Flashforward - Five 9pm - Episode 1 Review
Chilling Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller
A mysterious global event causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. As people worldwide start to come around some begin to see visions of their lives six months in the future. The event causes numerous fatal accidents and cities around the world resemble an apocalyptic nightmare.
A team of Los Angeles FBI agents under the supervision of Stanford Wedeck (Courtney B Vance ) begin the process of determining what happened. The investigation is led by Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) a recovering alcoholic and family man, driven by the vision of his investigation in the future. With the aid of his team, Benford begins creating a database of people's flash-forwards from around the world, in the hopes of discerning any pattern that might help solve this cataclysmic mystery.
Meanwhile, as people try to pick up the pieces of their lives, they also have to contend with the visions they experience varying from comical and joyful to disturbing visions of betrayal. Some even have no visions at all suggesting disturbingly they may be dead within six months.
The New Lost?
It is hard not to compare this show to “Lost” especially as it has a similarly explosive opening. Instead of an airplane crash you have an automobile pile up on the Los Angeles freeway. Fiennes’ FBI agent pulls himself from the wreckage of his car and gasps at the carnage of wrecked cars, mangled bodies and panic stricken citizens fleeing in all directions. Cars catch fire and explode and a helicopter crashes into a building.
Other comparisons feature a bill board advertising Oceanic Airlines and the casting of “Lost” alumni Sonya Walger as well as soon to be seen Dominic Monaghan. Yet it is unfair to focus on these similarities as this impressive opener stands very well on its own as a mystery science fiction drama packed with intrigue, action and character establishment, and should be viewed as such.
Masters of the Surreal
Whilst this is no doubt a science fiction drama as it involves a form of time travel, the script avoids any reference to complicated time travelling paradoxes or parallel universes. Instead it concentrates on the down to earth human drama of ordinary people recovering from a disaster, and the FBI treating this like any other investigation. Yet the aftermath leaves the world looking surreal and unfamiliar through some clever cinematography and the script courtesy of Brannan Braga and David S Goyer, both with CV’s showcasing their penchant for the dark and disturbing.
Braga, whose credits include “Star Trek” and “24” knows how to script scenarios where people are caught up in the most disturbingly frightening events yet somehow find a way to persevere against the odds, and is a staple feature of this episode. Goyer, writer of the “Blade” movies, and “Batman Begins”, ups the scare factor with his own brand of chaos and insanity. The script is well paced, with some sharp and emotionally charged dialogue for which this dynamic duo have proven they can deliver, and convey with unerving realism, a sense of the world forever turned upside down.
Stellar Cast and Appetite Whetter
Aside from excellent pacing and a simple story full of intrigue, the show boasts an impressive international line up of actors including Joseph Fiennes, Courtney B Vance (Law and Order: Criminal Intent) as well as the UK’s own Jack Davenport, and John Cho (Hikaru Sulu, Star Trek) as Benford’s partner Demetri Noh. All are excellent in their roles, particularly Fiennes who seems to be at ease with his action hero character. Vance, fresh off the set of the last ever ER, is excellent as head of the interagency task force investigating the blackouts and even enjoys a little comedic turn in his vision. Also, Cho, as the FBI agent whose fate is unknown, shows that he has matured as an actor since debuting in 1999’s “American Pie”.
Other memorable performances include Sonya Walger as Benford’s wife, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley a suicidal doctor, whose vision gives him new hope in his future, and Tony award winning Irish actor Brian F O’Byrne as Aaron Stark, Benford’s AA sponsor, tortured by future visions of someone he thought had been long dead. Watch out for guest appearances by ER’s Alex Kingston and an uncredited Seth Macfarlane (creator of Family Guy) as an FBI agent.
Overall an impressive start to a series that may well enjoy a long run packed with intrigue, suspense and frustrating endings with shocking twists guaranteed to leave the viewer wanting more and more.
To learn more about the show and its cast and crew, or to catch up on missed episodes go to www.five.tv
The Cast of Flash Forward
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