Off and on I’ve had conversations about this new show coming this fall and about how it could be the new Lost (which I’m somewhat ashamed that I never found the time to watch). Well the premiere has arrived and I’m here to report on my thoughts. In short, it has promise and I will be keeping my eye on it at least in the short term.
The basic premise of Flash Forward seems to be this: one day, out of the blue, everyone on Earth blacks out at the same exact moment and all for a period of 137 seconds. During this blackout period, everyone gets a glimpse at that slice of time some 6 months in the future (though some see nothing at all). The immediate result is calamity – countless deaths and injuries due to various types of vehicular accidents or inopportune locales (e.g., surfing), followed by chaos of people looting and taking advantage of the confusion. But as the dust settles, there is a sense of unification – everyone has a definitive fate to consider and certainly something in common with every fellow man that they can talk about.
The epicenter of the story is around an FBI team that seems to quickly coalesce as the goto team in figuring out what happened to the world and what the visions tell us about our fate. While the show is a fast-paced drama and I was able to connect with many of the characters very quickly, I have to say that I was surprised by some of the casting – specifically the large number of comedic talent used in such a serious show. Among the FBI investigative team, they have cast John Cho (popularly renown as Harold), Joseph Fiennes (ok, serious – but I can’t help but picture him in Shakespearian garb), and Seth MacFarlane. I have no doubt that everyone will play their roles well, but I can’t help but feel that some of their better talents will remain untapped in such a series.
The real drama and intrigue is in finding out who saw what and the mosaic (to use their word) that slowly comes together from the individual fragments. It will also be interesting to whether knowing the future will have any impact on it – whether any of the outcomes can be avoided because they have been revealed, or whether they are preordained. I have a feeling that they picked 6 months as the flash date so that they can put a nice bow on the season if it doesn’t get renewed, but it is way to early to call anything right now. Another angle that is arising is the idea that this may not have been an accident and that at least one individual has been identified as having not been effected. So there are definitely some fascinating mysteries to be unraveled.
So to sum up, I’ll likely keep watching the show and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. It has all of the right ingredients and a cast I can get into. But the moment MacFarlane starts doing funny voices, I think I may have to change the channel.