Flashpoint Season 1
Here are all the posts published in the series Flashpoint Season 1. You can also browse the list of all available series.
By fred | July 14, 2008
(S01E01) So that was on Friday, but I’m running a little late I guess. Also, I have to admit I wasn’t that excited about this new show, because it’s yet another cop-drama on CBS, and because the few promos I had seen didn’t really raised my hopes for this to be actually different, or good, or anything for that matter.
But I had to eventually catch up, and now it’s done. Flashpoint, which debuted with strong ratings, though it didn’t really had any competition, is quite different from the get-go, because it’s not happening in the US, but in Toronto, Canada. It revolves around the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), and was actually inspired by Toronto’s real-life Emergency Task Force.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Scorpio [Series Premiere]” »
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In Series: Flashpoint Season 1
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.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: First In Line” »
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By fred | July 25, 2008
(S01E03) It wasn’t the original plan, but due to last-minutes changes that’s the way it went down : A new episode of Flashpoint aired on Thursday, instead of a new Swingtown sent back to Friday nights. And this might be a good thing for CBS, because the show is actually pretty good. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the pilot, and every single episode - including this one - has its flaws, but it’s a very strong show.
Of course, it’s kind of yet another cop-drama, sure, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. Plus, unlike all the CSI’s out there, we’re not following cops trying to solve a murder, things are different here, every week there’s a new situation, and so far it’s always been handled very well and I do like it a lot.
Case in point, this was another very strong episode.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: The Element Of Surprise” »
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By fred | August 1, 2008
(S01E04) I wasn’t sure, back when I first heard about this new series, I wasn’t sure it was such a good thing. Yet another cop drama, as if CBS needed such a thing… But ever since its pilot episode, if this show has been successful at one thing it’s proving they know how to handle things. Regardless of its flaws and what you may think of the main story/plot of each episode, it’s very well filmed, beautiful locations, and they know how to get things done and build the tension up.
On that area the show never disappointed, and this week was no different. I won’t say this is some must-see TV or that I would even watch it would it not be the middle of summer with not much else on TV right now, but bring it back next summer and I’ll be happy to tune back in, for sure.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Asking For Flowers” »
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By fred | August 8, 2008
(S01E05) Brand new episode of this Canadian series, and as always it opens right in the middle of the action before “flashbacking” to a little earlier, before anything started. Where do we open this new episode ? Let me guess, there are guns involved and one way or another it’s some kind of new hostage situation… I know I’ve said this before, but I feel this is starting to be a little of a very noticeable flaw in this show : every episode is quite the same in that way.
Of course it’s a strong show and every episode has been pretty good so far, so there’s no real reason to seriously complain I guess, and the whole point of the show is to see the team react to such tense situation and specifically trying to resolve it without violence and opening fire, but by talking and negotiating.
And this week this is what it was all about, of course, and as always it was very well done.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Who’s George” »
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By fred | August 15, 2008
(S01E06) It’s not hard to imagine what I was expecting to see happening during this episode before it even started, because that’s been one of my biggest “complaint” about this show so far : guns are out in some kind of hostage situation. As always the episode started right in the middle on the action, and, shocker, it looked like some kind hostage situation and the guns were out !
Yet, something was different than the usual, right from the start you could tell that it wasn’t your typical hostage situation, that something else was at play here, and that as he first sign this episode was probably be a little different than usual, and by different I obviously mean better.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Attention Shoppers” »
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By fred | August 22, 2008
(S01E07) Finally got to sit and watch the latest offering from Flashpoint. I’ve been pretty pleased with this show so far, and I think this episode did prove a few things that had been established in previous installment of the show. The first one of all, is that it is a really good show. Sure, it looks like another cop drama, and there’s a very good reason for that : it is!
But far from being your usual cop drama as you see so many of them on television, or just on CBS for that matter. Yes it’s about the SRU and they have to deal with crisis and situation that can be extreme, but the show is clearly putting focus on the psychological aspect of things, favoring a more realistic approach, taking time to talk and think things through rather than rushing into big explosions and gunshots. In that way it’s like the anti-24.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: He Knows His Brother” »
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By fred | September 12, 2008
(S01E08) After a little break the Canadian import Flashpoint was back on CBS, and continues to deliver a really high-quality season so far. Not all episodes might have been perfect, but they’re all been extremely well done, focusing on psychological aspect of things rather than pure action, tension is always very well played out and each episode proves why this series is liked by many.
In the last episode I’ve been saying how I wasn’t such a fan of the liberty they took with their opening of episodes : while it used to be a moment right in the middle of the action, before we flashback to how things began, the last episodes did not open with one moment but many, a succession of shots, all happening right in the middle of everything but not all at one, spread over some time.
I wasn’t really liking this, so I was pretty happy to see things “back to normal” this week. It just works better that way, in my opinion.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Never Kissed A Girl” »
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By fred | September 19, 2008
(S01E09) This is not the season finale, as 13 episodes were produced for this first season (and the show has already been picked up for a 13-episode second season by Canadian network CTV), but this episode will probably be some sort of “summer finale” I guess, as the show goes on hiatus and I don’t think CBS intends to air the remaining episode very soon, as fall season is kicking back in.
While not intended to be the last episode of the season, it did work pretty well as one actually. Once again we got a pretty solid episode, and as as become the rule with the show, it was not about actions or firing gun, but all about the psychological aspect of things, and like before, it was very nicely handled.
Read the review of “Flashpoint: Planets Aligned” »
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In Series: Flashpoint Season 1
