Flash Forward - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Blair G]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au

Mark is always so serious and sullen, there's no joy in his life. Of course his character and world is a bad place.

His brother Ralph is the same in virtually all his roles....serious and sullen.

They both manage to look this way even when they're smiling.


Main reason I am not a fan of either.


Do like Flashforward though and will watch the final episodes with interest.

Wonder if the cancellation will force them to write an ending with more closure, knowing a second season is not in the works to tie up any loose ends.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Blair G

Wonder if the cancellation will force them to write an ending with more closure, knowing a second season is not in the works to tie up any loose ends.

Since they just got cancelled, I'd imagine that the episode will have some loose ends that would have set up a second season.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Wonder if the cancellation will force them to write an ending with more closure, knowing a second season is not in the works to tie up any loose ends.

The finale would have been shot long before the cancellation decision was made, which puts the producers in a no-win situation. They certainly knew the odds were the show was toast, but they still had to leave the door open to season two if they got lucky, and the entire backstory and planned arc are obviously too big to wrap-up in the number of episodes they had left once the writing was on the wall. So expect them to try for some closure, but expect plenty of loose ends, even if they don't do an outright cliff-hanger. It is rare that a serialized show (or a stand-alone show with serialized elements) gets enough notice of cancellation to pull off a decent ending. (And even then it is the ones with limit continuing content that manage the feat. Big elaborate arcs don't usually compress well. I'd say Mental is an example of a show that managed to do a decent wrap-up. I know there are one or two others, but they are floating just out of mental reach and I can't bring them into focus. Maybe when I get home tonight.)


Regards,


Joe

 

[NeilO]

I believe that most of the 2009/2010 plot threads are supposed to be wrapped up in the one season with the whole End of the World FlashForward still open. They can't add anything substantial to the final episode now that they know for certain that this is it. They could add a note card or voice-over at the end telling some of the future fates without much trouble.


It could be that the producers might have more to say after it airs or Robert Sawyer might have something to say at his website

http://www.sfwriter.com/exff.htm

 

[NeilO]

I just watched this week's episode and they appear to be heading towards some Flash Forwards of April 29 whether they want to or not. Still it seems not all of them to be heading in that direction. With some prophecy, you make it happen by trying avoid it. Next Thursday there is nothing else on in conflict with the finale so I hope to watch it live. I have high hopes that I'll be satisfied with how it all works out.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Still watching. Decided that I made it this

far so I might as well force myself to sit in

front of the Tivo and catch up.


Surprisingly, not bad. The show has been

somewhat good these past two weeks.


Looking forward to the finale.

 

[DaveF]

It's a good build to the finale. Pity we're losing this, particularly instead of V

 

[NeilO]

Finale in about a half hour. Who will live? Who will die? Will it all have been a dream?

 

[TravisR]

I guess that plan for having things wrap up in the season finale went out with the old showrunners.

 

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR

I guess that plan for having things wrap up in the season finale went out with the old showrunners.

It seems like they were missing the episode where Dem looks at the data. We saw the flash forwards happen and saw the fate of people we were following, but it was unsatisfying. Oh, well. I bought the book last weekend and I'll read that later.

 

[Nelson Au]

Bummer of a way to go out!

That was pretty exciting. Flashforwards didn't turn out as expected. I wonder if the response and ratings of this finale will be any good.

 

[EricSchulz]

Despite the tension of last night's episode, I think I'm giving up on this show...

 

[Malcolm R]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au Bummer of a way to go out! That was pretty exciting. Flashforwards didn't turn out as expected. I wonder if the response and ratings of this finale will be any good.

Nope. From EW:

The series finale of FlashForward went out with a whimper on Thursday: The last of the two-part goodbye only averaged 4.95 million viewers and attracted a 1.3 rating/5 share among adults 18-49 — matching its lowest ratings to date and dropping 41 percent from its season average.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Originally Posted by Nelson Au

That was pretty exciting. Flashforwards didn't turn out as expected. I wonder if the response and ratings of this finale will be any good.

I'm not surprised the ratings were even worse than usual. Everyone interested in it has known for ages that it was being canceled so even fans had little incentive to watch the inevitable unresolved cliff-hanger. I did watch, and I enjoyed "same, but different" resolutions of the flash-forwards. I'll also have to track down a copy of the book now. It was an intriguing idea, marred by production and writing problems. The main was that the ostensible lead so unsympathetic. As Frank Capra said a long time ago, "You've gota give them somebody to like." I didn't like Mark Benford. The longer the season went on, the more I rooted for Olivia to get out of the marriage - even if that meant ending up with Simcoe, who I think was written as too much of a squish to attract a woman like her.


Mark Benford was bull-headed to the point of stupidity, for one thing. (You're warned that you're going to beat up a suspect, lose everything and get killed, then you still put yourself in the same room as the guy? Trusting to what to save you? You're legendary maturity and self-control? You see a vision where you're losing your wife. How do you react to that? Well, naturally by treating her as if she's already having an affair from the moment she meets the guy, proving you don't trust her and driving her into his arms.) But in addition to being badly written, he was played by an actor who reinforced all the worse traits the character had on the page, and probably added a few bad ones of his own. A trace of humor or irony or self-awareness in the performance might have made Mark seem like less of a jerk.

Now it may be that the producers intended for the characters to grow and change over the course of the series. On Babylon 5 one ostensible villain from the early episodes ends up a man of peace and a revered cultural icon. One character who begins as a joke ends a tragic, but finally heroic figure, while another who begins the same way grows in courage and stature to emerge as the leader of his people. Clearly you have to start the character as "X" if you want to show the process by which he became "Y". But there is a limit to how far you can press this - especially when it comes to your series lead.

You can do almost anything with a villain, villains are inherently interesting. You can even root for them up to a point. And you can root for comic characters, too, even if you aren't taking them seriously. But you can't make your main hero such a d-bag that half the audience is hoping he does get killed every time he charges through a locked door and that this is the event that changes the timeline.

Still, I think the show had potential, and am surprised that it failed to find an audience while the V reboot did. I couldn't even make it through the V pilot, despite the cool FX, the presence of one of my favorite actresses, Elizabeth Mitchell, and the alien hotties.

Regards,


Joe

 

[Nelson Au]

I remember a quote from Patrick McGoohan. He felt it an insult to the intelligence of an audience to pander. Not saying Flahforward was the most intelligent show, but it wasn't totally without merit.

So I agree, it's amazing a show like V does succeed and it does pander! So what does that say to a network suit and worse, the audiences that gave V the ratings it needed to stay on the air.

No doubt, Mark Benford wasn't too likable. But I was into the others. I did wish Olivia didn't split with Mark. But that's moot now.

I curious to read the book too now. I wonder if Mr. Sawyer still reads the HTF?

 

[Jeremiah]

Good post Joseph.


Did Benford/Fiennes even smile during the show?


I thought the concept of the show is a great idea and I still enjoyed watching the show.

 

[EricSchulz]

Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino



Still, I think the show had potential, and am surprised that it failed to find an audience while the V reboot did. I couldn't even make it through the V pilot, despite the cool FX, the presence of one of my favorite actresses, Elizabeth Mitchell, and the alien hotties.

Regards,


Joe

You apparently haven't read the comments about V's FX in later episodes...they were HORRIBLE!

 

[Doug Smith]

What a great premise this show had (in my local TV rag last fall it was actually given "can't miss!" status) - and what a dog it turned out to be. It failed miserably on almost every level - except that it held out this tag to keep watching - just to find out what might happen on that April day. Through some unbelievably poor writing - that tag still held out - at least for myself. (unlike the hundreds of thousands smarter than me who were able to see the light, and call it a day much earlier) The payoff was a season cliffhanger (I assume they would have had no idea they were about to be cancelled) that was arguably worse than most of the other drivel that was ladeled up. Although there was one tiny flame of hope held aloft... perhaps... with any luck... Joeseph Fiennes's character would be blown up with that building. I always tell my wife that the only cheque I enjoy cutting each month, is the one I make out to the person who mows my lawn (I abhore yard work). But this is nothing to the joy I encountered deleting this show for the last time and removing it from my series recording list on my PVR as soon as I jotted down the names of the producers (I assume that they are the perpetrators of this nonsense) so that in the future I will be able to miss anything they happen to come up with. If anyone starts a "Please Save Flashforward" email campaign, I hope someone will alert me on this website so that I can quickly start a "Please Don't" campaign and forward it to the network.

 

[Doug Miller]

Anyone know what the song was during the final Flash Forward? It worked with the flashes, I'd like to hear it all.


I watched it knowing it was the last episode, my wife didn't know. It was over, I looked at her and told it was done. She was crushed. Doug above may not have liked it, but Flash Forward was my favorite show this year. I liked the cast, the writing was solid overall, and I cared about most of the characters. Knowing it was being cancelled was a bummer but I still liked the last episode. It had glimpses of hope, as well as a ton of mysteries for the next year. Oh well


Doug

 

[EricSchulz]

Originally Posted by Doug Miller

Anyone know what the song was during the final Flash Forward? It worked with the flashes, I'd like to hear it all.



Doug

Can't remember the title, but it was by "Band of Horses"---I'm assuing you are referring to the scenes of the blackout after the explosion...