# The Sentinel (1996)

> A Cascade police detective with enhanced senses teams up with an anthropologist to fight crime.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1556

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 65
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, action, science fiction
- Created by: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo
- Network: UPN
- Cast: Richard Burgi, Garett Maggart, Bruce A. Young, Kelly Curtis, Anna Galvin, Kathleen McClellan, Kendall Cross, Leigh Taylor-Young
- TMDB rating: 6.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115351/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: earnest, pulpy, brisk, action driven

## What critics say

Reviews are mixed, with audiences finding the superhuman police procedural a solid but uneven genre entry.

## Synopsis

The Sentinel (1996-1999) is a Canadian co-produced American crime and action series created by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo for UPN. Detective Jim Ellison (Richard Burgi) is a police detective whose senses were sharpened during a survival ordeal in the jungles of Peru, and he now uses them to fight crime. Anthropologist Blair Sandburg (Garett Maggart) joins him side by side, helping him learn to develop and manage his heightened perception. Simon Banks (Bruce A. Young) anchors the police department around them. The engine of the show is the tension between Ellison's extraordinary gifts and the ordinary procedures of the force, with each episode built around a case in which those senses become both an asset and a burden. Spanning four seasons and sixty-five episodes, it blends police procedural structure with a sci-fi mythology about the origins of his abilities. The mood is brisk and earnest, with a pulpy, late-nineties network energy. Fans of Monk, The X-Files and Psych will find resonance in its mix of crime cases, offbeat gifts and a partnership built on contrasting temperaments.

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