Been thinking a lot about Callum Brodie lately because oh my fucking god that kid might just be one of the most tragic characters in tma.
First off, it’s heavily implied that his dad is the prison guard from the statement in episode 52 who encountered Robert Montauk (already setting up a link between him and the Dark). And it’s also outright stated that this guy was abusive, both to the prisoners under his control and his wife (Callum’s mother). So even before all the supernatural shit starts, there’s this instability in Callum’s life— this underlying idea of violence, of wielding the fear and power you have over others, that he’s probably all too familiar with.
That’s when he gets kidnapped by a centuries-old eldritch manifestation of darkness who then tries to possess him. I mean, we know from Jonah and OG Elias just how fucking horrific the whole body-hopping process is for the person getting replaced— imagine what it must have been like for a literal child to experience that. It’s not surprising in the slightest that Callum became an avatar of the Dark after this, even though Rayner’s possession failed. That kind of trauma is just perfect for the entities to feed on.
Then, the eyepocalypse happens and he gets his fear domain, and there’s that super interesting conversation Jon has with him in episode 173:
To me, this is such an incredible portrayal of how cycles of abuse and trauma can be perpetuated. Like this is a kid who’s been through so much fear and pain and suffering. And he inflicts that same suffering on those that he has power over because that’s literally all he’s ever known. He never even stood a chance of escaping it. And, once again, I’d like to emphasise that this is all happening to an actual fucking CHILD jesus christ I am so ill—
