Flashpoint in a Flash: Episode 8

Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis continue to bring out a better show each week! Full summary after the jump!


We begin with one of the coolest shots this entire season. The camera backs away from a Toronto courthouse. We hear sirens, see people running out the doors, a police car pulling in, and then another, and then the SRU SUV, a judge and a lawyer running in between, policemen, paramedics, and then the caution line, along with the rest of the public. We hear a voice shout “YOU LIED JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE” and Ed Lane in plainclothes has a gun to his head. How did Ed get involved in the line of fire?! Greg is trying to rush the SRU who are walking along ceiling beams to get into the courtroom. There is also a security woman in the room being held hostage with Ed. The gunman says, “Your time is up”... and REWIND! 3 hours earlier: our gunner walks out of the house, and one of the two men on the porch wishes him good luck with his lawyer today. We’re actually 90% sure that this is a house around Dufferin Mall in Toronto. He rips down posters with his face on them on street poles that say “Watch your children this convicted felon is living in our neighborhood”. He looks around in disbelief at the myriads of posters everywhere else. Back at SRU HQ, Ed gets his rifle primed and ready. Greg walks in saying he should only use one shot to the head, before praising him that he is his number one guy. Now the bad news, Ed is being sued by the son of the man who was killed in the first episode. Stephanie Morgenstern briefly appears in a flashback of the moment the gun went off. Ed’s a little shocked. At a lawyer’s office, our gunner (whose name is Michael) receives some bad news about the prosecution playing some dirty tricks in his wrongful conviction 11 years ago. Things go from bad to worse when the missing evidence from the files means that he can’t file an appeal to clear his name. Greg reassures Ed the team is behind himn 100% and his lawyer will get him out of this but Ed is stunned that he is being called to the courthouse today. He can’t understand how someone doubts his job after all that happened that day. Greg tells him that it’s all a part of grieving. Michael’s lawyer tells him he doesn’t have the time to file an appeal, and we learn that he was in jail since he was 15. All Michael wants is to have his name cleared to his family and the public so he can truly be free. Mpho Koaho’s performance is powerful! He leaves the lawyer’s office. Outside the courthouse, Ed’s lawyer walks him through what will happen and that he will get him out. Michael calls under a fake name to the prosecuting lawyer’s office, and finds out he is busy in court all day. So he goes over there to get some answers. He walks inside, is checked by security, and an officer discovers an ankle bracelet. He is called on it, but he turns away to grab a gun from another officer and hollers at everyone to put their hands up and not to move. He fires at the roof before he runs through the halls. ROLL CREDITS! __________. Back to the show! The camera shows us downtown Toronto from overhead, before sailing over the courthouse. Ed is interrogated in a library about what happened the day he pulled the trigger. The security guard is instructed by another one to put the room under lockdown, as there is someone with a gun running loose in the building. Ed asks if there is anything serious going on, while the lawyers argue over when to reschedule this hearing. Ed flashes his badge and asks for the door to be unlocked. He leaves. Ed calls the SRU to find out what is going on, and he looks around for Michael. Michael is now on an upper floor, looking around for the prosecutor. We skitter between Ed trying to take control of the situation, and Michael on his manhunt. He runs into the security woman chatting on her cell phone and holds her at gunpoint. Ed approaches them! He complies with a frustrated Michael, dismembers his gun, and gets on his cell phone to talk to Greg about what is going on. Greg pulls up outside the courthouse, and Ed relays the message that he is looking for a prosecutor. Greg picks up he is being held at gunpoint, and the SRU has to deal with Ed being stuck in this situation. _________. Greg assures the team that even though he doesn’t have his gun, he’s going to be okay. He sends Wordy to find the prosecutor, Jules to ID the gunman, and Spike and Louis to go in the building. Ed talks to Greg for a minute, but has to hang up. Greg looks at some plans and finds out where the prosecutor is, and they decide to confine him in there before taking him. Some members go up to clear out the room, while Ed tries to learn something from Michael about why he is there. The SRU moves up the stairs, as Ed answers the phone to hear about options. They are leaving an ear wig for him on the prosecutors table. Ed says to go to Courtroom 7, and puts himself in further danger by telling Michael to take him instead over the security woman. Wordy arrives to the courtroom and clears out the room, taking the Prosecutor aside. Jules sees that Ed is now handcuffed and they all worry more. Ed stalls until the absolute last second when a senior is lifted away to an exit. And now we are where the episode began. In another library, Wordy tries to ask the Prosecutor what he did, or if he knows anything about the man holding his buddy hostage. Jules learns that Michael was convicted of the murder and rape of another teenager in 1997. Michael gives Ed an ultimatum: 15 minutes to get the Prosecutor to him, or else he dies. Jules gets more information on the victim as Ed asks the security woman to distract him for a minute while he puts the ear wig in. Ed talks to him and learns that Michael was convicted with a supposed confession he never made. He connects to him as he’s trying to defend his own actions. The SRU plans to break in the courtroom through the roof and sets up a sniper across the street. We see a dramatic change in Ed, he is no longer the macho man in control, but one who is broken and questioning his own decision. The girl Michael was accused of killing was his only friend - which meant a lot to him since he was the only “black kid in the class”. We hear of his sad tale and Ed and the security woman sympathize with him. Jules finds holes in the Prosecutor’s story, and the SRU is ready to jump in. Other snipers plan their shots. Ed subtly moves Michael under the balcony. Jules tries to dig up more dirt on the prosecutor, and Ed finds out that someone who spent only minutes with Michael in the cell made up a fake story about how she died. Ed continues to try to get him to put the gun down, begging him. Spike jumps down on the balcony and throws a smoke bomb as they jump down and hold Michael at gunpoint. Ed leaves with the Security Woman, as a electric guitar mix of the theme song plays. Michael is held at gunpoint as we go to commercial while he is still holding the gun. Jules learns that the Prosecutor pulled some shady tricks in the case. Ed confronts the Prosecutor with a cassette recorder, and talks to him about some other cases wherein false confessions were conjured. Ed goes back in the room against Greg’s wishes to talk to Michael to get him to lower that gun. He tells him that there’s enough evidence for an appeal, and he doesn’t want anyone to die today. Michael tells a part of the story that no one knew, and that was that he was not the last person to see her alive. Ed assures him that they will make sure he goes to justice. Michael puts down the gun... the montage begins. Ed asks for his name as he is driven away by police. We also hear another fantastic song , Lost At Sea, from the actor who plays Ed, Hugh Dillon. He wrote this song especially for the show, and I really hope that the full version of this song is released. It’s a sad ode to his character. Michael lights a candle at Katie’s grave, lays a pink lily, and walks away. Next week: Flashpoint’s Season Finale?! The SRU rescues a child held captive for years, but soon has more than it can handle when they find she is not the only child the kidnapper held. We can’t wait!