ALARIS' REVIEWS

18th October 2009
Flash Forward: Episodes 1 & 2 (2009)

This should have been good.

Touted as the heir apparent to epic, genre series Lost (2004), Flash Forward has a fantastic premise, an awesome cast, and a budget that should flatten its competitors. Unfortunately, it stumbles from the starting blocks with some serious problems.

Based loosely on the novel Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer, the concept is a killer hook. The entire world population loses consciousness for two minutes, and during that time, they apparently experience a fragment from their lives in 6 months time. An elite government team, headed by Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), struggles to solve the enigma, while the rest of the world struggles with the consequences of their visions.

Sounds great, right? And with a cast including Sonya Walger (Penny from Lost, 2004), Jack Davenport (Michael Colefield from Ultraviolet, 1998), and John Cho (Teddy from Kitchen Confidential, 2006), I expected great things.

I did not expect clunky writing, ham fisted dialogue, uncomfortable acting, and sometimes nonsensical conversational exchanges. Fiennes is probably a decent actor, but his perpetually furrowed brow seems to be doing all the hard work. Walger is luminous in Lost, but the chemistry between her and Fiennes is painfully tepid. It's rare for Hollywood to write kids who are either realistic or entertaining, and the Benford's daughter (Lennon Wynn) is no exception.

The characters are broadly drawn, and move around in self fulfilling plot devices, without sufficient depth of motivation. Good banter can save a lumpy show (see Blake's 7, 1978), but the dialogue in Flash Forward never rises above functional. And that's on a good day. The obvious is stated. And sometimes repeated. And then we get a flashback for good measure.

It's a real shame, because the plot twists are intriguing, and the story is probably full of great ideas. Unfortunately, I just can't bring myself to eat that much ham.

Stories like this have been done much better in shows like The 4400 (2004), with likeable, sensible, and understated characters, and much more intelligent plotting. If Flash Forward is going for melodrama, the writing needs to be smarter (eg. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1993). If it's going for drama, it needs a far lighter touch (eg. The 4400).

Flash Forward has a lot going for it, but it has far too many fundamental flaws for a show of this pedigree. A real let down for me.

Verdict: A mediocre science fiction show with a great premise, but lumpy delivery.