Parts of NCISLA fandom were surprised with Callen’s revelation in episode “The Grey Man” that he “has a girlfriend”.

Due to the lack of references to her and the scoops we got regarding Callen and a “romantic arc” that’s in the store for him later in the season some fans were thinking Joelle is out of the game. There were already heavy speculations in place as to whom he might get involved with.

So let’s get our heads around this new information in a round table…

Mary: I am wondering if Joelle was just put in the storyline to make Callen seem “normal” in some sense. After all, over the past 5 years, he has turned down, or simply not pursued potential interests. And maybe there were some dates along the way. I agree that it is in his nature to keep his private life private. The most upset I was about the whole Joelle thing was when Sam was waaaaay to pushy, even discussing G’s personal life with other people. Just seemed out-of-character, and not cool. I tend to stand on the side that prefers Callen single and somewhat lonely. But I don’t want him to be sad and dark ALL of the time. As long as his love life doesn’t become the focus, I’ll just turn my head and “excuse” the writers. Lol.

Vicki: The storylines have been so intense so far in S6, there hasn’t been the time to mention his outside life. Like we don’t always hear about Sam’s family. We’ve been confused over the reference to kids and his daughter for a long time, and only now are we hearing about a son, Isaac and hearing his daughter talking to him on the cell.

ChrisDaisy: Even though I, like Mary, generally prefer Callen as single, I am ok with the fact that they gave Callen some love life in the form of Joelle, it makes the character more believable and „normal“, as Mary said. It just seemed a little inconsistent to not bring her up again all those months after they all „pushed“ him into dating her.
Anyway, I’ve said it before and I still stick to it: I don’t see Callen in a „happily ever after“ relationship. As much as he deserves to be happy, it just doesn’t fit, in my opinion.

He seems quite happy with Joelle, though, which is nice but I don’t think he is anywhere near committing himself entirely to a relationship even though he seems to be longing for it. But then, how can a relationship that is based on lies and secrets work out long-term? It is bound to fail at some point and Callen surely knows that. If this would be something serious he would have at least shown an interest in meeting her parents, I think. It’s a sweet, little romance which does him well (he is much lighter than he used to be) and that is fine – as long as they don’t make this a major part of the show.

B: “What I do know about it is the woman is related to someone that has a connection to Callen’s past, someone that we’ve seen before in episodes,” said actor Chris O’Donnell (Callen), according to TV Guide. “It’ll be fun to explore that part of Callen. He’s such a private guy and kind of a simple guy. … That personal relationship side of him we haven’t really explored that much.” (November 5, 2014)

So if it is Joelle (which it probably is since she’s going to be in the Christmas episode) who is she related to someone from Callen’s past? She could be related to Arkady or a Comescu? There’s also a possibility of Hetty since she was the one who has been watching over him and knew his Mother.

Vicki: Javier’s daughter would be too young – around 17 yo. It’s is someone we’ve seen on the show a few times – only one I can think of is Arkady. But Hetty is from Callen’s past and I wonder about Granger too. A relative of someone from his past does open up quite a puzzle to solve. A SURPRISE Romance, is probably a surprise, because he is still in the relationship with Joelle, although she’s referenced here and there, we don’t get to see her, like we didn’t for ages until the Sidorov case, Michelle. I doubt it would have anything to do with Kristin Donnelly, I noticed a few people brought that up on the comments to the recap. She told him he wasn’t the father, so I suppose everyone keeps wondering if that was true. Why didn’t Callen ask for a DNA test? Just to make sure. I think that Callen is holding back on his relationship with Joelle for many reasons. Who he is and his past. He’s not ready to commit, or perhaps there is no spark there. Which is why a romance will blossom somewhere down the track. Or things go bad with Joelle when she finds out the truth about him or something bad happens to her and Callen loses her. But then that still wouldn’t give him the time to get over her and be ready for a new romance.

Richtsje: Well… Having heard and seen what we have heard and seen, I think it might simply be another Comescu who’s after Joelle?
Or – I love all this guessing, I do admit – it IS about Callen going to find out more about his father and someone is unexpectedly coming to help. What if he goes lone wolf, all the way back to Russia, and finds another agent coming to assist him? Keep guessing…

ChrisDaisy: My first thought after having read all the spoilers was that it is somehow related to Arkady – maybe a daughter, a niece, or something. Arkady was involved in Callen’s past anyway, he also had some knowledge about his father so this would make sense, in my opinion (plus, I like Arkady, he is one of my favorite recurring characters).

Of course there are numerous possibilities – and let’s be honest, it’s a lot of fun to speculate and then be surprised with whatever the writer’s come up with!

sindee: Yeah, I was surprised (read: shocked) to hear that Joelle was still in the game. It’s not that I don’t see Callen in a relationship or that I don’t like Joelle but, like Mary said, the ‘how’ just didn’t work for me in this case. But, OK, she’s still there… What does that mean for Callen’s upcoming romantic arc? At first I thought with her being in the Christmas episode there would be a big break-up coming up and Callen would be ‘free’ for someone else… but maybe it just means that Callen gets more serious WITH HER… oh, the suspense…

ChrisDaisy: Addendum to the Joelle topic: Not only did Callen not show much interest in meeting with Joelle’s parents (maybe I am interpreting too much into that scene but at least that’s how I perceive it) – but he did paperwork instead. PAPERWORK! I mean, we’re talking about Callen here – he NEVER does paperwork… So what do I make of this?

sindee: ROFL Good point !! 🙂

B: How come he didn’t meet her parents? After dealing with the Grayman case and telling Kevin Turner that Goodsell was his father had been watching over him and trying to help him who was now dead probably had more of an impact than he thought. Not knowing who his father is and wondering if anyone (besides Hetty) had been watching over him growing up or even now.

Why hasn’t he mentioned her? Like Sam, Callen keeps his work and personal life separate. Remember we didn’t know that Sam was married until Season 3. Granger, Kensi and Deeks didn’t even know that Sam was married until season 4.

ChrisDaisy: Having rewatched that last scene I am thinking that maybe he was just looking for some alone time to collect his thoughts and to get his head clear after this for him highly emotional case…

sindee: That’s a nice thought… fits his character perfectly IMO…

Note on the side:

ChrisDaisy: I am really racking my brain on how this relationship is working practically. I mean, do they always stay at Joelle’s place? If so, wouldn’t she want to see his home? And if she’s been to his place – what does she make of the fact that his house is practically empty? That should have struck her as being weird, shouldn’t it?
Anyway – too much into detail, I know…still curious, though…

 
So… we know you have been waiting long for a new “Callen’s Corner” and we dive right into it with such an ’emotional’ topic…
Let us know what you think. What are your thoughts about Joelle? Who will Callen have his “romantic arc” with? Could it be Elise? Kristen Donnelly? Someone related to his parents? Or someone related to Arkady? Tracy? Or maybe the real Ilena Vadim? Another Comescu who is still alive? Questions upon questions…

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