Flashpoint – I Got the Solution

  

My, What Big Guns You Have

When I first heard about Flashpoint, it was at a time in my life where I had too many things to do to keep up with shows that were not my normal summer shows. But Enrico Colantoni was in it, so I promised myself I would get back to it when I could. The summer of last year is a long time to hold something, but finally, I can get into it.

It’s not what I expected. There are calm, real moments that suddenly turn into crisis situations. The first episode starts with a guy kissing his son goodbye. He talks to her, but she obviously has a restraining order on him and she tries to refuse to go. She gets louder and gets away from him. As she is slowly walking away, he takes a gun and shoots her. Angry that it “had to come to this”, he runs, gets spotted and grabs a girl as a hostage. There is the necessary negotiations by Enrico Colantoni, the new guy who hears about the hostage situation on his way to the job, a sharp shooter who is all about the job, the girl who has to be good to be on the team and others. The new guy is also ex military just out of Kandahar, as seems to be necessary for shows of this type. For this one, in the middle of the hostage situation, the kill call goes out and the guy all about the job gets his shot off, just as the other lookout says that the son of the guy, who has seen on the news what his dad is doing, run into the shot. The camera becomes the sight on the gun, we hold our breath waiting to see if he shot the gunman or the kid.

There is that moment in each episode, the moment of calm and/or humour followed by that moment of action, the moment when things change. There are also moments when you learn the story of the hostage taker or the hostage(s) that make you have an emotional connection. I think those are the best stories. 

It is full of jargon. There were moments in the first episode where it felt like they were speaking a whole different language. There are a few times where they repeat this throughout the series and a few times where they explain themselves. Overall, it’s not too bad and you slowly learn the lingo. I mean, you’re not going to be calling the shots, but you’ll know what it means when someone has the shot.

Season 2 started Jan 9, 2009 and has already aired two episodes – Friday Nights at 9pm on CBS. It’s not the greatest show, not even the greatest procedural hostage taker of the week, but it’s a show worth watching if you like your cops shows with heart.