FlashForward - 2010 Preview

Yes, beleive it or not, you are actually reading my long-promised thoughts on the 2010 mega-preview that appeared at the end of the FlashForward fall finale, "A561984."  I know, I know, you could barely enjoy your Christmakwanzukkah gifts because you were beset with anguish over what I thought about the preview.  Well, your worries can be cast away, because here they are:

*Up front, I believe the preview consisted of scenes from a number of already shot future episodes, and not just the March 4 return episode.  However, I don't think the show has too many future episodes in the can yet, so what we see must occur within the first few episodes back.

*We were told that our characters' destinies are "not set in stone," and are then later asked, "How far will they go?"  It seems (as we have suspected for a long, long time) that what someone saw in his or her flash can be changed, but to do so, proactive, and perhaps extraordinary, measures must be taken.  What this signals to me is that unlike the ancient debate between whether our futures are products of Fate (see Greek mythology) or Free Will (see Western philosophy), FF is operating under the premise that our lives are determined by a combination of the two.  To steal an analogy from Lost, throwing a pebble in a river will have no effect, but if you throw a boulder into a river, the river's path will change.  Likewise, our lives may be predetermined, but if you throw a large enough boulder in the way, the path of our lives will change.  Fate is the river, and free will is the boulder.  It is an interesting concept that plays nicely with the Schrodinger's Cat theory that the observer determines the outcome of given possibilities.

*We saw Janis, Demetri and an African-American man running, guns pulled, through a scene.  The last guy wasn't wearing glasses, so I assume it wasn't Wedeck.  I hope it is the CIA agent, Marshall Vogel played by Michael Ealy.  As I mentioned in the "A561984" recap, I enjoyed his character and hope he appears again.  He's a nice counterpoint to Mark and Demetri, and who knows, he may need to help Demetri if...

*...Mark switches sides.  That seems to be the way we're supposed to be thinking.  As was revealed in "A561984," Demetri is to be shot by someone using Mark's gun (the episode title referring to the serial number on said gun), and, presumably, by Mark.  Plus, we have in the preview Mark throwing Demetri up against a wall saying, "I should've killed you."  Does Mark really turn on his partner and the FBI?  Is this scene just a show for the "bad guys?"  Does Demetri turn on Mark?  There are obviously many possibilities.  We also saw Mark getting shot up with something.  Does whatever is in the shot "brainwash" Mark (he was LOADED, OK?)?  I am actually going to place my bets on Demetri avoiding his March 15th date with death, which causes some terrible change to Mark's future.  Just as plausible as anything else, right?

*The preview also tells us, rather dramatically, that "vows will be broken."  This is coupled with a shot of Olivia kissing Lloyd.  I think we all saw this coming -- Olivia's flash has to come true, doesn't it?  The question is: does Mark's drinking push Olivia to Lloyd, or does her daliance cause Mark's drinking?  I'm thinking the latter.  With Olivia and Lloyd's banter about Harvard in the last episode, plus Lloyd's kidnapping and Olivia now charged with protecting Dylan, there is obviously a lot of emotional drama that has and will be created between the two of them.  If Keanu Reeves taught us anything, love and desire can be born out of intense situations. 

*Quickly, Janis gets pregnant, and Bryce and Nicole kiss!  On the former, I figure someone we already have met will be the sperm donor for Janis' baby.  My bet is on Bryce.  His suggestion of a sperm bank, good genes (except the cancer thing, I guess), and he's unattached.  At least until he and Nicole get together.  So much for Keiko, huh?  They've been building to a Bryce-Nicole pairing with her helping him find Keiko and her working at the hospital, but I don't really see where this is going.  I mean, an entire episode was devoted to Bryce finding his love from Japan, and on April 29th he's going to meet her, so where could this go?  I guess we'll have to wait and find out.

*Last, but certainly not least, is Mark's declaration that "there is going to be another blackout."  Now, you'll have to trust me, but about two-thirds of the way through "A561984" I actually wrote down in my notes "I think there will be another blackout."  That was going ot be my Prediction for my post.  Then, of course, we get the mega-preview and Mark says that there's going to be another blackout!  Curses!  I initially figured the second blackout would occur in the season finale, so this seems like a really big reveal for ABC to give away at this point.  This must mean that there will be an even bigger whopper come season finale time.  What that could be, I have no idea.  As far as this reveal is concerned though, I guess the mystery lies in when it will happen, who will cause it to happen, and for what purpose?  Does the FBI gain control of the blackout device (whatever it may be) and purposefully cause a blackout to disrpt the original blackout perpetrators?  Do Gibbons and Nhadra cause the second blackout?  Ricky Jay and the Three-Star guys?  So many questions to answer!  I guess that makes it a great drama.

OK, that's the preview.  Again, sorry it was so delayed.  As I explained here, the holidays, work and a new endeavor came together in a perfect storm of procrastination and made me put off this post.  I'll try not to let it happen again.  The endeavor, however, should be a lot of fun.  Over at DocArzt's site, TVOvermind, I will be writing recaps for Chuck, Modern Family, and recapettes for FlashForward.  I will continue to write my long FF and Lost posts here as well, so please continue to check out this blog as well as the stuff over at TVOvermind.  As always, take a listen to the FlashForwardCast by Jay and Jack, and check out FF recaps by the always entertaining Jeff Jensen at EW.com.  I hope you all have a happy and healthy New Year, and hope you're looking forward to what will surely be an amazing year of television in 2010!  Until then...

Enjoy.