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FlashForward: The Negotiation

“Questions get you killed, sweetpea.”

Demetri and Mark had a Big Talk this week. Actually, everyone had a Big Talk this week, but Dem’s and Mark’s was the most important: Was changing the future a bad thing? Is Demetri’s existence ruining everything? And, more importantly, how can you go back to the way things were, when you can’t erase the future that has now become the past? These are the big questions, and both Mark and Demetri were haunted by their love lives: can Mark and Olivia get past the Lloyd Simcoe problem? (Does Olivia even want to?) Will Demetri and Zoey make it, or are they not supposed to?

April 29th is fast approaching, and one big question is whether the FlashForwards will come true. But that’s something of an artificial deadline, as far as we know: the biggest danger of all is when the second blackout will occur. No one seems to think it will happen at 10pm on April 29th, so larger plot threads got shuttled aside to deal with this mini-arc crisis. The tension was effective: the first 40 minutes were just conversations, some of which did a decent job of developing how each character was feeling without using flashcards and semaphores. Mark, looking at Olivia, who was looking at Lloyd: nicely done.

After that, we got a segment of pure action, complete with a nice fake-out: Mark in the hoodie had me fooled. I don’t fully understand why the Bad Guys would have a low-lit super-modern office filled with silhouettes and shadows in a gigantic warehouse in Sylmar. But it was a beautifully shot scene. Props to the cinematographer and the director for getting that TV is more than just radio with faces, this week.

Then Mark and Janis had a heart-to-heart, and Janis expressed some anguish over her triple-agent status. (Mark told her to “be prepared to walk alone,” which reminded me of Fred yelling “You walk alone!” at the Archduke Sebasis while drunk in Angel’s ‘Life of the Party.’ It was supposed to be funny there.) I still don’t fully understand what’s going on with Janis, or even whether or not she agreed to work for the bad guys or the CIA first. I don’t understand why working for the CIA means that she has no future with the FBI. I don’t understand how it can ruin her relationship with Demetri. I don’t understand why he walked away from her: this situation isn’t black-and-white. I wish the characters were given the chance to feel confused about this, but there isn’t time. As Gaius Baltar said, everyone is ending up where they’re supposed to be.

Demetri asked a tough question, too: is he dead in every future? The answer is yes, but what does that mean? The future hasn’t happened, even if some futures want to happen more than others. Dem’s fate is still a question mark.

Aaron’s and Tracy’s fates are, too. Aaron made his flash come true and rescued his daughter. Way to go, Aaron! The big question for him is how he’s going to get out of Afghanistan, especially considering that he just killed a bunch of contractors employed by the American government, which (I’m pretty sure) is frowned upon even by the Obama administration.

Our cliffhanger this week looks promising: Janis and Simon, together again. I hope they get more witty repartee, because that was the coolest thing this show has ever done, back in "Revelation Zero, Part II."

The biggest question of all has been answered: FlashForward is canceled. Only two episodes left. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed tonight’s episode more than the past few. Or maybe it was just Dominic Monaghan in that super-fly hat.

Flashes:

• For the first time, we got a ‘previously on’ instead of Courtney B. Vance intoning that on October 6th, etc. etc...His usual speech was worked into the dialogue, which had the effect of making it feel like the past was coming home to roost. Because the past is like a bird—no, wait. Don’t over-think that metaphor. Just keep reading.

• Dominic Monaghan doing an American accent. So cute! And with the hat and glasses! I will miss my weekly fix. Speaking of sexiness: it’s nice to see a young male actor who doesn’t wax his chest. I wonder if the black hat symbolizes anything…

• Mark, Janis, and Weddick all pronounced Sylmar, ‘sil-mar’ with a short i. But I’ve always heard it pronounced ‘sil-a-mar’ with a long i. Then again, maybe that’s just a freakish thing that the traffic guys do on the radio. Do we have any readers from Sylmar? What’s the correct pronunciation?

• Gaius Baltar: “I have a huge hippocampus. Huge.” Everyone has their own pick-up line.

Three out of four black hats.

Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)

1 comment:

  1. Yeah seriosly why is the FBI acting like high school children. It isn't unherad of (and i think it's a method of chice even for the FBI) for an agent to infiltrate a gang or mob where he's forced to commit crimes and even kill people just to maintain his cover. How is this situation any different. Just because she's working for the CIA? I bet that's the betrayal. You're a mole? Cool with me. But what you're also working for the CIA? Blasphemy!!!! :)

    Anyways i thought they'll do the future in this ep, but it turned out it was just D-day's eve. So it leaves then 1 episode to show the flashes coming true and one episode that will end on a cliffhanger with the 2nd blackout. I just hope it won't end with everyone losing conciousness. I want to see at least a couple of the new FFs. The cancelation news came too late for them to do a proper wrap-up so i think that will be the case.

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