The Long Good-bye

Fanfiction
Title:	The Long Good-bye
Author(s):	Kikkimax
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online here
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Long Good-bye is a Sentinel story by Kikkimax.

Fanworks in Response

• Do Not Go Gentle (Into That Good Night), an alternative ending by Nancy T (slash)
• The Long Goodbye: Epilogue by Morgana (2003, slash)

Reactions and Reviews

One of the nice things about The Sentinel (TS) fandom is that even the gen has a lot of subtext. The guys just have an affectionate relationship - even when they don't know each other. This story's an AU, and although I'm not always that fond of AUs, I found this particularly compelling. Jim's a prison guard. Blair's on death row for murder. The circumstances of how Blair got there and what Jim is willing to do to help him are fascinating. You find yourself waiting breathlessly with Jim, longing for his moments when he can meet with Blair.

What if Blair was a convicted felon and Jim was his prison guard? I love this fic for the way the relationship develops between Jim and Blair, with Blair in his cell and all the guards knowing he didn’t commit the crime, and Jim’s struggles with himself and with the law to try and free him. It’s so totally plausible within the Sentinel universe – Jim leaves the force because of his Sentinel powers, and tries for something quieter. Blair is protecting someone and taking what he sees as his punishment. I want to read it all over again just thinking about it.

After rewatching a Pretender episode in which Jarod worked on Death Row, I finally worked up the courage to read this story (which many had raved about) set in a parallel universe in which Blair is on Death Row as the Manifesto Murderer, and Jim is a prison guard assigned to Death Row. To my surprise, I liked this story. It was a surprise to me because I hadn't been able to finish the only other story I'd read by this author, it just wasn't my thing. It was also a surprise because I couldn't believe it would be possible to write a story with a Blair on Death Row and make it still the Blair which we knew and loved, but the scenario seemed reasonably plausible. Indeed, I almost wondered if I should break out into singing the Carpenters again, this time in regard to Blair, rather than D.L. Witherspoon's Jim:

Why do stars fall down from the sky

Every time, you walk by

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you...

No normal human being could be quite that universally charming. I started to wonder if he were secretly an empath, as well as there being an almost instant Sentinel-Guide connection in this universe, but I don't think that was the intent. Still, it's quite fun to watch, and also the various different things that Jim goes through too.

I'm afraid it wasn't plausible enough for me. I was able to suspend belief enough to get past a convicted serial killer being able to charm every guard on death row, but I just could get past the ending. I was thinking that maybe I missed something, so I ended up reading the story twice to make sure. If you haven't read this story and don't want it spoiled, don't read any further.... If I understood correctly, Jim tells the governor about his sentinel abilities. Then the governer pardons Blair with a promise to keep Jim's talents a secret. Now, as far as the public is concerned, a convicted serial killer has just been released from prison for no apparant reason. No way am I going to believe that a politician would commit political suicide this way. There is certainly going to be an uproar, with Blair having to be kept in protective custody to keep someone from trying to blow his head off. And what about the friends and families of the victims? Imagine how they are going to react when they find out that the person they believe brutally murdered their loved ones is now a free man. Unless Jim reveals his abilities to the public or they come up when some other way to prove Blair's innocence, I don't see how Blair, Jim, or anyone else involved is going to survive the aftermath. Like I said, maybe I missed something in the story, or perhaps I'm just expecting too much realism, but unless the writer comes up with a sequel that settles things, it just doesn't work for me.

Well, when I said "the scenario seemed reasonably plausible" I was referring to the scenario that got Blair onto Death Row, I wasn't talking about the end of the story. I think your points are good ones. I just shrugged at the "keeping it secret" thing, because that's *always* the way it seems to go. It's very rare for a TS author to really want to try to tackle the idea of a Jim who is "out" as a Sentinel (apart from parallel universes where Sentinels are commonplace, but even then, half the time Jim tries to keep it a secret anyway, because there are problems associated with being known to be a Sentinel). I think maybe they like to "return" to a scenario which is closer to canon, maybe because it feels more comfortable. Note that at the end Jim has also been restored to working in the police department, another hint that the author is homesick for canon. Frankly, one AU that I wish somebody would write would be one where Jim "outs" himself as a Sentinel in order to convict Juno, in "Killers".

...I love this author's vision of Jim and Blair. Oddly enough the first story (her first TS story) didn't appeal to me at all and I didn't go back to reading any of her work until she'd produced her third or fourth, and now I adore her writing. "The Long Goodbye" is by far one of her very best. Regarding Blair's charm in "The Long Goodbye" I didn't think it was over the top at all and it worked (for me, anyway). Blair's ability to sway the hardest of criminal hearts, guards, warden, *Jim* - it just *worked* for me. I can't really explain it. Again, in a lesser writer I probably would have done a little eye rolling... Unlike some readers, I *like* the almost instantaneous connection between Jim and Blair as long as there's a story to back it up. This was a fun story which cries for a sequel.