Episode Notes: Sentinel "The Debt"
After that I watched "The Debt", the episode of The Sentinel that is remarkable only for being the one where Blair moves into Jim's apartment and Jim calls Blair cooking breakfast a "courtship ritual". Sweet! Other than that it's a pretty lousy episode. For one thing it's too much about Earl Gaines--and frankly I don't give a shit about him. When Jim and Blair are together, it's priceless, but they're separated for most of the episode, which sucks.
Notes on "The Debt":
--Okay, about this warehouse thing, I wonder how long Blair's been living here. Because there's all these pallets stacked outside the door. But I happen to know those get taken away by the guys who haul stuff (or at least they get taken away by the guys who deliver palleted goods to the store I work at) so if Blair's been there for any length of time you'd think the shipping guys would have taken them away. Hell, you'd think they'd have taken them away anyway. But these pallets look pretty new--not all weathered and grey. So I don't think Blair's been living there long.
--Blair seems to be making his walls out of spare pallets, so maybe the ones outside were just ones he didn't need to define his living space. He may be renting 10,000 square feet, but he's using far less than that, because Jim walks through a lot of pretty much empty space to get to what is obviously the living area.
--Love Blair introducing Jim to Larry. "Larry, Jim. Jim, Larry." :)
--Ah, God, it's the BlairEffect--the glasses and the curls and the carnal mouth. With the bonus of the fingerless gloves. mmmmmmmmmm...
--"Mice are like small and cute, but these...these..." :) Leading us to Blair's getting 10,000 square feet for $850 per month. Now, there's been much discussion of this issue, and many people taking many different points of view. $850 would have been an utterly impossible rent for me to make when I was a Ph.D. student living on a teaching fellowship in 1994. I could barely afford half of $750. And Blair's obviously not using all of those 10,000 square feet. So there's clearly something strange going on. I've read some stories where he's squatting in the warehouse, and I can buy that. I don't think he's lived there very long (see above), so maybe he's temporarily flush and would have been looking for cheaper lodgings soon (even if his place didn't blow up). I've seen stories where he's got other sources of income (like Naomi's independently wealthy), and I can usually buy those. I could believe that he's renting out the parts of the warehouse that he's not using (though he's observably *not* right now), and that would explain why he keeps spare pallets (i.e. "walls") around.
--Love Jim feeding Larry popcorn while they're watching the movie together!!
--I find it hard to believe that Jim *really* can't tell the difference between movie gunfire and real gunfire in the next building over. On the other hand, he looks so good, I don't care. Though the lighting's a little too dim to really bring out his eyes.
--I am resisting the temptation to take another screencap of Blair pushing all of my buttons. I am resisting....Fuck it, no I'm not. Because, see in this one there are the glasses, the curls, the lips (Good Lord, the lips!), *and* the earrings. Swoon!
--"Hey, buddy, how 'bout a can of beer or something." "They're in the fridge." "I'll take one." "That's great, they're in the fridge." :) Blair's such a good host. But I love how comfortable they are together. I mean, it's pretty clear that Jim's never been to Blair's place before, but it's also clear that he's comfortable with him. Comfortable there in the warehouse. So sweet!
--Oh, yay, Jim did eventually hear the difference between the film gunfire and the real gunfire.
--So is Jim jumping over the sofa to save Blair or is he getting blown over by the blast? I'd like to think that he's jumping over to protect Blair and going to pull him to the ground and hover over him, sheltering him. And then they're going to look deep in each other's eyes... **Goes to a slashy Happy Place.**
--I rather like that Jim's worked with Williams before. It's kind of neat actually, in how it gives the world a bit of history, just people with interlocking backgrounds. Nice. And Earl Gaines was some sort of athlete. I have seen a songvid that hinted that Jim and Earl Gaines had some sort of relationship (can't remember which one, sorry), but it doesn't seems as though they've met before this scene. Unless, they're both trying to hide that they had something going on by acting like they don't know each other. Which seems like a bit of a stretch.
--Larry's being so cute, hanging all over Blair. Just like I'd like to do. :)
--Ah, Blair begging Jim for a place to stay makes me wish I could make clips rather than just screencaps, because the whole scene is just so *perfect*. And it so looks like Blair is checking Jim out, I mean I swear. (Diana William's vid "This Kiss" (scroll down for it) shows the checking out *really* well...) And Blair begs so prettily.
--Jim's awfully cute when he's giving in, too. :)
--Jim's got a very good point about not wanting Earl Gaines around while he's interrogating/interviewing Antoine Hollins. I mean, Earl's got attitude in spades. I *love* that Simon's trying to mentor Earl. But I don't like the fact that Earl's such a jerk about it.
--Ah, Jim looks so good with his blue eyes, while he's interviewing Antoine. On the other hand, I hate that arrogant attitude that Antoine's got. And Earl. I mean I get male posturing and shit like that, but that attitude makes me just want to *scream*.
--At the cop meeting after Antoine got killed, Simon finally gets smart and takes Earl off the case. Duh!! So much of the case has to do with the man Earl calls his best friend. And, giving Simon all the proof he might need that Earl's too personally involved, he gets mad and starts making racial comments. "I expect to get screwed by the white man..." Sigh. This is why I don't like the episode being so much about Earl--I just don't like him.
--On the other hand, his comment about Simon having forgotten where he comes from, though it is entirely out of line and unjustified, obviously hits home. Just look at Simon's face.
--Jim's pretty mellow about Blair and Larry after Larry thrashes the loft. I mean the place is *wrecked* and he's encouraging Blair to go get him back and warn the neighbors, not telling Blair to find another damned place to live. Sweet! I love that Blair's been there less than 24 hours and Jim's already accepted him. And I *love* Blair's little half-smile when Jim's explaining to the person at animal control that "he's not a gorilla, he's an ape". :)
--And then the next morning the loft is all cleaned up. And Blair knows how Jim likes his eggs. :) And Jim realizes exactly what breakfast is: "If you think this little courtship ritual is going to change my mind about throwing your butt out of here." And I just adore the total domesticity...
--"I'm all yours little buddy". :) I *love* Jim suddenly realizing that Blair's anthropological insights can be awfully damned helpful in solving his cases.
--And surely they're both realizing that the other is awfully damned pretty. (Jim should have a whole closet full of blue shirts and I like the sort of purple-ish Henley on blair.)
--And now there's more of Earl Gaines. Yeah. Whatever. Though he is seeming a little more human in this conversation. At least I have no inclination to slap him...or I didn't until the very end of it.
--I do like that Jim's rather shocked at the idea that Earl Gaines might be guilty. I mean Earl's a schmuck, but I do like that Jim's capable of being shocked by the prospect of a dirty cop.
--Okay, Leron, the dude from the 357's, is as much of a fuckwad as all of the other overly arrogant young men in this episode. I swear, a lot of the reason I don't like this episode is that I don't like any of the characters aside from Jim, Blair and Simon. And Mrs. LaCroix.
--I love how upset Simon is about Earl being dirty. Upset differently than Jim, Jim's shocked and doesn't believe it. Simon's pissed off. He said earlier that he got Earl into the police department and in this episode Earl's been nothing but an ass, has insulted Simon to his face and they're now facing evidence that he's dirty. Poor Simon, I'm sure he's feeling all sorts of hurt and angry and betrayed and he's having to keep it all under wraps.
--The scene with Jim and the leader of the 357s, Tyrell, is great. Love Jim smelling the weed in the trunk and using it to make Tyrell nervous. Love him threatening Tyrell with the K-9 units. :) Love how gorgeous he looks!
--Jim obviously wins the male posturing war here, and once he's established dominance both he and Tyrell can stop acting like assholes. :)
--Love Jim's huge brick of a cell phone. That must be one of the first cell phones ever made. :) I actually see the cell phone as a lovely bit of characterization--because even as the series progresses and other people have smaller and smaller phones, Jim still has the brick. Because it works, see, so why should he replace it just because it's huge? It just seems so like him.
--Blair looks so cute in such an awful way in his checked coat as he's going to spend time with Earl's grandmother. But damn is he pretty. And so beautifully nervous.
--Why would the leader of a major gang like the 357s be taking on a menial job like watching the grandmother of a rival his own personal self rather than assigning it to some of his lesser minions?
--I do rather like Mrs. LaCroix. She reminds me of some of the elderly people in my mom's hometown in Georgia, who would react in exactly the same way. I mean I can absolutely hear Miss Mary, one of my mum's neighbors, when Mrs. LaCroix is speaking.
--Ho, hum. More of Earl Gaines doing stupid things and getting himself in trouble. Why isn't he talking to the cops? Why doesn't he pick up his gun after he dropped it? Why is he such a fucking moron?
--Love Jim examining the hospital room and finding the scent of Williams' cigarettes. But obviously he doesn't need Blair to use his senses all the time, as fanon would have us believe, because he's doing just fine on his own.
--Okay, I do realize that the scene with the old people driving off the bad guys is a little bit too much of Hollywood magic, but I do rather like it. Like I said, I know feisty old people like that. :)
--I do rather like Jim and Earl convincing Simon before doing anything dumb, like going after Williams on their own. And I like that Jim and Earl have assembled a very solid case to convince Simon. Though I am curious about the timing here. This is just the longest day ever; I mean it started with the cute breakfast scene way back when and surely it took a few hours to get the phone records and the information. How long is Blair staying at Mrs. LaCroix's anyway?
--So Earl and Jim just took off after Williams and left Simon to deal with at least 4 armed drug dealers by his own bad self. Though Simon's bad enough to handle it okay.
--Hate Earl getting to be the hero of the episode!! Hate hate hate it. He's not the hero of the show. He's not the hero's buddy. He's just this lame arrogant, obnoxious dude. Okay, Jim does wind out saving Earl's ass, but still. Earl's all action hero-y. Yuck!
--For a second there when Jim tells him that Larry came back and trashed the loft again, it's pretty clear that Blair's got this, "Fuck, I'm out on my ass" thing going on.
--But Jim's sort of joking about it (at least I assume he's joking about S.W.A.T. snipers) and looking very cute.
--I'm going to end on a special treat this time. Blair looking just so fucking gorgeous and vulnerable. I almost feel guilty for liking this screencap so much. :)
All screencaps are my own. Feel free to use them if you like.
I forget when I'm doing these notes that I have to give myself more than 45 minutes to watch the episode, take the notes, and make the screencaps. (It took me about 2 hours to watch this episode tonight. ;) I don't mind the time, it's a ton of fun to do, but it's still takes a lot of time.)
Notes on "The Debt":
--Okay, about this warehouse thing, I wonder how long Blair's been living here. Because there's all these pallets stacked outside the door. But I happen to know those get taken away by the guys who haul stuff (or at least they get taken away by the guys who deliver palleted goods to the store I work at) so if Blair's been there for any length of time you'd think the shipping guys would have taken them away. Hell, you'd think they'd have taken them away anyway. But these pallets look pretty new--not all weathered and grey. So I don't think Blair's been living there long.
--Blair seems to be making his walls out of spare pallets, so maybe the ones outside were just ones he didn't need to define his living space. He may be renting 10,000 square feet, but he's using far less than that, because Jim walks through a lot of pretty much empty space to get to what is obviously the living area.
--Love Blair introducing Jim to Larry. "Larry, Jim. Jim, Larry." :)
--Ah, God, it's the BlairEffect--the glasses and the curls and the carnal mouth. With the bonus of the fingerless gloves. mmmmmmmmmm...
--"Mice are like small and cute, but these...these..." :) Leading us to Blair's getting 10,000 square feet for $850 per month. Now, there's been much discussion of this issue, and many people taking many different points of view. $850 would have been an utterly impossible rent for me to make when I was a Ph.D. student living on a teaching fellowship in 1994. I could barely afford half of $750. And Blair's obviously not using all of those 10,000 square feet. So there's clearly something strange going on. I've read some stories where he's squatting in the warehouse, and I can buy that. I don't think he's lived there very long (see above), so maybe he's temporarily flush and would have been looking for cheaper lodgings soon (even if his place didn't blow up). I've seen stories where he's got other sources of income (like Naomi's independently wealthy), and I can usually buy those. I could believe that he's renting out the parts of the warehouse that he's not using (though he's observably *not* right now), and that would explain why he keeps spare pallets (i.e. "walls") around.
--Love Jim feeding Larry popcorn while they're watching the movie together!!
--I find it hard to believe that Jim *really* can't tell the difference between movie gunfire and real gunfire in the next building over. On the other hand, he looks so good, I don't care. Though the lighting's a little too dim to really bring out his eyes.
--I am resisting the temptation to take another screencap of Blair pushing all of my buttons. I am resisting....Fuck it, no I'm not. Because, see in this one there are the glasses, the curls, the lips (Good Lord, the lips!), *and* the earrings. Swoon!
--"Hey, buddy, how 'bout a can of beer or something." "They're in the fridge." "I'll take one." "That's great, they're in the fridge." :) Blair's such a good host. But I love how comfortable they are together. I mean, it's pretty clear that Jim's never been to Blair's place before, but it's also clear that he's comfortable with him. Comfortable there in the warehouse. So sweet!
--Oh, yay, Jim did eventually hear the difference between the film gunfire and the real gunfire.
--So is Jim jumping over the sofa to save Blair or is he getting blown over by the blast? I'd like to think that he's jumping over to protect Blair and going to pull him to the ground and hover over him, sheltering him. And then they're going to look deep in each other's eyes... **Goes to a slashy Happy Place.**
--I rather like that Jim's worked with Williams before. It's kind of neat actually, in how it gives the world a bit of history, just people with interlocking backgrounds. Nice. And Earl Gaines was some sort of athlete. I have seen a songvid that hinted that Jim and Earl Gaines had some sort of relationship (can't remember which one, sorry), but it doesn't seems as though they've met before this scene. Unless, they're both trying to hide that they had something going on by acting like they don't know each other. Which seems like a bit of a stretch.
--Larry's being so cute, hanging all over Blair. Just like I'd like to do. :)
--Ah, Blair begging Jim for a place to stay makes me wish I could make clips rather than just screencaps, because the whole scene is just so *perfect*. And it so looks like Blair is checking Jim out, I mean I swear. (Diana William's vid "This Kiss" (scroll down for it) shows the checking out *really* well...) And Blair begs so prettily.
--Jim's awfully cute when he's giving in, too. :)
--Jim's got a very good point about not wanting Earl Gaines around while he's interrogating/interviewing Antoine Hollins. I mean, Earl's got attitude in spades. I *love* that Simon's trying to mentor Earl. But I don't like the fact that Earl's such a jerk about it.
--Ah, Jim looks so good with his blue eyes, while he's interviewing Antoine. On the other hand, I hate that arrogant attitude that Antoine's got. And Earl. I mean I get male posturing and shit like that, but that attitude makes me just want to *scream*.
--At the cop meeting after Antoine got killed, Simon finally gets smart and takes Earl off the case. Duh!! So much of the case has to do with the man Earl calls his best friend. And, giving Simon all the proof he might need that Earl's too personally involved, he gets mad and starts making racial comments. "I expect to get screwed by the white man..." Sigh. This is why I don't like the episode being so much about Earl--I just don't like him.
--On the other hand, his comment about Simon having forgotten where he comes from, though it is entirely out of line and unjustified, obviously hits home. Just look at Simon's face.
--Jim's pretty mellow about Blair and Larry after Larry thrashes the loft. I mean the place is *wrecked* and he's encouraging Blair to go get him back and warn the neighbors, not telling Blair to find another damned place to live. Sweet! I love that Blair's been there less than 24 hours and Jim's already accepted him. And I *love* Blair's little half-smile when Jim's explaining to the person at animal control that "he's not a gorilla, he's an ape". :)
--And then the next morning the loft is all cleaned up. And Blair knows how Jim likes his eggs. :) And Jim realizes exactly what breakfast is: "If you think this little courtship ritual is going to change my mind about throwing your butt out of here." And I just adore the total domesticity...
--"I'm all yours little buddy". :) I *love* Jim suddenly realizing that Blair's anthropological insights can be awfully damned helpful in solving his cases.
--And surely they're both realizing that the other is awfully damned pretty. (Jim should have a whole closet full of blue shirts and I like the sort of purple-ish Henley on blair.)
--And now there's more of Earl Gaines. Yeah. Whatever. Though he is seeming a little more human in this conversation. At least I have no inclination to slap him...or I didn't until the very end of it.
--I do like that Jim's rather shocked at the idea that Earl Gaines might be guilty. I mean Earl's a schmuck, but I do like that Jim's capable of being shocked by the prospect of a dirty cop.
--Okay, Leron, the dude from the 357's, is as much of a fuckwad as all of the other overly arrogant young men in this episode. I swear, a lot of the reason I don't like this episode is that I don't like any of the characters aside from Jim, Blair and Simon. And Mrs. LaCroix.
--I love how upset Simon is about Earl being dirty. Upset differently than Jim, Jim's shocked and doesn't believe it. Simon's pissed off. He said earlier that he got Earl into the police department and in this episode Earl's been nothing but an ass, has insulted Simon to his face and they're now facing evidence that he's dirty. Poor Simon, I'm sure he's feeling all sorts of hurt and angry and betrayed and he's having to keep it all under wraps.
--The scene with Jim and the leader of the 357s, Tyrell, is great. Love Jim smelling the weed in the trunk and using it to make Tyrell nervous. Love him threatening Tyrell with the K-9 units. :) Love how gorgeous he looks!
--Jim obviously wins the male posturing war here, and once he's established dominance both he and Tyrell can stop acting like assholes. :)
--Love Jim's huge brick of a cell phone. That must be one of the first cell phones ever made. :) I actually see the cell phone as a lovely bit of characterization--because even as the series progresses and other people have smaller and smaller phones, Jim still has the brick. Because it works, see, so why should he replace it just because it's huge? It just seems so like him.
--Blair looks so cute in such an awful way in his checked coat as he's going to spend time with Earl's grandmother. But damn is he pretty. And so beautifully nervous.
--Why would the leader of a major gang like the 357s be taking on a menial job like watching the grandmother of a rival his own personal self rather than assigning it to some of his lesser minions?
--I do rather like Mrs. LaCroix. She reminds me of some of the elderly people in my mom's hometown in Georgia, who would react in exactly the same way. I mean I can absolutely hear Miss Mary, one of my mum's neighbors, when Mrs. LaCroix is speaking.
--Ho, hum. More of Earl Gaines doing stupid things and getting himself in trouble. Why isn't he talking to the cops? Why doesn't he pick up his gun after he dropped it? Why is he such a fucking moron?
--Love Jim examining the hospital room and finding the scent of Williams' cigarettes. But obviously he doesn't need Blair to use his senses all the time, as fanon would have us believe, because he's doing just fine on his own.
--Okay, I do realize that the scene with the old people driving off the bad guys is a little bit too much of Hollywood magic, but I do rather like it. Like I said, I know feisty old people like that. :)
--I do rather like Jim and Earl convincing Simon before doing anything dumb, like going after Williams on their own. And I like that Jim and Earl have assembled a very solid case to convince Simon. Though I am curious about the timing here. This is just the longest day ever; I mean it started with the cute breakfast scene way back when and surely it took a few hours to get the phone records and the information. How long is Blair staying at Mrs. LaCroix's anyway?
--So Earl and Jim just took off after Williams and left Simon to deal with at least 4 armed drug dealers by his own bad self. Though Simon's bad enough to handle it okay.
--Hate Earl getting to be the hero of the episode!! Hate hate hate it. He's not the hero of the show. He's not the hero's buddy. He's just this lame arrogant, obnoxious dude. Okay, Jim does wind out saving Earl's ass, but still. Earl's all action hero-y. Yuck!
--For a second there when Jim tells him that Larry came back and trashed the loft again, it's pretty clear that Blair's got this, "Fuck, I'm out on my ass" thing going on.
--But Jim's sort of joking about it (at least I assume he's joking about S.W.A.T. snipers) and looking very cute.
--I'm going to end on a special treat this time. Blair looking just so fucking gorgeous and vulnerable. I almost feel guilty for liking this screencap so much. :)
All screencaps are my own. Feel free to use them if you like.
I forget when I'm doing these notes that I have to give myself more than 45 minutes to watch the episode, take the notes, and make the screencaps. (It took me about 2 hours to watch this episode tonight. ;) I don't mind the time, it's a ton of fun to do, but it's still takes a lot of time.)