Saturday, November 21, 2009

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 7: You Think You Know Someone

Parker is lured into a trap and confronted with a deadly choice: reveal a dark secret from his past or lose his life.

Click the jump below to read the full summary!

The show opens with Ed instructing team mates to fan out and keep communications open. The team is trying to find an entrance to a building where Greg Parker passes out on the floor next to tanks of gas and a timer, indicating a bomb.

Two hours earlier. Greg Parker is driving downtown and listening to the radio. Cut to the team discussing possible points of entry for a drill later. Greg calls to say he will be late, so Ed lets the team know that the drill will be delayed.

Greg stops in an alley, gets out of his car, and comes across a thin man with a snake tattoo around his neck. The man asks if he's looking to score, Greg replies that he's looking for a friend. The man offers to help, saying he knows everybody around there. Greg declines but thanks the man for his offer. The man suddenly appears to be in significant pain and trembles. Greg calls 911, to report the incident as a possible overdose. He notes the location as Shuter and Victoria. While on the phone, a black van pulls up behind Greg and the man with the tattoo pushes him in. The kidnappers drive away with Greg, his cell phone left on the ground.

The SRU team hears the 911 call and speculates about why the call ended so suddenly. Nobody knows why he was there, and it's mentioned that it's a sketchy area. Since Greg isn't picking up his phone, Ed leads the team out to find him.

Inside an abandoned building with graffiti on the walls, Greg tells his captors that they're making a mistake and that he doesn't know anything about them or their business. One of the captors says that maybe they can beat some intelligence into him if he wants to play stupid.

The SRU team finds the alley with Greg's car. They inspect the car and find his gun is still secure, meaning Greg wasn't expecting trouble. They decide to track the location of Greg's phone.

One of the captors tells the other that he needs to make a call. He hands a gun to Tyler and says that if Greg tries anything, he knows what to do and to not make any mistakes. Tyler points the gun at Greg. When they're alone, Greg advises that Tyler uses two hands to stead the gun. Tyler disregards the comment, saying he's shot plenty of guns. Greg asks him to point the gun a little off to his left. Tyler asks if Greg thinks he's stupid. Greg says that Tyler knows how easy it is for a gun to go off accidentally and asks what his friend would do if Tyler made that mistake. Tyler adjusts his aim and Greg thanks him.

The SRU team finds a homeless woman with a shopping cart at the location the cell phone. Ed asks for the phone and she asks if it looks like she has a phone. Ed asks for her name, she says hers is Glenice. Spike dials the number and the phone rings. He pulls it out of the cart and asks Glenice where she got it. She says it's not hers and she never saw it before. They ask if she picked it up or saw who dropped it. She said he doesn't need it anymore because he's dead. She saw the snake man push him and another person hit him and take him away in a black van.

Tyler's partner returns and says they're waiting for somebody. Tyler says it isn't a party. Greg interrupts, he clarifies that they are aware that they have kidnapped, assaulted, and are unlawfully detaining a police officer. Tyler gets agitated, he didn't know Greg was a cop. He thought they grabbed him because his partner claimed he owed money. As they walk up the stairs, Greg asks Tyler if it's okay that his friend lied to him and now they've kidnapped a cop.
The other captor gets agitated and screams at Greg to shut up. Greg kicks Tyler down the stairs behind him and the second captor runs toward Greg. A third man dives over the railing, taking Greg with him. Tyler thinks Greg is dead, but the third man says he hasn't killed him yet.

Tyler lets a young woman into the building. She says that Kevin called her. Tyler takes her to see Greg and she gets upset.

The SRU team sees a text message from Haylee requesting help sent to Greg. The team speculates about who she is. Ed asks Spike to check phone records, emails, and other ways Haylee might have communicated with Greg. Ed says he wants all officers looking for Greg.

Greg tells Haylee that he is at the building because he received a message from her that she was in trouble. Haylee says she never sent anything and wants to help him escape. Greg suggests she use one of her earrings to undo the zip tie around his wrists. He also asks if HAylee can explain the situation. She says that since she broke up with her ex-boyfriend, Kevein, he has hated Greg.

The team finds evidence of correspondence between Greg and Haylee going back for years. Spike finds a news article from ten years ago thyat comes up in his search for info about Haylee and it lists Greg as a detective on a homicide case. Spike tries to open the case file but it's sealed. Ed says they need to contact a lawyer to try to unseal it for now.

Greg asks Haylee if the building looks familiar, she says it doesn't. Greg says it's clearly a meth lab. The hear his captors and run up the stairs.

Ed gets in contact with Haylee's social worker and finds out that Haylee is very fond of Greg because of what happened when she was eight years old. A flashback shows Haylee's mother telling her to get under her bed and hide while yelling and shots are heard outside of the room. Haylee's mother was shot and died in front of her. Greg comes into the room and coaxes Haylee out from under the bed. He took care of Haylee until Children's Aid showed up. The social worker says that Haylee had some drug problems of her own, but even then Greg would come by just to talk with her. She also says that Haylee stopped doing drugs after breaking up with Kevin, and that Kevin is not a fan of Greg.

Greg asks Haylee what she's doing at the building as he thought she was done with Kevin. she said she came because he called and said he needed help. Greg seems surprised that she believed it, but she points out that he believed the message he received too. Haylee gets worried and starts to cry. Greg says they will get out and be okay.

Spike has looked into info about Kevin and found someone with the same last name – Joe Persheski. He's the man with the snake tattoo that Glenice described and has a record. Ed says they should look for Joe's last known address.

Kevin and Tyler find Haylee and Greg. Kevin gets agitated and takes the gun Tyler was holding and points it at Greg. He says that bringing Greg here is about making him tell the truth about who really killed Haylee's mom.

Kevin says it will be over when Greg tells the truth. Tyler ties Greg's hands again.

The team barges into a house and find Joe Persheski. Ed asks him where Greg is.

Greg says that is Kevin has a problem with him, that Haylee doesn't need to be a part of it. Kevin asks Haylee to describe what happened when her mom died. She says her mom was hit by a bullet from one of the junkies guns during the drug bust. She says Greg told her that. Kevin is convinced that Greg lied. Greg says he was just looking out for Haylee and asks Kevin if he has people who take care of him. Kevin becomes agitated. Haylee insists that Greg took care of her and that Kevin should leave him alone. Kevin asks Haylee about their relationship and she says he didn't get better and he gave up. Kevin says he never gave up on their relationship.

Kevin mentions what Haylee was like when they first met, taking drugs to try to forget seeing her mother's death. Greg says he knows that. Kevin asks Greg if he recalls the name Randy Teller. Greg says that was the man they went to arrest that night. Kevin says that Randy is in jail for life because of that night. Greg confirms, saying it's because Randy opened fire on the police.

Kevin says that after he and Haylee took a break, he still wanted to help her so he went to see Randy and asked him about what really happened. Randy said he was downstairs, so he didn't see who shot Haylee's mother but he knew who was upstairs – just her mom and Greg.

Greg says that's not what happened. Haylee says she doesn't want to believe it, but Kevin insists that the police are lying because it's easy to believe a junkie would have killed her mother.

The team talks to Joe and persuade him to give them information on Greg's whereabouts.

Haylee is crying and confused. She insists that Greg saved her and kept her together. Greg says she kept him together. He confesses that he was an alcoholic. He drank more than he ever had before on the night Haylee's mother died. When he woke up, his wife and son were gone and he hasn't seen them since. Kevin asks if that's Haylee's fault. Greg says it was his own fault. At the time, he decided he was going to try to drink himself to death, but then he got a thank you letter from Haylee. She said that she was scared, but she was going to be brave. It took three days for Greg to sober up, and then he wrote Haylee back.

Greg says that everything he did for Haylee, she also did for him. He says that what's she's become is what matters. Haylee asks if he only helped her because he felt guilty about killing her mother. He says no.

The team heads toward the meth lab. Ed talks to Greg's former partner, Jim on the phone about the case involving Haylee and says they need to know the details of the case. Jim says the case is sealed. Ed says he knows but he doesn't think Greg will mind and that Jim is the only person who can give them the details. Jim says that Greg sealed the case in the first place and that he had his reasons.

Kevin sets up a bomb to cause an explosion in the building and kill Greg. He thinks that if Greg is gone, that Haylee's nightmares will go away. Greg yells at Haylee to run away and go to the police.
Haylee pleads with Kevin to stop, to not kill Greg. He breaks the lock on the door of the room where he left Greg tied up.

Outside, the team arrives and gets ready to enter the building, but they're having trouble finding an entry point. Inside, Kevin and Tyler push Haylee along, to take her out of the building.

The team catches Tyler as he leaves the building and ask him how many people are inside. He says tehre are two plus the cop. The team goes inside and finds Haylee and Kevin. Ed asks where Greg is.

Outside, Tyler tells Jules that they have to get away from the building as it will blow up in five minutes.

Ed asks Kevin about his motivation for capturing Greg. Kevin says that Greg was the only person in the room so he must have shot Haylee's mom. Ed says the truth is that Haylee fired the shot.

Ed says that Greg didn't tell Haylee because she was a child and he knew that would be devastating to hear. He reminds her of the poster in her room and says that the police could tell from the blood on the poster that the shot came from the floor, inside the room. The gun had a hair trigger on it, so it could have accidentally gone off for anyone. He says that Greg must have had a good reason for not telling Haylee the truth.

Haylee finally remembers the truth. She shows the team where Greg is and Kevin yells after her that he didn't know. Ed and Wordy try to get into the room where Greg is trapped and Wordy tells Haylee to leave quickly. Sam arrives just in time for them to safely ram the door and force it open. Ed attends to Greg, while Sam and Leah take care of the bomb.

With the crisis averted, Jules berates Greg for his behaviour. She says that he must think he can talk bullets back up the barrel because he some kind of genius. Greg shakes his head. Jules says he could have died because he wanted to protect Haylee from something he didn't think she should know. Greg insists that Kevin was ready to kill him regardless. Jules insists that he doesn't know that and that he has no right giving up his own life trying to save other people if he doesn't have to. She says that Haylee is not the only person who needs him and walks away, upset.

The episode ends with a look around at police, fire fighters, and others working in the area. The scene changes to night, with Greg looking out the window of SRU headquarters at the city. Ed comes to the door and they leave together.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Flashpoint's Gemini Wins for the World to See!

Flashpoint won accolades at last weekend's Gemini Awards, but many of our readers internationally were not able to share in the moments. One of our readers pointed us to this video on YouTube which we have embedded below. It has all the clips from the gala as well as a listing of all the show's nominations!



And last Monday, show creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern appeared on Canada AM - and this is available on CTV.ca and is viewable by anyone in North America!

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 6: The Farm:

Today’s episode mixes Jonestown and rehab – and it was pretty enjoyable (though my words make it sound certainly more campy than it should be). Hit the jump for our episode summary!



The SRU is ready to storm into a big old barn , and for the first time we see Jules in the sniper position. Spike fires something towards the door… and rewind! 3 hours earlier…A woman is filling up gas at a gas station, only to find that she has to pay for the gas first before she pumps. She is visually disturbed, and slowly walks into the station. The cashier asks if he can help her, and she asks for money. He points her to an ATM, she turns around and points a gun. The cashier starts pulling bills out of the register. She says it isn’t enough, and then a woman and her daughter walk in, and this turns into an icky hostage situation when the police arrive. She locks the door out of the station.

At SRU HQ, Ed is beating the pulp out of a punching bag in front of Wordy. Ed doesn’t want his son going to a party where there’s no parental situation, and Wordy jokes that because his son is a cello player he can’t get into trouble. The conversation ends with the alarm being sounded and Winnie calling out directions. The SRU heads to the gas station and springs into action. Ed hands out team roles as Greg and Jules speak to an officer and other witnesses. Greg tells Spike to look up the expired license plates on the woman’s car. Greg gets out the bullhorn and urges the woman to pick up the store’s phone. She picks up the phone and he tries to talk to her. She wants the cops to go away, and asks him why she should trust cops. The woman holding these people hostage is Rachel Simpson. Greg directs Jules to go talk to her parents. Sam tries to wire in a camera into the store through a ventilation duct. Jules learns from her parents that she is living at a place known as “The Farm” now, and was addicted to drugs as a teenager. Greg talks to her by name, but Rachel fears that she will be shot if she opens the door. Greg manages to negotiate the release of the mom and the daughter. Jules hears more about this Farm, and that Rachel is married to the leader of the facility. He cut her off from their family. This sure is one strange cult in disguise…

Ed and Greg remember that the Farm was investigated a while ago, but no charges were laid. Rachel lets the daughter go and tries to pull the mom back in when she sees all the guns. The mother runs out, and Rachel runs back inside in frustration, locking the door and tearing the store apart. She points the gun at the cashier asking how she can get out, and he says he doesn’t know. ROLL THE OPENING!
Rachel continues thrashing as Greg looks on and wonders what to do. Ed and Jules arrive at The Farm, and are a little worried about the electric fence surrounding the property. They see a boy run and they try to call him, but he runs. A few seconds later, he emerges from the bushes with Dr. Charles Stewart, the leader of the farm. The little boy (Isaac) is Rachel’s son. Charles tries to keep them from bringing their weapons inside, but Ed says it is against regulations. They find out that Charles didn’t even know Rachel left the farm, and he also claims that she has not been herself lately and that she could be using drugs again. He says the reason there is an electric fence around the facility is because the world is dangerous and does what he can to keep the people safe. Ed wants to talk to her friends, but Charles thinks his people might be a little upset when they ask about her. Another member takes Charles away for a moment, and Ed and Jules think that Charles is hiding something. Greg instructs the team to go tactical, and they blow through the station entrance with smoke and flash bombs. They hold Rachel in cuffs, and she reveals that she has to go save her son with Charles. She reveals Charles plans to kill everyone. Suddenly, the story becomes very convoluted. Greg warns Ed and Jules. Charles himself was a reformed addict, and that he was once accused of holding a woman there against her will by her husband.

They talk to this woman at the farm, as she is working with corn, but her tone of voice sounds very delusional. They approach the boy who is chopping wood. They learn that he has never known the world outside of his farm, outside from what his father has taught him. He thinks that he has everything he would ever have right at the farm , and he has no reason to leave. Charles has taught them to fear everything outside of this place. Greg talks to Rachel and wins her trust. The SRU make their way to the farm. Jules and Ed continue to search the farm, where the same member that pulled Charles away from Ed sneaks up behind him with a handgun. On the other side, the boy approaches him with a larger gun and Ed is cornered. They take Ed… Jules spots this and tells Greg. He tells her to stay out of sight until they get there , and Greg tries to get more information out of Rachel. Charles apparently hears voices and thinks that death is the only way to keep his people safe? There was one case where someone left after becoming clean, but then he got addicted again and died. Charles got scared and put up the electric fences. Greg wonders what drove him from helping people to wanting to kill them.

Ed is cuffed under lock and key in a room. He watches Charles as he takes a handful of pills. He tries to reason with Charles, but he is delusional thinking that his people do not always know what is best for them. The SRU arrives at the farm and gears up. Rachel works with Spike to draw a rough map of the farm. Jules is perched on the roof of a farmhouse in the center of the compound and is assuming the sniper position. A phone rings, and Ed instructs Charles to pick up. Greg starts to negotiate Ed’s release. Charles wants his wife back. Greg tries to understand. The SRU enters the compound.

Ed tries to reason with the boy, but he won’t believe him. Another member comes in to take Isaac to his father, and says he will be back for Ed. Spike works one of his gadgets to disable the electric fence and he cuts it apart with Wordy. Leah and Wordy watch the gate and take out two members guarding it. Wordy disables the fence and opens it up. Greg gets to Charles’ house where Ed is being held to go rescue him. They share a few jokes when they see each other. He breaks into the drawer and finds morphine, Demerol, and other painkillers. (Is Dr. Jane Barken a pun?) Jules spots some member sporting NH3 + Cl… And it’s time to pause for a lesson from our resident everythingologist Dr. Sailordees!

*ahem* If one wishes to poison people with chlorine gas and they have some sort of chlorine powder, then all one would really have to do is set the powder on fire to create the gaseous fumes. Really though, back in the earlier parts of this century doing the household chores could prove to be deadly. You see, to clean their homes back then, people would mix anything and everything together (something that we all do today to get out a stubborn stain or mishap). Mixing household ammonia and bleach together would create chlorine gas at concentrations that were high enough to kill. So really, having a few jugs of Clorox and several bottles of any glass cleaner with ammonia in could produce chlorine gas (but these days, these cleaners like Windex don’t contain ammonia in harmful amounts). The reaction goes like this, for all you chemistry buffs…
2NaOCl + 2NH3 --> 2NaONH3 + Cl2

So this episode was missing an important ingredient to this concoction (some sort of sodium product). I’ve taught you enough – don’t try this at home! *Runs away*

Spike and Sam fear they are making poison gas and rush over to the large barn where everyone has been rounded up inside. The boy fears dying, but Charles reasons with him that this is in his best interest. Feeling uneasy, Isaac follows. Inside, people start to wonder what is going on as the poison is being mixed. Soon everyone panics knowing what is about to happen and they try to break out and bust open the barn door. We are now where the episode began and Sam is about to fire an umbrella device to let the people out. The umbrella latches on to the door, and is tethered to an SUV which speeds off and pulls off the barn door. The SRU tries to track down Charles and Isaac, who run out the back door of the barn. They catch up with him in the field, and Charles holds his own son hostage with a gun. Winnie finds out that Charles has cancer, and that he doesn’t have a lot of time left. Ed tries to reason with him to free Isaac. Charles lets him go, and then shoots himself. Sam calls Isaac towards him, as Charles shoots himself dead. The montage begins, biohazard crews begin cleaning up, and some members are arrested. Isaac is reunited with Rachel, who is also reunited with her parents after several years. A tearful family reunion happens as the SRU watches on. On the way back, Wordy wonders if Isaac will be okay. Going back to their earlier conversation, Ed calls up his son and lets him go. A happy ending despite the death.

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 5: Coming to You Live

This episode was to be the first of the new season... but then things changed! A radio talk show host takes an interesting approach to exact revenge on his son’s murderer, and the twist at the end is one that no one saw coming!



We begin watching a hostage situation taking place in a suite, as the SRU arrives on scene. The host is ready to shoot his man… Rewind! 3 hours later – a manager is talking to the host about his great BBM radio ratings. Outside the building, a politician (Ryan Malone) talks with his assistant as she readies him and drops him off. His assistant is a little worried about this appearance considering all the bad buzz the host has been giving him. At SRU headquarters, the team is working out around a mini stereo. Jules notices that Sam is tired, and asks if he had a long night. Sam says that she could say that, Jules asks if it was a blonde, brunette or redhead, and Sam says one of each! Oh Jules and Sam, get a room ☺. Wordy changes the station, to listen to the radio host’s (Cosgrove) morning show. The SRU listens as he talks to Malone and share opinions on Malone. Cosgrove starts throwing vague insults on the air towards Malone and the SRU listens on. Eventually, the catch comes: Cosgrove is going to put Malone on trial… on the air?! The SRU laughs thinking that this is a joke. As the situation starts to turn into a hostage situation, they hear a gunshot go off, and the SRU doesn’t bother to wait for the call. They head straight out! Ed has finally lost the tacky gold sunglasses and talks to whoever he can to get more information. Inside the station’s control room, Jules and Parker set up a command post. Jules hears labored breathing, Ed and some others storm into Cosgrove’s recording room, and find someone tied to a chair. Cosgrove and Malone are gone. No one saw them leave. This was a well calculated escape since the show was put on a 6 minute delay. Over the speakers, they hear Cosgrove speaking, and Malone describes that he is holding a gun to him. Cosgrove promises to kill Malone unless he confesses the truth. ROLL THE OPENING!

Ed, Wordy, and Sam finish searching the building and are baffled where he is broadcasting from. Cosgrove wants no interruptions from authorities for the next hour, or else Malone gets shot. The SRU thinks that Cosgrove may be broadcasting from his house. Spike tries to get confirmation that he is at his place, but there are wonderful encryption roadblocks. Parker talks to Cosgrove’s assistant, and learns that this was Cosgrove’s last shift, but that he didn’t know about it. Ed, Wordy, and Sam move in slowly to Cosgrove’s house as he continues. They break into his apartment and find he is not there. The radio is playing, and they search the apartment for clues. Greg Parker calls into Cosgrove’s show, and takes a guess as to what this is about. Parker is wrong, and Cosgrove talks about June 2nd, 1999. He asks Malone to explain more, and calls him a murderer on the air as we head to a commercial break.

Jules searches a database and finds out that Malone was in a terrible car wreck that day and survived. But his friend who was driving the car, was not. Cosgrove continues to accuse Malone of driving, as he recounts what happened. Jules tries to ask Malone’s assistant some questions, but she is on the defense and scurries away from answering anything concrete A Janet Ackerman shows up on the station’s sign-in log, and we find out that Malone’s friend Cody was her son. But, even though Janet and Cosgrove are friends, they still can’t figure out the connection. The SRU heads off to pay Janet a visit. Janet also believes that her son has been vilified and she wants justice, but we still can’t figure out the connection between Cosgrove and Cody… until Janet reveals that Cody was his son, too (from a one night stand)! Janet revealed this to Cosgrove just a few weeks ago, since her own husband is dead. This more than explains why Cosgrove began drinking and his motivations for today’s plans. Ed , Wordy, and Sam find Cosgrove’s brother, who is living in a shady computer warehouse. He is reluctant to tell them where he is, but finally reveals his location, just 6 blocks away from the station.

The plot gets more twisted when Jules finds out that Malone’s assistant was also in the car, and Greg suspects that she was protecting him. The SRU head for the downtown apartment where Cosgrove is holding Malone hostage, while Greg tries once again to talk down Cosgrove, and tells him that he knows that he is his son. It doesn’t work, and Cosgrove hangs up as they arrive at the building. We see flashbacks of the car accident, but now we are watching Cosgrove’s version. In his version, Cody was the passenger, and Malone moved him to the driver’s seat. Malone, has tears in his eyes, and says that he should not have let Cody get behind the wheel. Malone is sincere in his words. But Cosgrove doesn’t believe him. A caller calls empathizing with Cosgrove saying to shoot him right now. Jules arrives at Malone’s assistant’s apartment, and forcefully convinces her to start telling the truth. Another caller says to let him go because he is innocent. Greg runs up the stairs and tries to talk to Cosgrove, but Malone is talking to Cosgrove asking where he was during Cody’s life. He asks him if this is what Cody would want, and Cosgrove points the gun at him saying not to tell him what his son wants. Commercials!

Greg urges Cosgrove to answer the phone for the truth, and on the other end is Malone’s assistant. Cody was not driving… and neither was Malone! It was her. Cody was not wearing his seatbelt, and she missed the curb during a conversation. The assistant was Cody’s girlfriend, and Malone told her that Cody wouldn’t want her life ruined. So they both moved him to the driver’s seat. Ryan just wanted to protect her. Nicole cries on the phone to Malone, and says she is sorry. Cosgrove is still mad at him for what he did, as he sits down to compose himself. He then points the gun on himself. The SRU storms in and stops Cosgrove and rescues Malone. The montage begins, and we see the police take Malone’s assistant into custody. Janet rushes to talk to Cosgrove and tells him that his son would not have been ashamed of who he was. The Radio Station’s director packs up Cosgrove’s awards. Malone is also whisked off to jail for protecting his assistant. Greg tells Ed that he has to find a new candidate for mayor, and jokes to Ed that he should run for Mayor some day. But Ed doesn’t want to give this up. At the SRU weapons closet, Jules and Sam talk about the events of the day, and Sam says he would have done the same thing to protect his friends, and looks at Jules. The episode ends.

This episode was originally slated to be the first of the season, however we’re not sure who exactly decided to change the episode order around and have the episode One Wrong Move be the season premiere. We noticed Wordy’s hair color changing at different points in the episode from blonde to brownish red, so perhaps a few scenes might have been reshot (that once included Mark Taylor). Still a good episode, though!

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 4: Custody

Today’s episode features one wicked, twisted, custody battle, and is infamous among Flashpoint fans because for nearly 2 weeks no one knew what the powerful song that played at the end of it was! Hit the jump for a full episode summary!



A man (Donald Mitchell) and a woman (Helen Mitchell) fight outside a courtroom over a custody judgement, and a lawyer tries to calm them. The man says he wishes that they both would have done better. She leaves, as her lawyer says to him to go sign some papers. At SRU HQ, Jules walks into the women’s locker room, and notices Leah’s scar. Leah shares her story , of how she tried to save a kid from a burning apartment building in High Park, but the stairs collapsed and only she survived. That night, she had a couple shots, jumped on her Harley, and got into an accident, where she survived but the Harley didn’t. Jules suggests that Leah go see a plastic surgeon to take care of her scar, but she keeps it as a reminder not to be an idiot. Jules quips she has her brothers for that! The alarm sounds. Inside an office building, Donald is holding his ex-wife’s lawyer at gunpoint. The SRU arrives on the scene and gets organized. They talk to people on the outside to find out what is going on, and start evacuating the building.
Donald continues to be harsh with his hostage. Wordy finds the lawyer’s office and puts a gadget up to the door to listen in on the conversation between Donald and the lawyer. Donald doesn’t want his ex-wife to take the kids to Ireland. The SRU wonders if the lawyer’s paralegal is inside too. It appears Donald has lost custody of the kids at first, but then we learn that his wife has kidnapped the kids. This just got more confusing. Roll opening!

Spike adds to the log as Ed is very confused as to why the husband is going after his ex-wife’s lawyer when he has won custody. Donald forces the lawyer to call his ex-wife, but she will not pick up. Greg dials Donald’s phone number and he tells him how his kids have disappeared from school. The SRU’s help isn’t good enough, and Donald wants to take matters into his own hands. Greg directs the team to try different avenues to find the kids, sending out amber alerts, and APBs to authorities and the airport. Jules heads to the school for more information. Greg tries to ask Ed what he would do if him and Sophie split up and she wanted Clark. Ed repeatedly says it wouldn’t happen. Jules arrives at the school to get more answers, and the episode cuts to a scene where they are fighting over custody outside their house. Helen lies and says the kids are asleep, as her new boyfriend (Jason) drops them off in front of them. Jules learns more about how Helen was lonely and longing for Donald. Helen shows up at the school, but surprise, surprise, she doesn’t have the kids! Commercial!

Jules makes sure that the kids are not at Helen’s house. Sam manages to drill a small hole in the wall and put in a wire camera through so he can see what is going on inside the lawyer’s office. They still don’t know if there is a paralegal inside. At the school, Helen gets into an argument with the principal, and we learn that someone else called the school and not Helen, saying a friend would pick up the kids. The SRU finds the paralegal hiding in a closet. They decide to go in the room hard. Leah still struggles with the balance of power in the SRU. Jules watches the school’s security tapes, and finds out that Jason has picked up the kids. Helen tells Jules that they broke up days ago, and that he didn’t take it well. Something is suspicious about this as Helen sort of refuses police escorts. Spike looks up some information on this Jason character, and finds that he has been charged with crimes before. Spike sends out an APB looking for the kids. Donald continues to argue with the lawyer thinking he conspired with her to kidnap the kids. The paralegal comes out of the closet to try to escape and a fight brews out. The SRU blasts through just in times and takes everyone into their custody. Ed tries to learn more from Donald about the situation . During the pretrial of the divorce, he remembers the lawyer saying they would do whatever it takes to keep the kids. Donald is fully convinced that the lawyer is at fault for this. Ed tells him that Jason has the kids now, and Donald freaks out. Jules is on her way back to find out where Jason is, and makes notes they found Spotty Leopard Jungle Nectar juice boxes (cheezy name, eh?). Greg asks the others about their kids. Jules and Sam track down Jason at a hotel, chase him onto the roof, and find out that he doesn’t know where the kids are either! Commercials! Closed captioning of this episode is brought to you by Hugh Dillon’s new album , Works Well With others.

Jules confronts Jason on the roof that they have evidence he has the kids, but he continues to stonewall. And now Helen is missing, so the SRU tries to track down her sister Colleen. Ed asks the paralegal if there is something that she needs to know. Jason cracks, and says Helen lied about their breakup, and that this is some distraction to buy her some time. Ed also finds that the paralegal is lying. Jules continues to ask Jason where the kids, and he finally confesses that they were dropped off at Colleen’s place. The paralegal says that she helped her forge a legal document allowing her to take the kids. She argues that Helen deserved the kids, but Greg maintains that he didn’t say if she deserved them one day or another. Leah arrives at Colleen’s apartment, and learns that Helen just picked up the kids from Colleen’s kids. Leah chases the red SUV as the other SRU moves in to join her. Greg wants to take the father despite Ed’s disdain. Ed, tired of being asked what his own son wants, snaps back and asks if this is what Greg’s son would want. Some police officers take Jason into custody on the roof of the hotel, and he says that if they find Helen they shouldn’t hurt her. Jules asks why, and he says there is a gun in the car. She responds simply with “awesome”. Commercials!

Helen is on the run in her SUV and playing the “beetle game” with her kids (she names a feature of a beetle and the kids name the species). One spills some juice , and she picks up a tissue from the glove comparment. We see the gun. All this time her cell phone is ringing with calls from the SRU but she refuses to pick up. Greg and Ed argue over how best to stop the SUV with the kids inside. Helen tells her kids they are going to Ireland. Using an onboard emergency communication system , Greg finally gets in touch with her and tries to get her to pull over. Helen just drives faster and asks to be left alone. This does not work, so the SRU stages a roadblock. They pass the same construction site used in One Wrong Move. Finally, they manage to stop Helen and she gets out of the car with the kids... and her gun. Greg talks to the kids to try to calm them down. Greg takes out his gun and puts it down and tries to negotiate with her. Greg tells them that once they got on that plane, they would never come back. The kids instantly wonder about their dad. Helen , terrified, speaks of the lies that Donald said in court about her being malicious and unfit. Greg asks her, if it was just his lawyer doing his job, just as it was the case with her own lawyer. Greg talks her down some more, and tells Ed to bring out Donald. The kids run to him. Helen raises her gun and Greg asks her to put the gun down. Donald says to Helen that he thought he was going to lose the kids, Helen cries “What have we done” and puts the gun down. The end of episode montage begins as both parents hug their kids and the SRU muses about the happenings of the day. Both parents are cuffed and taken away by the police. Helen’s sister Colleen will have custody of the kids, for now. Greg hopes that those kids get a second chance, but Ed sees that he is really thinking about his kids. Ed encourages Greg to give his son a second chance. The episode ends as the kids are put into a third police car and escorted to their aunt’s apartment. Greg looks at a photo of his son and thinks. The episode ends.

This episode was pretty good, but I’m catching that the show is using a lot of the same locations they used before. Surely there aren’t other hotels that could have been used? The Comfort Hotel on Charles would have provided a much scuzzier setting for Jason! Somehow the Fairmont Royal York seemed a little awkward for someone like him to be hiding out in.

Flashpoint in a Flash: Season 3 Episode 3: Just a Man

A reformed prisoner (Anton Burrows) loses his parole hearing, and in turn sets of a chain of events starting a riot at his maximum security prison. Can the SRU save the day? Hit the jump for the full episode summary!



We begin in a desolate hallway in a prison. A prisoner (Sloan) is holding a mother and daughter hostage, and is pressuring Anton to kill them. The SRU moves into the prison to try to find them. The prisoner then issues an ultimatum: either Burrows kills them, or he will… REWIND! 3 hours earlier, and we are now at Burrows parole hearing. This is his 4th appeal for parole and he has served 15 years of his sentence. He reads a statement to the family and we learn that he murdered the father. The teenaged daughter stands up and speaks of her anguish and struggles over not having her father in her life, and this stirs Burrows. A shouting match ensues, Burrows is moved to the courtyard, and he loses his appeal. He moves towards a bench to sit down with his head bowed down. Some other prison members notice, and some start a riot to distract the guards as some move inside the prison. The alarm sounds, and the family is ushered elsewhere by the guard. Burrows heads back to his cell while others make their way out, and looks at his own drawn pictures of his victim on the walls of his cell. He remembers the events of that day, he was just a teenager robbing his victim (a shop owner) at gunpoint. The owner grabbed the gun away from him, but the trigger fired and he was killed. He reflects on the events of these days, while other prisoners hold up guards and steal weapons and other supplies from them. The family runs behind the guard through the prison. The SRU arrives on the scene! Hold up for a moment, where’d the usual SRU HQ banter go?

Greg catches everyone up on the situation that the 75-100 prisoners may have homemade weapons, and Ed emphasizes to use less lethal methods. The SRU meet with one of the prison directors, sort out their Alpha and Bravo teams, and learn that the family is still in the building. The Alpha team heads to find them, and the Bravo team heads to calm the prisoners. Leah, and Ed tend to an injured prisoner, as Wordy follows a tip from another inmate on where some guards are being held up. Meanwhile, the family has been captured by some of the prisoners, and Burrows throws one going after the daughter down the stairs. He says that no one is to touch them, that they are his. Roll Opening!

Sam, Jules, and Spike find the prisoner that was thrown down the stairs lying in his cell, and Greg directs them to find the civilians. Looks like one of the prisoners’ major players is out of commission, leaving the guard baffled for who is behind this. Burrows puts the family out of harm’s way in a cell, despite the teenager continuing to speak out against him. Burrows tries to reason with other prisoners to leave them to him, but there is a shift in power and Burrows relinquishes his control to Sloan to keep them alive. Wordy spots some of the injured guards , and Ed organizes his team and they storm in the room, and no one resists them. Guards are saved! Ed recognizes Burrows, and asks Greg for permission to deal with him. He allows it, and Ed confronts Burrows weaponless in the courtyard. They speak to make sure the hostages are safe. Burrows reads a list of seemingly mundane requests from the prisoners, and reminds Ed of the “Ridgestone Towers”. Ed says that he will do what he can to get their demands met. Commercials!

The family is lead by Burrows to the prison basement, where they are whistled at by other prisoners. Ed tells the team that the Towers were all about a big gang bust that failed, where the members cut through the walls of the building. It looks like the SRU has a big prison break to deal with on their hands. Turns out that Ed was called into the parole hearing as a character witness, but did not go. Ed has a history with Burrows, they knew each other since they were young. Ed’s dad told him to look out for him after his dad died. Burrows was just a good kid that went off the rails, and Ed feels terrible about what happened. Ed still has faith in Burrows that he is not going to hurt the family. In the basement, the prisoners plot to take out the last of the “captains”. Ed, Wordy and Spike sneak up behind an inmate quietly and move past him. Spike sets off a flash bomb in a tiny cell, and more inmates are taken care of. Spike looks at a lame bomb which he believes is another distraction. Commercial!

Spike defuses the bomb. Burrows sits with the family in the room. The mother apologizes, and says that she knows he doesn’t want to hurt them. Burrows asks why they came, and the daughter says angrily that he belongs there for killing her father and leaving him to die alone. The mother asks why he killed her husband, and Burrows said that he had no choice. He had to either be with a gang or the gang would get him. A cop tried to look out for him, but Burrows got tired of being scared all the time. He caved into gang pressures to rob the store, to get into a place where he could be trusted. He was hurt by what he did, and all he wanted was the money, but the man he killed was sick of being robbed. He admits to shooting him, because he was afraid. The family starts to lose their anger when they hear he did not let him die alone, as Burrows says that he stayed by his side. The daughter cries on her mom’s shoulder.

Meanwhile, the SRU readjusts their strategy to find the last “captain”, and they still believe that the hostages are going to be killed. Sloan and another inmate confront Burrows thinking they let the SRU in on the plan. Jules , Sam, and Spike find the last captain and take care of him and two other inmates. Now we are where the episode began and Burrows is in a strange position between listening to Sloan and his own instincts to protect the family. Ed, Wordy, and Leah have found where the hostages and Greg tries to work out a way to get in. Burrows now has to choose to kill the teenager or lose his own life to Sloan. Burrows tries to protect the family, but is overtaken by two inmates who move him into a shower room. Another comes in to try to take him out, but Burrows manages to take him out. He finds a cell phone and dials 911. He is patched through to the SRU, and he hints Ed about what is going on. Ed hints for him to buy him some more time, but the inmates are moving the family to another area. Commercials!

Burrows manages to find the family in time and is now doing everything in his power to save the family, until he is stabbed in the back. Luckily the SRU blasts through the wall, and rescues the family. Ed tends to Burrows, who has one request for him… the daughter speaks to Ed, and says that she will speak for him at his next parole hearing. Ed gives her a drawing of her father that was on Burrows’ wall with words of redemption written on it. As Burrows is locked back in his cell, he pulls out his sketchbook. In his garage, Ed looks at a photo album of a younger Burrows and the episode ends.

This episode’s formula was a little different, and it didn’t work in some places. The lighting was also a little strange too, being too foggy and green and dark. We know this is what a prison is supposed to look like but surely not the whole place is green and hazy? Roger R. Cross’s performance as Anton Burrows was wonderful, though!

Next week’s episode features one icky custody battle.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Flashpoint Forums online!

You asked for it, we delivered! We've gotten several requests for a Flashpoint forum, so by popular request we've set one up over at the Moon Chase forums!

Happy Posting!

(You can also find the link over on the sidebar under the Blog Network section.)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Flashpoint Wins at Gemini Awards!

From left to right: Hugh Dillon, Stephanie Morgenstern, Mark Ellis, Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos, Amy Jo Johnson, and Enrico Colantoni.


Tonight was the Broadcast Gala of the Gemini Awards, and this picture you are seeing are a few members of the cast and crew of Flashpoint celebrating their Best Dramatic Series win just hours ago! Other Flashpoint winners of the evening were Kelly Malkin for Best Direction in a Dramatic Series and Enrico Colantoni for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role.Hugh won an award for Best performance by an actor in a featured supporting role in a dramatic program or miniseries for his work in Of Murder and Memory. I will post full transcripts of the speeches during the broadcast and possibly some very crude video early next week. We all blushed a little when we heard Anne Marie La Traverse acknowledge the fans at the beginning of her speech - this is something we rarely ever hear at any awards shows! Before we get to our category listings, we have a few words we'd like to say...Thank you to Mark and Stephanie for creating such a wonderful show.When I first read about it, I knew that this had the potential to be something big, and even though so many fans got tired of our posts on Flashpoint from the pilot stages onwards, we trudged on. Not because it was some program that a voice actor from Sailor Moon took part in, but because it really was a good show that was more than just the quick sightings that we report. This is a unique cop drama and we wish it lots more continued success in the future! And thanks Anne Marie La Traverse - we Badgers and Doves will continue to be there until the very end!

(special thanks to TheMediaChick for finding these pictures!)


Awards

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series:

Chris Grismer
Being Erica
Leo

John Fawcett
The Border
Going Dark

Kelly Makin
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned


Steven Adelson
Sanctuary
Instinct

Jeremy Podeswa
The Tudors
Episode 201

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Enrico Colantoni
Flashpoint
Who's George?



Hugh Dillon
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn


Daniel Kash
The Line
Episode 102

Ron White
The Line
Episode 102

Robin Dunne
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Erin Karpluk
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Amy Jo Johnson
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned


Andrea Menard
Rabbit Fall
Hit and Run

Amanda Tapping
Sanctuary
Requiem