Megan Connor

Character
Name:	Megan Connor
Occupation:	cop
Relationships:
Fandom:	Sentinel
Other:
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Megan Connor is an Australian police officer who came to Cascade, Washington as a part of the Officer Exchange Program in the 3rd-season episode "Foreign Exchange."

She is a recurring character.

Some fans like her a lot, and feature her as a character who is sympathetic to Blair and Jim's secret. Other fans do not like her, seeing her as an interloper in the two men's relationship. And some fans simply do not understand why she was brought onto the show, preferring to create fanworks in which she never existed.

Fan Comments

[1998]: Two minutes into her first appearance in 1998 in "Foreign Exchange," she out-drives the bad guys and Jim Ellison, causing over $12,000-worth of damage to the taxi she's appropriated. She knows the exotic cuisine Blair Sandburg eats, and Jim grimaces but obeys when she counters his "You stay behind me" with "No -- you stay behind me." She also roughs up and captures a knife-wielding Peter Wingfield, while Jim looks on admiringly. This was the first episode in what was supposed to be an ongoing relationship which would take The Sentinel into a "new direction"; it is possible that the relationship may have been a reaction to viewers' recognition of homosexual undertones in the show. This was not the first character in the show that some viewers read as Mary Sue; beautiful, young, "technically brilliant" forensic pathologist Cassie Welles appeared in "Dead Certain" in 1997 and also earned this label, primarily for the way she "turned Jim and Blair into extras on their own show.

[1998]: Now, if you've been a TS fan for any length of time, you've probably seen their previous attempts to introduce a regular female character. There was Sam, who was fine... if you like borderline psychotics who think setting fire to people is a laff riot. And there was Cassie, who was fine... if you like snivelly, wheezy little tagalongs who shove themselves into situations where they don't belong. So when they started talking about another new female character, a lot of fans cringed and expected the worst.

And you know what? We didn't get the worst. We didn't even get close to the worst. No, we got a new character who actually works within the context of the show. We got Megan Connor. She's smart without being stuck up, and she's funny without being mean, and she's sexy without dangling her bosoms all over the place when they should be tucked safely in her blouse. She's tough and she's competent -- and, to her credit, the actress apparently doesn't object to the character being the target of humor (she goes on a stakeout, and her idea of groceries is bullets and floor wax).

Megan doesn't make googoo eyes at the male characters, and she doesn't pull a tiresome "no one takes me seriously because I'm a girl" schtick. That's what always bothered me about Thatcher on "Due South." With Thatcher, they had an opportunity to show a female character in charge, but they wimped out and wrote her as a dithering bureaucrat who got all flustered around big, strong Mounties (which, apart from the Mountie part, has been done so often that it's a cliche). Yeah, it's tough being a woman in a male-dominated field. Note to all TV writers who might see this: That is not a stunning revelation. It was fresh and original when Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy did it... maybe. But it's 1998, the millenium is barrelling down upon us, and it's entirely possible to write a female character who has faith in her abilities, even in the face of obstacles. (Brief pause for fond memories of Kay from "Homicide"...)

That's why I was so pleasantly surprised to see the way they were handling Megan, because, well... the woman does her job. She's good at her job without being arrogant about it. She gets along with her male colleagues, and she's managed to gain their respect and friendship in a short time. She doesn't hide the fact that she's an attractive woman, but she doesn't trade on it, either. And I like the way she relates to Jim and Blair. It's really a very sisterly approach -- there's an air of rivalry with Jim, and she's teasing to Blair (and how many people do you think Blair would allow to call him "Sandy"?) but there's absolutely nothing mean-spirited or defensive about her behavior. She likes herself, and she honestly doesn't see why other people wouldn't, too. If we have to have a permanent Babe of the Week, well, let's just say that Megan seems to be the Platonic Ideal of BOTWs. She's as good as it gets.

And she's one more reason that I sincerely hope the show is renewed, at least for midseason. Sure, I'd like to see Blair get wrung out, fluffed out and set back on his feet; like every other fan, that's the thing I want most. But I also want to see what they're going to do with Megan. There are too few strong female characters on television... Scully is one, of course, and Xena. I'm afraid that I gave up on Janeway after the episode where her response to Tuvok's disobediance was a chin- quivering "I thought we were friends." (Honey, you're a Starfleet captain, not a sorority girl. Get a hold of yourself and toss him in the brig.)

Pairings

• Jim/Megan
• Blair/Megan

Some Meta

• "It can be done!". Archived from the original on 2001-03-05. by The Divine Adoratrice (May 1998)
• Finkelman Rant by cmshaw

Some Fanart Featuring Megan Connor

• 

  Megan Connor and Blair Sandburg, artist is PeeJ, illo is from 852 Prospect #2

• 

  inside art from Knitted Souls #6, artist is Warren Oddsson