There is a plot line running through season 4 of the TV show "Flashpoint", concerning the character of Spike (Sergio Di Zio), and his fathers illness.
Spike is a bomb disposal expert, and his father never liked his career choice. The father is now dying, and his dying wish is for his son to give up the dangerous job. Spike is continually torn between upholding the wish and his honor to himself. He worked hard to get where he is, and doesn't want to throw it all away.
Now, this story line brings up all manner of emotions for me. My father recently went through a similar life-threatening illness.
I'm fortunate that my father never asked me to stop doing what I'm doing, or had anything bad to say about my career choice.
However, the moments when Spike is with him, brings home to me what it was like to see my Father like that.
Real emotion. Raw emotion. That's what I get from watching this. It is (In my opinion anyway) perfectly written, perfectly directed - and most importantly, perfectly acted by Mr. Di Zio.
Spikes inability to do anything to help his father mirrors exactly what I myself felt.
The scenes are never the focus of the show, never important to the overall plot. But they are important to me.
The most recent episode (Shockwave) had a certain resonance with me. Sorry to get all personal all of a sudden, but my Father was hundreds of miles away, so I only spent a short time with him, and the feeling when I wasn't with him, I would have given anything to be back there. So when Spike was trapped, I was so caught up in the moment of the episode, I think i went through every emotion right there with Spike.
So, to the writers, directors, producers, showrunners - and most importantly of all, Sergio. I thank you. This is what proper story telling is all about.
Showing posts with label Flashpoint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flashpoint. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Friday, 17 August 2012
Flashpoint Airing and DVD Order
Following on from some discussion with friends, there is confusion over episode airing orders on Flashpoint.
What I'm presenting here is the original CTV Canadian Airing order, along with the CBS and ION running order for the US, and Universal UK (for the UK).
In the US, Season 1 contained 9 episodes with the final 4 moved over to Season 2. However the DVD release contains these 4 episodes as part of Season 1.
I'll admit to not knowing how ION labelled the episodes they had. Until a DVD release comes out, we'll go on the assumption that they are "Season 4b".
The DVD releases line up as the episodes do.
Canadian: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 18 episodes. S3 has 13 episodes and S4 has 18. S5 (when released) will have 13 episodes.
US: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 9. S3 has 16 episodes and S4 has 13 episodes.
UK; Only S1 has been released, with 13 episodes.
The DVD releases line up as the episodes do.
Canadian: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 18 episodes. S3 has 13 episodes and S4 has 18. S5 (when released) will have 13 episodes.
US: S1 has 13 episodes. S2 has 9. S3 has 16 episodes and S4 has 13 episodes.
UK; Only S1 has been released, with 13 episodes.
| Episode name | Canadian | US | UK |
| Season 1 | Season 1 | Season 1 | |
| Scorpio | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| First in Line | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | Episode 2 |
| Element of Surprise | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | Episode 3 |
| Asking for Flowers | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 |
| Who's George | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
| Attention Shoppers | Episode 6 | Episode 6 | Episode 6 |
| He Knows His Brother | Episode 7 | Episode 7 | Episode 7 |
| Never Kissed A Girl | Episode 8 | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| Planets Aligned | Episode 9 | Episode 9 | Episode 9 |
| Eagle Two | Episode 10 | Episode 10 (Aired as Episode 1 of S2) | Episode 10 |
| Backwards Day | Episode 11 | Episode 11 (Aired as Episode 2 of S2) | Episode 12 (Labelled Episode 11 but aired after Haunting the Barn) |
| Haunting the Barn | Episode 12 | Episode 12 (Aired as Episode 3 of S2) | Episode 11 (Labelled Episode 12 but aired before Backwards Day) |
| Between Heartbeats | Episode 13 | Episode 13 (Aired as Episode 4 of S2) | Episode 13 |
| Season 2 | Season 2 | ||
| Business as usual | Episode 1 | Episode 1 (Aired as Episode 5) | Episode 14 |
| The Fortress | Episode 2 | Episode 2 (Aired as Episode 6) | Episode 15 |
| Clean Hands | Episode 3 | Episode 3 (Aired as Episode 7) | Episode 16 |
| Aisle 13 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 (Aired as Episode 8) | Episode 17 |
| The Perfect Family | Episode 5 | Episode 5 (Aired as Episode 9) | Episode 18 |
| Remote Control | Episode 6 | Episode 6 (Aired as Episode 10) | Episode 19 |
| Perfect Storm | Episode 7 | Episode 7 (Aired as Episode 11) | Episode 20 (Rarely shown) |
| Last Dance | Episode 8 | Episode 8 (Aired as Episode 12) | Episode 21 |
| Exit Wounds | Episode 9 | Episode 9 (Aired as Episode 13) | Episode 22 |
| Season 3 | |||
| One Wrong Move | Episode 10 | Episode 1 | Episode 24 |
| Never Let You Down | Episode 11 | Episode 2 | Episode 25 |
| Just A Man | Episode 12 | Episode 7 | Episode 26 |
| Custody | Episode 13 | Episode 4 | Episode 27 |
| Coming To You Live | Episode 14 | Episode 5 | Episode 23 |
| The Farm | Episode 15 | Episode 3 | Episode 28 |
| You Think You Know Someone | Episode 16 | Episode 10 | Episode 29 |
| The Good Citizen | Episode 17 | Episode 9 | Episode 30 (Not aired on first run) |
| Behind the Blue Line | Episode 18 | Episode 6 | Episode 31 |
| Season 3 | Season 2 | ||
| Unconditional Love | Episode 1 | Episode 8 | Episode 1 |
| Severed Ties | Episode 2 | Episode 11 | Episode 2 |
| Follow the Leader | Episode 3 | Episode 12 | Episode 3 |
| Whatever It Takes | Episode 4 | Episode 13 | Episode 4 |
| The Other Lane | Episode 5 | Episode 14 | Episode 6 |
| Jumping At Shadows | Episode 6 | Episode 15 | Episode 8 |
| Acceptable Risk | Episode 7 | Episode 16 | Episode 9 |
| Season 4 | |||
| Collateral Damage | Episode 8 | Episode 1 (Aired as Episode 17) | Episode 5 |
| Thicker Than Blood | Episode 9 | Episode 2 (Aired as Episode 18) | Episode 7 |
| Terror | Episode 10 | Episode 4 (Aired as Episode 20) | Episode 11 |
| No Promises | Episode 11 | Episode 3 (Aired as Episode 19) | Episode 10 |
| I'd Do Anything | Episode 12 | Episode 5 (Aired as Episode 21) | Episode 12 |
| Fault Lines | Episode 13 | Episode 6 (Aired as Episode 22) | Episode 13 |
| Season 4 | Season 3 | ||
| Personal Effects | Episode 1 | Episode 7 | Episode 1 |
| Good Cop | Episode 2 | Episode 8 | Episode 2 |
| Run Jamie Run | Episode 3 | Episode 9 | Episode 3 |
| Through a Glass Darkly | Episode 4 | Episode 10 | Episode 5 (Only shown at midnight) |
| The Better Man | Episode 5 | Episode 11 | Episode 4 |
| A Day in the Life | Episode 6 | Episode 12 | Episode 6 |
| Shockwave | Episode 7 | Episode 13 | Episode 7 |
| Season 4b Ion took over Broadcasting rights. | |||
| Grounded | Episode 8 (Episode 12 on the DVD) | Episode 1 | Episode 12 |
| The War Within | Episode 9 (Episode 8 on the DVD) | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| Cost of Doing Business | Episode 10 (Episode 9 on the DVD) | Episode 2 | Episode 9 |
| Wild Card | Episode 11 (Episode 10 on the DVD) | Episode 3 | Episode 10 |
| New Life | Episode 12 (Episode 11 on the DVD) | Episode 4 | Episode 11 |
| Call to Arms | Episode 13 | Episode 5 | Episode 13 |
| Day Game | Episode 14 (episode 15 on the DVD) | Episode 6 | Episode 15 |
| Blue on Blue | Episode 15 (Episode 16 on the DVD) | Episode 7 | Episode 16 |
| Team Player | Episode 16 (Episode 14 on the DVD) | Episode 9 | Episode 14 |
| Priority of Life | Episode 17 | Episode 10 | Episode 17 |
| Slow Burn | Episode 18 | Episode 11 | Episode 18 |
| Season 5 | Season 5 | Season 5 | |
| Broken peace | Episode 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| No Kind of Life | Episode 2 | Episode 2 | Episode 2 |
| Run to Me | Episode 3 | Episode 3 | Episode 3 |
| Eyes In | Episode 4 | Episode 4 | Episode 4 |
| Sons of the Father | Episode 5 | Episode 5 | Episode 5 |
| Below the Surface | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 7 |
| Forget Oblivion | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 8 |
| We Take Care of our Own | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 9 |
| Lawmen | Episode 9 | - | Episode 10 |
| A World of their Own | Episode 10 | Episode 6 | Episode 6 |
| Fit For Duty | Episode 11 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 |
| Keep the Peace (Part 1) | Episode 12 | - | Episode 12 |
| Keep the Peace (Part 2) | Episode 13 | - | Episode 13 |
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Flashpoint comes back to the UK!
An armed man takes a hospital ward hostage, endangering the lives of the patients.
A bank robber runs into the street, using the manageress of the branch as a shield, daring the police to shoot him.
A convicted murderer takes an off-duty policeman hostage and demands to speak to a prosecutor.
Three instances of bad people who deserve what they get from the authorities. The authorities in this case being the SRU – Strategic Response Unit – of the TV show Flashpoint. When the SRU are called in you know bad things are going on. They try and deal with situations in their own unique way, which is different to most other TV shows. While most would have the team burst in, guns blazing, taking down the bad guys, the SRU turn up and talk to them as people.
Sure they have the back-up plan of going in and shooting, but they talk first. Why are they doing what they're doing?
And that is the beautiful thing about this show. The suspects – or Subjects as Sergeant Greg Parker prefers to call them – are treated as people. As each episode unfolds we learn WHY they are doing what they're doing. What drove them to pick up a gun and point it at someone?
And by the end of the episode, if you let the story carry you along, you'll find yourself feeling the exact same emotions as the characters.
And now the United Kingdom has the chance to experience this. Finally we're getting this show in a proper time slot.
For the past few years, ITV network have had it, and have shown an episode here and there, different times, different days. Show it when they've got time. No advertising or promotion so the only viewers were those who happened to channel hop at half 1 in the morning and stumble on it.
But all that changes on March 19th. Universal channel UK (113 Sky (150 for +1), 162 VirginTV (163 +1), 8 TalkTalkTV) is showing it from the first episode. As with all shows, if you haven't seen it before I would recommend giving it a couple of episodes to get used to it. If you're not enjoying it by the end of the bank robber episode then I'll never bother you again :)
A bank robber runs into the street, using the manageress of the branch as a shield, daring the police to shoot him.
A convicted murderer takes an off-duty policeman hostage and demands to speak to a prosecutor.
Three instances of bad people who deserve what they get from the authorities. The authorities in this case being the SRU – Strategic Response Unit – of the TV show Flashpoint. When the SRU are called in you know bad things are going on. They try and deal with situations in their own unique way, which is different to most other TV shows. While most would have the team burst in, guns blazing, taking down the bad guys, the SRU turn up and talk to them as people.
Sure they have the back-up plan of going in and shooting, but they talk first. Why are they doing what they're doing?
And that is the beautiful thing about this show. The suspects – or Subjects as Sergeant Greg Parker prefers to call them – are treated as people. As each episode unfolds we learn WHY they are doing what they're doing. What drove them to pick up a gun and point it at someone?
And by the end of the episode, if you let the story carry you along, you'll find yourself feeling the exact same emotions as the characters.
And now the United Kingdom has the chance to experience this. Finally we're getting this show in a proper time slot.
For the past few years, ITV network have had it, and have shown an episode here and there, different times, different days. Show it when they've got time. No advertising or promotion so the only viewers were those who happened to channel hop at half 1 in the morning and stumble on it.
But all that changes on March 19th. Universal channel UK (113 Sky (150 for +1), 162 VirginTV (163 +1), 8 TalkTalkTV) is showing it from the first episode. As with all shows, if you haven't seen it before I would recommend giving it a couple of episodes to get used to it. If you're not enjoying it by the end of the bank robber episode then I'll never bother you again :)
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