WeWatchInMotion – Flashforward

It’s the next Lost! It’s Lost but different – so if you like it’ll you’ll love it. It’s got Charlie in it! It has Penny in it! Mystery! Sci-Fi! A big catastrophe at the start! Lost! Lost! Lost! Lost!

…Yes, I’m pretty sure that the general gist of Flashforward is that it’s touted out to be the Next Big Thing, and to be honest it has a lot going for it. Massive hype and promotion, it has a decent budget and a cast of some recognisable names. For those who haven’t the foggiest what I’m saying, it stars Joseph Fiennes as an FBI agent who investigates a strange occurrence when the entire world blacks out for over two minutes. During these two minutes everyone experiences life six months in the future – and Fiennes goes to find out why it occurred. Meanwhile secondary characters end up experiencing different sides to the event. From a guy who sees his dead daughter, to another who sees nothing at all – to the guy who was on the bog the whole time.

On paper, the idea sounds brilliant with the potential to explore the ideals of fate and destiny (a theme I extremely find interesting) and whether things can be changed. On screen…the execution leaves a little to be desired. There’s plenty to praise about here, but just like many major dramas there’s plenty to dissect and be concerned about.

Much of the performances are okay. It does beg question why two American characters are played by Brits (Sonja Wager plays Fiennes’ wife) as well as Jack Davenport and Dominic Mononononongahahahahan appearing later on. It’s good to see Davenport finally get a decent role in proceedings, even though he’s only really in episode two so far. Some aren’t so caught on from the start, with John Cho’s Bauer-With-A-Russian-Name not really coming across the scary bad-ass face that Kiefer sutherland uses to get free Twinkies at gas stations. It’s a shame as his story through the first three episodes is one of the more interesting (bar the ongoing story).

But in terms of the actual story…the first half of the pilot is immense, quite amazing in the impact-way. The world going to shiznit as people have blacked out…then people go a little sedate. A few shots of capitals in ruins later but there’s no really sense that the earth has had a huge crushing blow and everyone seems not too-panicky. I think perhaps the amount of characters it’s deciding to focus on cuts into it’s pacing, and thus it doesn’t allow for it to hook you. It feels confused, and thus makes some of it less engaging. Episode three, 127 Sekunden contained the world’s most boring A-plot in it’s attempt to string out a moral dilemma for information that predictably wouldn’t be much – yet loosely led to a revelation in which the impact was lessened due to the nature of which it was found out.

It needs that hook. It needs that moment in which it’s storylines begin to make sense. Or for the characters to suddenly grow into their own. Because there’s nothing to love about it. There’s plenty to like, but not enough to actually love. It’s yet to find it’s strengths, but surely the writers would’ve been able to get a better handle of what it wants to be from the get go.

Hopefully it knows what it’s doing. Hopefully I’m wrong and that the scope of the series means that everything is more laid out like setting up plot points in a novel. But a good prologue leading to some dragging opening chapters do not give a good impression.

So Flashforward can be recommended – but mainly due to faith that it’ll grow into the series worthy of the hype.