Alan Eppes is a former city planner with the Los Angeles council and the father of FBI agent Don Eppes and CalSci professor/FBI consultant Charlie Eppes. Alan seems to love and accept his sons without reserve, although he claims to have realized when Charlie was eight that he had nothing left to teach his youngest son about math. He is a (generally) non-practicing Jew, and has, along with the boys' mother, a long history of involvement in civil rights and even anti-government protests, which is an occasional source of friction with Don. He has, however, passed on his love of sports to his eldest son, and the two men often bond over basketball or baseball.