The devious moments are marked by it. So are the moments of bringing game. It’s used for the issuing of a challenge to a cocky adversary. It’s used to concede a point. It exudes confidence and calls out a dare with the greatest of all facial expressions.

Yes, Team Callen. We are talking about The Smirk.

The look that is such a famous expression it requires capitalization, and its own NCISLA Magazine post. I mean, all Callen fans know what it’s about. Even the brand-new fans understand this phenomena, even if they haven’t got it named yet. We see it happen, appreciate where it’s used, and how it’s applied. We get excited. And, I mean, why not?

The Smirk, belonging to none other than our own G Callen, is quirky, smooth, undeniably hott, and always justifiable. The effect can be like that of a small electric shock. A small electric shock that, once past, forces the mind to gather itself. It’s like a reset button. Not exactly like a heart attack, but definitely like a major static-electricity jolt. CBS should patent The Smirk. They could claim it resets a woman’s mind and sell it as an “attitude adjuster.” Husbands everywhere would be eternally grateful. Just a thought.

Part of the slick undertones that make The Smirk what it is includes the “G versus you” quality. How Callen uses it can be either light, funny, and pretty, or, dark, serious, and meant to radiate everything ugly. It can amuse those nearby as much as Callen, himself, or, make one take a giant step back.

The dark side of The Smirk may be a defensive mechanism against unjust authority. Or, perhaps as a power play over the game participants. Can anyone say ‘Chameleon’? ‘Dracul Comescu’? You can bet the smirks that have been utilized against these individuals (and a handful of others) have been rough, and pointedly chock-full of the “holding back because I’m better than you” form of The Smirk. My spine still tingles thinking about it. Scary. No one ever said G Callen was tame…

Half-wild? Yes. Why do you think bad guys cry man-tears when they see him coming after them?

But tame? Domesticated? Heck no!

My thoughts are that the “unimpressed” form of The Smirk was developed while Callen was a child. That’s the version employed against Hunter, Granger, and Tracy on more than one occasion. How many times was G told something he didn’t want to hear as a youngster? He probably decided The Smirk was a safer way to deal with that stuff than any verbal response that was going through his head at the time. Smart boy.

I’m not going to lie: I get tickled every time The Smirk makes an appearance when Granger is wrong. Every single, stinkin’ time. (Did anyone notice that G-anger and Granger were synonymous there for awhile?) And, yes, I’m siding with Callen on the first handful of Granger encounters. Back then, Granger deserved The Smirk big time.

As for Hetty, Sam, Deeks, and the rest of the Team? They usually get the “amused” or “bemused” version of The Smirk. Like the time Hetty thought Sam had damaged the Challenger, and Callen, himself, had been driving. And, when Kensi denied she was “smitten”… How ’bout when the Team did karaoke and Callen won? And there was that time Sam’s car was still inside the estate, with the dogs. Then that class reaction when Nell corrected Callen on refugees usually being from war-torn countries… And, what about that time Deeks pulled the fast one on overprotective Sam (the cell-phone-in-bag-for-$20 slip)? There are so many examples, it would take several posts to cover them all… Or, several dozen comments from Callen-crazy fans.

This post sums up in one way and one way only: The Smirk is awesome.

#TheSmirk

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