The First Season

Flashpoint is a Canadian based television drama about a police department's Strategic Response Unit (SRU). The SRU is a special weapons and tactics unit that is responsible for handling out of the ordinary police matters, such as hostage negotiations. This review covers the DVD release of seasons one (all nine episodes) and two (first four episodes) as aired on CBS. The episodes in this set are billed as season one. For a police drama, Flashpoint is not like common police procedural series. There are no case investigations or time in court. Instead, each episode focuses on an intense situation where one small mistake could lead to someone dying. The SRU team must use every tactic from psychological to physical to ensure that maximal lives are saved.

The series pilot "Scorpio" sets the tone for the show. At a local office building, a man kills a woman. He is emotional and takes an innocent bystander hostage. Unfortunately, he does not speak English. Meanwhile, the SRU team is going about their day: training and preparing to go home. When the call comes in, they react quickly and arrive at the scene. The situation is tense and they try their best to save the hostage and the gunman. At the end, Ed is forced to kill the gunman and he is investigated by his own for not doing enough before killing him.

For a series pilot, I did not think much of it. The episode was fast paced with a lot going on. On that note, it was exciting. However, there was not a lot of time to get to know the cast. As the season continues, there are more chances to get to know the characters, but it takes several episodes to get a better picture of who the characters are and why we should care about them.

"Element Of Surprise" is the show's third episode and when I started to really see its appeal. In it, a former junkie struggles to scrap up cash to pay back his sister for money he stole when he was still using. He has cleaned up and wants his loved ones back. He is forced to ask old friends from his drug days for a favor. At the same time, the SRU is supporting the vice unit to arrest a drug dealer. The former junkie gets caught in the middle of it. When the SRU is spotted on scene, the drug dealer shoots the kid but an undercover cop takes the bullet. The SRU team struggles with the value of a bystander who is a potential junkie and one of their own, as it defines how to proceed. As the situation unfolds, emotions go through the roof.

As for the remainder of "season one", the episodes continue to highlight a level of intensity not found in most dramas. The SRU has to deal with tough situations and various personal issues. The end result is a pretty solid drama. However, while I enjoyed the show, I thought it needed a better focus on its characters. There are several main characters and the show does not do a great job at balancing them all. Some of the characters feel like they are there in the background, but in an episode or two they jump in the foreground and have a big part. I think the show could have used better balancing in this regard or had a smaller main cast. With that said, the characters as a whole never really grew on me.

Another slight issue I had was the lack of diversity. The SRU handles different situations, but due to the nature of their work the cases have common denominators. These common factors leave little variation from episode to episode. However, it is arguable that the characters' reactions to the situations provide the diversity, but as earlier mentioned I did not really grow on the characters. In any case, Flashpoint is a solid drama and will appeal to those who are looking for a high level of intensity, although I think it needs to focus on its main characters and develop them more to be a great show.

Episode Guide

1. Scorpio: The Strategic Response Unit (SRU) reacts to a tense hostage situation, but team leader ED Lane is investigated afterward.
2. First In Line: A desperate father holds a hospital at gunpoint when his daughter doesn't get a heart transplant. Sgt. Greg Parker allows the negotiation to get personal.
3. Element Of Surprise: The SRU needs to surprise a major drug dealer in order to make an arrest, but an ex-junkie complicates their plan. Meanwhile, Ed is warned about Sam's past.
4. Asking For Flowers: A woman -- fed up that her battered sister won't leave her abusive cop husband -- steals her brother-in-law's gun and threatens to shoot him.
5. Who's George?: The team suspects that a master criminal has just botched a bank robbery. But when his mask comes loose, the hostages realize it's just their old security guard.
6. Attention Shoppers: The SRU responds to a shooting at the mall, where a teenage girl fired a gun. Later they learn that she had just been attacked by a girl gang out for revenge.
7. He Knows His Brother: In a wealthy neighborhood, a manhunt ensues after an expelled student shoots his abusive father. And Sam hears disturbing news about a war buddy.
8. Never Kissed A Girl: Ed is sued for wrongful death and agrees to give testimony at the courthouse. But then an angry parolee steals a guard's gun and takes Ed hostage.
9. Planets Aligned: After a young girl is abducted, she's brought to her kidnapper's secured home, where another girl who was abducted years ago helps fight of the SRU.
10. Eagle Two: Greg convinces the team to earn overtime by pulling security duty at a swank hotel. But then a VIP's wife is kidnapped and a bomb placed around her neck.
11. Backwards Day: While Ed runs the command post, Sam deals with a distraught wife who's holding a woman at knifepoint. Sam and Jules Callaghan decide to hide their romance.
12. Haunting The Barn: While the unit deals with a suspicious suitcase, Ed is called back to headquarters, where his former mentor has shown up drunk, despondent, and armed.
13. Between Heartbeats: Just as Ed Lane is about to go on vacation, a call comes in for a sniper at City Hall. And while Ed is the intended target, it's another officer who gets shot.

The DVD

Video:
The video in this release is given in an enhanced anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color format. The picture quality is quite good. It suffers from a slight grain, but detail remains to be sharp and clear. However, there are some occasional moments when the picture suffers compression artifacts. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen.

Audio:
The audio in this release is given in English 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound. There is also an additional English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo track. Overall, the sound quality is very good, providing an audible and clean audio track. The 5.1 track sounds great, with the majority of activity in the forward channels. Music and sound effects sound very rich and vibrant.

Extras:

• An Audio Commentary: is included for the episode "Scorpio" with director David Frazee.
• Flashpoint: Behind the Scenes - Season 1 (7:27): is not really a traditional behind the scenes featurette. Instead, it is more of a monologue about the show and what makes it special. It stars Enrico Colantani, Hugh Dillon, Sergio Di Zio, Michael Cram, Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern, and Barney McNeilly.
• The Human Cost of Heroism (3:55): is a featurette with consultant Jim Bremner about the human aspect of the characters. More specifically, how these elite cops are people and have human responses to situations, despite always acting tough. It also stars Hugh Dillon, Sergio Di Zio, David Paetkau.

Final Thoughts:
Flashpoint is unlike most police dramas. While others focus on case investigations and spend time in the courtroom, this series is something different. Instead, it is about an elite special weapons and tactics unit that responds to very intense situations dealings with hostages, robberies, etc. For the most part, Flashpoint's "first season" offers viewers just that. The episodes are intense with lots of drama, as the cast deals with impossible situation. Overall, I enjoyed the season episodes, but at the same time I never got attached to the characters. The show is definitely full of potential, but I think it needs more focus on developing its cast to be a great show.