You’re driving to work. You’re out taking the dog for a walk. Hell, maybe you’re even taking a dump on the toilet. Then time stops. You black out for two minutes, and this isn’t any normal blackout. In the duration of these two minutes, you see yourself six months in the future. The vision could be a new chance at hope…or a devastating prophecy. This is what happens in ABC’s new sci-fi television show, FlashForward.
Mark Benford, played by Joseph Fiennes (Ralph Fiennes’s brother…yes, Voldemort has a sibling), is a happily married FBI agent living in sweet and sunny Los Angeles. Doctor wife, Olivia (Sonya Walger, Lost), a darling little daughter, Charlie (why a boy’s name, I’m not sure), all they need is the golden retriever named Fido and they’re set. On a supposedly normal day on the job, Benford and his partner, Demetri (John Cho, Harold of Harold and Kumar) are in the middle of a car chase when BAM! they both lose consciousness. During the blackout, he envisions himself in his office, carefully examining a corkboard full of random pictures that make no sense to him. He notes that the date is April 10, 2010, at 10 PM. He wakes up and finds himself in an overturned car. The city of LA is in turmoil, helicopters crashed into buildings, cars strewn about the highways, the whole shebang. The entire world had been unconscious for two minutes and seventeen seconds and during that time, had visions of their life six months in the future. Trippy, eh? Benford and his team of FBI agents work to figure out how and why this supernatural event occurred. A few want their futures to come true, the vision providing a new hope for them. Others dread the future, and will try everything in the power to prevent it from ever happening.
FlashForward is being called the “sister” show to ABC’s other hit sci-fi show, Lost. Lost, in my opinion, is a pretty kickass show. I know a lot of people out there aren’t into it or think its confusing, but that is only because their impatient and are unable to wait for the mysteries to unravel. So there!
Alright let’s go through the checklist. Plot? In my opinion, quite original, and that’s what I like to see. It’s a pretty cool concept that EVERYONE in the world just stops, and has a vision of their future. It’s more original than Gossip Girl’s “OH EM GEE, HE SLEPT WITH HER?? NO WAY!!!” Thumbs up on plot. Acting? Eh…I think Benford’s daughter, Charlie, is old enough to know that her stuffed animal doesn’t need open heart surgery. It’s understandable because she’s a little girl, and unfortunately Shirley Temple now has Medicare so we can’t throw her in there. Still, horrid choice for the daughter. Otherwise, acting is ok. Joseph Fiennes does a pretty good job as the male lead, and John Cho provides some comic relief. The only problem (for me) is that the character Olivia, played by Sonya Waglar, reminds me too much of her character in Lost, Penny. Thumbs up on acting. Overall? It has a good balance of comedy, action, and sci-fi. I like that it can go from Benford’s boss admitting his flashforward was him “dropping the kids off at the pool”, to a massive explosion at an abandoned doll factory. It covers all the main bases.
Although only two episodes have aired as of yet, I hold high hopes for FlashFoward. My only concern is that it will end up like Heroes, starting off with a strong first season, and then slowly declining there afterward. Heroes jumped the shark a while ago (sorry, Tim Kring), so I’m hoping this will make up for my weekly dose of science fiction. Make sure to check out FlashFoward, Thursdays at eight o’clock. Let’s hope this doesn’t end up like Heroes, folks.
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