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Brief context! The Sentinel is an episodic detective buddy-cop show centred around two guys-- Jim Elison (cop) and Blair Sandburg (anthropologist grad student)-- who are partners (oh my god they were partners) that go around solving mysteries and catching bad guys. More info on Fanlore here.

Don't want to spoil anything but the main premise on the show apart from the great banter and the fact that they were roommates (oh my god they were roommates), and very touchy with each other (hence the 27 gifs I have set up just for S1E1 help me), is the idea of Jim being a Sentinel.

That is to say, the guy (after being part of a tribe in Peru in the jungle, long story, watch ep1) has super senses which help him in his detective work, but they are difficult to control and Blair, who happens to be an expert in sentinels, subsequently ends up helping Jim in, essentially, training his senses (and tagging along through his escapades) (hence, becomes a guide of sorts for Jim).

Cue great opportunities to balance out the pairing, gives Jim a chance to rely on Blair, etc. etc.. The opportunity for shipping gets jucier when you start incorporating the sort of spiritual nature the Sentinel (and their guide) has as members of the tribe into it (don't want to spoil anything, feel free to ask though and I can talk about what I know), which has been inspiration for many soul mate aus, bonding aus and fate-driven aus, that sort of thing.

As a disclaimer, I don't know much about tribes, indigenous cultures, or their religions, or spiritual matters, and although the sentinel tv series is closely tied to a presumably fictional tribe in Peru (more discussion about it here), I don't know whether it is a good representation of tribal and/or indigenous culture or their beliefs (probably not), and most if not all of my knowledge surrounding visions, and spiritual planes, like that which Jim seems to keep finding himself in, and tribal obligations, roles and responsibilities and such, is from the show and fandom (fanfics and discussion threads and the like). If anyone does find whatever I say to be inappropriate or offensive, please let me know.

For anyone who has heard of the Sentinel/Guide trope, congrats! I do believe this show has one of the oldest iterations of it in fandom history people can find. Although in the show itself it is mentioned that the idea comes from a monograph of Sir Richard Francis Burton (British explorer, b.1821-d.1890), I do believe such a monograph is fictional, though I haven't researched the subject fully.

(More threads/discussion about the trope here, here and here :D)

In the sentinel (tv series), I believe Blair is the only so-called 'Guide' we come across, and for all intents and purposes does not have any sort of supernatural power. He's just some guy who knows a lot about this stuff, and thus can 'guide' Jim by helping him control his senses. That being said, he perhaps have a sort of spiritual responsibility, as is mentioned in S3E1 'Warriors' (spoilers :D), though it is not mentioned to a great degree.

For tumblrinas who have not encountered the Sentinel/Guide trope, welcome! See the above links to people who can explain it much better than I. Essentially, fandom has taken the above descriptions of Sentinels and Guides and have run away with it in a variety of ways, particularly in transforming the role of Guides.

I think a fun example of this is the Sentinel/Guide aus I've been seeing crop up in danmei (chinese bl novels). Let me know if you'd like to hear more about that. I am raring to go. (There's a list of about 16 different danmei with the trope here, for any fans like me who eat that uppp.)

(For Sherlock Holmes fans interested in the Sentinel/Guide trope, a GREAT get-yourself-into-it is Observations on Sentinels and Guides in Victorian London by RyuuzaKochou, a The Sentinel/Sherlock Holmes (rdj) crossover AU fanfic which features a more omegaversey, sentinels and guides are known au take on the trope.)