FlashForward (sorta) Midseason Report

As originally reported in my preview video, I will be reviewing a different show every day this week....

Well, I have a slight confession to make: I'm actually not completely caught up on my FlashForward episodes. And since I don't think I really know enough to even spoil anybody who has any desire to watch the show, I'm going to forgo the page cut. Much like V, this show has a premise I tend to enjoy, and features actors (most of whom are from Lost) that I'm a fan of. So FlashForward pretty much had a guaranteed viewer in me, even if it's online weeks after the fact. And while I am a few episodes behind, I'm pretty shocked that people speculate that this series is on the bubble since production was halted. Could things have gone so drastically downhill? I find that hard to believe.

In fact, I've really, really enjoyed FlashForward. My only concern is one that applies to any series with such a confined premise -- does the story lend itself to multiple years of enjoyment? This particular story, to an extent, is guaranteed to be resolved within the season (due to the established timeline that has been laid out already). Where does the story go next season? Or the one after that? Then again, 24 is about to kick off its eighth season, and people said the same thing about that show.

One of my favorite aspects of this series is the contrasting actions and the purposefully inconsistent behavior. Take, for example, the reckless behavior. You have these "ghosts" who are willingly and knowingly putting themselves in deadly situations because they didn't experience a flash forward. As far as they're concerned, they're already going to be dead in a matter of months, so why delay the inevitable? Then you have somebody like Bryce, who makes borderline irresponsible medical diagnoses based purely on the faith that this person is alive in six months -- so they can't possibly die now. While they're on opposite sides of the spectrum, in both instances people are making life or death decisions based on this blind belief that no matter what happens, these visions of the future will come to fruition.

Along those same lines, there's this fun tug of war going on. Some characters are clearly committing self fulfilling prophecies (as it's been noted on the show, the entire motivation of the Mosaic project is that, in the future, Mark is working on said project), while other struggle endlessly to avoid their fate (such as Olivia and her behavior with Lloyd).

And throughout the entire first portion of the season we've asked ourselves, "Is the future set in stone? Can it be changed? Or are we powerless?" I asked that question a few times, especially after Janis was shot. I anxiously waited for the following week to see if she survived. Because if she didn't, that meant things could be changed. And then came Al's ultimate sacrifice. And since the, the show has been turned upside down. We now know (unless something changed) that things CAN change. And quite drastically, at that. And, to me, that adds a little more complexity to an already complicate series.

Of course, the show ultimately works because it's not just sizzle. One of the things that pulled me in was the show's ability to mellow out and laugh. Sure, it's literally toilet humor, but I couldn't stop laughing at the fact that everybody had this significant, once in a lifetime opportunity to see what their lives are like in the future, and poor Wedeck simply sees himself taking a dump. How incredibly unfortunate. Talk about missing out!

There's been a fair amount of drama as well, of course. I think my favorite scene yet was the Halloween episode, when Mark, Olivia, and Lloyd are in the Benford living room when, silently (initially, anyway) all three come to realize their unusual connection. And when it's finally brought out in the open, it was fun seeing each character contain their heated emotions, all while trying to remain civil due to the fact that, technically, nobody has actually done anything wrong yet.

It is my hope that this substance will help carry the show into subsequent seasons. As I've said, it simply won't work if it's a mere one trick pony. Of course, I'm sure the episodes I've missed may shed a bit more light on where the show plans on going once the April flash forward point passes. Once I'm all caught up, perhaps I'll discuss the show even further.







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