Run – The episode seemingly begins in the future with several brief shots. In one shot, Senior Constable Zil Ahmed/Zilficar (Akshay Khanna) is held in interrogation while in another, a young girl anxiously waits at reception. When Sergeant Hugo Nance (Rob Flanagan) runs the Dalia Tun (Zoe Boe), the system reports an array of previous child-related incidents.

Once Ahmed arrives and dresses for his shift, he is confronted by Inspector Ivy Tsuma (Zindzi Okenyo) for being late, which turns out to be a poorly timed joke. He is further teased and referred to as the Poster Boy when he joins his fellow offices in the bullpen. Senior Constable Peter Emery (Oliver Ackland) then brings everyone up to speed with the day’s agenda. Being that it’s Friday, hot, and cricket is on, it’s expected to be busy.

At school, Dalia and Angela Combes (Amelia Stylianou) celebrate Yvonne Kaczmarek (Emily Martino) getting her P driver’s license and make plans to attend a party later that evening. They soon realize they have problems due to the P license only allowing the legal transport of one passenger. Dalia quickly solves this by changing her plans to meet them there. There is no time to debate this due to the sudden arrival of Hayden Broadis (Jai Watford), who seemingly gives Yvonne what appears to be a small plastic baggie of pills. Dalia finds herself awkwardly alone with Hayden when Yvonne and Angel’s attention is called elsewhere. He asks her about the party but she only responds with a smile.

The next scene reveals that Dalia lives in a group home, run by a young lady named Alice (Brittany Santariga). Despite Alice’s young age and attractive looks, a brief incident between Tonya (Jade A. Potts) and another student suggests that she is fair but stern. While Dalia uses the incident to sneak away from the house, Ahmed and Senior Constable Sandra Ali (Roxie Mohebbi) debate her taking a leadership position. This discussion doesn’t get too far thanks to the group home call. Although it is Emery’s squad who responds first, Ahmed is immediately sent to a suspected DV on Piper Street.

Dalia is already outside the party by the time Hayden’s boss, Ty Egan (Hunter Page-Lochard) drops him off. Ty also lets him know that he’s being expected to sell more product due to the party tonight. Although Hayden doesn’t appear happy with his new responsibility, he keeps it to himself. He and Dalia end up inside together but after getting a drink and sharing an even briefer conversation, they end up on the back patio where they dance. This is interrupted by Brad (Jeremy Blewitt), who is clearly tripping hard on something, and then by the cops.

While the cops formulate a plan and deal with Brad, Hayden and Dalia slip away. After Emery discovers that the house belongs to Brad, Ali convinces him to invite them inside. After calling for backup, Ahmed and several of the officers shut down the party. This goes off nearly perfectly until one of the attendees throws up on Probationary Constable Dallas ‘Probie’ Plunkett (Nicholas Burton). This starts a chain reaction that is followed by Ahmed finding Yvonne nearly overdosed and another of the teens spit on Constable Rory Hooper (Aidan Gillett). The situation outside only continues to spin further out of control as Ahmed requests an ambulance for Yvonne. While Ahmed induces vomiting to save Yvonne’s life, Ali is hit with a rock.

Detective Sergeant Edith Barcelos (Simone Kessell) franticly speaks with someone on the phone about catching a ‘Critical Incident’ case before joining Superintendent Trevor Latt (Erik Thomson) inside. From there, he takes her to meet with Ahmed and his legal aid Kane Kerr (Sean Hall). Edith is all business but ensures Ahmed that she is only there to ensure he followed proper procedure. It doesn’t take Ahmed long to realize she is going to accuse him of being overworked due to him volunteering for a General Duties shift last night and then doing his 10-hour shift today. Edith asks him plainly at one point if he started his shift looking for retribution for Ali.

Ahmed’s response to Edith’s accusation isn’t shown but afterward, his conversation with Senior Constable Greg Hall (Jackson Heywood) reveals that Ali is in the hospital with a concussion that almost cracked her skull. They also have video evidence of the incident which Inspector Tsuma and Superintendent Latt subsequently brief them on. Afterward, Tsuma takes a few minutes to make sure that Ahmed’s head is in the game.

Elsewhere, Dalia has fallen asleep in Hayden’s arms and soon realizes her mistake when she receives a scathing phone call from her group home leader, Alice. He attempts to take the blame for the incident but she explains that things don’t work like that. Although he doesn’t have a car, he gives her bus money that she doesn’t take. She does admit that she liked staying before leaving.

Constable Cassie Milton (Heidi May) and Senor Constable Marco Aguilar (Gabriel Alvarado) get lucky when they randomly run into the rock thrower while breaking for lunch at a takeout restaurant. Although they are in plain clothes, the girl senses they are cops and flips them off as she leaves with her order. Little does the girl know, that it is that act that causes Cassie to recognize her, otherwise she would have walked away free and clear. Cassie pursues her on foot while Marco calls the incident in, but it is Marco who eventually catches up to her just as she jumps a fence and pulls a knife. Thanks to Cassie’s foresight, he doesn’t go over the fence after her.

Several other officers local to the area hear Cassie’s call about the girl in the red top go out over the radio, including Ahmed. The problem is, the girl that he has spotted is Dalia and not the rock thrower. There is a brief foot chase before Dalia is apprehended by Probie, but it is revealed that during the chase, Ahmed accidentally knocked a civilian in front of a speed train.

Inspector Evan Carr (Andrew Cutcliffe) briefly speaks to the media about the incident, which further reveals that the victim, although greatly injured, is still alive. Despite the press pushing for it, Carr refuses to release the names of the officers involved. When he does, one of the more zealous reporters suggests that it is suspected that 15-year-old Luka Horvat (Luke Greco) was the injured party. Carr quickly wraps up by promising a thorough and fair investigation into the incident.

Inspector Tsuma pays a personal visit to what appears to be a communal housing building for the officers to speak with Ali. Although their conversation is cryptic it is suggested that the Superintendent has made an unfavorable decision about Ahmed. It is also suggested that Ahmed has some kind of past with Dalia. That’s about as far as their conversation goes for the moment thanks to the arrival of Inspector Cassie, who appears to staying at the house, acting as a parental unit.

Alice briefly meets Emery when she arrives at the station to collect Dalia. At the same time, Ahmed is showering when he overhears Aguilar and Hooper critically assessing his lapse. Before he begins to hyperventilate, it’s revealed that the rock thrower was eventually arrested and proudly owned up to throwing the rock that nearly crippled Ali.

The episode ends with Alice asking Dalia why she ran. She doesn’t offer a response.

 

Critical Incident Review

As far as police procedurals go, this wasn’t too bad. It was very unoriginal and basic but I did appreciate the focus on Ahmed’s schedule. This is something that a lot of people don’t really pay attention to in real life or simply choose to overlook. Patrol officers, who are 90% of the ones you see make critical errors, are constantly moonlighting and taking extra shifts for the huge overtime bonuses. I’m not saying that they aren’t overworked, but the majority volunteer for these shifts to capitalize on the huge overtime bonuses. On top of this, they work their 10 or 12-hour shifts.

I am sure this is not the case, but I kind of felt the series approached the other issues in a perfunctory/joking manner. Take the incident with the kid at the hospital, that whole ordeal was completely atrocious. I also felt far too much emphasis was placed on showing what an ethical and moral guy Hayden was, despite peddling poison to teenagers. Despite the shorter 45-minute run time, the series is highly oversaturated with needless cast. I’d give the episode a 5.0 out of 10, but I am intrigued enough to continue watching.

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