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RSSABC's 'FlashForward': Seth MacFarlane and a kangaroo
It was, apparently, a day like any other, and then people had a two minute and seventeen second vision of what was going to happen to them in about 6 months, or, what we now call a "FlashForward," because, you know, that's the title of the show. It's also the title of the novel the show is based on, even if outside of the name and the whole seeing the future thing the two have little in common. Clearly I won't be using the novel as crib notes this season.
Some may argue that it wasn't really an average day for Demetri and Mark, mostly because their case against the possible terrorists had finally gotten exciting. But seriously, a terrorist case versus everyone in the world having a vision of the future, you tell me what's interesting and what isn't. And the same is true for Bryce's contemplating suicide - a sad thing to be sure, but less interesting than him seeing the future. Plus, let's net forget that Mark and Demetri got their terrorists and Bryce didn't commit suicide.
What I really wonder about is why Charlie, the little girl, thought that her vision meant that there would be no more good days. Massive death and destruction are obviously not good, but how does that mean that 40 years down the line (or beyond that) that there are no more good days, that they're done forever? Or does the little one have no real wisdom and was she just kind of scared?
I do like how quickly the folks in Los Angeles picked up on the fact that it was a real vision of the future and how to (maybe) prove it - just get corroboration from someone else who was in your vision. Good plan, solid detective work, also, a little crazy. That first call had to be a hard one to make, "Hey, Elizabeth Corday, did you dream about me today, because I certainly dreamt about you." That could go very wrong and quickly end up at "You're always in my dreams, Doctor Corday," which for me may be true, but wasn't really the point of the phone call.
Good old John Cho as Demetri though, he was right about them getting assigned to the case being weird. They get to run point because Mark dreamt of them running point? Maybe I should get a million dollars because I say that I one day will get a million dollars. It's weird - that massive corkboard gets brought into existence because Mark and Demetri construct it based on Mark's recollection of it already existing. What would Emmett Brown say to that kind of thing? I don't think he'd like it.
At this point, quite obviously, we have far more questions than answers, the biggest question being - is this a case of "A Christmas Carol" and can these shadows still be changed, or is what we saw fixed? Take Olivia and Mark, now that they know their marriage is breaking up (maybe) and that she cheats (perhaps), can they fix it? Or, since she thinks that she is going to sleep with someone else, will she sleep with someone else because she sort of already did? I really have no investment in them as a couple at this point, so I don't so much care about the result there, but I do know that I don't want to lose John Cho just because Demetri had no vision.
Perhaps there is a better question, and one with a more immediate answer coming - who is the guy in Detroit who remained awake for the length of the incident? Is that Dominic Monaghan's character, because he certainly wasn't in the show otherwise tonight.
Quick flashes:
- I liked the premiere, but I'll tell you what the show doesn't need more of - Joseph Fiennes running in slow motion with overly dramatic music. I mean, really what was the point in that?
- Kangaroos are awesome, every city should have them hopping about randomly. Was there a pet store trading illegally in such animals nearby? Surely the gates at the zoo didn't magically unlock just because the zookeeper wasn't awake to watch them.
- How did Mark know that it didn't "feel" like a hallucination? Isn't the point of a good hallucination that it "feels" real?
- Seth MacFarlane, FBI guy. Do we feel like if he comes back regularly it'll help the show or just be weird?
- Tracy. Is she alive? Did she ever die? Does she come back to life? What are we thinking there?
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - we'll still exist on April 29, 2010, that I promise you.
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I'm going to give this show a chance simply because it's not another CSI/NCIS/Law&Order spin-off. The television landscape is cluttered with too many cop/forensic procedurals, so I'm willing to give FlashForward a chance.
That said, I can't shake the feeling that the show's "mythology" is being rammed down the viewers' throats way too early. Everything felt way too rushed and the connecting of some major dots (that almost everyone had had a vision or shared vision, that the exact date of the future vision, etc.) happened way too fast and was a little too convenient and too contrived.
I would've liked the pilot to have explored a little more the rampant chaos and confusion that would be happening in such a worldwide event. The pilot didn't give the viewer enough time to absorb the enormity of the event and the havoc it was causing. It was just like, wow, the world just stopped for 2 minutes 17 seconds...let's put up a web site where people can share their visions!!
We meet all these characters, get glimpses of their future and we're supposed to care about what happens to them? Nah, it's too soon to care.
To tell you the truth, the only person I'm curious about, at this point, is the unknown guy walking around the baseball stadium while everyone else was blacked out.
What does it say about the show that the most interesting character is the one we know the least about?
Will see how it turns out! Hopefully it turns out to be exitng and dramatic.
Anybody else find it ironic that a show called flashforward began with a flashback?
Zzzzzzzzz
aawww, this is classic "lost" conceptually. i thought it was just ok, exciting, puzzling, but since it's been hyped so much and we already knew the details, just ok, until the man in the stadium. then i felt that classic lost chill.
in fact, until our dear sarcastic blogger mentioned the novel, i thought it interesting that the whole show was named after a lost device. i'm sure the word existed, but i certainly hadn't heard "flash forward" mentioned much before lost introduced us to it.
iggy, i would say the show's "mythology" felt rushed because they've got a lot more to tell us, so why waste time explaining when they knew it would be part of the marketing to tell us what it was all about beforehand. that excites me. much more stuff to come...like that guy in the stadium. i sure hadn't heard about that.
also, why see more rampant chaos? we've already seen it in a million shows and movies. for me, at least, it would have been exceedingly boring to have to watch it here, when i KNOW there must be much more good stuff to come. imagine me here rubbing my hands together in thrilled anticipation.
btw, anyone know if april 29, 2010 is the last show day of this season?
The episode was all exposition, but the unraveling of everyone's flash forward was really engaging. The cinematography was brilliant especially with the first act, and the final scene kept me wanting more. I reviewed the episode on my blog.
http://th3tvobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/09/abcs-flash-forward-next-big-hit.html
Must agree the show follows a definite Lost formula. I thought those scenes on the freeway immediately following the blackout (with all the chaos, confusion and stuff exploding) were highly reminiscent of Lost's pilot ep.
(The Lost influence is seemingly acknowledged by the appearance of an Oceanic billboard in one of FF's long shots. Or did I imagine that during a blackout?)
I'll probably stick around to see how the show develops. But it's also somewhat reminiscent of "The Nine" in that FF's premise might be better suited to a miniseries, not especially an ongoing show. Tough to tell right now.
BTW, I thought the 'V' promo looked promising.
Hey Kira, April 29 would not be the last night of the show this season, although there will be an episode that night if the show sticks around.
I think it will, although Joseph Fiennes' constant hangdog look was a downer. My question though is if you knew when in the future the flash forward was taking place, wouldn't you write something on a piece of paper and send a message to yourself? It could explain everything (or just give yourself some stock picks)...
The FBI guy lives in Agrestic.