Friday, September 25, 2009

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 1: One Wrong Move

Episode ? because we don't know what episode number this is, but CTV is airing them out of order (but not entirely, next week's episode follows this one). This episode is a lot sadder than our random non-spoiler tweets make it seem. As always, it is up to our readers to decide if they want to read this before the episode airs in their countries. Season 3 is currently airing only in Canada as of this Fall season (but anything could happen with CBS). Today's episode will repeat tomorrow night - check your local CTV listings in Canada! Click below when you're ready to read!



Okay. So this episode starts off a little different than the others we are used to. Normally we begin very close to the climax of the incident, but this episode follows the entire story from start to finish.

We begin at SRU headquarters. Spike has returned from a vacation in Jamaica with Lewis, and the gang jokes around about Spike's new love interest and Lewis's dancing talents. The camera then takes us to a construction site, where in the midst of some piles of lumber, there appears to be something suspicious about this spot - there's a box wrapped in brown paper. Back to SRU, Ed comments that it's pretty quiet, and asks Greg if he wants to go shoot some rounds at the range. Greg says he has to finish this report first. Winnie gets a call about a bomb going off in ten minutes at the construction site, and as Greg tries to get more information, the message repeats. It's pre-recorded! The alarm is sounded and Team One gets into gear and out the door. As the team rushes over to the site, Greg himself calls the site foreman and initially has a hard time telling them there is a bomb at their site, but then he yells at everyone to evacuate. As the SRU pulls up to the site, the bomb goes off, and the foreman is blasted into the air. But, everyone is okay, so far.

Greg at the site starts to give out his orders for how they are going to tackle this problem, and the team breaks up into pairs. Sam mentions to Greg that he has seen a lot of I.E.D's in Afghanistan, and it is noted. Spike visits the the bomb crater and figures out how bad the bomb was. Jules determines that these are coming from Eco-terrorists and Greg asks her to research CSIS for anyone on their watchlist. Meanwhile at the site, the foreman tells Wordy about the constant protests they have had at their site and even though it's not necessarily their matters to deal with since all they are responsible for is making the building, the protesters think otherwise and threaten to take things to the next level. The team figures out that the Olive Branch Collective is probably a part of this , and also finds other potential targets in fictional energy corporations which are currently fighting charges from the EPA. These companies include Keffler Corp, Duchamp Energy, and Morgan-Ellis (FIND THE PUN!). Ed takes a few members to go talk to the corporate heads of securities of those companies, and Jules and Ed head to the Olive Branch Collective HQ. Turns out they are only running an internet petition.

Ed, Wordy, and Sam begin evacuating one of the corporate HQs while Spike determines the bomb's "signature" and traces it to an older environmental activist group which has since moved on. The leaders of the group were once arrested, and are now Professors Emeriti in Political Science. Greg and Jules track down the parents, and ask them some questions, and they get the name of their lone bomb technician and learn that they have a daughter now. Roll the opening!

Spike sends Babycakes lurking through the building basement, and Lewis wants to go help him defuse but Spike says no. Wordy and Sam have to deal with a frantic woman who left her laptop in her office. Spike figures out what makes the bomb tick, and Greg hesitates at first, but lets Spike go in and diffuse the bomb himself. Winnie gets another call about a third bomb going off at a college (which is really being played by York University). Lewis and Greg head over there, and Spike opens the package the bomb is in and only has 15 minutes to defuse the bomb. Ed, Wordy, and Sam head to the bomb technician's house, however he appears to be a little woozy on the drugs and answers simply and vaguely to their questions about the bombs, saying it's the corportations' fault. He injects himself and falls into a chair. Ed tells him to talk fast before he passes out. In the basement, Sam and Wordy discover some of the bomb plans, and the man barely gives any details to Ed before he passes out. Ed pushes magazines off the table in frustration. Commercials!

Ed learns that he injected himself with air and gave himself a heart attack, and tells Greg that he had an accomplice. Greg tells Winnie to start investigating this as they get on campus and begin evacuating. Spike has figured out the bomb but has a 1 in 3 chance of stopping it. Winnie tracks down the batteries to the first bomb to a wholesale club in Mississauga , but no buyer. Sam finds some of the bomb schematics and sends an image to Spike. Lewis says he can start working on another bomb since he has cutters, so he moves in towards the third one on the campus. He steps onto a loose gravel Feng Shui display and surveys the area with his metal detector and finds nothing and Spike guides him on the phone. As he finishes unraveling the detonator from the garbage bags, he steps on a landmine. If he moves, it blows. The team is confused and doesn't know what to do and Spike is worried. Commercials!

Lewis repeats he stepped on a landmine and says he knows that is what it is because he heard the click and he feels the trigger. Greg tells him to relax and Spike tells him not to shift his weight, and that he will get him out. Greg calls Ed and tells him what happened, and Sam tries to figure out what he is standing on. The SRU switches to a different channel to keep Lewis calm. Jules figures out that Sara , the Professors' daughter, is the accomplice! She sends the photo to the team and Greg puts out a search for the professors and the daughter. Spike manages to defuse the bomb with 18 seconds left, and rushes to campus. Spike jokes with Lewis to keep him calm, and the campus is continued to be evacuated. Greg spots Sara in the crowd and the SRU run after her. Lewis very carefully defuses the detonator, and Spike arrives on campus. Ed and Sam capture and handcuff Sara. The professors arrive at the campus and are in disbelief that their daughter is involved, and they recall a time from 2 years ago when the bomb technician came and visited them in their office and talked to their daughter. He has a lot of animosity towards them for having an "ivory tower tenure" rather than continuing to fight for "what is right". With Spike's guidance, Lewis manages to defuse the bomb and breathes a sigh of relief. Sara admits to her parents that it was her, and that she isn't afraid of jail. Sara is horrified seeing the situation, but lies to the SRU about laying them. The SRU jostles and fights over options about how to defuse this landmine, and Spike goes in and looks around with a radar device. Commercials!

Spike very carefully finds the landmines and marks them. He digs around Lewis to see what kind of a landmine it is, and sees it is a CR-38. It's very difficult to defuse, and Sam says the prospects are grim. Spike looks for a safety to re-pin it and save Lewis, and starts talking in baby speak until he finds it... only to learn that it is glued. Spike tries to calm himself and reassures Lewis that there's got to be another way as the SRU tries to determine a strategy, even though it is just not looking good. Lewis talks about special memories in Jamaica and this triggers Spike to do a weight transfer with water, though Lewis tries to tell him to ask out his new love interest and that they have to play it safe. Spike goes off to make his contraption, and Lewis looks at the team, and pulls out his cell phone. The SRU argues about whether they can do anything to save Lewis, but they don't want to risk losing two members of their team either.

Lewis calls his parents, but can only get a hold of his dad. He calls to say that he loves them, and to tell his mom that he called and that he was thinking about her. Lewis is in tears, and shaking, and as Spike heads back to the SRU who is standing their blankly, and Lewis tells him "it's gonna be okay". He steps off of the landmine and he is blown away. You hear none of the SRU's cries from here on in, only sad violin music (so no song at the end this week either). Just images of the SRU in stunned and sombre grief as the episode goes to black with a piano riff of the theme song. Oh Lewis, we barely knew ye! Mark Taylor, we will miss you, but we hope we will see a few more episodes with you in it before the season is over (since the episodes are out of order). Congratulations again to the cast and crew on a great start to the third season and we all wish you the best of luck for many more despite this shaky programming start!

Which brings us up to next week's episode Never Let You Down, which brings the SRU a new member - another woman! Leah Kearns joins the team, and she tries to comfort them, but the team isn't ready to really talk about it yet. The crisis involves an armed abduction in the woods leaving the crew wondering about how to deal with a 50-foot-drop.

1 comment:

  1. I guess the writers have to have the charactors make the ultimate sacrifice to keep it real as those that proect us are faced with those decisions more then anyone realizes, it still really sucks, but it makes you think and appreciate those that protect us even more - we will miss Mark Taylor

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