Evolution (Sentinel story)

Sentinel Fanfiction
Title:	Evolution
Author(s):	D.L. Witherspoon
Date(s):	2002
Length:
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	The Sentinel
External Links:	Evolution
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Evolution is a Sentinel story by D.L. Witherspoon.

Reactions and Reviews

The best post TSBS I've read. Realistic, in character and still have a happy ending. The reporters believed Blair's press conference, for about five minutes. Realizing that he can't continue as a cop, Jim and Blair leave Cascade. Jim tries to figure out who the real Jim Ellison is, Blair is a bit lost, and Klaus Zeller's brother wants to avenge his death.

After the TSbyBS fiasco, writers went into 1 of 3 scenarios: a) Blair as a cop, b) Blair as not a cop, or c) Blair and Jim are kidnapped by government agencies and are turned into spies/mercenaries. In all of them, Jim remains a cop . . . well, except for that last one. (g) Anyway, DL went a different route. Blair stays a teacher and Jim turns in his badge! (gasp!) Oh, the horror of horrors! Not! DL, the talent that she is, takes Jim and Blair out of their molds and builds them new ones. They do, in fact, evolve. Both of them. They deal with the dis mess, they deal with each other, and then they deal with the world. She deals with each issue and them brings them to a new point in their lives. A life that is theirs. Not Jim's. Not Blair's. A true melding of lives. Wonderfully done.

The premise of this story is "What if nobody believed Blair's press conference in TSbyBS?" The author takes this and rolls with it, and turns out her usual yummy goodness. I'm glad to say that Jim here wasn't an UberJim, though there were the things one would expect from a D.L. Witherspoon story -- Jim feeling guilty for things he has no control over, ProtectorJim who is loved by dogs and children (well, there weren't any dogs, but still...). There's no question here that Jim and Blair care for each other and are deep friends -- the fallout here of TSbyBS is not an estrangement of the friends, though they do realize during the story that they need to work harder at communication and understanding each other; and this just highlights how the author manages to get the serious stuff and the banter all together at the same time, because the "understanding" problem gets turned into a running semi-joke through the story about being lost without a map.

Oh, there were so many good moments! (Unfortunately they be spoilers.) "My God, Jim! If someone made a TV show about you the critics would complain that you were just too good to be true. Of course, the critics wouldn't be your roommate who knows what an ass you can be at times."

I loved the whole Professor X thing. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

I didn't get the Silence of the Lambs reference, because I had managed to avoid as much as I could about that... movie. Another thing I didn't get was the resigning psychologists thing; not so much as not getting it as not believing it -- though I appreciate the insight it gives to why Jim threw Blair out in SenToo. The baddy was a bit cheesy, but so many are...

I was left with the impression, at the end, of "The Sentinel is in his City, and all is well with the world." At least, until the next psycho turns up. I'd like to see what happens next.