TV Review - FlashForward - Pilot
ABC's Successor to Lost Borrows Heavily, Yet Intrigues
ABC has been plugging FlashForward for a while now, touting it as their new geek tentpole series once Lost ends for good next year. This makes sense, as the two shows are similar enough in tone and approach as to be almost related. FF feels like the little brother who idolizes his older sibling (Lost), and tries to do everything just like him, only better.
Deja Vu All Over Again
The opening sequence of the pilot is identical enough to Lost's that one hopes it was intentional: a man wakes up to find he's survived some kind of accident, and he stumbles through a landscape of smoldering wreckage trying to make sense of what's just happened. Bodies are strewn and survivors are screaming. Later on, an incongruous animal crosses his path, adding to the surreal quality of the event. Sound familiar? On Lost, it was a plane crash on the island, and a polar bear. Here, it's a car accident on an LA freeway, and a kangaroo. At least creators David Goyer (writer of Dark City, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (writer/producer of Star Trek:The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise) seem to fully acknowledge the connection; there's a prominent billboard in one shot that advertises Oceanic Airways.
The Day The Earth Stood Still
For those unfamiliar with FlashForward's premise, it is surprisingly simple, loosely based on a novel by Robert J. Sawyer with the same name. One September morning, the entire population of the world blacks out at exactly the same moment for exactly 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The catastrophes this causes are scary enough, until it's discovered that while blacked out, everyone experiences a vision of their own future for the duration of the blackout. But not just a random point in the future; everyone jumps ahead (or, "flashes forward", see?) to the exact same time and date some seven months away. That date is April 29, 2010 (which, in a neat trick, also happens be the scheduled airdate of the season one finale).
Joseph Fiennes plays Mark Benford, an FBI agent and recovering alcoholic, who is the stumbling man in the opening sequence. He and his partner Demetri Noh (John Cho of Star Trek and the Harold and Kumar movies) are hotly pursuing some terrorist suspects in a car when the big blackout happens. They then head the investigation into what caused the blackout, using information from Mark's own flash forward. Mark remembers that in his vision, he is actually working off of leads on the case. Unfortunately, he also sees that he has fallen off the wagon, hard.
Seven Billion Stories
So aside from the massive recovery from the disasters caused by the blackout, and the investigation into the cause, the main characters (and the entire world) have a philosophical dilemma to contend with. Is the future written in stone? Can what they see in their flash forwards be changed, or are they inevitable? Is there free will? Or is there only destiny? Should people now live their lives because of what they see, or despite it? The neat thing about this premise is that, as the producers of the show have stated, there are literally billions of potential stories that can be told from the POV of every person on the planet.
One noticeable and refreshing difference between this show and Lost is its penchant for actually answering the questions that can be answered quickly. Gone are the annoying and plentiful moments from that show where characters refuse to tell important information for no reason other than to extend the plot arbitrarily. John Cho's character is obviously disturbed when he says he actually had no vision, and he quickly changes the subject. But when confronted later, he doesn't clam up illogically so he can have a big reveal in episode 8, he talks about it. The reveal about his vision also indicates the creators of the show are anticipating the intelligence of its audience and trying to stay ahead of them.
One Geeky Nitpick
That being said, here's a question. In Mark's future, he sees himself drinking again, a fate he is desperate not to have happen, as it will probably mean the end of his marriage. He is also wearing a friendship bracelet that he doesn't recognize. Toward the end of the episode, his daughter gives him that same bracelet for him to wear. Now, if Mark, like everyone else, is grappling with the inevitability of the visions, why could he not snip the thing off and burn it, immediately? Yes, he'd have to explain it to his disappointed daughter, and yes she might make him another one. But it might prove, at least for a time, that he does have a semblance of free will. To be fair, this was only the first episode and perhaps this will be addressed later.
Basically, FlashForward is stylish (if familiar), smart, mysterious, and fun. And let's not forget, the visions are only of the end of the first season. The entire premise may be part of a larger picture. There's no telling where the show will go, not even for the prescient populace that inhabits it. And that's a good thing.
FlashForward airs Thursday nights at 8 on ABC.
Joseph Fiennes in FlashForward
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