From Virginia Bellafante of the New York Times:
- When Family and Job Come Into Conflict, a Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One
“Within the first few minutes of “Flashpoint,†a new action series beginning Friday on CBS that may be too languid for its own good, a special-ops cop named Ed Lane (Hugh Dillon) blithely telegraphs his sentiments on work-family balance. Ed has a shaved head and an intense face that suggests he has seen a lot of bad things go down in dark places; he probably wears aviator glasses when he sleeps.” Read more.
From Sandy Caetano of Metro:
- CTV’s new drama Flashpoint delivers action
““It has all the characteristics of a typical swat team and does all the things swat teams do, but this team in Toronto also has trained its men and women in psychological proÂfiling and negotiation,†says (executive producer Bill) Mustos. “And this is what distinguishes them from all the other swat teams in the world.— Read more.
From Ted Cox of the Daily Herald:
- HBO presents a pat war drama; CBS surprises with ‘Flash point’
“The shooting, when it comes, is tense and deliberately ambiguous, but that’s when “Flash point” veers off the obvious course. Instead of treating Lane as a hero, it plunges into the procedural matters following any police shooting. It finds its true drama in the boring bits U.S. cop shows tend to ignore. It captures Lane’s stoic guilt and his tangled obligations to colleagues and family. At the end of the pilot, he seems a compelling figure.” Read more.
From Travis Fickett of IGN:
- Flashpoint: “Scorpio” Review
“The first thing you need to know about Flashpoint is that it’s not of the Jerry Bruckheimer mode when it comes to action. The series is less about helicopter shots, explosions and “high octane” action sequences than it is about the human cost of crisis situations. And while the focus is on the elite squad, called “Strategic Response Unit,” the show spends time on those causing the crime and their families as well.” Read more.
From Kevin McDonough of SouthCoastToday.com:
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Is there any point to ‘Flashpoint’?
The new series “Flashpoint” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14) doesn’t have anything half as juicy. In fact, I’m not sure what it’s got. It has the talented and engaging Enrico Colantoni (“Galaxy Quest”) as Sgt. Gregory Parker. He spends the first hour negotiating, in broken Croatian, we’re told, to a enraged man who just shot his wife and has taken an innocent bystander hostage. Because the violent man is shouting in Croatian — or at least we think it’s Croatian — we don’t understand his history or motivations. The rest of the “Flashpoint” characters are speaking English, and I’m not certain I understand where they’re coming from, either.” Read more.
