Who is G Callen? – A little musing on G Callen and Identity.

Most of us have one identity. G Callen has many, but none of them is real.

He is an undercover legend, a chameleon who can adjust to every life, every alias, every situation quickly – partly because he is still looking for HIS identity. That might also be a reason why he chose that way of life (unconsciously so?) – not only because he’s good at it but also because it gives him the opportunity to “try” different identities to see which one might suit him.

Callen’s favorite alias was Jason Tedrow in Past Lives (S1x12) – the one he enjoyed being most, probably the one that came closest to the identity he would have chosen for himself (aside from the criminal part, that is…) It was the one where he found friends and even love – simple things he was looking for his entire childhood and youth – things that would have contributed to developing his identity. He looked genuinely happy in the picture that shows him with Kristen in that episode.

Hetty: How is our old friend Jason Tedrow?
G: It’s just another alias, Hetty.
Hetty: An alias that reminds me of something Theodore Roethke once wrote: My soul, like some heat-maddened summerfly, keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
G: Well, I’ve been a lot of people.
Hetty: Yes. But you enjoyed being Jason Tedrow best.

Still – as much as he longed to fill this gap in his life he had to walk away in the end – keep going on searching for his “real” identity…

Memories
by BH72

The pounding of the waves soothed him. That was a fact. Of all the places throughout the world that he had travelled to, it was the beach that made him feel safe. It would engulf his worries. His fears. And wrap a comforting hug around his body as he dived into the waves. He had spent his childhood in California, near the beach. Between all the Foster Families he stayed with, he would come here. He felt a connection, that even he couldn’t understand. He had no memory of his early years. Hell, he didn’t even have a name. Just a letter and his family name. G Callen wedged his toes down deep into the coolness of the underlying sand, trapped below the top layer which had become hot from the sun. He squinted his eyes as the sun belted down on his face. The California summer was well known for its swelting heat. People would flock to the beaches to dip into the coolness of the Pacific Ocean. It became crowded with people. Strangers. But it was this anonymity that Callen sought. He had learnt early on in his life the importance of becoming a ghost. To be anyone he chose. It’s what made him a great undercover agent.

Then he discovered he had a sister. Hannah Lawson told him a little about her, but still couldn’t provide him with his identity. His name. Only that she called him ‘Baby Brother.’ Flashback, memories returned to him. He remembered. A piece of his heart broke away, finding she had died at age eleven. He would never get the chance to see his sister Amy again. It was on one of his many visits to her grave, when he found a tin soldier. Another flashback to his childhood. He was on a beach, when a man walked up to him and gave him one, just like it. The man had a tattoo on his lower arm. A gypsy wheel. On his search, he found the man slaughtered in his home. Who was he? And why did he leave the tin soldier on his sister’s grave? More questions had amounted in G Callen’s mind.

However, Callen wasn’t just known for becoming a ghost. He was a great investigator. A gut instinct that would lead in him the right direction. He was a quick thinker, planning things on the fly, if it was required. So when Hetty vanished without a trace, he knew that something was up. He pushed and searched and eventually Leon Vance, Director of NCIS, confessed that the Comescu file was all about him. For the first time in his life, he learnt about his family’s blood feud with a Romanian crime family, the Comsecus. It all made sense to him. Why he lived alone. Had no name. No family. No identity. He realised Hetty had ventured into the lion’s den to save him. To stop them from searching for him. But he couldn’t let her die. He quit and left for Prague with Sam, Kensi and Deeks behind him. They finally found her at a beach house, on the Black Sea. More flashbacks had hit him. A woman sat on a chair laughing as he built a sandcastle. A man moved closer, handing him a tin solider. He heard a noise. He looked up and the woman became silent. His Mother, he realised. Murdered on the beach. He had fallen to his knees as he realised he was home. The beach that he had remembered was not a Californian one. But Romanian, on the Black Sea.

Callen took in deep breaths as his flashbacks returned. Back on Venice Beach, he embraced the memories. They were all he had. Of his Mother. His early years. His link to who he was. Yet Hetty had known his Mother all along. Finally, he had a name. Clara Callen. A CIA operative. Just like her Father before her. George Callen. ‘Was that what the G stood for?’ He wondered. Bit by bit, slowly, but surely, pieces had come together. And now another Comescu threat had come to him. ‘Callen. We have your Father.’ Those words written in blood ripped through him as he had seen them the first time. “My name is Nikita Alexander Reznikov. I am your Father.” Two gunshots had rung through the air. It had been too much for the seasoned agent to take in. His Father, right in front of him, after all of these years. Only to see him be shot by the Comescus. But it was the man’s last dying words, “Tell him, the debt is paid.” ‘Tell who?’ Then Hetty and Arkady told him that this man, Michael Rhinehart was the American name given to a man from East Germany, Hans Schreiber. He owed his life to the real Nikita Alexander Reznikov. A major in the Russian KGB. His Father. Finally he had a name. And a film, that Deeks had found in Hans Schreiber’s collection of photos. It had him on the edge. “Моя семья.” [My family]. There he was, a baby, held lovingly in his Father’s arms. Adored by his sister Amy. Finally he felt he had been loved. Even if he still had no name, he belonged to a loving family.

This video sums up Callen’s quest for his identity and how much it affects him very well:

Thanks to all Callen’s Corner Dream Team members for contributing to this post especially BH72 and FanGCallen as well as Keviana and sindee, of course.

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