History Series / TheSentinel

* NotNowKiddo: While Blair isn't a kid, he is the youngest member of the main cast, and not a cop, so he tends to get this treatment. In one episode which takes place during a basketball game, Blair is trying to warn Simon that Jim is in trouble while Simon is busy issuing orders. Every time Blair tries to interrupt, Simon yells "Not now, Sandburg!" When Blair finally does manage to tell him, Simon blows up on Blair again, telling Blair to tell him right away next time. The look of exasperation on Blair's face says it all.

* BlessedWithSuck: At least half the episodes have Jim getting hit by the side effects of superhuman senses: in an early episode, he gets impacted earwax flushed out, only to find that his hearing acclimated to it and he has to stick ''white noise generators'' in his ears for several days to avoid being driven insane by every background noise for several miles. Also, his body reacts badly to synthetic compounds; he can't use most over-the-counter medication without getting sick, and is thus repeatedly subjected to Blair's homeopathic remedies - which ''do'' work well on him, but tend to incite teasing from his fellow officers, especially when one such remedy turns out to contain trace amounts of ''peyote.''

* BlessedWithSuck: At least half the episodes have Jim getting hit by the side effects of superhuman senses: in an early episode, he gets impacted earwax flushed out, only to find that his hearing acclimated to it and he has to stick ''white noise generators'' in his ears to avoid being driven insane by every background noise for several miles. Also, his body reacts badly to synthetic compounds; he can't use most over-the-counter medication without getting sick, and is thus repeatedly subjected to Blair's homeopathic remedies - which ''do'' work well on him, but tend to incite teasing from his fellow officers, especially when one such remedy turns out to contain trace amounts of ''peyote.''

!!This show provides examples of:

* VigilanteMan: Jim skirts this a couple times. When his favorite informant/[[BigBrotherComplex little brother]] figure is killed, Jim uses some questionable methods, including an illegal wire tap, to try in bring the guy(s) down.

* MagicalNativeAmerican: Jim befriended one, as well as the rest of the tribe, during his time in Peru. He appears a couple times in the series to help Jim out.

* BlessedWithSuck: At least half the episodes have Jim getting hit by the side effects of superhuman senses: in an early episode, he gets impacted earwax flushed out, only to find that his hearing acclimated to it and he has to stick ''white noise generators'' in his ears to avoid being driven insane by every background noise for several miles. Also, his badly reacts badly to synthetic compounds; he can't use most over-the-counter medication without getting sick, and is thus repeatedly subjected to Blair's homeopathic remedies - which ''do'' work well on him, but tend to incite teasing from his fellow officers, especially when one such remedy turns out to contain trace amounts of ''peyote.''

* CursedWithAwesome[=/=]BlessedWithSuck: Jim feels this way about his abilities a lot of the time. See also IJustWantToBeNormal; below.

** In the third season, it's revealed that he actually had his abilities in childhood, but repressed them then after witnessing a murder - or more precisely, because his father harangued him for "lying" about witnessing; "Normal people can't ''do'' that! You want to be treated like a freak? No? ''Then shut up, brat!''" And now you know where Jim got a lot of his issues.

** In the third season, it's revealed that he actually had his abilities in childhood, but repressed them then after witnessing a murder - or more precisely, because his father harangued him for "lying"; "Normal people can't ''do'' that! You want to be treated like a freak? No? ''Then shut up, brat!''" And now you know where Jim got a lot of his issues.

** In the third season, it's revealed that he actually had his abilities in childhood, but repressed them then after witnessing a murder. Jim is big on repression.

** Somewhat unusually for this trope, Jim and Carolyn got together fairly well. They even went out to dinner on occasion, with no strings attached, having decided they were BetterAsFriends.

* HoYay: Due to Blair's position as Jim's guide, he spends a lot of time touching Jim to keep him from zoning.
** The actors picked up on it and played it up in the bloopers.

* DistaffCounterpart: An episode with [[StarTrekVoyager Jeri Ryan]] as a woman who also gains hyper-senses. Turned out she was also [[spoiler: an EvilCounterpart]]. Cassie Welles is a female version of Blair before he figured out that listening to Jim would keep him alive longer.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[StarTrekVoyager Jeri Ryan]] as Alex Barnes. Also Udo Kier, the go-to guy anytime anyone needs a creepy-looking German guy, as Klaus Zellar.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Blair to Jim, see HoYay above.

* TheMole: In "Cypher" someone keeps leaking information about the case to the press. Simon supects Blair and Blair suspects his girlfriend. It turns out to be the killer.

* BoundAndGagged: In "Cypher", Blair is kidnapped right out of the Loft, chained first to a floor and later a dentist chair, and gagged with a yellow scarf.

* ForcedPrizeFight: a prison warden has prisoners fight each other at night. Anyone who knows is either part of the scheme or knows that they will be killed if they tell others.
* GirlOfTheWeek: Most of the episodes, usually each of the two guys get the girl every other week.

* LogicalWeakness: When surprised or trying to focus on too many senses at once, Jim would occasionally zone out due to sensory overload. Tapping Jim on the shoulder to try to snap him out of it is almost the only reason Blair wasn't TheLoad.

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Played with. While Jim (or more often, Blair) figure out new things he can do with his senses every once in a while (especially in the earlier episodes), it's always something to do with the fact that his normal five senses are hyper-acute, and are generally at least somewhat logical extensions of things he already knew how to do.

* {{Uncanceled}}: After the season three {{cliffhanger}}, however the following half season was below average.

* WeirdnessMagnet: Jim. Since the activation of his Sentinel abilities, he's been contacted by a ghost, sent on vision quests, and pestered by a fricken spirit panther.

* BigBrotherComplex: Jim is extremely protective of certain individuals, including Danny Choi and Blair Sandburg. Danny Choi got killed. Guess what happened to the guy(s) that killed him.

* SecretKeeper: Blair and Simon. The fact that Blair is trying to keep Jim's secret while simultaneously writing his dissertation on it creates certain obvious problems, and in the series finale [[spoiler: Blair sacrifices his academic career to protect the secret]].

* {{Uncanceled}}: After the season three {{cliffhanger}}, thank god.

* {{Aesop}}: The third season had a tendency to get this way. The episode [[GreenAesop Poaching]] came dangerously close to being {{Anvilicious}}.

* CursedWithAwesome / BlessedWithSuck: Jim feels this way about his abilities a lot of the time. See also IJustWantToBeNormal; below.

-->-- '''Blair Sandburg''', ''{{The Sentinel}}''

''TheSentinel'' aired in the mid- to late 1990s on {{UPN}}. A cross between a CopShow and SciFi, it followed the life of Detective Jim Ellison and his civilian partner, Blair Sandburg.