Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

This Lost-wannabe is starting to lose its way (and its viewers) as it meanders through tepid subplots

By John J. Joex

ABC, Thursdays 8 PM EST

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars (after 4 episodes)

ABC’s FlashForward received a lot of pre-season buzz and scored high with its first episode, so even those who have not tuned in for the show have some inkling of its premise. In the premiere, everybody on the planet (most everybody that is) blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds during which time they have visions of what they will be doing six months from that time. Of course this blackout triggers worldwide disasters as people driving their cars or flying planes or in some other form of motion are out of control for that period. After everybody wakes up and starts to comprehend what happened, they begin to pick up the pieces around them and to speculate on what they have seen. The series is very loosely based on the novel of the same name written by Robert J. Sawyer.

The focus of the show across the first few episodes is on the members of an FBI taskforce (along with their immediate friends and families) that takes it upon itself to determine what caused the blackouts. We follow their attempts to find a reason for what happened as well as to create a database with information about the flash-forwards from as many people around the world as possible. We also see them dealing with the implications of the flash-forwards they experienced personally, which includes the series lead, Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), seeing himself working on the investigation and being hunted by people who want to kill him, his wife (Sonya Walger) seeing herself with another man, and his partner (John Cho on loan from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek) seeing nothing.

FlashFoward provides an interesting premise with a great deal of potential. Unfortunately, the series has failed to realize this potential across four episodes and really looks close to derailing. The flash-forwards that the world experienced have so much social, political, and theological implications and you have to think that a global event of this magnitude would either bring the people of the world together or create a sudden divisiveness or a combination of the two. But the series has completed ignored this and instead turned into a procedural with soap opera asides. And while I can understand that the producers may have wanted to follow that path to give the series wider appeal, they really need to start adding more depth to the episodes to keep it from losing its way. The show has been advertised as the next Lost, but it really lacks the engagement and dramatic intensity of that show. Instead, most of what we have seen so far has been superficial with only a few attempts to really explore the potential of the concept.

Even worse, the series has really stumbled at times with both its acting and dialogue. Fiennes and Cho and several other members of the regular cast just have not yet demonstrated in the series that they have the acting chops to pull off what is being asked of them at times. And the dialogue often gives us copy and paste lines or comes real close to descending into camp. It’s not all bad, in fact I would say the show succeeds more often than it fails, but when it misfires (as it did in the most recent episode “Black Swan”) it becomes almost unwatchable.

They can still right the ship, though. After four episodes, the show seems to have meandered and failed to really find a voice. However, we see a mythology forming as apparently events like this have happened previously on a smaller scale (as we saw in episode 3) and as we are on the verge of finding out more about what caused the flash-forward (which involves the arrival of  a rather sinister looking Dominic Monaghan, last seen as Charlie on Lost). They need to keep their focus in this direction and reduce the emphasis on the procedural and soap opera elements. Ultimately, though, I have my doubts as to whether FlashForward will succeed in correcting its course. Currently, it reminds me of how I felt about Threshold, a previous project from the same creative team of Brannan Braga and David Goyer. With that one they also had an interesting premise, but it never really engaged me enough to stick with the show. And if FlashForward continues on its current path, it will lose me as well.

Ratings-wise, the series made a big splash with its debut, but saw significant drop-off in viewership across its second and third episodes (though it edged back up a bit this week). Still it has pulled good DVR and online viewing numbers and ABC went ahead and picked up the back nine episodes. However, if it restarts a downward trend (which is possible if it continues to meander) it may not survive for a second season. Of course the producers plan on revealing all by season end anyway (the flash-forward date is April 29, 2010 after all). They claim to have plenty of additional storylines to carry them into more seasons, but may end up not getting that chance.

Watch Full Episodes of FlashForward Online at Hulu.com

Go to TV.com for more info on FlashForward including Episode guides and Cast bios