Flash Forward - "137 Sekunden"

Hello Flashers!.......OK, that doesn't sound so good.  Hello fans of FlashForward!  Thursday's episode is entitled "137 Sekunden," or translating the German, "137 Seconds."  137 seconds is, of course, equal to two minutes and seventeen seconds, the length of the blackout.  The preview at the end of last week's episode did not offer a preview of Thursday's episode only.  There was a brief hit of an older German man saying that he knows why the blackout occurred for the amount of time that it did.  So, presumably, we will be getting that explanation tomorrow night.  The remainder of the preview focused on other scenes from later in the season.  Because we weren't given that much to go on, and we're still only two episodes into the life of this show, I only have a couple things I'm looking for tomorrow night:

*Well, why was the blackout two minutes and seventeen seconds?!?!  I'm going to assume it has some scientific explanation, like, 2:17 is the half-life of whatever isotope used to power the blackout machine.  Or perhaps 2:17 is the chapter and verse of some pertinent passage in the Bible.  I really have no idea, but I guess we'll find out!

*Will Simon, played by Dominic Monaghan, be Suspect Zero?  And will we meet Simon tomorrow night?  If I remember correctly, reports of Monaghan's involvement mentioned that he would first appear in the third episode.  I'm a fan of Monaghan from his Lost and Lord of the Rings appearances, so I'm eager for his introduction into FF.

*I want more Demetri this episode.  He was pushed back last week in favor of Mark and Olivia, so I'd like to go home with Demetri to see more of his life.  OK, that sounded weird too.  Moving on....

*How does Dylan know Olivia?  How does Charlie know Dylan?  Do the kids know each other?  As I posited after last week's episode, I think D. Gibbons is going to kidnap the children.  If so, Dylan must have seen him too in his flash -- perhaps we'll hear more from Dylan tomorrow night.

*The doctor guy who was going to kill himself before the blackout, what's his deal?  What did he see?  He had one line last week.  I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a main character, so let's hope we see him more tomorrow night.

*I'd like to see more Funny Janis, and less Exposition Janis.  We need to connect with her more emotionally if we're going to care about her pregnancy.

Now, obviously, there's only been two episodes, and the show can't possibly have expounded on every character yet.  I realize this, so I'm not expecting, nor would I want, to have everything above addressed tomorrow night.  I just hope that FF realizes that the audience needs to care about more than Mark and Olivia if we are to stay engaged.  One of the best things about Lost is that from the get-go, the show asked you to care about everyone by focusing each episode on one particular castaway, all the while moving the main plot forward.  That's why we could deeply care that Boone dies only a little past midway through the first season (uh...spoiler alert!).  I wouldn't want FF to copy the "one episode, one character" motif, but the show must be careful that it doesn't alienate its audience by concentrating solely on its mythology, and ignoring multiple character development.  I guess we'll know more tomorrow night.  Until then...

Enjoy.