This 3-disc set includes all 10 action-packed first season
episodes, each of which features our hero, Jim Ellison (Richard Burgi),
learning to control the extraordinary -- but unpredictable hyper-vigilant
senses of perception he developed while fighting for survival in the Peruvian
jungle. The series follows him as he adjusts to his new role as a police
detective and sentinel of justice, using his powerful senses to be an ever-
vigilant watchman in the war against crime. A cool premise is the
foundation for The Sentinel, a TV cop series presented here on three discs
containing all ten shows from 1996. The pilot episode provides the backstory:
Former Army Special Operations Captain Jim Ellison (Richard Burgi), sole
survivor of a helicopter crash in the wilds of Peru, returns to the States,
where, five years later, he's a detective on the Cascade, Washington police
force. Seems his time in the jungle has had some unforeseen consequences, as
Ellison's five senses have become, well, sensationally developed: he can hear
things from so far away that Superman would be envious, smell things a
bloodhound couldn't distinguish, see through pitch darkness, and so on. All of
this is a mixed blessing; Ellison's sleuthing skills are clearly on a higher
level than anyone else's, but his hyperactive senses are a little scary, not
easy to control, and accompanied by some very weird side effects. Enter Blair
Sandburg (Garett Maggart), a dorky-but-cute anthropologist who helps Jim sort
out what's happening to him, in the process becoming his sidekick and the
show's comic relief (it's a role somewhat like that of Dean Stockwell, Scott
Bakula's holographic mentor in Quantum Leap). The Sentinel's stories are all
over the place, involving warped serial killers, paramilitary goons, gangs and
drugs, crooked cops, mob hits, and more. Fairly ordinary cop stuff, basically,
except when co-creators Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo go the extra mile to
exploit their premise, as in "Night Train," when a dose of cough syrup sends
Ellison on a trip of psychedelic proportions. Overall, the show is slickly
realized, with snappy dialogue, appealing characters (Bruce A. Young is a
standout as Ellison's boss, Capt. Simon Banks), and some pretty decent special
effects and action sequences. At the very least, it's enough to make one hope
that The Sentinel's three subsequent seasons will be released on home video as
well--maybe with some bonus features, of which there are none in this set.
--Sam Graham