chooses not to.

Yes, he has other means of showing amusement.

There’s The Smirk. (Oh, Team Callen loves The Smirk. And, yes. The Smirk gets capitalized, because it’s like its own thing. So quirky and hott, The Smirk is. Maybe one day The Smirk will get its own post. Should we vote on that?)

Then, there’s the disbelieving scoff. The one that happens with an exhale of disgusted air and a turning of the head to the side. Yeah, that’s the one.

There’s also a quiet snort.
A simple “Ha!” (Usually to prove a point.)
A raised eyebrow.
And, my favorite: the sparkling, blue eyes that tease on top of a straight poker face, showing an inward amusement that can only be contained by Callen, himself. (You know the look.)

To my knowledge, the only true laugh that has come from Special Agent Callen was due to Hetty telling Sam she was getting him home in time for Christmas and Sam proceeding to jubilantly pick up Ms. Henrietta Lange. All masterful, petite, graceful, enigmatic four feet of her.

G laughed.

And that? That reaction was a real, genuine, G Callen laugh.

Besides that? Nada.

Prove me wrong.

Or, tell me why you think he doesn’t laugh.

 

 

#CallenLaugh

The words flow easily from his mouth when he’s in a sticky situation.

Explanations.
Fabrications.
Truths reimagined for the greater good.

The deadlier the situation, the heavier the weight of his words.

It’s silky, listening to them, watching the way he can talk himself through almost any situation in the world, save one…

His coworkers/ friends/ surrogate family.

Ever noticed that when it comes to them, and them alone, he has a tendency to keep his mouth shut?

Sure. The occasional barb thrown about a burrito, a comment about tea, a question to gain deeper insight to his team, but on the norm, Callen is watching, calculating, in short, being silent. Stonewalling.

Where the heck did this come from?

Deeks has no problem with words, and, as #TeamDeeks knows, sometimes he has an issue turning them off.
Sam is the ever-present partial-guru of wisdom spoken on the layman’s level. Always quits while he’s ahead. (Or, once he’s achieved “ahead” status.)
Kensi doesn’t hesitate to share her thoughts, only rarely having to backtrack.

So, what’s up with our Team Leader? What is going on in that fuzzy head that brings about the need to stop speaking?

Pick three episodes at random. Odds are, there will be examples of Callen holding his peace in at least two of them.

I picked “Chinatown” from Season One, “Black Widow” from Season Two, and “Backstopped” from Season Three. Not delving in as deep as I normally would, here are the few that peeked out at me.

“Chinatown” – Callen stays silent after Sam tells him he does things, breaks things, but doesn’t dabble. Perfect place for a retort, in my book.

“Black Widow” – Easiest mention is how Callen confidently kills the last remaining shooter: silently. But, there’s also the touching scene when Sam goes protective on G and tells him, “I know this is the only way, but it doesn’t mean I gotta like it.” G’s response? You guessed it.

“Backstopped” – Besides the carsick moments where it’s obvious Callen would rather not be speaking, there’s silence with Kensi whenever she’s trying to get to know him. (His reasoning made sense to her in the end, but it was stonewalling, so I’m counting it.)

Three out of three episodes.

Apparently, to G Callen, silence is golden. Or, stonewalling is essential. Or, keeping your mouth shut makes you look wise.

Or, at least, it keeps one out of a lot of messes…

Yeah, we’ll go with that.

 

#CallenSilence

There are hints that we learn something big about Callen in Season 5… So. Here’s the big question:

Vote, and the winning answer will receive a future Callen’s Corner post dedicated to exploring all its glory.