Posted: 09/15/2009

A Shot In the Dark – Dark Blue Season Finale, September 16

(2009)

by Laura Tucker

You know what they say about getting a “taste for blood,” I think similar must apply to those that do criminal acts. Even if they clean up their ways and become better citizens, they’ll always know they “could” commit that crime. It’s not like the rest of the population that wonders if they could or not and lives in the the fear of not knowing. They know they can. The undercover cops in Dark Blue actually live within that criminal world in order to catch the criminals themselves, so they know they can commit these crimes as well, and because of that, it’s hard to always give them the benefit of the doubt.

In the season finale of Dark Blue, it’s Carter (Dylan McDermott), the leader of the undercover team, whose intentions come into question. He has the crew chasing after a suspect, but once they catch him, he demands they lay off. Something about all this doesn’t sit right with them and they follow Carter and catch him meeting up with the suspect late at night by himself. In a one-on-one, a shot is fired, and when the team comes in to investigate, Carter orders them to leave, saying the suspect was really a DEA officer, and he doesn’t want them to get involved.

The team does as they’re told, and Carter is brought in for questioning in the killing of this DEA agent. His team hears him say that he was meeting the DEA officer, who probably not so coincidentally happens to be Carter’s ex-partner, and the man Carter’s ex-wife is currently seeing, and when they started arguing,  a blue car came up and shot the DEA officer. None of the evidence supports his claims, and there are no eyewitnesses, other than Carter’s own undercover crew who need to decide whether they should go against Carter and tell what they know of that night or not.

Carter’s a cop, and wants everyone to believe he’d never do such a thing, but he’s a good undercover cop, and has done seedy things before when he needs to get the job done. The question here is if he would murder his ex-partner/ex-wife’s current lover because he’s still in love with his ex. His team have all struggled with these demons themselves, so they know more than anyone else how much of a possibility this could be.

This dilemma makes a very fitting end to the season, as it opens up questions of the intentions of the entire team. What would they do if in Carter’s shoes and for how long are they willing to stand behind him?

The season finale of Dark Blue airs Wednesday, September 16 on TNT.

Laura Tucker Laura Tucker is the webmaster of Reality Shack, and its accompanying Reality Shack Blog, and is a freelance writer providing reviews of movies and television, among other things, at Viewpoints. She is also an Associate Instructor and 2nd dan black belt in tae kwon do with South Elgin Martial Arts. Laura can be reached at LauraBelle@realityshack.com

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