Flashpoint in a Flash: Episode 2

Gomen Nasai (translation: Sorry) readers! I posted this late at night and in a rush and I forgot that some readers do not appreciate spoilers! Full summary of last night's episode after the jump!



Episode 2: First In Line

Here we go again with our coverage and episode summaries of Stephanie Morgenstern's (Sailor Venus #1) and Mark Ellis's hit show, Flashpoint. We begin in an operating room. A man is dying, and standing over him is a man with a gun ready to fire. We see Gregory Parker attempt to negotiate with the man telling him he doesn't have to do it, and the man yells "YES I DO!" and he looks like he's about to pull the trigger ; and rewind! We are taken to 2 hours earlier where the man (Jack Swanson) is sitting with his daughter Phoebe, who is ailing at her home in a nursing unit. They reminisce about a fishing trip years ago. They get a page with the news of a new heart. The SRU breaks in the new Rookie who proves everyone wrong in his first simulation. Back to the man's house - Ruby, her nurse prepares her to get in the car to rush to the hospital with her father. As he is speeding, he is caught by a policeman who soon empathizes with his situation and escorts him to the hospital. At Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, they prepare her for surgery, where the administration notifies Swanson that a computer glitch has bumped his daughter off the list for a much older man. He walks away, but pulls a fast one taking an unaware security guard's gun and turns on the hospital staff declaring "The Heart Belongs to Phoebe!" ROLL OPENING! And Commercials! Why is the ad for Swing Vote so corny? Rickard's White Ale is sponsoring this week's closed captioning. And the show returns! SRU prepares for a trip to the hospital and takes off in two black Chevy Suburbans. The Administrator tells Swanson again that the heart isn't Phoebe's, and he makes his way to the O.R. with the gun, and the intent of shooting the man who is going to be receiving the heart. The Suburbans arrive at the beautiful entrance of Mt. Sinai and they head inside, setting up a command post in the Security Room. Jules takes over, and a nurse comes in telling them what happened. The crew goes silent, and a little unsure what to do. Greg is sent off to start negotiations as they have only an hour left before the heart is no longer viable. The crew works out a plan, but as the negotiation starts, Jack gets a little uneasy. Commercials! I want some Szechuan style chicken from KFC. And some Kraft Dinner. Back to the show! Greg is still negotiating with Jack. Jules learns that Jack might be feeling guilty over the loss of his wife in a car accident where he was driving some time ago. Greg tries to soften the situation by asking him a few questions about his family. The heart arrives, and the clock is ticking. We're lead into this awkward scene where the negotiator convinces Jack to check and see if the patients are okay because the crew can't tell from the cameras very well. The Forensic Psychologist Luria arrives on the scene. The crew sends the rookie out to ... go to Tim Horton's for coffee? Errm... isn't this supposed to be a tense situation -_-'. More planning ensues, and a paramedic brings the heart into the hospital, and the rookie lets him in. This is a big mistake because as soon as he enters the CICU, he surrenders the heart to Jack. Now things are complicated. The man is wheeled into the OR, and Jack fires... at an officer coming from behind! OH THE SUSPENCE AND COMMERCIALS! David Suzuki reminds everyone to turn the AC one degree higher to save enough energy for 38K homes among a bunch of penguins. Blargh who cares about Canadian Idol?! Back to the show! Jack is sorry about shooting the officer, who is okay thanks to his vest. Greg works his words to get the heart to the Doctor to make sure the heart is okay... and it works. The Doctor can examine the heart but only if he stays in front of Jack. The negotiator manages to get Phoebe out of the situation by saying she is going to be prepped just in case. Jules accompanies her. And we have less than half an hour left on the heart. Luria catches Sam and informs him on his mistake lighting up the fire. She suggests he takes her fishing rod up to the girl. Greg and Jack talk about car racing. We learn that Greg's son is with his ex-wife and he hasn't seen him in 9 years. We see a softer side of Greg who tried to change his life for his family but in the end, just couldn't. Jack wants Phoebe to have her life. 15 minutes left for the heart... Greg reveals to Jack that Phoebe is not getting the heart. Jack breaks down and Greg tells him that he just has to let go and Phoebe will get a heart eventually. The conflict seems to be at an end... but then Jack makes his way into the OR. How will this end? After the commercials of course. Those Pedigree puppies are cute ~ next time I am in Toronto I want to visit Ward Island. Back to the show - the snipers are in position. Greg has minutes left on the heart, and lies to Jack saying the heart is damaged and it's no good, in a last ditch effort to get him to drop the gun. The Rookie comes in with his daughter's fishing rod, and Greg gives it to Jack. Jack enters another room where he thinks his daughter is, but she is not there. He is swarmed from all angles by members of the SRU. Jack catches on to the lie, and he is taken into custody. Greg walks out of the command post disturbed and drives off. Jules watches as the man who got the new heart is wheeled off... but wait, there's a change of plans, Phoebe is getting the heart, and the man tells the nurse "it wasn't his turn". So a somewhat happy ending, and Greg visits her as she recovers and gives her Capretti's autographed racing glove. Greg sits with Jack in his jail cell, where he breaks down. Commercials ~ eww Simply Orange and African Lion Safari looks like fun! And next week's episode features the SRU dealing with gangs and drugs.

This episode was a definite improvement on last week's premiere. Amy Jo Johnson's and Enrico Colantoni's characters definitely had more substance. We thought the scenes where they sent off the rookies to Tim Horton's in the middle of the situation and when Jack asked around if everyone was okay were a little awkward. Nonetheless, the ending wasn't as grim as last week's and we really look forward to next week's episode!