Any thoughts on FlashForward?

[MorningGlow]

Has anyone checked out this new show on ABC? For those who haven't heard of it, it's about an incident, likely planned by human evildoers, that caused everyone on the planet to black out for a couple of minutes, all at the same time. While they were blacked out, everyone saw a glimpse of the same moment in time, six months in the future.

It's been marketed as a kind of island-less Lost, and that's kind of true, as it deals with a lot of people's individual stories interweaving with each other, a "flash forward" visit to the future, and shadowy bad guys. Heck, the opening scene was exactly like Lost's very first scene--a disaster (in this case all kinds of crashes caused by people who blacked out behind the wheel of their cars, planes crashing into buildings, fires, etc.) with lots of screaming and chaos.

Anyway, I watched both eps that have aired so far and my jury's still out about the show in general, but I am fascinated by how they address what amounts to a collective time jump/glimpse of the future. Two of the main characters are FBI agents--one saw himself investigating the incident in the future, and so he throws himself into finding out what caused this thing, while the other often acts as the "voice of reason", mentioning how some things could be a coincidence--but he doesn't want the future to happen, because he didn't see anything, and he assumes this to mean that he's dead by the time of the "flash forward".

Okay, hard to explain! :) But it's an interesting study of a bigger picture--people who want to see the future vs. people who don't, belief in predestination vs. belief in free will, etc. I'm very interested in seeing where the show takes that second point--will these people be able to alter the future by taking action before that moment occurs? or will they be helpless puppets of "god" or whatever and hurtle toward their destiny no matter how hard they try to dig in their heels? (BTW, apparently not all flash forwards were negative, but they haven't addressed any positive ones yet.)

Thoughts, y'all? :hi:

P.S. If you haven't seen the show but are interested, the eps are online at http://www.abc.go.com.

[OneGrassRoot]

1. I'm watching. :)

The jury is still out for me as well, but I'm interested in seeing how it plays out...wondering if the power of focus (and love) -- individual and collective -- can change things that appear predestined.

Cool premise. I hope they pull off something really positive with it.

:hug:

[FirstLight]

2. Haven't seen it...DIG the premise, though!

I hate the whole need for them to have 'bad guys' in this stuff sometimes...lol...I love heroes, but the evildoers get old after a while, don't we have enough of those IRL..? :rofl:

but I dig the concept, it could be something to play with in an article, or look to see what kind of papers are out there on collective visions...? ya, in my "spare time" !!

[OneGrassRoot]

3. They have this interactive thing -- Join The Mosaic

http://abc.go.com/shows/flash-forward/mosaiccollective


:)

[Silver Gaia]

4. We're watching... me, hubby & dughter...

So far, I (we) really like it. I also love the fate vs. free will aspects. It raises a lot of questions in this regard. It has a few flaws, but what doesn't? I'm hoping it pulls itself together and makes it as a full-fledged series. I think it has a lot of potential. They may be trying too hard to compare it to LOST, but can't really blame them for that. ;) I hope it hits its own stride and as we (and the actors) become more familiar with the characters, it will take on its own presence in TV-land. There are some great boards out there talking about this show (as well as LOST and others), and it stands a chance of developing a cult following, much like LOST has. It's a lot of fun to talk about.

So, was what they saw in their flashes what would happen if the current course were to continue unaltered? If so, then why did Mark see himself working on what he assumes is this case? (What if it wasn't? What if it was something else, but now IS this case because of the flashes?) If we know what is to come if the current course is followed, will we try to change that if we don't like what we saw, or will we try to bring it about if we liked what we saw? And can we actually do either? Does the very act of seeing a glimpse of the future in and of itself alter the future?

And what about Suspect Zero? Why/how was he unaffected? Who is he? Did he play a part in making this happen (they seem to be steering us in that direction)?

Why did some people see nothing? Are they dead in the future (which seems to be the case for some, at least) or is there some other reason? And why are some people missing now (as evidenced by the public message board where people are looking for friends and family who seem to have vanished -- adding a rapture-like aspect)?

What did Charlie see? What did Dylan see? Do the children's flashes hold keys to the mystery?

Was this something created by the hands of humans or was it from God/the Gods? If created by humans, not only HOW, but more importantly, WHY? Were the flashes intentional, or were they an unintentional side effect of the blackouts? And if humans aren't involved (I think surely they will be, because I don't think the show will aim for a spiritual explanation), then WHY would God/the Gods do this? WHY is huge either way.

These are just a few of the questions that have been raised for me. :) Lots of questions!

[Kind of Blue]

5. Jury is still out for me, as well.

I did see the premiere and started watching the second episode. Something about the comedic aspects kind of bugs me, so I stopped watching - especially the bowel movement/head in urinal thing. ICK. I've got it recorded and will finish watching later. The positive FF I think that I saw was in the first episode, when the fiance of the partner of the main character said she saw their wedding and was so happy, and the young doctor who was about to commit suicide changed his mind and become balancd due to his vision.

I really enjoyed the good technical work they put into creating the disaster. I also like the FFs so far not related to the investigation, like the vision of the doctor married to the agent, the young doctor's, the vision of the wedding, and I guess the Alcoholics Anonymous guy who saw his supposedly dead daughter alive. Those are very fascinating to me and I'm intrigued to see how they put it all together!

[JanusAscending]

6. I haven't seen it yet,

maybe I'll catch the re runs. I think it's on the same night as Surviver, which already has me hooked. I enjoy the "real life" aspect of all the mind games going on in that show! Maybe I'll try to catch the next one. From what I've seen of the trailers....too much chaos going on, and am trying to focus on more calming aspects of the SHIFT!!!