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Flashpoint is an action/drama series on CBS about a SWAT-like team of police officers who use state of the art weaponry and technology to fight all kinds of crime. They also use their noggins. Merrill Barr is one of seventeen people who watch it on a weekly basis. This is his review…

It’s a normal day for Greg Parker and the rest of the SRU. That is until Greg gets a mysterious text from an old friend. Upon arriving to the meeting place, Greg is kidnapped and forced to reveal a secret from his past. Now it’s up to the rest of the SRU to find him before the warehouse he’s being held in blows to kingdom come.

Major developments: The only major character development is that we now know the reason why Greg is a recovering alcoholic.

What worked: This is the first time for Flashpoint that one of the team members has been kidnapped, and that kidnapping has been the main plot of the show. Before anyone gets on my ass, I know Ed was taken hostage in the episode “The Farm,” but that was a secondary result of the SRUs presence. In this episode’s case, Greg being kidnapped was the point.

I also really liked the information given regarding Greg’s alcoholism and why his wife split up with him. This episode also sheds more light on Greg’s much talked about son who, according to show creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, will finally be introduced in coming episodes.

Also, Jule’s speech at the end of the episode, explaining that the girl Greg was protecting isn’t the only person that needs him. I appreciated that moment. I appreciated it because a lot of this season has shown the team members being more and more independent. It’s nice to know they still need Parker to hold them all together. And of course, the action in this episode was top quality as usual.

What didn’t: I really wasn’t digging the bad guys right hand man. He really felt out of place for me. It’s nothing personal against the actor. It’s just one of those episode only side characters that didn’t need to be there.

Again, this episode is out of order. The good thing is that this marks the last left over from season 2. So everything from this point should be in chronological order again. And considering Ed’s wife is pregnant now, that should be an incentive to air episodes in order. You don’t want her to magically go from being five months to five weeks between two episodes do you?

Final thoughts: Another very well done episode of Flashpoint. I really hope the stuff introduced with Greg’s alcoholism is explored to greater depth in coming episodes.

Episode: “You Think You Know Someone” (Season 3, Episode 10)

Airs: CBS, Fridays, 10pm

What’s next: After learning she can’t have her kids back once becoming sober, a distraught mother will go to desperate measures to get her children back. But doing so could put her life in danger.

If this is the first you are hearing of this show, then I highly suggest you check out my recent interview with its creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern. The interview can be found here.

To read more of Merrill’s television reviews and to listen to his Idiot Boxers podcast with Kevin Carr, head over to Fat Guys at the Movies.