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 Flashpoint

(July 4th, 2008. - Editor)          Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, David Paetkau, Michael Cram, Sergio Di Zio, Ruth Marshall, Philip Akin, Lisa Marcos and Mark Taylor star in the police drama Flashpoint. The one hour series debuts on CBS on Friday, July 11th. The pilot episode, titled "Scorpio", replays on Sunday, July 13th.

Set in an un-named large city, this intense drama follows the members of the Police's Special Response Unit (S.R.U.). Sgt. Gregory Parker (Colantoni) leads team #1 of the three active SRU teams and acts as the chief negotiator in a hostage or stand-off situation. Second in command is sniper Ed Lane (Dillon), who stands ready to use deadly force once he is given the word by his team leader. Looking to out-perform the men at every task is sniper Jules Callaghan (Johnson) who makes up for her smaller size with larger talents. When the team is called to an early morning hostage situation in the middle of a crowded downtown business district, they must act quickly to keep the hostage and the public safe, while ending the threat the quickest and safest way possible.

The pilot episode of the series tries a little too hard to be tough in the first few minutes, then goes too soft for a few more before finally finding its legs about ten minutes in. Early on, star Hugh Dillon and co-star Michael Cram offer a horrible version of an out of place Broadway show tune as an excuse to recurring cast member Janaya Stephens, who plays Lane's wife Sophie, for missing an important family anniversary to attend the retirement party of a fellow officer. The scene was meant to demonstrate the conflicts that arise between his "Police Family" and his real one, but instead the scene makes this guy and his partner look like total jerks. Once the focus of the drama moves from character introduction to the events of the episode, the whole mood of the drama changes, for the better.

Director David Frazee, writers and series creators Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern and editor Teresa Hannigan combine to deliver fast moving scenes that give us the facts from several points of view, but allow us to make our own decisions about the events as they unfold. The tightly edited scenes also serve as a demonstration the diverse talents of the large team, which is a far better character-building moments than all of the opening scenes combined. The skill behind the camera gives the viewer great insight into the situation while leaving us free to make up our own minds about what should happen next. Careful layering of the script brings the human drama to the forefront even in a stressful hostage situation.

Those who are old enough to remember the US Network series SWAT will be reminded of that series as they watch this one. But the similarities end quickly, as this new effort delves much deeper into the psychology of the events as they unfold. The challenge this new series will soon face is to bring variety to the screen each week. If every episode is just a variation of what we see in the pilot, this series will quickly lose its appeal. If the writers keep the stories different but still full of action, this one will build audience quickly. Either way, don't expect this series to continue into fall. The schedule is set for September and this title is not on it. The best any fans of the series can hope for is a few more episodes as a mid-season replacement on US network television. But even that is unlikely.

 

-- Editor --

 

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