Title: FlashForward
Creators: Brannon Braga, David S. Goyer
Directors: David S. Goyer, Nick Gomez, Bobby Roth, John Polson and others
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Sonya Walger
Duration: 22 episodes (42 minutes per episode)
Cert: 15
Released: 27th September 2010
FlashForward is an American television series created by Brannon Braga (Star Trek) and David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman) which only managed to last one season before being cancelled. With a dream team of Braga and Goyer you’d think that this series could have run and run. The pair have so much experience of writing and creating TV show that it should have been simple for them to make this show a success. I personally can’t see any reason for its cancellation. No doubt it was simply down to low viewing figures in the US. Although I do believe that the show had strong audiences on UK TV after a decent amount of advertising and marketing.
As for the plot of the show it starts off quite simply when a mysterious event causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009 during which they see visions of their own futures, six months in ahead. It’s a clever, intriguing way to begin a story and it certainly got viewers’ attention.
A team of FBI agents, Stanford Wedeck (Courtney B. Vance), Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and Demetri Noh (John Cho) are tasked with finding out what caused the event and what it all means. Benford actually experienced flashes from their very own investigation in his own flashforward and therefore is able to use this as a basis and clues to find the answer.
Of course as with all TV series these days, such as LOST or Heroes we don’t just have the overall story arc we also have subplots that are played out each episode. In there flashforwards Benford relapses into alcoholism, his wife Olivia sees herself having an affair, while Demetri Noh has no flashforward at all and therefore he fears that this means that he will die, especially considering he has been getting death threats. Is it something else altogether or can his friend Mark save him? Dr. Bryce Varley (Zachary Knighton) – a surgical intern who works for Olivia realises that he has a new hope in his life and that he will no longer try to kill himself after hearing that he has cancer of the kidney, while Dr. Simon Campos (Dominic Monaghan) a quantum physicist believes he may be responsible for someone’s death.
And then there’s the mysterious ‘Suspect Zero’ – one person that didn’t lose consciousness during the event. Will he be at the root of many of the answers the team seek?
FlashForward seemed like it would be a sure-fire hit with viewers. It was billed as the replacement for LOST after it ended its six season long run. Even featuring some of the same actors, Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger from LOST who played Charlie and Penny, FlashForward was set to be the new complex sci-fi genre mind-bender TV show that everyone would love as much as LOST. Or a companion to, or competition for the likes of TV series Heroes, now into a fourth season. However it was announced in June 2010 that ABC would not be renewing FlashForward for a second season. So here we have the DVD of the first and only season. It seems a bit odd to be watching a TV series that only ran for one season. In fact it seems a bit odd that it would be released on DVD at all, but I suppose production companies have to make money and despite its early demise it must still have pulled in a lot of fans that will enjoy re-watching it, even if it is only one season. Of course it is not the only show to be left hanging without a satisfactory ending, or a show that has been cancelled unexpectedly and had to put together a slapdash conclusion. Canadian TV series Chuck for instance was almost cancelled after its second season and put together a hasty ending, only to revert to its previous storyline when it was granted a third season. Some of the great TV shows of the past decades have also been victims of early or unexpected cancellation, poor Scott Bakula faced it twice, firstly with the excellent time travel show – Quantum Leap and secondly with Brandon Braga’s Star Trek Enterprise – cruelly cancelled after just four seasons and left with an unsatisfactory conclusion, much like Quantum Leap was years before.
Despite the fact that it only ran for one season I enjoyed the show, it was excellently written, well directed and although the acting varied as the cast was pretty big it was all still of a good standard. The production values were high, especially for TV, and it certainly stood out as being one of the shows to watch. I’m surprised that the producers and TV station didn’t keep the faith with the show and give it a second season to see if the viewing figures might have risen. It had a lot of potential to be a really great show. But alas this was not to be. However I was pleased to hear it that there is a rumour that another US TV station may pick up the rights to the show and possibly renew it for a second season. If only we could FlashForward to find out, I guess we will just have to wait and see.
