- "I'd say I'm lucky to have my job back, if electrician weren't such a dangerous occupation."
- ―Gray to Carmen in The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper
Graham "Gray" Calloway is a former agent of V.I.L.E. After being captured and taken in by Interpol, Gray's mind was wiped of his time at The Academy and he was returned to Australia, though he regained his memories after sometime. During his time of trying to save Carmen from her brainwashed state, Gray was injured badly though he slowly recovered in a hospital after Carmen was freed. During his time with V.I.L.E, he went by the codename "Crackle".
During his time of living without his memories of V.I.L.E., Crackle insisted on being called Graham.[1]
Before V.I.L.E[]
Prior to being an operative, Graham Calloway worked as a junior electrician at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. After learning he could be an efficient thief whenever the lights were out, he started to steal and was eventually scouted for The Academy to which he accepted.
In V.I.L.E[]
After being recruited, Graham was at some point taken to the Isle of V.I.L.E where he was taught how to be a thief. At some stage, he met a young Carmen Sandiego after he and three other operatives became roommates. Graham became close friends with Carmen to the point the latter saw him as an older brother figure. After helping Carmen get out of trouble by claiming he and the others urged Carmen to do the water balloon attack during Cookie Booker's visit, he was sentenced to detention where the group came up with their codenames. During this, Graham dubbed himself "Crackle". After learning he graduated and Carmen did not, Graham still continued to be nice towards her and assured her she was still the best, he was then taken away by Sheena who wanted to plot a caper with him.
First Caper[]
After graduating, Graham, Sheena, Antonio and Jean-Paul were sent to Casablanca, Morocco to steal The Eye of Vishnu, a valuable jewel that had just been unearthed. After noticing Sheena's hesitation to leave the helicopter, Graham kicked her out only to be shoved out himself by Carmen who had been hiding, the two landed and Graham berated her for coming along. After obtaining the jewel, Antonio told Graham to not leave any witnesses on the scene, Graham then grabbed the Crackle Rod and attempted to turn up the levels in order to get rid of the archeologist who was present on the scene, an act which caused Carmen to see Graham in a different light, after the former operative departed from the Isle of V.I.L.E, Graham's friendship with her dissolved and he continued to go on missions.
Encountering Carmen[]
Much later on, Graham was ordered to track down Carmen where he supposedly cornered her on a train, he disabled her electronics using the Crackle Rod and demanded Carmen explain why she left and why she took on the new alias, during the story, Graham mentioned V.I.L.E's true intentions and told Carmen that The Facuty wished for her to return and that they would pardon her if she did, an offer Carmen declined as she continued telling Graham about how life growing up. After arriving at the final destination, Graham went to get rid of Carmen only to be sent unconscious, after Carmen escaped, Graham was found by Chase Devineuax when the latter found the operative clad in a red fedora and trench coat. Graham was then taken in for questioning as Chase believed him to be an innocent witness.
Going to interrogate him with his partner, Julia Argent, the two discovered that Graham had been legally released with an authorised paper on the scene. Outside, The Cleaners picked Graham up as the latter joked about the limousine service and then asked if his next mission was to steal chocolate eclairs for Coach Brunt, he was then ignored as The Cleaners informed their bosses that they had Graham with them.
Memory Wiped[]
After being returned to V.I.L.E, Graham was taken to a room by Doctor Saira Bellum and Professor Gunnar Maelstrom, inside, Maelstrom commanded Graham to sit on the chair causing Graham to appear uneasy, Maelstrom asked once more politely and Graham obeyed. As the Professor talked about how Graham attended The Academy, he went on to tell Graham that while failure is forgivable, being captured is against V.I.L.E's policy, Graham then starts to become scared as he tries promising the two that he will not fail again to which Maelstrom agrees though does not let the operative go. Bellum then assures Graham that the device she will place on him will not hurt but that he will feel a tingling sensation, Graham's protesting screams do not stop her as Bellum wiped Gray of his memories during his time at V.I.L.E.
Back to Australia[]
After being sent back to his home country, Graham returned to his original job as an electrician and stopped going by Crackle, instead using Graham. Due to the mind wiping erasing all thoughts of his time as a thief, he did not recognize who Carmen was during her encounter with him during an opera show of "Carmen". After some time, the two agree to meet for a coffee at Graham's favorite cafe. Graham later waited at the cafe for Carmen and though she showed, the two locked eyes but Carmen disappeared from view after a bus drove past her which upset Graham believing that he had been stood up. During the mission, Carmen wished to try regain a fresh start with Graham though Player persuaded her from it believing Graham was operating as a sleeper agent who could be activated by a subliminal message.
Second Encounter With Carmen[]
Much time later, Graham went to the same cafe he sat at waiting for Carmen where he read a book to pass the time. There, he is approached by Carmen who asks him to help her with an event, a "charity show" for the Dance of the Swans. Though he agrees, he makes sure he only will do it under the condition that Carmen stay and sit at the cafe with him rather than leaving without a word. Later that night at around eight, he assisted in Carmen's plan by deactivating the security in Doctor Bellum's lab under the guise of doing lighting work for the show where he was also linked up to talking with Player, who was using the alias of a New Zealand boy named Peter. After the feed went awry, Graham left the room but was found by Carmen who attempted to keep him from seeing anything that would potentially regain his memories, after getting to a large sphere that would cause a blackout for Auckland, Graham easily took out the power core as Carmen then escaped with him using her glider. Later on at the cafe, Carmen came clean about what had happened as Graham wondered if they were the good guys, to which he is assured by Carmen that they are. After having funds wired to his account by Carmen, Gray questions in disbelief how the elusive one even gained his bank details though discovers that Carmen had left.
Monitored By A.C.M.E[]
A.C.M.E continued to gain interest in wanting to know more about Graham, this lead to them observing the former agent via security footage as he walked down a street.
Regaining His Memories[]
After being taken into A.C.M.E custody, Graham was promised that his memories of V.I.L.E could be returned by using a device that had the ability to unblock memories. After it became too much, Graham regained vague memories and fought off a few agents before escaping. During his time away from the organisation, Graham found himself arrested after being caught stealing, he was soon taken back to a Himalayan headquarters where Professor Maelstrom further continued to try get Graham to remember his old life after learning that the former operative had remembered a phone number and contacted them. After fully remembering who he used to be, Graham went back to using Crackle as his codename and reunited with his old teammates which now consisted of a brainwashed Carmen.
Feeling bad for Carmen due to the fact she never truly wanted to become a thief, Gray assisted in helping to rescue her by using a device from A.C.M.E in order to reverse the brainwashing effects, Graham was greatly injured after taking a blow from the Crackle Rod which was used by Carmen who had bypassed the fingerprint recognition security.
Aftermath[]
Despite the blow, Graham was fine and soon woke up in the hospital where he was visited by The Chief who had come to him in person. Graham was later pardoned for helping to take down the criminals and was not locked up because of it.
Personality[]
A rather cocky man, Graham was eager to change profession after becoming an operative. Despite being a thief, he still took the blame for things such as taking a sacrifice by claiming he and the other three were the ones to have pressured Carmen into the water balloon attack on Cookie Booker. Though after graduating, his mood changed and he was willing to do what it took to be the best of the best, even going as far as to attack a witness during his first caper. During his first encounter with Carmen after she took on the new name, Graham underestimated his opponent which eventually lead to his capture. He then showed fear when his memories were about to be erased.
After returning to Australia, Graham was a more friendlier man though he still showed signs of being cocky but also flirtatious, especially to Carmen and was eager to help her on a mission under the belief he was helping a charity. After remember who he once was, Graham appeared as a more confused man who did not know what he was doing yet would then switch to his thieving nature instantly with no remorse.
After spending some time with Carmen after she had been brainwashed, Graham was no longer liking the idea of the elusive thief acting the way she was, he later became scared after Carmen threatened him with the Crackle Rod, he was later glad to hear Carmen was fine after he woke up in a hospital bed.
Relationships[]
V.I.L.E[]
- V.I.L.E. Faculty (Formerly, Incarcerated)
- The Cleaners (Formerly)
- Sheena (Formerly, Incarcerated)
- Antonio (Formerly, Taco Truck co-owner)
- Jean-Paul (Formerly, Taco Truck co-owner)
Team Red[]
- Carmen Sandiego (Possible love interest, known during his V.I.L.E days as Black Sheep)
- Player (Only knew him as "Peter")
A.C.M.E[]
- The Chief (Brought his memories back)
Gallery[]
.png "The Sticky Rice Caper (1).png (1.15 MB)")
.png "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper (221).png (7.93 MB)")
.png "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper (220).png (7.94 MB)")
.png "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper (213).png (7.93 MB)")
.png "The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper (144).png (7.94 MB)")
Concept Art[]
Trivia[]
- Crackle, along with Carmen, has been brainwashed by V.I.L.E.
- He is the only known character to successfully be brainwashed into a civilian, though in Carmen's case, she became a villain.
- Gray's codename, out of his original team, is the only one not themed after an animal.
- Gray was pardoned by A.C.M.E. for helping bring down V.I.L.E. and saving Carmen.
- This makes him the only operative to have been pardoned.
- His surname was revealed as Calloway during the first episode of season four.
- This makes him the only V.I.L.E. operative, minus The Faculty, to have their first and last name confirmed in the series.
- After losing his memory, Gray displays a flirtatious attitude towards Carmen, no longer recognizing her as an adopted sister.
- Gray' and Carmen‘s ship name RedCrackle was officially recognized.[2]
- In The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper, the book that Gray reads at the cafe includes a person wearing a fedora on the cover, whether this is a reference to Carmen or, another detective or about the opera of the same name is unconfirmed.
- He was mentioned by Roundabout in The Beijing Bullion Caper with the latter stating he was behind Graham's release during The Sticky Rice Caper.
References[]
| Carmen Sandiego (2019) characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team Red | Carmen Sandiego • Player • Zack • Ivy • Shadowsan • Sonia • Hideo | |
| A.C.M.E. | The Chief • Chase Devineaux • Julia Argent • Agent Zari • A.C.M.E Agent | |
| V.I.L.E. | Faculty | Professor Maelstrom • Coach Brunt • Saira Bellum • Countess Cleo |
| Operatives | Crackle • Tigress • El Topo • Le Chevre • Dash Haber • Paper Star • Mime Bomb • The Cleaners • Cookie Booker • The Captain • Lady Dokuso • Roundabout • The Mechanic • The Driver • Neal the Eel • Moose Boy • Otter Man • Spinkick • Flytrap • Marta Contreras • The Troll | |
| Others | Dr. Pilar Marquez • Miro • Dr. Jeanine Dennam • Sharkhead Eddie • Trey Sterling • Sterling Sterling • Ibrahim Al Sibaq • Commander • Interpol Supervisor • Dexter Wolfe • Vera Cruz • Lupe Peligro • Huang Li • Xifeng • Oxtail | |