Seven Ways Flashforward Resembles Lost
TV addicts already knew that one of the fall season’s most anticipated shows, Flashforward was going to have some similarities to Lost, since ABC desperately needs to find a way to fill the hole left by Lost when it ends in 2010. And they aren’t being shy about the hat tip, either; we saw a couple of Lost references in the form of an ad for Oceanic Six, the doomed airline. We’re sure there were more but we watched it online very late.
We had a serious case of deja vu watching the show, which is set in Los Angeles and based on a sci-fi novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer.
1. Two of the Same Awesome Actors. We’re watching and enjoying ourselves and then thought we saw a familiar face. Um, OMG, “What’s Penny doing over there? Where’s Desmond!” Sonia Braga plays a doctor Olivia Benford (she’s Mark’s wife); meanwhile, her accented brethren, Dominic Monaghan (long lost Charlie) is signed on for two eps.
2. The Chaotic Opening with Things Exploding and Fireballs Nearly Missing our Beloved All-Knowing-Must-Save-Everyone-Fearless Leader, Jack Mark.
As FBI agent Mark Benford makes his way in what looks like downtown L.A. —which appears even more apocalyptic than usual, what with the exploding gas tanker trucks, and cars that have piled on top of each other—Mark hears people screaming and crying and runs erratically in all directions trying to save everyone he can find. He’s nearly taken out by an exploding fireball, but survives so that he can become the series leader, telling a bunch of confused people to stay calm and directing them to help while looking kind of frazzled and purposeful.
3. The Character Who We Already Know is Going to Die.
Like Charlie, John Cho’s character Demetri Noh is aware that he might not make it to the fateful date on April 29, 2010, because unlike everyone else, during the blackout, he didn’t see scenes from the future. He saw nothing at all. Desmond in Lost, of course, predicted Charlie’s demise, and tried fruitlessly to prevent it, until Charlie realized that in order for the events on the Island to unfold correctly, he had to die. Will Demetri have a similar realization or will he try to fight it?
4. The Flash Forwards as a Plot Device:
We have to wonder if the Lost folks weren’t given a hefty chunk of change for this bit of intellectual property. Lost fans will recall the finale of Season 3 that revealed the first flashforward was a doozy, totally turning the whole show upside down. (“We have to go back!”) The mystery wasn’t just what happened, but how everyone got there. Flashforward is a little different. People have vague clues that they are piecing together collectively from snapshots in their future memory. However, with Lost, part of the problem is that once we could see how the puzzle was going to be finished, it took the air out of the reveal.
5. The Weird Animal Sighting.
In the downtown is on fire scene, Mark is basically harried, but normal, considering that hell has just frozen over, until he comes across something that literally stops him dead in his tracks. We waited as the camera panned over and thought, “SMOKEY IS THAT YOU? (Smoke monster!)” Nope, just a kangaroo, which apparently either hopped itself all the way over from Australia or was transported in a time traveling wormhole ala the polar bears in Lost. Also: the kangaroo/Australian connection is another hat tip to Lost, which is where flight Oceanic 815 was headed when it crashed in the Island.
6. The Previously Hopeless Character with a Renewed Sense of Purpose (and Maybe Even a Second Life).
At the beginning of the ep, we see a young doctor, Bryce Varley, played by Zachary Knighton, standing on a pier by the beach, holding a gun up to his chin about to shoot his head off. Then everyone goes blackout and he wakes up to see that a little boy in the water needs help, and jumps to his rescue. Later, he confides to Sonia Braga’s character Olivia, that he was about to commit suicide, but during the blackout, he saw his future and it was good, very very good. If we were the betting types, we’d call this the John Locke character. When Locke arrived on the Island his paralysis was miraculously cured, and the formerly depressed man had a renewed sense of life and vigor. And like Locke, Bryce seems to be game to save people; will he be the one to challenge Mark in the future? And what does Locke-tk say to Braga during his confession: “Whatever I was thinking about doing, obviously wasn’t meant to happen.” To which we say, “Uh-oh. This feels awfully familiar.”
7. Fate and Destiny vs. Free Will.
Remember when Hurley explains to everyone that the future can’t be changed, that no matter what they do, what is supposed to happen will happen. Mark and his sobriety sponsor Aaron have nearly the inverse conversation. Mark wonders if because he saw himself in his flashforward as being a drunk again, if there’s nothing he can do about it, and demurs. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Maybe because you saw it, you can change it. What if you can, you know ghost of Christmas future crap.” Ever the skeptic, Aaron answers, “What if I can’t?” Well, we’ll say this: that’s not very Jack-like of him.
