Sentinel 3x23 Sentinel, Too Part 1

[zelempa]

The moment we've all been waiting for...

"A new musical theme, the Piano of Jim and Blair's Relationship, starts up here. If you ever see this episode a second time, you'll notice you start shivering uncontrollably about now. That is normal."

SENTINEL TOO PART 1

Comments

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

I can't watch these linked episodes and the last one often. They just... well, I cry. Yes. I've seen the fountain scene a lot of times (it's in most vids so I saw it before I watched the episode) and Jim's just distraught. There's no reserve left in him. It's all out there for his friends to see. Anyone at that fountain who doesn't think Jim loves Blair (in whatever form of love you want to go for)is nuts or blind.

That's not friendship or bonding with a partner; that's love, despair, guilt, anger, disbelief -- why Jim gets written as unemotional after this and how he reacted to Danny and Incacha's death I don't know.

I don't know why Sci Fi cut that first dream, either. Idiots. I love the symbolism of it and the fact that Blair morphs to naked, because apart from the sexual connotations, there's the idea that only in death will Jim understand Blair, a Blair stripped bare, nothing to hide behind, and it's true because it's only when Blair dies that his spirit and Jim's can merge.

This episode has symbolism dripping from it. Alex's Judas kiss resonates so much, too. Blair looks so repelled by her; he wants to help because he's fascinated and well, he's Blair, but of all the women he meets on the show, she's the one he does not, will not flirt with. There's nothing canonical about Blair having visions apart from the death one he shares with Jim, but I'd say he reacts almost as strongly to her as Jim. Fic makes way more of the 'Guide' trope than canon did but you do feel (GM's own thoughts on the matter, that anyone could guide Jim, nonwithstanding) that he's a Guide, capital letter, and born that way, much as Jim was born a Sentinel.

And I do wish they'd done more on the whole destiny bringing Alex to Jim/Blair bit because that's fascinating, too.

[zelempa.livejournal.com]

I was spoiled for the fountain scene from vids and fic too, but I was really pleased with the way it came off--Jim is SO EMOTIONAL. It's amazing! I mean, normally, you're building up and building up this semi-fake slash relationship, and then when one of them is canonically in danger you expect the other to FREAK OUT, and you're always disappointed because they don't freak out quite as desperately as you expected them too--but here, Jim/RB so brought it. It was great.

I agree that it is significant that Blair doesn't go for Alex, because that's what you're expecting him to do: I mean, she's a girl, she's beautiful, he's a flirt, and she's a Sentinel, for God's sake! He idolizes Sentinels! I get the feeling that Blair liked helping Alex and wanted to like her as a person, but--there just something about her--he never got there. He expressed surprise and disbelief when Jim said she was a criminal, but it didn't really take very much for him to be won over completely to the "Alex is the enemy" camp.

Does GM think anyone could guide Jim? I think Blair's definitely a destined Guide--I mean, there's all that shaman mysticism in this episode and Warriors and maybe some others, and there's got to be a reason both Jim and Alex were drawn to him.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

In the long interview available from Cascade Conventions, the interviewer asks GM about the mystical bit (he says he wanted sweat lodges and psychedelic vision quests in the mountains ::hearts::) and then:

I: Was Blair Sandburg like, THE guy for Jim Ellison?

GM: I'm sorry, WHAT? (GM really plays this up, huge quizzical grin)

I [something, trying to reassure him and explain] Could anyone have stepped in and done what Blair did or was he -

GM sort of talks over her: I don't think -- initially, no, because Blair was the one who had the understanding of it. Now if I'd told someone to say hey look when this guy starts to space out, just tell him to focus and concentrate and give him little things to smell I'm mean I'm sure someone could have picked up the slack but initially, no, because this happens to be my area of expertise, this is what I wrote my thesis on so I was the perfect guy for the gig at the time. Kinda like Garett Maggart was perfect for Blair Sandburg at the time. But, I mean, smash cut five, six years later, if Jim Ellison gets married, and he's with a pretty open-minded girl, that understands that periodically he's gonna space out and he needs a little guidance while he's in this trance, sure, she could pick up the slack and understand what was going on. And maybe she wouldn't have the academic background to deal with more of the mystical aspect of it and if he started having visions or something he could give me a call and I'd come over and say 'this is what that means' and blah blah blah... peyote. [GM's grinning again]

What I find interesting is how often GM says 'I' not 'Blair', the total debunking of the soulmates for life trope, and the sheer boggling notion of Jim getting married at 45ish to an open-minded girl who lets Blair instruct her on the care and feeding of a Jim Ellison.

I like GM; he comes over as painfully sincere and very sweet but, sorry, when it comes to Guides, I accept no substitutes; it's Blair for Jim and Jim for Blair, end of story ::g::

And that took HOURS to transcribe and it was about 2 minutes, and Becky did 65 episodes? I am lost in admiration for people who do transcripts.

[zelempa.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this!!

Oh, I know; a lot of times if I'm taking a bit verbatim I'll just grab Becky's cause it's easier, but if it's a long sequence I'll usually do it myself, and it's a pain! you have to pause every second or so!

I like to make fun of how little Blair does, I mean, it's true that most of the time he's just saying "Okay, Jim, breathe", but I like to think that it's not really something anybody could do; Jim comes out of his trances for Blair's voice because he's in tune to it and because he trusts Blair. And he could be that way about someone else, theoretically, with practice, but then there's all that mystical stuff about how their spirits are intertwined and Blair is his Guide or his Shaman or whatever. It's impossible to gauge to what extent the magic is affecting the relationship and making the things they do for each other possible.

I feel like I've heard that Jim-gets-married-someday vision considered and ultimately rejected by many a slashfic-Jim and slashfic-Blair. I guess it could work, but even assuming maximal heterosexuality, it would be a strange, vaguely threesomey relationship.