The Friend in Jim
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Friend in Jim |
| Creator: | Annabelle Leigh |
| Date(s): | late 1990s? |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | The Sentinel |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | The Friend in Jim, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Friend in Jim is a Sentinel essay by Annabelle Leigh.
Excerpts
Periodically, the debate will arise about whether or not Jim is a good friend to Blair, usually in the context of discussing SenToo or Jim's weirdness with Alex in S2P2 or his doubt and fear that Blair might actually have sold him out for the money and the glory in TSbyBS. More than a few people seem willing to write Jim off as a mistrustful ingrate who doesn't deserve Blair in his life.
And this makes me sad.
To me, Jim takes friendship incredibly seriously, with a deep sense of honor. He is willing to make sacrifices for the people he cares about and has done so many times over the years. He dropped everything to find Simon and Daryl in Peru. It devastated him that he couldn't save Lila. He went undercover in prison to find out what happened to a friend. He buried his men in Peru. He ignored the law to help the Chopec when they came to Cascade. He risked his career and his life to prove that his former partner was not a criminal.
Jim's not always emotionally supportive of Blair, but then again, he's not really emotionally supportive of himself. He lacks skills in this area, not surprising from what we've seen of his family life. Jim's just never going to be gushy. But I hate to think that somehow this cancels out all the care and assistance we've seen him provide Blair during their friendship. I'm *positive* it doesn't do that for Blair. He knows how to read Jim. He knows what it means in Flight when Jim says: "I'm glad you came."
I'm not saying that Jim hasn't made some terrible mistakes, that he hasn't been insensitive at times. He was a freaked out mess in SenToo. He lashed out in fear and anger in TsbyBS, accusing Blair of things he *knew* were not true. He needs to learn to use the phrase "thank you" more often.
But in the end, I judge Jim the way I judge the people in my own life. The ones I trust, the ones I hold onto the tightest are the ones I know deep in my gut will be there when I really, really need them.