"Flashpoint’s" Critical Situations Tinged With Darkness
CBS’s police crime drama Flashpoint, the story of an elite tactical task force, has been making some good news! First, it placed on top with viewers 25-54 and has it’s new time slot of Thursdays, at 10:00 PM on CBS.
It has 4 consecutive time period wins. This sounds like a great start for a series that crossed the border to us from Canada. This is also a good omen for other quality shows to cross over. So what’s the appeal of this show, and how does it compare to other crime drama fare?
CBS’s Nina Tassler was recently quoted, saying if the series continues to go above their expectations, they may consider extending it beyond the 13 episode plan.
Hostage negotiation, bombs being defused, and team members scaling walls using tactical methods to diffuse dangerous situations…all pretty exciting stuff for crime drama fans. The other compelling part of Flashpoint is the portrayal of the emotion of characters who work in this day-to-day stress-filled environment. It’s a dark reality of the job.
For some crime drama series, the action on the job is pretty much what we see. Flip the coin, and other series do a great job of putting us in the backstory. My favorite example is TNT’s The Closer. We know that Chief Brenda Johnson of the LAPD is tough, and wily in the interrogation room when she’s working a case, but when we realized her addiction/obsession with sweets, it made her a lot more interesting, and and lot more like us.
Flashpoint does have some things we’ve seen in other series, such as the high strung female officer who has problems in the romance area, the officer who seems to have to choose between his family and his job, and the team leader who is their dad of sorts. You have to admit, there is still something compelling about this series, and it may be that it’s just a little off-focus of the norm.
Image permission: CTV
Tags: chief brenda johnson, CTV, flashpoint, nina tassler, The CloserRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Episode Resources, Flashpoint, General Crime Drama, New crime series, Promotional Photos
2 opinions for "Flashpoint’s" Critical Situations Tinged With Darkness
Pat G
Oct 17, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Where is Flashpoint. Its disappeared. I really liked it. This was a good one.
Found myself thinking it was the quality of 3rd Watch which I still miss.
Alexandra
Oct 29, 2008 at 11:16 am
Pat, Flashpoint was renewed by CBS for summer 2009.
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