TV Show Review: FlashForward
Jenna Hathaway
A lot of people wish they can see their future. In this new show that premiered this fall and was anticipated by many, everyone in the whole world did. On October 6th, 2009, the world experienced a mass blackout. And for the two minutes and 17 seconds in which every single person in the world was unconscious, they each saw their future six months later; on April 29th, 2010.
The show tells the story of the people affected by these “visions.” A group of FBI agents started an investigation to find out the cause of the blackout while trying to deal with their new knowledge at the same time. Some don’t have visions at all and begin to doubt they’d even live for another six months. Some see things so impossible; having a baby when they’re not even in a relationship yet, sleeping with someone else despite being in a happy marriage, and finding their supposedly dead daughter still alive. Naturally, some are scared the visions will come true, while others who are given hope by them, wish they would. In a way, we start to see how the visions threaten to become self-fulfilling prophecies because people stop trusting each other due to things that haven’t even happened yet, causing their very predictions to come true on their own. And people are torn between believing those visions are set in stone or if the future is still changeable and that they still have free will.
As far as a science fiction show goes, FlashForward takes a rather interesting plot that I don’t think has ever been done before. Some compare it to Lost, with how complicated it seems, how it shows a connection between many main characters, and how with each episode we seem to be getting more questions and less answers. However, while I have given up on Lost, I have pretty high hopes for FlashForward. It focuses more on the real life drama than the science fiction bit and so far they haven’t made my head hurt just yet. Plus, I don’t foresee it being dragged over too many seasons with pointless plots because six months isn’t a very long time. I’m curious what they will do once they reach April 29th, 2010 in the show. Which, presumably, will be April 29th in real time as well because they’ve been following our actual timeline so far, having each episode happening a week after one another.
If you have always liked the concept of time travel and the future, I would recommend this show for you. It’s probably way too “normal” for a sci-fi geek because it doesn’t have high-tech gadgets or even a lot of sci-fi things, but I like how they focus more on character development and the relationships. They don’t rely on the outstanding visual effects, but rather on actual character interaction. It’s a show that can be enjoyed by those who aren’t even really into science fiction. I’d suggest giving it a try if you want to experience something new!
