Personal Cannon: Sam Hanna
Feb. 25th, 2012 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_lucy21Since I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about G, I figured it was only fair to spend at least a little time thinking about Sam.
I think Sam is probably a year or two older than G, so he was probably born in 1967 or 1968. He probably grew up in a fairly stable two parent middle class household. His family might not have had everything they wanted, but they had everything they needed, and probably at least some of what they wanted, too. I'm betting Sam is an older brother (for some reason, I sort of think he has two younger brothers. I don't have anything to base that off of, but it just feels right). He's got that oldest child mentality to him. I also think that one of Sam's grandparents lived with his family- perhaps a grandmother so that their mom could work- and that Mom was as much in charge as Dad was, if not more (Sam has no problem with strong women, in charge or otherwise). But it's pretty clear that Sam grew up in a loving home with lots of stability and lots of people who cared a lot about him. He was probably a good kid, the kind whose teachers like him because he's smart, a conscientious student and respectful, whose coaches like him because he's a good teammate and puts forth the effort even if he's not the most talented kid on the field. A kid that other kids like and that their parents like, too. Not a perfect kid- I'm certain Sam got into plenty of mischief, but probably very little actual trouble, and he also probably rarely got into trouble for the same thing twice. Basically, I think Sam's "dark past" is that he really doesn't have one. At least not in the same way his teammates do (and I don't think the show has really even hinted at Sam having childhood trauma at all, either. Well, someone's got to have had a normal childhood, right?)
Sam apparently enlisted in the Navy after high school, since he was apparently a Chief Petty Officer, although I think that doesn't quite fit the character. I personally think that that Sam would have gone to college. He was probably bombarded with the "go to college, make something of yourself" message from the time he was very small, and given that he was probably a pretty good student, his teachers and family probably would have encouraged him to join the Navy through ROTC instead of enlisting. Now, it could be that Sam took in all those messages and then enlisted anyway because he was an 18 year old boy and 18 year old boys are stubborn and contrary (18 year old girls are, too), but I still think college makes more sense here. Anyway. We'll call it the first thing the writers do with Sam that does not quite make sense.
If Sam enlisted, he probably served for awhile in some capacity before becoming a SEAL. If he'd done ROTC, I would have theorized that he joined the SEALs out of ROTC. It's possible, although highly competitive. Sam, however, is a highly competitive guy and he would have wanted to get to the elite of the elite as soon as he could manage it. At any rate, I think Sam probably had his eyes on the SEALs from the beginning. He probably did whatever extra training he could to get there, both physical and educational. Somewhere along the line, Sam was clearly encouraged to learn Arabic, and he seems to have a fascination with Islam, although I don't think he is actually Muslim, or if he is, I'm pretty sure he came to it in adulthood. He most likely would have been brought up Christian and his family most likely at least regularly attended church on Sunday, even if they didn't participate in church life beyond that. At any rate, Sam clearly decided to continue serving in the Navy beyond his original enlistment or obligation. He probably intended to be a lifer at some point.
Sam is the right age to have served in the First Gulf War in some capacity. He may or may not have been a SEAL by then, but he probably became a SEAL not terribly long thereafter if he wasn't, because the age cutoff to enter BUDS/s (SEAL training) is 28, and he would have been 28 in 1995 or 1996. Also, we know he was a SEAL in Yugoslavia (when he gets buried alive…shudders) and that would have probably been in the mid to late 90s. However, I suspect that most of his missions with the SEALs took place in the Middle East and Northern Africa. He's clearly familiar with the territory, with the factions involved and knows how to get around there comfortably. We know for sure he was in Chad in 2002, because that's where he meets Moe, kills Moe's father, and gets Moe out of the country. And we know at some point he met and/or worked with Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-0 (for those unfamiliar with that show). Sam is clearly very, very proud of his service and of having been a SEAL, and justifiably so. It's a huge accomplishment. It probably had a very significant impact on his personality and outlook, although I do believe he was probably already a team-oriented, committed person well before becoming a SEAL or even joining the Navy.
Sam probably separated from the Navy in 2006 or 2007. We know he and G have been partners for five years as of February 2012, so he had to be working for NCIS by February of 2007. He probably went from the Navy to NCIS without a lot of time in between. As for why he left the Navy, that's still a little bit up in the air. I don't know what the upper age limit for being an active duty SEAL is, but it's possible Sam was getting close to it, since my guess is that he was probably 39 or 40 by then. Could be he was injured to the point where he got a medical discharge, but was still able to meet fitness requirements for NCIS. Could be his wife (we'll get to her) put her foot down and said she was done with the secret ops. Or maybe he got a little burned out. At any rate, I don't think Sam was with NCIS/OSP for very long prior to becoming G's partner, and I think G has seniority over him, and since we're pretty sure G joined NCIS in 2006, then Sam probably joined a little later than that.
Ah, Sam's wife. I've written a little about her before, but I'll reiterate here. It does make sense that at some point Sam would have gotten married. He's a group oriented kind of guy who likes meeting the expectations that are set for him. So, get an education, get a job, get married, have a family- it would have probably felt necessary to him at some point, even setting aside the fact that I think Sam needs to have someone to love and to take care of. It's just part of his personality. So, at some juncture (exactly when, I'm unsure), Sam and his wife meet, like each other, fall in love, get married. They have at least one daughter (it's sort of unclear how many kids Sam has. At one point, he says something that makes it sound like there's two kids, but in "Betrayal", he only looks in on one kid and he only mentions one daughter in "Higher Power"). His daughter is school age, but I think she's probably under 10, judging from the Christmas present Sam is searching for. So, she was probably born sometime between 2002 and 2005 or so. If it's the latter, that may have also been an impetus for Sam to leave the Navy, so he'd be around more for his daughter. This all makes sense and fits in with Sam's character.
However. The writers spent the first two seasons effectively portraying Sam as a single guy who's practically married to his partner. This also fits pretty well with Sam's need to have someone to take care of and/or love, because God knows, G Callen needs someone to love him (even if he doesn't think he does). The kid(s) are mentioned in season two, but the way Sam talked, I was feeling pretty sure he did not live with the daughter he mentioned. It's possible she's a daughter from a previous marriage and his current wife is his second wife. But at no point in time prior to "Betrayal" did I have the impression that Sam was currently married. I had been assuming a previous marriage or long term relationship that was no longer active, so to speak. There's a second person in bed with him when he gets the call that Dom has been taken, but that's not enough evidence to say he's married. And honestly, while it makes some sense that Sam might not be terribly open about his family at work (although G clearly knows about his kid(s), but that makes sense. He'd tell G things he wouldn't tell Kensi, et al), it doesn't make sense that Sam wouldn't make any kind of indication that he's got a reason to get home at night or at the end of the case, or whatever, even if only in conversation with G or Hetty, both of whom appear to know about his family. This kind of job is probably just as tough on a family as being a SEAL was. There's a reason why no one (else) on either NCIS show is married or why these people have multiple ex-spouses/partners/what-have-you. Granted, some of that reason is that some of these people are really bad at personal commitment and some have questionable interpersonal/relationship skills or traits, but some of it has to do with the job they do, too.
Plus, Sam's wife has to be the most patient woman on the planet, because she puts up not only with Sam and his secrecy, but she's also apparently put up with G on at least one occasion, and probably more (e.g., the Toaster Incident- Sam's sleep deprivation after putting G up at his place). That might be grounds for divorce right there (I like G, but I would not inflict him on anyone unsuspecting when he's all wound up). That, and if Sam left the Navy in order to be around more for his family or because his wife was fed up with the secrecy, he's probably not exactly achieving that objective with this job at NCIS. Granted, that might not have been clear at the time, but he's 5+ years into it now.
I suspect the writers wanted to have the tension of Sam interacting with Jada while having a wife back home and that's why it seems like Sam's all of a sudden married. And they're right- it would have been excellent tension. If they had established Sam's relationship much, much earlier. Now, it just makes no sense and even actively goes against the character they've established.
Which brings me to Sam and G, in a roundabout way. Like I said, Sam and G appear to be practically married themselves. I've said before that I can go either way on the two of them having a sexual relationship, but I'm completely unconvinced that their relationship is no more involved than co-workers. It's not even quite fraternal- it seems more intimate than that. And I think it needs to be, for both of them. Sam is a mother hen. He's a mother hen with all of them, but especially with G, much to G's annoyance sometimes (I always love it when G reminds Sam he's not G's mom. Sam's always like, yeah, but damn, you need one, so suck it up). I am absolutely certain that when Sam got stuck with G (because I'm also absolutely certain the two of them did not choose to be paired up), he wanted to strangle G pretty much constantly. G probably drove him completely up the wall, because in so many ways, G is the exact opposite of Sam. Not a team player, not the most stable of personalities, not willing to trust the people around him without testing the hell out of them. G probably busted out all of his most annoying behaviors to test out on Sam, hoping to drive him away because G probably did NOT want a partner (particularly at that point in time). But here's the thing- Sam is very objective driven and very stubborn. And his given objective was be G's partner, so he was going to do that come hell or high water. Also, Sam was probably aware, at least superficially, that a lot of G's behavior stems from trauma, even if he wouldn't have known the exact nature of that trauma at the time. So, he would have probably recognized that it wasn't personal- G would have reacted the same way to anyone, not just Sam.
There's also a distinct possibility that Sam was also a little traumatized himself, coming into NCIS. Transitioning to civilian life is challenging, and again, we don't know the exact circumstances that led Sam to separate from the Navy. Sam's also seen some pretty heavy combat and while he seems to be more or less pretty psychologically stable, that still leaves marks. He hides his paranoia better than G does, which is a little more dangerous in some ways- with G, you at least get a little warning. He also has some anger issues, although I think most of his threats to Deeks and Eric are playing rather than real (although Eric, at least, certainly doesn't think so). Sam also has a tendency to get emotionally invested in the people around him, so he probably got pretty attached to G pretty easily. G would have punched all his buttons, both in a good and a bad way. Sam almost certainly trusted G long before G trusted Sam. It also helps that Sam is fairly patient as well as being a straight shooter (as he said to Granger last week, "I don't do veiled"). G would have responded to Sam being straightforward and Sam's patience probably helped keep him from killing G outright. At this point, they actually have a mostly functional partnership (they may be a bit co-dependent, but I think that's probably unavoidable given the personalities involved) and I think that is entirely due to Sam's ability to be patient and his stability. When Sam says he has your back, he means it and he backs up his words. This isn't to say that G didn't do a fair amount of work to get them to where they are- he did, it's just that most of G's work was on himself, not on the relationship.
So are they sleeping together? Eh. Officially canonically, almost certainly not, but again, eh. As I said earlier, I can see it going either way. They are certainly an easier pair to slash than some slash pairings on other shows that I could name. I haven't fleshed out this part of my canon for G yet, but one thing I keep coming back to in my head is that I'm not sure G has sex as himself, which adds another layer of complexity to the situation. Neither of them really reads as other than straight, but at the same time, I can see either or both of them being, oh, I don't know how to put it. Situationally bisexual? Which is kind of a fannish trope that I'm not entirely comfortable with, but I have seen happen IRL, too, so yeah. I'm a firm believer that sexuality is more fluid than not for most people, so I suppose it's possible. And I have written these two together before, so I'm comfortable with the idea that they could have a sexual relationship. They do definitely have love and affection for each other, which of course does not necessarily equal sex, but it doesn't hurt the case either. I do think if G's sleeping with anyone, it's probably Sam, although I don't think the reverse is true. If nothing else, if Sam is sleeping with G in any capacity (occasionally, regularly, whatever), I'm absolutely certain he's got something in place where it's not cheating on his wife. Maybe he and his wife have an agreement where it comes to G specifically, maybe they have an agreement on Sam's activities with other guys being different than potential activities with other women. Maybe she's got an outside relationship and so Sam's free to have one as well. Whatever it is, I'm convinced that Sam would not sneak around behind his wife's back. At least not outside of the line of duty (although G's wince when Kensi and Deeks were speculating on whether Sam slept with Jada could be read in multiple ways...but that I think goes back to the issues with contradictory character development).
So, that's my Sam Hanna. Even if I'm displeased as the contradictions they've introduced this season, I'm glad there's been some development. Because I think Sam's just as interesting in G, in his own way and should get his own storylines too.
I think Sam is probably a year or two older than G, so he was probably born in 1967 or 1968. He probably grew up in a fairly stable two parent middle class household. His family might not have had everything they wanted, but they had everything they needed, and probably at least some of what they wanted, too. I'm betting Sam is an older brother (for some reason, I sort of think he has two younger brothers. I don't have anything to base that off of, but it just feels right). He's got that oldest child mentality to him. I also think that one of Sam's grandparents lived with his family- perhaps a grandmother so that their mom could work- and that Mom was as much in charge as Dad was, if not more (Sam has no problem with strong women, in charge or otherwise). But it's pretty clear that Sam grew up in a loving home with lots of stability and lots of people who cared a lot about him. He was probably a good kid, the kind whose teachers like him because he's smart, a conscientious student and respectful, whose coaches like him because he's a good teammate and puts forth the effort even if he's not the most talented kid on the field. A kid that other kids like and that their parents like, too. Not a perfect kid- I'm certain Sam got into plenty of mischief, but probably very little actual trouble, and he also probably rarely got into trouble for the same thing twice. Basically, I think Sam's "dark past" is that he really doesn't have one. At least not in the same way his teammates do (and I don't think the show has really even hinted at Sam having childhood trauma at all, either. Well, someone's got to have had a normal childhood, right?)
Sam apparently enlisted in the Navy after high school, since he was apparently a Chief Petty Officer, although I think that doesn't quite fit the character. I personally think that that Sam would have gone to college. He was probably bombarded with the "go to college, make something of yourself" message from the time he was very small, and given that he was probably a pretty good student, his teachers and family probably would have encouraged him to join the Navy through ROTC instead of enlisting. Now, it could be that Sam took in all those messages and then enlisted anyway because he was an 18 year old boy and 18 year old boys are stubborn and contrary (18 year old girls are, too), but I still think college makes more sense here. Anyway. We'll call it the first thing the writers do with Sam that does not quite make sense.
If Sam enlisted, he probably served for awhile in some capacity before becoming a SEAL. If he'd done ROTC, I would have theorized that he joined the SEALs out of ROTC. It's possible, although highly competitive. Sam, however, is a highly competitive guy and he would have wanted to get to the elite of the elite as soon as he could manage it. At any rate, I think Sam probably had his eyes on the SEALs from the beginning. He probably did whatever extra training he could to get there, both physical and educational. Somewhere along the line, Sam was clearly encouraged to learn Arabic, and he seems to have a fascination with Islam, although I don't think he is actually Muslim, or if he is, I'm pretty sure he came to it in adulthood. He most likely would have been brought up Christian and his family most likely at least regularly attended church on Sunday, even if they didn't participate in church life beyond that. At any rate, Sam clearly decided to continue serving in the Navy beyond his original enlistment or obligation. He probably intended to be a lifer at some point.
Sam is the right age to have served in the First Gulf War in some capacity. He may or may not have been a SEAL by then, but he probably became a SEAL not terribly long thereafter if he wasn't, because the age cutoff to enter BUDS/s (SEAL training) is 28, and he would have been 28 in 1995 or 1996. Also, we know he was a SEAL in Yugoslavia (when he gets buried alive…shudders) and that would have probably been in the mid to late 90s. However, I suspect that most of his missions with the SEALs took place in the Middle East and Northern Africa. He's clearly familiar with the territory, with the factions involved and knows how to get around there comfortably. We know for sure he was in Chad in 2002, because that's where he meets Moe, kills Moe's father, and gets Moe out of the country. And we know at some point he met and/or worked with Steve McGarrett of Hawaii Five-0 (for those unfamiliar with that show). Sam is clearly very, very proud of his service and of having been a SEAL, and justifiably so. It's a huge accomplishment. It probably had a very significant impact on his personality and outlook, although I do believe he was probably already a team-oriented, committed person well before becoming a SEAL or even joining the Navy.
Sam probably separated from the Navy in 2006 or 2007. We know he and G have been partners for five years as of February 2012, so he had to be working for NCIS by February of 2007. He probably went from the Navy to NCIS without a lot of time in between. As for why he left the Navy, that's still a little bit up in the air. I don't know what the upper age limit for being an active duty SEAL is, but it's possible Sam was getting close to it, since my guess is that he was probably 39 or 40 by then. Could be he was injured to the point where he got a medical discharge, but was still able to meet fitness requirements for NCIS. Could be his wife (we'll get to her) put her foot down and said she was done with the secret ops. Or maybe he got a little burned out. At any rate, I don't think Sam was with NCIS/OSP for very long prior to becoming G's partner, and I think G has seniority over him, and since we're pretty sure G joined NCIS in 2006, then Sam probably joined a little later than that.
Ah, Sam's wife. I've written a little about her before, but I'll reiterate here. It does make sense that at some point Sam would have gotten married. He's a group oriented kind of guy who likes meeting the expectations that are set for him. So, get an education, get a job, get married, have a family- it would have probably felt necessary to him at some point, even setting aside the fact that I think Sam needs to have someone to love and to take care of. It's just part of his personality. So, at some juncture (exactly when, I'm unsure), Sam and his wife meet, like each other, fall in love, get married. They have at least one daughter (it's sort of unclear how many kids Sam has. At one point, he says something that makes it sound like there's two kids, but in "Betrayal", he only looks in on one kid and he only mentions one daughter in "Higher Power"). His daughter is school age, but I think she's probably under 10, judging from the Christmas present Sam is searching for. So, she was probably born sometime between 2002 and 2005 or so. If it's the latter, that may have also been an impetus for Sam to leave the Navy, so he'd be around more for his daughter. This all makes sense and fits in with Sam's character.
However. The writers spent the first two seasons effectively portraying Sam as a single guy who's practically married to his partner. This also fits pretty well with Sam's need to have someone to take care of and/or love, because God knows, G Callen needs someone to love him (even if he doesn't think he does). The kid(s) are mentioned in season two, but the way Sam talked, I was feeling pretty sure he did not live with the daughter he mentioned. It's possible she's a daughter from a previous marriage and his current wife is his second wife. But at no point in time prior to "Betrayal" did I have the impression that Sam was currently married. I had been assuming a previous marriage or long term relationship that was no longer active, so to speak. There's a second person in bed with him when he gets the call that Dom has been taken, but that's not enough evidence to say he's married. And honestly, while it makes some sense that Sam might not be terribly open about his family at work (although G clearly knows about his kid(s), but that makes sense. He'd tell G things he wouldn't tell Kensi, et al), it doesn't make sense that Sam wouldn't make any kind of indication that he's got a reason to get home at night or at the end of the case, or whatever, even if only in conversation with G or Hetty, both of whom appear to know about his family. This kind of job is probably just as tough on a family as being a SEAL was. There's a reason why no one (else) on either NCIS show is married or why these people have multiple ex-spouses/partners/what-have-you. Granted, some of that reason is that some of these people are really bad at personal commitment and some have questionable interpersonal/relationship skills or traits, but some of it has to do with the job they do, too.
Plus, Sam's wife has to be the most patient woman on the planet, because she puts up not only with Sam and his secrecy, but she's also apparently put up with G on at least one occasion, and probably more (e.g., the Toaster Incident- Sam's sleep deprivation after putting G up at his place). That might be grounds for divorce right there (I like G, but I would not inflict him on anyone unsuspecting when he's all wound up). That, and if Sam left the Navy in order to be around more for his family or because his wife was fed up with the secrecy, he's probably not exactly achieving that objective with this job at NCIS. Granted, that might not have been clear at the time, but he's 5+ years into it now.
I suspect the writers wanted to have the tension of Sam interacting with Jada while having a wife back home and that's why it seems like Sam's all of a sudden married. And they're right- it would have been excellent tension. If they had established Sam's relationship much, much earlier. Now, it just makes no sense and even actively goes against the character they've established.
Which brings me to Sam and G, in a roundabout way. Like I said, Sam and G appear to be practically married themselves. I've said before that I can go either way on the two of them having a sexual relationship, but I'm completely unconvinced that their relationship is no more involved than co-workers. It's not even quite fraternal- it seems more intimate than that. And I think it needs to be, for both of them. Sam is a mother hen. He's a mother hen with all of them, but especially with G, much to G's annoyance sometimes (I always love it when G reminds Sam he's not G's mom. Sam's always like, yeah, but damn, you need one, so suck it up). I am absolutely certain that when Sam got stuck with G (because I'm also absolutely certain the two of them did not choose to be paired up), he wanted to strangle G pretty much constantly. G probably drove him completely up the wall, because in so many ways, G is the exact opposite of Sam. Not a team player, not the most stable of personalities, not willing to trust the people around him without testing the hell out of them. G probably busted out all of his most annoying behaviors to test out on Sam, hoping to drive him away because G probably did NOT want a partner (particularly at that point in time). But here's the thing- Sam is very objective driven and very stubborn. And his given objective was be G's partner, so he was going to do that come hell or high water. Also, Sam was probably aware, at least superficially, that a lot of G's behavior stems from trauma, even if he wouldn't have known the exact nature of that trauma at the time. So, he would have probably recognized that it wasn't personal- G would have reacted the same way to anyone, not just Sam.
There's also a distinct possibility that Sam was also a little traumatized himself, coming into NCIS. Transitioning to civilian life is challenging, and again, we don't know the exact circumstances that led Sam to separate from the Navy. Sam's also seen some pretty heavy combat and while he seems to be more or less pretty psychologically stable, that still leaves marks. He hides his paranoia better than G does, which is a little more dangerous in some ways- with G, you at least get a little warning. He also has some anger issues, although I think most of his threats to Deeks and Eric are playing rather than real (although Eric, at least, certainly doesn't think so). Sam also has a tendency to get emotionally invested in the people around him, so he probably got pretty attached to G pretty easily. G would have punched all his buttons, both in a good and a bad way. Sam almost certainly trusted G long before G trusted Sam. It also helps that Sam is fairly patient as well as being a straight shooter (as he said to Granger last week, "I don't do veiled"). G would have responded to Sam being straightforward and Sam's patience probably helped keep him from killing G outright. At this point, they actually have a mostly functional partnership (they may be a bit co-dependent, but I think that's probably unavoidable given the personalities involved) and I think that is entirely due to Sam's ability to be patient and his stability. When Sam says he has your back, he means it and he backs up his words. This isn't to say that G didn't do a fair amount of work to get them to where they are- he did, it's just that most of G's work was on himself, not on the relationship.
So are they sleeping together? Eh. Officially canonically, almost certainly not, but again, eh. As I said earlier, I can see it going either way. They are certainly an easier pair to slash than some slash pairings on other shows that I could name. I haven't fleshed out this part of my canon for G yet, but one thing I keep coming back to in my head is that I'm not sure G has sex as himself, which adds another layer of complexity to the situation. Neither of them really reads as other than straight, but at the same time, I can see either or both of them being, oh, I don't know how to put it. Situationally bisexual? Which is kind of a fannish trope that I'm not entirely comfortable with, but I have seen happen IRL, too, so yeah. I'm a firm believer that sexuality is more fluid than not for most people, so I suppose it's possible. And I have written these two together before, so I'm comfortable with the idea that they could have a sexual relationship. They do definitely have love and affection for each other, which of course does not necessarily equal sex, but it doesn't hurt the case either. I do think if G's sleeping with anyone, it's probably Sam, although I don't think the reverse is true. If nothing else, if Sam is sleeping with G in any capacity (occasionally, regularly, whatever), I'm absolutely certain he's got something in place where it's not cheating on his wife. Maybe he and his wife have an agreement where it comes to G specifically, maybe they have an agreement on Sam's activities with other guys being different than potential activities with other women. Maybe she's got an outside relationship and so Sam's free to have one as well. Whatever it is, I'm convinced that Sam would not sneak around behind his wife's back. At least not outside of the line of duty (although G's wince when Kensi and Deeks were speculating on whether Sam slept with Jada could be read in multiple ways...but that I think goes back to the issues with contradictory character development).
So, that's my Sam Hanna. Even if I'm displeased as the contradictions they've introduced this season, I'm glad there's been some development. Because I think Sam's just as interesting in G, in his own way and should get his own storylines too.