Lower Decks

FlashForward decided to take a week to take a deeper look at a couple of characters that haven’t been seen much previously (Nicole and Bryce), illustrating what’s happened to them since the first episode.  And while there’s a little movement to the story, it feels a bit like a filler episode after last week’s step in the right direction.  In fact, if not for the little revelation at the end of the episode, there wouldn’t be a whole lot there to look at.

And so we’ll start with that – the acknowledgment that Lloyd was responsible, in one way or another, for the blackouts.  It’s the first indication that someone (not something) was behind the worldwide phenomenon, but it isn’t terribly surprising.  Lloyd has been presented as a mysterious character, and he fits the physical profile of Suspect Zero.  I’m not surprised, at all, that’s he’s involved.

The bigger thing for me, however, was the introduction of Dominic Monaghan’s character (who seems more directly responsible for the event, if not simply more proud).  Dominic is the latest (and probably the biggest) member of the LOST alumni club on this show, joining Sonya Walger (Penny on LOST and Olivia here) and Kim Dickens (Cassidy on LOST and Katie last week).  Any reader of this site will know that I’m a fan of LOST, and it’s always nice to see familiar faces on other shows.  Because of that, I can’t wait to see what Dominic’s character has in store.

Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot here to break down.  I’m not going to say the episode didn’t do a whole lot, but in terms of the actual main thrust of the story (Mark’s investigation), there isn’t much there.  Mark’s investigation into the Somali blackouts is shot down before it can begin, in favor of Demitri’s investigation into the terrorist plot featured in the pilot.

And while this is probably realistic, it wasn’t really what I was looking for.  And it probably has to do with the idea that, at this point in the show, I care more about the investigation into the blackouts than any of the individual characters.  I can compare it, again to LOST, to the complaints about some of the episodes (in that show) centered on minor characters.  People didn’t like episodes that didn’t advance the main plot – because they cared more about the idea of the show than the characters themselves.

And that’s dangerous territory for a series – they need to get me to care about characters like Nicole and Bryce and Aaron because every episode can’t be about Mark’s investigation.  They need episodes like these to keep the show going, but I have to care in order to enjoy them.  And, at this point, I can’t say that I do.

So while I thought Bryce’s story was interesting (using parts of a man’s flashforward to save his life in surgery), I don’t really know Bryce.  There’s a chance I could like him, but he hasn’t been featured since the first episode, and there isn’t enough material to make a judgment.

Same with Nicole.  Her prediciment in her vision is interesting, but we don’t know much about her.  I guess we’re supposed to assume that she’s a nice girl based on how much Mark and Olivia care about her, but all we saw of her was in the first episode.  And, there, she was making out with her boyfriend while on the job.  Not exactly the kind of stuff Mark and Olivia seem to know about.

Both of these characters believe that God caused the blackouts, but they have opposite explanations for it.  Bryce, who was about to kill himself, believes God blessed humanity with the information from the future, and it gives him hope that he isn’t supposed to die.  Nicole, who sees herself dying, believes that God has punished the world with the visions.

And they are both unique perspectives on the flashforwards.  The problem is that, while the characters are coming from interesting places, I’m not invested in them.  Just like I’m not really invested in most of the characters.  And until I am, I’m not going to like episodes like these.

I did find the scene with Nicole and the reverend to be interesting, only because the priest seemed to be dodging the entire subject.  I’d like to see more investigation into the “religious” explanation for the blackouts, but we haven’t gotten a whole lot of that so far.

There was a bit of “main story” progress.  On one side, Mark finally learns about the knowledge Demitri learned about his murder, and he pledges to help his partner solve it before it happens.  Hopefully that will mean the end of Demitri’s stress level, but I’m guessing that is more based on the fear of the murder itself than keeping the secret.

And the other piece of information is the fact that Mark is going to use a convicted hacker to try and get satellite images of Somalia during the 1991 suspected blackouts.  Stonewalled by the brass, he feels it’s the only way to get the images to confirm whether or not the blackouts have ever happened before.  Even though that could land him in very deep trouble.

Aside from that, not much else happens.  Olivia does her best to get Lloyd and his autistic son moved out of her section of the hospital, hoping to avoid the future she saw in her vision.  Unfortunately, however, the boy is moved back by the end of the episode.  That, in addition to what happened in the operating room, is probably going to increase her belief that the future in the flashforwards is inevitable.

And since I like her character, I’m interested to see how that affects her relationship with Mark.

So there you go.  Our first look at a “regular” episode of FlashForward, and I’m not very impressed.  Hopefully we’ll learn a bit more about these characters so that I might like them.  If not, they need to stick to the main story.  Otherwise, I won’t be terribly interested.