Flashpoint

2008

Canada

Police drama TV series

Hopscotch Films

R4 DVD

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

This drama series originally started as a proposed two hour pilot called Critical Incident, coming from a CTV writers competition. CTV decided to rewrite the story as a full 13-episode series. In early 2008 CBS Paramount joined in the project. At this point the U.S. writers guild strike was in full swing, and U.S. companies were searching outside their borders for new content. The series went to air in July 2008. The first episode attracted 1.1 million viewers in Canada. In the U.S. the audience numbers were even higher, with one episode watched by 8.2 million viewers.

Flashpoint was written by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and produced by Ann-Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos for CTV and CBS Paramount TV networks.

The series is about a mythical Strategic Response Unit based in a large city. The city is recognizably Toronto, but the show could be anywhere if it wasn’t for the distinctive landmarks. The SRU’s job is to handle the dangerous work that the regular police are not equipped for – hostage events, bombs, the capture of armed offenders, and if necessary marksman (sniper) work. They are superbly equipped, well trained, and well coordinated. Each episode shows them at work as a unit rather than individuals. When I started watching the series, I was struck by two points – the individual officers each had a (realistic) personality, and they each had a home life. The home life particularly shows up well at the end of a grueling event, when the whole pace of the episode changes as the officer gets home. Even the music slows down and becomes more peaceful. I must compliment Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner for their brief but haunting theme. It is so un-police like, and highlights the peaceful start to whatever the day has to bring.

Another surprise was how well the actors fitted into their roles from the first episode. Often it takes a few episodes before their characters settle down, but for them all to fit in so quickly shows good scripting and great acting ability. Enrico Colantoni as the squad’s supervisor and negotiator has one of the best parts. Another strong point in the scripts is that the victims/criminals often get equal time, and as their character develops you are forced to ask yourself if this person is really bad, or just a victim of circumstances gone terribly wrong. The episode where a distraught father holds a city hospital operating theatre staff at gunpoint so his daughter can receive her promised transplant is a case in point. I was as much on his side as with the police by the end of that episode.

The series was a success when it aired in Canada, New Zealand and the U.S. CTV and CBS funded another 18-episode season that only recently began showing. The show has also started airing in Britain. In Australia the Nine Network made a complete mess of it, showing it late at night and out of order. They then cancelled it, leaving this DVD release as the only way we will see it in Australia. Well done and thank you for bringing it back to us, Hopscotch.

Normally I avoid TV to DVD series like the plague. In too many cases the short format means that many of the basic principles of drama must be left out to fit in the ads. This series, however, uses the one hour format to put back the quality into the scripts and characterizations. It has few of the special effects so common in U.S. shows, just good plots, good scripts, good acting, and a human touch that sets it apart.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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