From Season 1’s initial shoot out to the cliffhanger Season 4 premiere where Ed Lane’s wife was having problems with her pregnancy, the premiere episodes of each season of “Flashpoint” have  been intense, but the first episode of the fifth and final season of the hit cop show, blows  them all out of the water.

“This job isn’t about firing guns. This job is about getting into the subject’s head,” says Ed Lane in the first few scenes of the episode, addressing his son’s school class. “It’s about listening to what they have to say. You’ve got to connect, respect and protect.”
Truer and more prophetic words have never been spoken on the show.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

A mere few hours later, these words carry  even more weight when team leader, Greg Parker (played by Enrico Colantoni) called “Scorpio” on a civilian and Ed (played by Hugh Dillon) had to pull the trigger.

Even though Season 4 was all about keeping the team together, Raf (Clé Bennett) began Season 5 uncertain of his role on the team.

There was no time for uncertainty, however, when  a hot call leads the team tearing through the streets of Toronto searching for the armed and volatile James Mitchell, the abusive and estranged father to May and ex-husband of Michelle.

After tearing through the streets, the team follows James to the kitchen at the Royal York hotel, and after negotiations go south, Team One follows James and Michelle, and eventually May up to the rooftop.

Though the entire episode sets up James as a domestically abusive monster, things turn suddenly, as May pulls a gun out, training her sights on her father. Spike, who brought the girl up to the roof to help the hostage negotiations doesn’t  see this coming, and neither do  any of the other Team One members, not Jules, who couldn’t keep May from shooting the gun,  not Parker who let her fire twice before calling “Scorpio,” and certainly not Ed, who has to pull the trigger.

“This job isn’t about firing guns,” Ed says  at the beginning of the episode, and yet, the episode ends  with the firing of too many guns.  “You’ve got to connect, respect and protect,” he says, and yet, Team One isn’t  able to diffuse this awful scenario.

It is  a horrific moment, watching May fall to the ground, her mother crying out in sheer agony. It is  absolutely gut-wrenching and all of Team One feels responsible.

“We did nothing wrong. We followed protocol,” they try  to convince themselves in their post-incident debrief.

The call, however, pushes  Raf over the edge. “I just don’t think this is the best place for me to keep the peace,” he says , refusing to let the rest of the team convince him to stay.

And with that, Team One has their first casualty of the season and loses  a member of the team.

If this sets the tone for Season 5, we’re going to be in for an intense ride.