Hollywood is the no doubt the television and movie capital of the world. Popular American television shows air in hundreds of countries in lots of different languages. That doesn’t mean that other countries can’t make quality television shows from time to time, because we have seen many shows from overseas get an American remake. But Canada is one country that rarely makes a television series that becomes a hit in America. Flashpoint is a Canadian-produced television series that aired in the US on CBS a few times to fill in holes left by the writers’ strike a couple of years ago. Fans of the first season of that show will be happy to know that season two is now out on DVD. But just how good is Flashpoint?
Flashpoint follows a team of the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), a tactical unit based on Toronto’s Emergency Task Force (ETF). This team is led by Sgt. Gregory Parker (Enrico Colantoni), a negotiator. He’s accompanied by Ed Lane (Hugh Dillon), a sniper; Jules Callaghan (Amy Jo Johnson), the only woman in the team; Sam Braddock (David Paetkau), a former soldier of the Joint Task Force 2; Mike “Spike” Scarlatti, a technology expert; Kevin Wordsworth (Michael Cram) and Lewis Young (Mark Taylor). In each episode, the SRU try to finish their intervention as peacefully as possible through negociations with suspects. However, there are moments when they realize that they have no choice but to use force.
Every episode of this series starts off with the same formula. At the beginning, there is moment where a shootout is about to begin, a hostage situation escalates, or some other crisis situation is about to reach its boiling point. Then, we flash back a few hours earlier to figure out how they go to that moment. This formula is actually pretty unique, but watching it over and over again gets a little old. Still the most interesting part of this series is the fact that violence is a last resort for this team. Instead of running in with guns blazing like you usually find with an American S.W.A.T. team, this Canadian S.R.U. team want to end things peacefully if at all possible. They do this by talking a lot and using a lot of psychology to try and cause peace. That said, they will still use snipers or weapons, if the criminals don’t listen to reason.
The cast of characters on this S.R.U. unit is nothing unique. They all pretty much play a stereotype found on most TV crime units. But the acting is strong enough to make you forget that. Enrico Colantoni is the star, and he entertaining as usual. Hugh Dillon also gets his time to shine as well. Really, though, the entire cast does a great job. There is one new addition to the cast in the season season in and the team’s newest member, Jessica Steen, who plays Donna Sabine. She briefly fills in for season one team member Jules Callaghan, played by Amy Jo Johnston, after she was shot at the end of season one. Jessica fits in with the cast nicely too.
The second season of Flashpoint continues what the first season started. This show has the similar pace of 24. But this is not your everyday cop drama. The crime unit featured on this series wants to end things peacefully, and uses violence only as a last resort. The storylines aren’t that original, especially over an entire season. But the cast always make things watchable. Flashpoint is not “must-watch” TV or anything like that, but it’s an entertaining series that is slightly different than other similar shows out there today.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Business As Usual
A CEO is taken hostage after a mortgage scheme goes bad and the team is called in to resolve the situation. While Jules is injured, the team is recruiting to replace her, though Jules will be able to return when she recovers. A new team member named Donna is chosen.
Episode 2 – The Fortress
The SRU is shocked when they arrive at a household where a hostage situation takes place to find the situation is completely different than they first realized.
Episode 3 – Clean Hands
The SRU must protect the killer while he is returning to Canada. Sam has to make sure a victim’s father sees that taking the law into his own hands will not help anyone.
Episode 4 – Aisle 13
A teen takes his anger over his friend moving away too far.
Disc Two:
Episode 5 – The Perfect Family
A couple steals the baby that they gave up for adoption.
Episode 6 – Remote Control
A man’s good deed to his brother goes bad when a gang kidnaps his wife.
Episode 7 – Perfect Storm
When a student brings a gun to school Sgt. Parker and the SRU team must figure out how to diffuse the situation before the student takes vengeance against some bullies.
Episode 8 – Last Dance
When a woman finds out that she has a brain disease she teams up with her fiance and they begin leaving a trail of criminal activity behind them. The SRU team catches up with them at a ballroom where the two plan on killing themselves after sharing one last dance.
Episode 9 – Exit Wounds
When a standoff between a gang and a man protecting his brother takes over a hospital the SRU team is sent in.
The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is good, and pretty much on par with other similar shows released on DVD these days. There are no major problems at all.
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. A bigger improvement over the video quality. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. There are no major problems here either.
“Stunts” Featurette –
This runs 3 minutes and stunt coordinator Randy Butcher basically discusses all of the elaborate stunts for this season. Too short to really learn anything.
“Weapons” Featurette –
This runs 3 minutes and it has the cast and crew of the show describing the weapons boot camp the team was put through to make them more realistic in handling the weapons on the show. See above.
“Hugh Dillon: Works Well with Others” Featurette –
This runs 4 minutes and co-star Hugh Dillon discusses his singing and songwriting career followed by a music video for his song “Ten Feet Tall”. This is okay, if you really like Hugh Dillon.
The second season of Flashpoint is a short one, but that is probably best for the series. It’s a different take on the crisis-cop situation, so that’s interesting. Rent it if you are curious. Fans of the first season won’t probably like the lack of quality of extras, so they should think twice about buying this set, if they want something more than the 9 episodes from season two.
Paramount Home Entertainment presents Flashpoint: The Second Season. Created by Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis. Starring Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, David Paetkau, Sergio Di Zio, Michael Cram, Mark Taylor, and Jessica Steen. Running time: 337 minutes. Rated: Not Rated. Released on DVD: May 25, 2010. Available at Amazon.com
