Two Minutes, Seventeen Seconds

By on Aug 1, 2009 in Previews |

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The Cast of "Flash Forward"

The following post was originally published on my old blog on April 20, 2009.

2009-2010 New Series Preview, Part 1

ABC has a lot of fine prospects for the 2009-2010 season, but one of the most exciting is a pilot called Flash Forward, based on the Robert J. Sawyer novel of the same name. (I don’t love that title, but that’s neither here nor there.)

The story begins with a worldwide event: the population of the world blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds, during which everyone experiences a vision of his or her future. FBI agent Mark Benford, horrified by what he sees, assembles a team to figure out what the event means and how to prevent the future it projected. The team assembles a vast mosaic of visions as they ask people the same question: “What did you see?”

It’s an ambitious premise that could set off a tangled, enigmatic plot in the vein of Lost. And I’m all for shows with serialized storylines, as I consider them to be more worthwhile and rewarding than many procedurals. (There are a lot of cop/lawyer/doctor shows on the slate for next season.) Indeed, this show seems like one that will take some mightily attentive viewing but could also be fiendishly addictive—assuming it remains on the air long enough.