== (1.3) The Killers

(commented on by Kathryn A) (revised 13-03-2006)

=== General

The thing that I hate about this episode is watching Jim look like a fool in the court room, because he can't admit it was his Sentinel abilities that enabled him to see that the killer was Tommy Juno. Not to mention the bit where Jim&Blair are caught by the press.

On the other hand, Jim losing his senses because he'd lost his senses with guilt over Danny Choi's death, that was cool.

It is interesting considering the bit at the very start where Jim wants Blair to carry a gun so that Blair could "cover his back". Blair is adamant that he is not "going around packing". He's just going to be an observer. This really shows that neither of them really understands the Sentinel/Guide relationship at this point. (Okay, okay, the "guide" thing is not actually canonical - so far, that role has only ever been referred to as "a partner") Thing is, Jim is thinking in cop terms - and a cop's partner is another cop, who has a gun, to help fight off the bad guys. Whereas Blair is not a cop, and doesn't want to be one. On the other hand, considering that, in Blair's own words, the role of a Sentinel's partner is to "watch his back", then maybe that also included being armed, in order to help fight off the bad guys anyway.

Again, the writers confuse Anthropology with Archaeology, with Blair's remarks about knowing not to touch evidence because of being on excavations.

I was rather annoyed at the twin thing, because I assumed that identical twins, being genetically identical, would have identical fingerprints. But apparently, according to http://www.forensic-evidence.com/site/ID/ID_Twins.html genetically identical twins will actually have different (though very similar) fingerprints. So they didn't actually get it wrong, though I thought they had.

The actual idea of an identical-twin hit-man team with ironclad alibi generation was a good one, even if they had gotten it wrong.

And here we had the first mention of the "Sandburg Zone"! (Who knows, it may end up being the only mention...)

(thanks to Robin Barr for the fingerprint information)

=== Characters

Jim
  • considers that "watch my back" includes "carry a gun"
  • loved Danny Choi as a brother. (So much for the fannish theories that Jim was a cold, hard, bastard before he met Blair)
  • voiced his anguish over Danny's death at the time, and then clammed up about it ever after. He's not an emotionally expressive guy, our Jim.
  • felt guilty over Danny's death - this messed up his senses.
  • liked the loft because it was quiet
  • is so obsessed with getting Danny's killer that he ignores everything else - including really serious problems with his senses.
  • is so averse to the idea of being a lab rat that he doesn't want to be checked out when his senses first go wrong.
  • still can't calibrate his hyperactive senses to know what's normal human range and what isn't - and this time it bites him back
  • teases Blair with deadpan jokes
  • control freak again - won't even let Blair dial the cell phone
Blair
  • does not want to carry a gun
  • it perceptive of human interaction, of Jim's reaction to Danny's death, of the Jim/Carolyn/Beverly incident
  • is on the ball, scientifically, wanting to find answers to why Jim's senses are playing up, tossing out theories rapidly
  • can break down a door in emergencies
Carolyn
  • didn't like the loft because she felt it was too quiet
  • is jealous of Jim's dates
  • seems to like Jim better now than when they were married

=== Senses

Jim
  • hears Danny Choi coming
  • sees movement in the warehouse window, sees the laser sight, sees Tommy Juno in the window
  • loses his senses of taste and hearing
  • loses the feeling in his hands
  • hears Juno arming gun, sees Juno in parking garage
  • loses balance, sight goes all blurry fighting Juno
  • goes deaf at the food vendor
  • sees Juno hiding in carousel, chases Juno in fairground
  • hears Juno's gun jam
  • senses play up in fairground
  • hears Juno clicking gun, hears Juno's heartbeat

Observed by:

  • none (Beverley has only hearsay about Jim's sight)

=== Favourite Bits

All the senses stuff. Particularly at the end when Jim shoots Juno through the other side of the mirror.

"Why is it that we're better friends divorced than we were married, huh?"