What is it about G Callen that draws the female fan of NCIS: Los Angeles to the seasoned Federal Agent? Is it his heroism; his strong arms and striking blue eyes, as mentioned by Elise (his neighbor) on her blog (S5E06 ‘Big Brother’); the fact he has no family or first name other than a letter, which pulls on your heart strings; the bad boy image or lone wolf tendencies? Whichever it may be for you, there is one thing apparent — many fans don’t want to see G Callen in a relationship. Let’s look back at the women in his past and reflect on them in regards to G Callen.

The first signs of seeing Callen get more personal in a case was in ‘Search and Destroy’ (S1E04), when Callen gets close to a suspect’s girlfriend Cherise Dawson and chooses to not only lie to her that Walton Flynn did indeed want to be with her:

“He told me I’m to stay away from you. I guess he really does like you.”

But he also organised a beautiful bunch of gerberas with a message from Flynn:

“Thanks for believing in me.” Walton.

This gave an insight into who the man G Callen truly is: kind-hearted, but also desiring a normal life and perhaps someone to believe in him also?

In ‘Keeping It Real’ (S1E06), Hetty and Sam were trying to set Callen up with Agent Natalia Giordano who was pretty obvious in her advances towards him. Callen stated to Sam that she pretty much “left the door pretty wide open. A truck could drive through that.”

[Sam and Callen walking up the stairs in the mission]
Sam: “Room service, really?”
Callen: “I don’t date law enforcement.”
Sam: “Might wanna make an exception this time.”
Callen: “Sam, you know the rule. They got their own handcuffs, I’m out.”

[In wardrobe]
Hetty: “Take her out to dinner after the case is solved.”
Callen: “Agent Giordano?”
Hetty: “Then take Sam the next night. You know how he gets.”

[In the Boatshed]
[Callen is handing the money back to Agent Natalia Giordano after they arrested the bad guys]
Agent Giordano: “So do you wanna get a hamburger? Or we could order room service?”
Callen: “I’ve got this rule about dating cops.”
Agent Giordano: “So you mean I have to wait till I retire.”
Callen: “I guess.”
Agent Giordano: “She must have been some cop.”
Callen: “She was.”

(S1E06 ‘Keeping It Real’)

This was due to the effects of what Tracy had done to him, resulting in him making this rule up of never dating cops. However back in Season 1, we had no idea who Callen was referring to, until ‘Standoff’ in the following season:

The team were watching a hostage situation live up on the big screen in Ops, when Callen admits that the woman was using an alias as his ex-wife. He goes in to talk to her and solve the situation, admitting to Sam that she was “the kind of person who chooses the mission over her partner.”

[Tracy Keller is holding up hostages in a Navy Recruitment Center]
Callen [handing his gun to Sam]: “It’s for her protection, not mine. I’m still upset over her getting the dog in the settlement.”

[Callen walks into the Navy Recruitment Center to face Tracy]
Tracy: “You look good.”
Callen: “Yeah, having a shotgun pointed at me tends to bring out my natural glow.”
Tracy: “Whatever happened to us? Huh! We used to be great together. My meticulous planning, your gift for improvisation. We were unbeatable.”
Callen: “I absolutely agree. We were great. Till you hung me out to dry.
Tracy: “You never let me explain.”
Callen: “Explain what? It was a crappy thing to do to your partner. To me.”

[In the Boatshed]
Sam: “She was right about one thing. Somebody wants to take her out. How do you want to handle it?”
Callen: “Like a hostile divorce hearing.”

Why did Callen fall for her in the first place? Like what often happens, he may have fallen in love just from the fact they were put into a close working relationship. Or, it might be that he just fell in love with the idea of actually having someone in his life. Either way, they must have worked well together. Her intelligence and drive, his intuitiveness and ingenuity, just a great combination for undercover partners. And the chemistry between them was evident. But her drive may have been their undoing. According to Callen, this woman put the mission above him and whatever relationship they had developed. It just seemed cruel that, once again, our G Callen was abandoned. He was most probably already a lone wolf – a result of his upbringing. But whatever trust he might have had in mankind just went kya-poohie after Tracy failed to show the same loyalty he had for her. So dating someone in law enforcement holds that same possibility of getting close to someone who is “all about the mission.” He’s just not going to purposefully put himself in that situation again, although we saw her sweet talk her way back into Callen’s life (or so she thought):

[In the Boatshed preparing to meet their suspect Mason]
Tracy: “I really appreciate you trusting me back there.”
Callen: “That’s what partners do.”
Tracy: “I never stopped caring. I tried to reach you. You never let me explain.”
Callen: “You made it pretty clear where your head and your heart were at.”
Tracy: “I was young. Ambitious. I made a mistake. One that I regret.”
Callen [whispers]: “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Tracy [places her hand on the side of Callen’s neck]: ” Remember when we used to talk about getting away from it all? Just you and me on some remote island.”
Callen [removes her hand away]: “Buddy hated the beach.”

[On a boat in the Cayman Islands]
Tracy: “You know, we could start over. My real name is…”
Sam [exiting the cabin]: “Rosetti. Nice boat.”
Callen: “You didn’t think I could keep my partner from a free trip to the Cayman Islands, did you?”

(S2E06 ‘Standoff’)

Callen saw through her manipulative words, refusing to let her hurt him again. So why was Hetty trying to play match maker again with Callen, with a fellow NCIS Agent, Paris Summerskill from the Red Team? Hetty’s behavior on the screen on Callen and Sam’s first night with the Red Team was out of character for the petite Operations Manager:

Moscow, Idaho
[Hetty moves closer to the camera so she appears very large on screen]
Hetty: “So how is everyone getting on in Idaho?”
Granger: “Everything’s fine Henrietta.”
Hetty: “Mr. Callen?”
Callen: ” All good.”
Hetty: “Miss Summerskill?”
Paris: “Um..it’s great to have company for dinner.”
[Hetty disconnects]
Paris: “What was that all about?”
Callen [eyes squinted as he thinks over Hetty’s weird behavior]: “Something.”
Sam: “Something she’s not telling us.”
Granger: “Something she may never tell us.”

[In the bedroom]
Callen: “Hetty’s checking up on us.”
Sam: ” Yep.”
Callen: “Take a stab at guessing why?”
Sam: “Maybe she was seeing if you and Paris hit it off. That’s a good looking woman G.”
[Callen doesn’t respond, only flicks his boots off his feet]

(S4E18 ‘Red, Part 1’)

El Centro
[Claire and Sam sit in a cafe looking out across the street to where Callen and Paris are]
Claire: “You know Hetty thought they’d be good for each other. That’s why she was checking up on the the night you arrived. Did you notice that?”
Sam: “I noticed.”
Claire: “Did Callen?”
Sam: “No. Did Paris?”
Claire: “Maybe Hetty’s right, perhaps they do have something in common.”
Sam: “Hetty’s always right.”

But was Hetty right in this instance? Was she aware of Callen’s no dating cops rule like Sam was? So why did Callen say to Paris that he could do complicated? Was it the fact he knew she would be on the road solving cases, so there wouldn’t be any pressure on him for commitment? Did he see something of himself in her, that perhaps Hetty saw in them both?

Outside of El Centro by the trailers
Callen: “What exactly happened that night Roy got shot?”
Paris [has flashbacks to the night in question]: “I shot a guy and he didn’t stay down. He was wearing a vest. Roy saved my life.”
Callen: “So what’s the problem?”
Paris: “It’s complicated.”
[Sam pulls up. Roy exits the trailers]
Callen: “I’m good with complicated.”
Paris [whispers]: “It’s really complicated.” [returns to normal voice] “So I guess that beer’s going to have to wait.”
Callen: “I guess so.”

Los Angeles
[Hetty and Owen sit either side of her desk drinking scotch]
Hetty: “Here’s to Paris and Callen.”
Granger: “You mean Roy.”
Hetty [lifts her glass and laughs]: “Of course.”

(S4E19 ‘Red, Part 2)

Tracy is not the only woman from Callen’s past that we’ve met on the show. In the middle of Season 1, Callen has to reconnect with a woman that he got too close to when he was undercover as Jason Tedrow; Kristin Donnelly. However, in this circumstance, Callen is the one whose done the hurting and Kristin admits to him that she’s moved on from him. But not after she lets him sweat over whether or not he was Michael’s Father.

Kristin: “You hurt me. So I wanted to make you suffer.”

(S1E12 ‘Past Lives’)

When Hetty finds Callen reminiscing over old photos of him and Kristin, she tells him that she believes that Jason Tedrow was his favourite alias of all that he had been. We can see he had for at least a few months some form of normalcy, in a happy relationship with a non-criminal woman, who he formed feelings for. That became apparent over his need to do a background check on her fiancé and rough him up a little. We also saw this desire in ‘Search and Destroy’, when Callen was driving Walton Flynn to a safe house. He can relate to Walton Flynn from their backgrounds of Foster Homes and in seeking a “normal” life but from his reaction after this conversation it seemed kind of obvious that he, too, like Walton Flynn, never expects to live a life like that:

[Callen driving Flynn to a safe house]
Flynn: “And one day we’ll both live in the ‘burbs, barbecue with our neighbors, and coach Little League.”
G: “I don’t know. Teaching your son how to play baseball sounds pretty idyllic.”
Flynn: “Yeah, it does. But that’s why we do what we do, so others can live those lives.”

(S1E04 ‘Search and Destroy’)

All through the five seasons we have seen Sam and Hetty at the forefront of trying to get Callen into a relationship. Grace highlighted in ‘The Raven and the Swans’ (S4E21) the only time they had any relationships were with criminals. She asked him if he had a girlfriend. When Callen replied with “Not at the moment,” Grace pushed further with “Just how many moments have their been?”

So what has Callen said to Sam and Hetty when they’ve asked him about it?

Hetty:

Hetty: “Where’s Sam?”
Callen: “He went home to spend time with his family.”
Hetty: “Ah, that’s good. He needs that… especially now.”
Callen: [Long pause] “What about you? You ever regret not settling down – and having a family?”
Hetty: “I think about it sometimes. Maybe when I’m older.” [Hetty chuckles]. “And you?”
Callen: “I think I’ll keep looking for mine first.”

(S3E07 ‘Honor’)

[Callen joins Hetty in her office at the end of the day, talking about Nate]
Hetty: “That man hasn’t taken a vacation in years. And what about you? When was the last time you took a day off that wasn’t caused by a bullet? I don’t want you waking up one morning, wondering if it was all worth it. I’m sorry if I was…a tad strident today. I just want to make sure that you all take the time to smell the roses.”
Callen: “How about Saturday? There’s a Rembrandt exhibit at the Norton Simon Museum. I’ll pick you up at 11:00?”
Hetty: “Rembrandt, Mr. Callen?”
Callen: “Don’t get too excited. I just go there to meet chicks, so… essentially, you’ll be my wingman.”
Hetty: “I relish the assignment. If only it were true. What about tonight?”

(S1E11 ‘Breach’)

Sam:

Callen: “You know what, I slept in.”
Sam: “With who? You barely sleep.”
Callen: “There’s nobody.”
Sam: “Come on I think it would be great for you to be in a relationship.”
Callen: “Sam, how many times are we going to have this conversation? You’re my partner! Not my mother!”
Sam [puts on a funny nasally voice as if he’s Callen’s Mom]: “I just want you to be happy and find a good girl!”

(S1E16 ‘Chinatown’)

Therefore it is no surprise to see Sam set Callen up on a blind date in ‘War Cries’ (S5E14) last week telling him to wear a suit and tie for dinner. Callen was clearly expecting to see Sam and Michelle at the restaurant when he was shown to his table. It was evident that Callen was surprised when there was a red head sitting at the table waiting also for Sam and Michelle; but with all the nagging by Sam over the years, he shouldn’t have been surprised at all. He carried himself respectfully towards Joelle who had taught Sam’s daughter in Kindergarten.

We at Callen’s Corner have noticed a similarity between three of the women mentioned in this post:

Sam may be onto something with this woman, especially after hearing Callen reveal his general attitude towards relationships:

[Callen and Sam are searching Valdiva’s home and finds lots of pictures of women on the fridge]
Callen: “Meaningless sex with an endless stream of beautiful women. How empty.”

(S1E06 ‘Keeping It Real’)

Sam is the closest person to Callen out of anyone. He knows what he likes, dislikes, what he spends his free time doing, his bad habits, and Callen does spend a bit of time at the Hanna’s home. Setting him up on this blind date shows to Callen that he does care enough to believe in him, that he too can have that normalcy of life he shares with Michelle. He and Michelle would know better than anyone else, what would be the right kind of girl for him.

I would like to thank the following members of Callen’s Corner Dream Team for their assistance in this post: ChrisDaisy, Richtsje, Serena and Mary.  A special thank you to ncislosangelesfan.com for the screencaps.