Flashpoint: First In Line
By fred | July 19, 2008
(S01E02) Back with another tension-packed situation to resolve are the Canadian elite force of Toronto’s Strategic Response Unit. Last week for its series premiere the show wasn’t really any amazing, but it had something that was pretty enjoyable and I felt had potential to grow into something more, something better.
With this episode that sentiment remains about the same pretty much, it suffers from the same kind of flaws, but things did improve and while I felt last week’s episode was close to being a rerun with some much of a deja-vu effect, this time while the clichés weren’t fully gone at least things got better, as in not boring. I really liked the way things work in this show so far, the tension is build up and the team tries to resolve the situation, of course there are times when force must be used, but it isn’t just an action-packed non-sense filled with explosions and gunshots.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I mean I can’t wait to see Jack Bauer back kicking some asses, but this isn’t how things are done in Flashpoint and, for this show, it’s most certainly a plus. Last week we were introduced to the “new guy”, and it was bad. Almost the clichés from the book had been used, but no worries because those who were left out for time constraint were simply delayed, and we found them in this week’s episode…
So he had to go through a test, and despite the team’s best effort he did a perfect score without any trouble. Then, while on the job, all he wanted to do was to shot his gun, his solution to everything was to just shot something or, preferably, someone. Yes, he’s the not-very-bright trigger-happy kind who had to be taught that killing people isn’t the best solution, ever, and that no, his job isn’t to shot people but to resolve a situation and actually save lives.
Yeah, this is the level where we’re at with this, so it’s no wonder he didn’t think and created a huge mess later on, though I didn’t see anyone even be mad at him or reprimanding him. You could think it would come up in the next episode, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t; somehow I don’t feel like there’s a lot of continuity from week to week, we’ll see…
Something else that wasn’t the best was Parker letting the whole situation of a father willing to do anything to save his dying daughter affect him, how it got personal and blah-blah-blah, how only close friends knew he had a son but other team members did not, even though they’ve been working with him for a few years already… Nothing very new, though the absolute worst part of this entire thing was the ending.
Jesus Christ was the fuck was that?? Did we really need to have such a ludicrous happy ending, just so that in the end everything’s fine and everyone’s happy?? And by the way, what was the underlying message here, that showing up at the hospital with a gun you can actually get what you want, with a little luck ?? I can’t say how much I hated this crap, but it was violent!
Don’t go on to think this episode was completely bad though, because it wasn’t. I actually enjoy how everything is done, how the tension is build and how the team works. As I said last week, there’s something unique in this show I feel, it’s very well done and I do like it.
I noticed something “odd” though, and I mention this because I feel it happened in the pilot already, and then again this week : do they re-use the exact same shot many times during the episode ?? I obviously don’t the the flashbacks, but in this episode, when Jules Callahan (Amy Jo Johnson) leaves the command center after the heart arrives, we see her walking up the stairs and looking up as she does so. Then, over 10 minutes later, when she’s heading to the root, we have the exact same shot again !! What the Hell is that ??
Anyways, so far so good, nor everything is perfect but I kinda like most of what I see, so I’m sticking around.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Flashpoint
