Chloe Callahan - an analysis
I wrote this right after the end of season two and I miss Shiloh so I'm sharing it here~
Chloe grew up in the Remedial district as the daughter of the Warden. She comes from a wealthy, privileged background and had a job in Corrections. This put her in a position of power both because of her job and her family’s connections. When she was born the Oracles named her a “Child of Providence” and it was always assumed that she would one day take over as Warden after her father.
After being promoted to Underwarden she had a mental breakdown and was institutionalized for “a whole season”. At some point during or after this happened she decided to become an officer in Enforcement, leaving her position and her district and falling a station in the process.
We learn early on that Chloe is fairly inexperienced as an Officer. Charlotte was the first dead body she had ever seen, she’d never been to the lower districts, she hasn’t had a partner before and she has a tendency to rush into things without thinking (someone familiar with the dangers of the job wouldn’t do that).
She gets defensive when anyone points out that she’s a rookie (she literally tried to shoot Sawyer when he made fun of her for it). Chloe has a strong need to prove herself that I think ties in with her desire to be the hero. She is a Child of Providence, a Chosen One, “proclaimed by the Oracles to be destined for greatness”. We don’t know the specifics of what “greatness” entails in this case but I don’t think Chloe or anyone else does either. It could be that she thought taking over after her father was her destiny. If so, maybe her mental breakdown had something to do with realizing that that wasn’t it and she had spent her whole life working towards the wrong thing.
Her wanting to be the hero isn’t purely about ego. It’s about understanding herself and doing what everyone has been telling her her whole life and living up to everyones expectations. Leaving her district and station gave her the opportunity to live her life on her terms and still fulfill her destiny. For all we know this was the first time she made a decision that wasn’t dictated by others.
Chloe’s life as a Civilian was very comfortable and she could have chosen to ignore the injustice around her but she didn’t. She chose to leave that life and she chose to make an effort to change what she perceives as an unjust world. She chose to do all this largely because nobody else is and somebody has to do it. She’s not only tackling the injustice in the criminal system but also the massacre at Perry manor and Azrael’s attack at the Gala. Yes, she did eventually ask for help but she’s the one who first started connecting all the dots and she’s the one who convinced other people that something bigger is going on.
Her conviction in her beliefs is what drives her. There’s a lot working against Chloe but she doesn’t give up no matter what the world throws at her.
Does she have trust issues? I don’t think so. She doesn’t trust Hollis because she believes he’s Azrael, and although she didn’t trust Henry and Ainsley to begin with she did eventually warm up to them and confide in them.
She has a habit of charging into things head first (following Sid into the Sticks, meeting up with Azrael alone, running after Ramsey). I think she gets her courage from a few different places:
her drive to do the right thing: she has seen injustice, she knows how she has benefited from it and wants to fix the problem
her need to prove herself
she has already hit rock bottom (her mental breakdown) and the only way from there is up
naivete and a belief that she is invincible that stems from being young, rich, inexperienced and a Child of Providence
Chloe has had a sense of justice ever since she was a child, and her conviction in her beliefs is what drives her forward.
Chloe doesn’t scare easily and she doesn’t back down when threatened. We saw this during her fight with Sawyer, when Azrael came to her house and when the Outcry ambushed the bandits.
And what does she do at the Gala when she finds out that god is (probably) dead and isn’t coming to the rescue? Fucking grabs a broken bottle and gets ready to fight. Go off queen:
There is a big difference between how Chloe sees herself and how the people around her see her. From her perspective, she’s genuinely trying to do her best at fixing an unjust system. Some people see her as arrogant and naive (Hollis), while others see her as a young inexperienced person who lacks direction and guidance (Cliff).
She is all of these things. She is a hero because she has gone (and is still going) to great lengths to do the right thing at great personal cost. She is naive but she’s not an idiot: she’s just inexperienced. Lastly, she is a bit arrogant for thinking she can fix everything by herself.
During a conversation with Cliff in episode 31 she tells him that she didn’t like the way things were done in Corrections; she wanted to fix it at the source. Cliff points out the arrogance in that - personally I’d say it’s equal parts arrogance and naivete. Her intentions are admirable but it is arrogant and naive to think that one person alone can change the system, especially someone who only has a surface level understanding of how the system works.
I’m saying surface level understanding because Chloe grew up in a wealthy, presumably sheltered environment. When she and Cliff chase Sid into the lower districts she mentions that she hasn’t been down there before. This right here is an excellent metaphor for her situation: she has in all likelihood never had to think about station (class) all that much because she’s always been at the top. Her station doesn’t affect her life negatively and therefore she doesn’t need to acknowledge it if she doesn’t want to. She doesn’t know how hard people in power will work to keep the existing systems in place because she’s never challenged the system or been hurt by it.
In episode 55 she says to Maddox: “I’m a Jacket, just like you.” On paper, sure. But in reality, she isn’t. Although she officially isn’t a Civilian anymore she definitely still has some of the benefits of having been one. Cliff says as much in episode 33:
Chloe was completely oblivious to how much privilege she had to the point where she didn’t believe she had any at all.
That said, there are several times throughout the story where Chloe has a wake up call about the world and her place in it:
her conversation with Sid in the Sticks
realizing the Colony is hiding the truth about demons
at Perry manor when Gideon is dismissive because she isn’t a Civilian anymore
when the Nightwatch ignores obvious inconsistencies at the massacre (“Does the Nightwatch know something I don’t?”)
people repeatedly pointing out that she stands out as a Civilian despite her best efforts (Cliff, Maddox, Shane)
Chloe doesn’t see herself as arrogant and naive. From her point of view she’s genuinely trying to do a good thing and believes so strongly in her ability to achieve it that she’s willing to sacrifice a lot to do it.
Why, though? Because she has a strong sense of justice and a clear idea of what justice means (at least to begin with, this begins to falter later). She wants to fix things because she needs to, and she wants to be the only hero:
She didn’t tell Henry and Ainsley about the letter from Azrael despite the fact that they were working on the Perry case together
In episode 64 she admits to Cliff that she left him in the Sticks because she wanted to be the only one to bring the Marked Man in
She also tried to handle the whole situation with Azrael and the Marked Man by herself, willingly putting herself between a violent criminal and a terrorist organization.
In a perfect world their similarities would have made them unstoppable: they would have realized they have a common goal and worked together to achieve it. Instead their commonalities are pushing them apart.
Chloe and Hollis are two sides of the same thing:
Both want to change the system, they just have different understandings of what that entails: Chloe thinks that the way forward is to change things at the ground level, Hollis thinks power will be the solution to all his problems.
Both are rejecting the thing the other wants: Chloe didn’t want the life of a Civilian, Hollis thinks he is powerless where he stands.
Both think that they have the solution to what they perceive as the problem and that they alone can fix it.
All this combined with Chloe not liking being told what to do and Hollis not liking his authority being questioned was bound to lead to conflict.
They both feel like they don’t get taken seriously and they hate it. Chloe felt pandered to as a Civilian and Hollis feels ignored as a Jacket:
One of the things that drives Hollis nuts about Chloe is that she doesn’t get it. During their argument at his house in episode 100 he says “You don’t know what you’re TALKING about, You’re so FUCKING CONFIDENT and you’re always WRONG. YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.”
This was probably the worst possible way he could have brought this up but he has a point. In a nutshell, this is Chloe’s whole problem. She has the will and determination to achieve her goals, but not the experience and help from others she needs.
Hollis’ problem, however, is that he doesn’t see Chloe’s potential for growth. He’s blinded by his prejudice against people in power: the Civilians who have held him in their grasp his whole life. Of course, it doesn’t help that Chloe has been dismissive towards him almost as long as they have known each other - further fueling Hollis’ hatred of Civilians. When they first spoke in the Sticks, from his POV it seemed like she had good intentions and that they were going to get along. Instead, she wound up confirming his prejudices.
Although they had a rough start Cliff eventually became the only person who has Chloe’s back no matter what (he’s her……rock. get it because cliffs are rocks and that’s his name ok I’m done now).
Before she had Cliff to support her Chloe ran after a suspect into the Sticks without backup, decided to fight an armed wanted murderer by herself (unarmed, no less) and followed the bandits into the Outcry ambush alone.
Having him to steer her in the right direction when she needs it has been good for her.
Chloe has definitely been affected by the things that have happened to her. Cliff’s near death experience forced her to address her reckless habits; Charlotte’s death, the massacre, Elijah’s execution and Shane’s death confronted her with the severity of the situation and showed her that this isn’t going to be easy.
She has made mistakes but when she does she does she learns from it.
Chloe has come a long way since the beginning of the story. In my opinion her flaws make her the most relatable character in the series while her tenacity and conviction makes her the most admirable. I look forward to seeing where she ends up.
