We were treated to a tiny bit of Callum in Tuesday’s episode, featuring a couple of rather sweet interactions with the Carter sisters.
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
So, we don’t actually see the altercation Nancy has with the girl who called Frankie names in Monday’s ep – but when Callum opens the door to see the pair of them in the cell the following morning, it’s clearly the first time he’s seen them, unable to quite believe it despite being informed by the duty sergeant. That little hip pop of despair as he leans against the doorway kills me! It sounds like he’d already clocked who he was dealing with (not sure if he’d have been given names, or just that he’d been told a Deaf woman got caught up in a fight at the Albert and he just knew.) Frankie, as we know, has had her fair share of fights that have landed her in police custody and Callum must be thinking that this is some kind of relapse or something. He compares the cell to a B&B, as Frankie’s clearly treating it like one, and asks whether she’s had enough of them, because surely she has.
Frankie and Nancy both complain to him about being locked up by his lot when they were the ones getting picked on, but he doesn’t respond until Nancy asks if they can go. The answer is yes… and no. Frankie’s free to go, but he turns to Nancy and informs her that because of the witnesses claiming she was really laying into the girl at the Albert, they want to ask her a few more questions. However, Frankie refuses to go without Nancy, to Callum’s confusion. Nancy’s surprise also gives way to fondness when she realises what Frankie’s doing.
Callum points out to Frankie that they’ve got nothing on her, there’s no reason for her to still be there, but she declares that she was laying in on the girl as well, daring Callum to challenge her. But Callum does nothing of the sort, and concedes to Walford’s answer to Spartacus, telling her she can have it her own way then – closing the door on them again, clearly amused at the show of solidarity.
Later, once Frankie and Nancy have sorted things out (leaving out the little fact that Frankie ran over Nancy a few weeks ago, of course), the cell door opens again and it’s Callum, obviously still amused that Frankie decided to stay in the cell despite being free to go as a form of protest. He declares that they’ve won and that the duty sergeant is going for an NFA – clarifying that it means No Further Action when he sees the confused look on their faces. Nancy asks what changed his mind, and that’s when Callum confesses that he had a hand in it; claiming he told the sarge that he’d never get rid of them otherwise, referring to the fact they’re clearly joined at the hip. I did wonder if he was joking, and that that maybe wasn’t what he had told the sarge specifically, but rather a more general pulling of strings. But regardless, he’s all sweetness and light as he looks over the pair of them fondly before motioning for them to follow him. He clearly loves his little group of miscreants who are always finding themselves in trouble with the law, and I think he likes being in a position to help them, whether it’s bending the rules or putting a word in, which he’d lose if he wasn’t in the police anymore. In fact when it comes to Ben, the biggest and most loved miscreant of them all, it’s not just that Callum likes helping him, but it’s rather important to him that he is able to keep him safe.
This ep featured our first Nancy and Callum interaction, and obviously Callum also knows that Nancy and Frankie are sisters at this point, but doesn’t comment on it other than the fact they seem joined at the hip. I’m sure I’ve said it before but I’d have been interested to see the moment Callum found out that his friend Frankie is actually a Carter, part of the family he knew growing up. Maybe when they can afford inconsequential scenes again, they could have a Callum and Nancy scene where Callum says he still can’t believe Nancy is Frankie’s sister and Nancy says she still can’t believe Callum is a cop and is married to a man!
Anyway, I thought this was a lovely little Callum cameo, and he seems in a good mood despite presumably waiting for the other shoe to drop, as I’m sure it will eventually…
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