(S01E03) I hope that the way tonight's episode was constructed isn't going to continue week after week. It's like they've mastered the big "wow" moment at the end of each episode, but there was a serious lag throughout most of this week's installment. We did get some more clues and hints to the futures of more of our cast, including Demetri's fiance's vision.Unfortunately, I don't think her vision was as conclusive as the previews of that moment would have lead us to believe. We've got the fiance, Zoey, saying that she saw Demetri at their wedding on a beach while there's the strange woman (what city was that she was in) telling him she read a report that he got gunned down three times. But why could she say no more and why did she have to go so abruptly?
All those little moments throughout the episode were good. It kept me thinking and trying to remember everything we already know as I piece together this April 29 puzzle. What was less compelling was everything with the octogenarian Nazi.
I'm not sure how the government couldn't have concocted some sort of contract that allowed for backing out if it turned out he was lying about anything. He opened this whole thing by saying he knew why the blackouts lasted 137 seconds. That, as it turns out, was a lie. He admitted as much. Any well written contract would have been rendered void as soon as the admission of a lie was part of it.
It felt like the entire episode and everything going on with this old coot was a whole lot of a waste of time. I know that he gave the clue about the death of the crows, and that actually appears to be leading somewhere, but it still felt like he screwed everybody. After all, his vision did nothing.
It was handy that that crow population data was so updated. In the wake of a worldwide catastrophe, someone is keeping track of global crow populations? Or is this somehow being collated automatically? The good "moments" at the end came when they saw that perhaps this wasn't the first blackout experience; it was just the first global one.
Then, with the cut to Somalia where we saw the crows going down, as witnessed by a young boy with a scar; wanna bet we'll see him later (why else give him such a recognizable facial feature). And there's whatever that was coming out of the giant tower in the town. My wife, who loves throwing out crazy theories, looked at that town and thought that maybe that's where Aaron's daughter is, or will be in six months.
Yes, we still believe that Aaron's daughter is out there. He said in his speech in the first episode that what came back was less than 40 pounds of her. It could still be her remains, but only be part of her body. Maybe her legs got blown off, or something more. She's lying down in the bed and we only see her face, so there's no guarantee her entire body is intact. I posit that she's out there and severely handicapped now.
As for Demetri and his fiance, played by the adorable Gabrielle Union, I'm not so sure she saw him. From what we saw of her vision, she was still pretty far away from the groom and minister down the beach. Add in bright sunshine and a possible veil and there's no guarantee that was Demetri she was seeing way down there. It could be almost any guy with dark hair; I certainly couldn't tell who it was.
What Mark needs to be doing, as far as his case is concerned, is spending more time trying to figure out what Charlie saw in her vision and less time flying around the world to spar with Nazis. I think that guy's bad news and I think he's going to get up to no good in his freedom.
[Watch clips and episodes of FlashForward at SlashControl.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2009 @ 6:29AM
Dario said...
The woman who called Demetri appeared to be standing in front of the Hong Kong skyline
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10-09-2009 @ 8:29AM
Rich P said...
I recognized the geometric building made of triangles, Bank of China, in the background, yep Hong Kong. Why someone in Hong Kong called Demetri who knows, lol
10-09-2009 @ 8:45AM
mrkorb said...
I suspect the phone call lady was a counter-intelligence agent for some other country or group, maybe affiliated with "Suspect Zero". She may just have wanted to screw with him, rather than pass along accurate info. Notice how he kept rubbing at his eyes this episode? I tell you, he's gonna be blind, not dead. Blind.
Also those writers must have the phrase "in my flash forward" permanently written on their computer's clipboard. There's a drinking game just waiting to be developed for this show.
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10-09-2009 @ 8:46AM
Alex K. said...
"Crow knows the Unknowable Mysteries of Creation and is Keeper of All Sacred Law. This Totem signifies first-hand knowledge of a higher order of right and wrong than that indicated by Human Law. Crow see the physical and spiritual world, ( as humanity interprets them ) are an illusion and can simultaneously see the past, present, and future. Crow merges the light and darkness, seeing both inner and outer reality." ~ excerpts from the "Medicine Cards" by Jamie Sams
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10-09-2009 @ 8:50AM
mrkorb said...
Also, from Wikipedia:
Thumb ring - This largest of finger rings is worn on the thumb primarily for fashion, but is also worn as a symbol of will power or internal energy, sexuality, and other beliefs or attitudes.
I thought the Nazi guy was implying Janis was a lesbian, the way he delicately approached the subject.
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10-09-2009 @ 8:51AM
Rich P said...
I am confused about this whole "future" everyone has seen in their blackout. That airport employee told Demetri that he only applied for that job BECAUSE he saw it during the blackout. The vision is CREATING the "future" they saw in their blackouts. If he didn't have that vision that slacker pothead guy would have never had that future because he wouldn't have applied for that job. So it can't be his future.
And I really think Demetri's fiance wasn't walking towards her wedding down the beach, I believe it was his funeral! It was odd that they showed her walking so far away from the group of people down the beach.
And randomness that I couldn't avoid. The bartender was Cassidy in Lost and her name in this show is Kate. Her former husband is named Aaron. Another Lost name. Mark and Olivia have a child named Charlie. Olivia is Penny in Lost. Penny and Desmond have a child named Charlie, but its a boy.
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10-09-2009 @ 11:56AM
Alex K. said...
The writers clearly allude to "Lost". The "leap of faith" scenes were almost a cover version. One big disadvantage however is the setting which so far is your ordinary thriller-cliché: Police headquarters and a German prison. I don't know. Maybe the crows will lead us to an island.
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10-09-2009 @ 4:55PM
rob said...
How can no one see it!!!
OMAR!!!!
The child in Africa with the scar? That is the EXACT scar that Michael K. Williams has in real life. And who is Michael K. Williams? None other than the masterful, Omar, from "The Wire".
Yeah, yeah....this episode was slow. But now I'm with it for atleast a few more episodes to see Omar return with a vengeance!!!
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10-09-2009 @ 1:22PM
John Hewitt said...
The guy let a Nazi go free for no good reason. He and his whole future can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. He did help me coin a new word though -- Douchebadge.
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10-09-2009 @ 7:16PM
The1337 said...
After a promising pilot, the show has definitely been underwhelming. The characters are flat and the scenes between them seem overly staged. However, the mystery and intrigue of the show carries it enough. Full review of the episode.
http://th3tvobsessed.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-flashforward-season-1-episode-3.html
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10-09-2009 @ 8:42PM
Pedwalk said...
Wasn't Dominic Monaghan supposed to be on this show by episode two? That's one of the main reasons I started watching in the first place, but so far, nadda.
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10-09-2009 @ 10:25PM
CRVBOY said...
They are definitely filming scenes out of order and not keeping with continuity in a scene. For example tonight - When Demetri picks up his fiance at the airport - his eye is still how it was right after the blackout when he kisses her, but before that and after that it's as though it's had a few days to heal. And when the camera pulls away when she wants to tell him her flashforward her purse is on the floor, but then when they pull back again after he says, let's wait, it's on to of her roller suitcase.
When Olivia is having lunch with her friend the friend's salad is untouched when she first starts talking but a few seconds later, without having stopped talking, it's almost gone.
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10-10-2009 @ 7:13PM
Paul Levinson said...
I think the most interesting possibility was that Zoe's vision was 100% true, including marrying Demetri... http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2009/10/flashforward-13-conflicting-visions-and.html
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10-11-2009 @ 1:43PM
Mike said...
Someone above pointed out that the Flashes are themselves creating the future, a la the stoner customs guy applying because of his flash.
But here's the thing... this isn't the first time the flashes happened. In their flashes, the future they saw was a future where they were conducting the Mosaic investigation. Meaning, this isn't the first loop. Sure, some things could be changed, they already have (ie the friendship bracelet). However, it's clearly not enough. He keeps trying to re-create what's on his board, but what's on his board isn't enough to solve the puzzle, as it wasn't before.
They keep asking if this has happened before... but the very nature of his flashes proves that it has... that they're stuck in a temporal causality loop. This isn't the first iteration of the loop... it might be the last... or at the end of this season the flashes might happen again.
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10-11-2009 @ 5:32PM
Dave said...
I think the Nazi dude gave Mark a clue in the bird book. Otherwise, why even have it? There's a clue on the page for crows. He put it there because he didn't want everybody else to get it too.
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10-11-2009 @ 6:10PM
Emily said...
Am I the only one who thought it was insane that the old Nazi was the only one to bring the crows to the FBI's attention? Someone compiled the data on the crows, why didn't they mention it? Shouldn't the FBI be talking to EVERYONE in the scientific community to determine if there were any other strange phenomena at the time of the blackout? I thought that would have been a given.
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