This Week in FlashForward - 9/24/09

Here it is! Another new This Week In, and for the first time, it's of a brand new series: FlashForward, which premiered tonight on ABC. You can read more about the series in our feature announcement. Let's get to it!

Episode 1 - "No More Good Days"
JDW says: Unlike the previous shows we've covered on This Week In, FlashForward is new, so this first review will be a little different. Here's what you need to know, FlashForward takes place in the city of Los Angeles, following Mark Benford, who is an FBI agent. During a chase, Mark blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, seeing his life in the future (April 29th at 10 PM); but it turns out the whole world also blacked out and everyone's "flash forward" seems to be of the same future. That's the gist of it, I think it's something you'd need to watch for yourself to get.

For a series premiere I'm reasonably impressed. Lots of suspense, lots of mystery, and overall the series seems to be quite interesting. I also liked seeing some familiar faces such as John Cho (aka the new Sulu), Sonya Walger (aka Penny Widmore on Lost), and Alex Kingston (who played River Song on Doctor Who). And then there were some odd ones, like Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane trying to act, and a billboard for the infamous Oceanic Airlines. But overall, especially after seeing the season trailer, I'm pretty excited to see how this series plays out.
JDW's Score: 8.5/10

Zach says: If you haven't been watching commercials for the show and don't already know the premise, it is all shown to you throughout this episode. It would seem that every human on the planet has a blackout at the exact same time, and has visions of the exact same day; April 29th, 2010 at 10:00 PM; for precisely 2 minutes and 17 seconds. In this time, lots of people are killed, from those that were driving and flying in planes, to others who were swimming; you can imagine. This first episode takes us through the lives of a handful of key characters, such as a FBI agent and his doctor wife, the cop's partner, doctor's assistant, and a few others.

The agent, due to his vision, starts working on the case of figuring out why everyone blacked out at the same time and why they saw approximately 6 months into the future. Was it some sort of attack or natural phenomenon? Some think it was a gift, while others a punishment. Can it be used to change the future, or is it going to happen no matter what? Was it even the true future? One guy saw his dead daughter, but perhaps she is really still alive. Only time will tell, and from the teaser, it seems the show will be filled with intrigue and action.

Thus far, I'm fairly intrigued, but not sure how it'll all play out. There was even an allusion to fellow ABC series Lost, with a billboard for Oceanic Airlines, which I would assume is simply an easter egg more than anything, but if FlashForward is anything like Lost, I'll probably be hooked.
Zach's Score: 7.5/10

Overall Score: 8/10

Missed the episode? Catch it on Hulu