I really want to like this one. It has the most intriguing premise I've heard in a long time, a pretty nifty cast, and started off with an action/disaster sequence better than what you'd see in most movies.
But I have my worries. For example: too much of the dialogue was explaining things we already figured out -- or worse, things other characters have just said.
The worst example of that came about midway through the episode, when the FBI agents are talking about what had happened earlier in the day (dialogue is paraphrased):
Joseph Fiennes: I had a vision. It was about six months from now, April 10, 2010.
Agent 2: I saw the same date, April, 2010.
Courtney B. Vance: That means everyone saw what they'll be doing six months from now.
I'm not going to talk much about the Flashforward/Lost connection, and whether this show is a worthy successor. So far, it's not, for reasons TIME's James Poniewozik explains much better than I will. I don't know that I felt as strongly about Flashforward as he does, but I will agree with him on one point: so far, it has no voice. None of the characters made much of an impression, except maybe Fiennes AA sponsor.
(Two sort of Lost connections: both shows begin with their main character waking up after a crash to find a scene of hellish chaos. Also, Lost has the Dharma Initiative and set up fake websites accordingly, there's already a site for Flashforward's Mosaic Collective.)
Yet there's those questions, and that's what will keep me coming back, at least for a little while: What caused the blackout? Who caused it, and why? Who's the mysterious man who didn't black out, captured on a stadium camera? Can anyone change what they saw?
I like the idea, set forth in the previews, that this is a shared, global experience, which is something few TV shows get a chance to tackle (ABC will do so again later this fall with V, I suppose). I just hope this show gets as deep with its characters.
Tom Coombe
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