What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this drama glamorizes the very
dangerous work of an elite police team. The Strategic Response
Unit is called in to handle hostage situations, standoffs with
armed criminals, and other high-stakes incidents. Their
uniforms, gear, weapons, and especially their attitude make
them seem like a well-trained military squad, with bluster and
bravado to spare. The show doesn't have much time for romance,
but there's plenty of action (which can get bloody), and the
officers are often forced to respond with deadly force. But the
show also takes pains to show the emotional impact of these
actions, as the characters deal with the aftermath of giving
and carrying out fatal orders.
Families can talk about how the media typically portrays the police. Is this show consistent with that? If not, how is it different? What moral dilemmas do cops regularly have to face? When a suspect is threatening innocent bystanders or law enforcement, do the police have the right -- or even the duty -- to kill them? How would it feel to be the person to make that decision or carry out the order? Do the characters' reactions to the situations they face on this show seem realistic to you? Can showing how characters react to their violent duties be an argument against violence?
Common Sense Media Review
FLASHPOINT follows the highly trained police officers who
work on the Special Response Unit, an elite squad that's called
in to handle hostage situations, armed standoffs, and other
high-risk missions. These jobs can often escalate into deadly
shootouts, and when they require marksmen to take out a
criminal, it's Sgt. Gregory Parker's (
Enrico
Colantoni) duty to give the order, while Ed Lane (Hugh
Dillon) and his partner Jules Callahan (
Amy
Jo Johnson) are the snipers who have to take the shot.
Plenty of cop shows glamorize the action and pay little attention to the repercussions; this one deserves credit for detailing how each mission can affect the officers and their families. It's hard to shoot someone -- to carefully aim a rifle at another person, line them up in the sights, and, when the order finally comes, deliberately pull the trigger. It's clear that the SRU team members take their job seriously, but there's often heavy emotional aftermath. Lane even throws up immediately after one particularly harrowing assignment -- though, with typical cop bravado, he refuses to admit he was shaken.
That said, the fact that Flashpoint almost goes out of its way to portray a shooting as a negative experience can bog the show down a bit. After one clearly warranted killing, the police force sends in a team of lawyers and investigators to analyze every step of the process, making the sniper seem almost like a criminal rather than a cop following orders. It makes a traumatic experience seem even worse and certainly doesn't make police work seem appealing -- a sharp contrast to the strong sense of camaraderie within the SRU before each mission.
Fans of intense police dramas may also enjoy NYPD Blue and The Shield, as well as any of the Law and Order shows.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
