Flash Forward: "White to Play" 10/1 - Grading & Discussion

[dru]

The homeland security person was silly. Why must american shows include government officials that are imbeciles?

So true.

 

[propita]

I wonder if they're planning on ending every episode with a "oh shit" scene.

As for damage in the nighttime countries--well, how much activity do they have at that hour now?

Thinking about it, there must've been lots of deaths from things one might not think about--well, yeah, welding and tons of car crashes, but what about all the restaurants? Lots of cooks/chefs falling over their stoves, leading to fires, leading to more deaths. Or even just falling down a flight of stairs--similar to the surfers who drowned. Lots of machinists falling into the machinery. Ugh--people working with power drills or chainsaws or nailguns, and fall onto them wrong, still hitting the trigger. Lumberjacks, where the tree falls on them. Etc, etc.

Was there anything said about animals passing out?

 

[firehawk12]

I've already given up on this episode. I realize that they probably think most Americans are functionally stupid, but it's only been ONE WEEK - I don't need a flashback to every single story thread that happened in the first episode.

Shows are already running thin on 40 minutes. Wasting 5-10 minutes on flashbacks is such a waste of time that they don't really have.

 

[Iasius]

I think the purpose is to get those caught up that have missed the pilot, but I agree that it's quite annoying when you've watched it. It breaks the immersion into the plot for me, it's like someone holds up a sign "and for those of you who have missed the pilot, here's what happened."

 

[Trekker4747]

I think the purpose is to get those caught up that have missed the pilot, but I agree that it's quite annoying when you've watched it. It breaks the immersion into the plot for me, it's like someone holds up a sign "and for those of you who have missed the pilot, here's what happened."

Well, it's not like they cut-together the second episode in the last week after saying, "Gee! This show is popular! New people will be watching, we better have some expository flashbacks!"

It's dumb to have flashbacks to the previous damn episode. Isn't that what the "Previouslies" are for?

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, it was just really annoying. And it's not as if the flashbacks were in any way interesting or revealing - they were just there to serve as reminders of plot. I just hope that this was a one time thing and that each episode isn't going to feature flashbacks to the last episode.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Above Average, even tho the female cop's death - so she could freak Dimitri out - was painfully predictable.

Not very interested in Mark's marital woes, but Dimitri's story is intriguing and the larger mystery is well crafted. So far, so good.

But can't Dimitri just find out about the visions of terminally ill patients and cross reference them with visions from the half of the planet that was asleep? If the former saw nothing while the latter saw dreams, Dimitri needs to rent himself a bank vault on the day he's murdered and lock himself in.

You obviously didn't read the Heroes threads from last season...there weren't very many "above average" or "excellent" ratings to be had there. But you're generally right though--the ratings do skew way too positive.

Not when you consider that people watch shows they consider above average to begin with. I'm sure if I forced myself to watch everything, I'd be giving out bad ratings much more frequently, but why should I waste my time with merely average shows? Anything that isn't worth an above average/excellent most of the time isn't something I'll stick with or vote on.

Lastly, and maybe this is just me, but those sappy musical interludes at 10 minutes to the end have got to go! Does anyone actually like them? I find that stuff incredibly annoying.

 

[Candlelight]

Was there anything said about animals passing out?

"What did ya see boy, huh huh, what did ya see?"

*dog runs into hallway, comes back with leash*

 

[Trent Roman]

Good episode. The characters are challenging each other, on their visions and the implications, which is what I had wanted to see more of in the second half of the pilot. The plot is moving along briskly; there's still the soap elements present (I, too, could do without this adultery plot), but they don't take up disproportionate amounts of the episode. In particular, we seemed a lot less focused on Fiennes' character and more dispersed amongst an ensemble cast, which I hope is a trend that will continue.

I am intrigued by D. Gibbons and the mystery surrounding him; I liked the booby-trapped factory with echoes of Jigsaw. The evidence seems to indicate that he was awake during the flashforward, which suggests he knows it was coming; yet all this hacking activity, 'looking for causes', would suggest that he doesn't know who or what is responsible, implying a multiplicity of factions around whatever technology/phenomenon did this, with differing agendas. Like the Homeland Security chick said, everybody loves a good conspiracy theory.

Not sure about the humour, though. I can appreciate that they tried for some moments of levity, and the FBI Deputy-Director's was admittedly funny (indeed, I appreciate they went for someone with a kind of dry wit instead of the usual overbearing, hard-ass boss figure); but at the same time, tens, possibly hundreds of millions have died, and it seems out of tune to be joking around after a tragedy of such proportions. The creepy thing with the kids 'playing blackout' felt a lot more natural. (By the way, anybody know what the teacher was talking about when she mentioned kids 'play-acting' 9/11 and Katrina? I've not heard of this.)

So... in her flashforward she asks the ultra-sound lady what the baby's sex is and she's told it's a girl, so now that she knows it's a girl she doesn't have to ask what the baby is when she has that ultrasound. It's kind of paradoxal.

There is, indeed, a logical flaw running through the show's depiction of the flashforward. While instances like the above might be explained away, collectively the visions both prove and contradict the idea that the flashforward itself occured in the past of which these visions are the future. Predestination paradoxes like FBI-guy seeing himself investigate the flashforward would seem to imply he saw a future where the flashforward had occured. However, most of the visions imply that these people had no knowledge of the flashforward, no knowledge that their past selves would, at this point, be looking in. If they did, they would be sending themselves back stock market numbers, loto numbers, etc., or else information on things like the case more cogently arranged. By now, everybody knows the exact minutes at which the past catches up with the future, but their future selves were observed unawares, in 'slice of life' moments. I don't know what to make of it, honestly. Confusing.

Lastly, and maybe this is just me, but those sappy musical interludes at 10 minutes to the end have got to go! Does anyone actually like them? I find that stuff incredibly annoying.

Damn skippy. And why must it always be sappy, suicidal music too? Just once I'd like to see the end of an episode rock out to Zeppelin.

And I must say, I'm really dissapointed with the writers on one point: smoking. Nobody smokes in this show. Statistically speaking, there ought to be a few smokers just on the main cast; particularly after an event of this magnitude, you'd think you would see people lighting up in order to calm their frayed nerves. It undermines the believability of the characters and the series, portraying the show as though it's taking place in some weird alternate universe where Los Angeles as a whole is a non-smoking area.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Was there anything said about animals passing out?

"What did ya see boy, huh huh, what did ya see?"

*dog runs into hallway, comes back with leash*

They should be on videos. It's a very important point since a natural phenomena should knock out animals, too, so if it's just humans being knocked out, we know it was intentional and the suspects are: God, aliens, humans.

And why must it always be sappy, suicidal music too? Just once I'd like to see the end of an episode rock out to Zeppelin.

I wouldn't mind it so much if the musical choices were clever, like on My Name is Earl. But I get the impression it's all for some kind of annoying marketing tie-in, to sell the singer's records which is lost on me, because I never know who the frak the singer is, anyway. I just press the mute button and wait the requisite 3 minutes.

Lastly - did anyone think it was odd that of 4000 D. Gibbons, 1000 had criminal records? Is that really so common among the general population that you could choose any name at random and 25% would have criminal records???

 

[Trent Roman]

They should be on videos. It's a very important point since a natural phenomena should knock out animals, too, so if it's just humans being knocked out, we know it was intentional and the suspects are: God, aliens, humans.

Hmm. It's worth noting that being 'knocked-out' was only the side-effect: the real phenomenon was that everybody's consciousnesses was projected forwards through time six months. Everybody fell down because there was no longer a consciousness present to animate those bodies in the present. When it comes to animals, the question would be: do animals like dogs actually have a higher consciousness to be projected this way? It may well be that their minds were too simple to be affected by the flashforward. I'd be curious to know whether higher primates were affected.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Trekker4747]

In the pilot episode we see a kangaroo hopping through the downtown streets of (LA?), any speculation on where it came from?

 

[propita]

Was there anything said about animals passing out?

"What did ya see boy, huh huh, what did ya see?"

*dog runs into hallway, comes back with leash*

They should be on videos. It's a very important point since a natural phenomena should knock out animals, too, so if it's just humans being knocked out, we know it was intentional and the suspects are: God, aliens, humans.

Thank you for understanding what I meant. If animals were also affected, it was more likely (but not definitely) a natural phenomenon. If not, then intentional.

And how does one affect only one species?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

When it comes to animals, the question would be: do animals like dogs actually have a higher consciousness to be projected this way? It may well be that their minds were too simple to be affected by the flashforward. I'd be curious to know whether higher primates were affected.

Yeah - chimps, gorillas and dolphins - maybe hard to tell with dolphins in the wild, since they probably wouldn't drown in that amount of time. But animals in research facilities should be on tape - the threat of animal rights activists would mean that such facilities would have security cameras running.

Do zoos have security cameras? How about Wonderland Ranch? That place has got to be under constant video surveillance. Or any billionaire with a private zoo and a reason to be paranoid. There should be copious evidence of what higher-intelligence animals were up to during the blackout.

Which led me to wonder, hey, how do dolphins sleep? Turns out they have unusual brains that allow them to sleep without drowning.

There's plenty of time for a dolphin to catch a catnap between trips to the ocean surface, of course, but this isn't a viable option. When you're a conscious breather, it's just not feasible to be completely unconscious -- what if you don't wake up in time? The solution for whales and dolphins is to let one half of the brain sleep at a time. In this way, the animal is never completely unconscious, but it still gets the rest it needs.

Scientists have studied this phenomenon in dolphins, using electroencephalography. In this process, electrodes hooked up to the head measure electricity levels in the brain. The resulting electroencephalograms (EEGs) of dolphin brains demonstrate that in the sleep cycle, half of the dolphin's brain does indeed "shut down" while the other half is still active. Researchers have observed that dolphins are in this state for approximately eight hours a day.

Find some dolphins who happened to be hooked up during the blackout and see how their brains were affected - did they suddenly jump from being in their normal state to being in a half-sleep state, which might indicate their consciousness had jumped forward in time?

 

[Candlelight]

In the pilot episode we see a kangaroo hopping through the downtown streets of (LA?), any speculation on where it came from?

I assumed someone had been working at a Zoo (in LA??) when they blacked out, accidentally released the Kangaroo there.

OR someone was shipping a kangaroo when they blacked out, truck crashed, kangaroo escaped, etc.

OR the kangaroos are to blame.

Evil Australian kangaroos.....

 

[Candlelight]

Find some dolphins who happened to be hooked up during the blackout and see how their brains were affected - did they suddenly jump from being in their normal state to being in a half-sleep state, which might indicate their consciousness had jumped forward in time?

But what the heck are they gonna see? They're swimming along, suddenly they have a flash to them... swimming along... 2'17" later they're... waking up from swimming along...

Maybe a whale could see himself about to be killed by whalers and has six months to try and prevent it from happening. Spin off perhaps........?

 

[Trekker4747]

And how does one affect only one species?

How does one effect every human being on the entire planet at once?

 

[davejames]

So far this show has seemed, to me at least, to be almost entirely gimmicky. The central premise, that of the future visions, is being wasted on soapy melodrama -- I really do not care whether or not Mark and Olivia stay together or whether Commander Norrington makes a cuckold out of Mark. It's inane nonsense. Not only that, the performances, particularly from Fiennes, are pretty weak.

And while I do wonder about what happened during the blackout, and why, that point is being more or less ignored in favor of melodrama.

I'll give the show another week. But, at this point, I think it's nonsensical garbage.

I didn't mind that in the first episode, but I agree the melodrama was laid on pretty damn thick here.

But the main problem I had was that the sense of suspense and URGENCY from the first episode has already dissipated. Everyone seemed to be acting way too casual, as if this was just another case-of-the-week on a procedural drama.

With the disasters of the blackout out of the way, all that's left are a bunch of visions about some mysterious, hazy future. And for some reason I just had a hard time caring about that this time.

I'll stick with the show for now, but somehow they're going to have to find a way to inject some of that urgency back into the story.

 

[Archangel]

If they don't have any info, how can they look urgent? Also, even if this is the most important event in centuries...running around like a chicken with his head cutoff is just going to burn them out.

 

[Aragorn]

^ Yeah? Well through two episodes, Jack Bauer would've already tortured a guy who gave information to find another guy who is killed before they can get information out of him but then they find a mole in the bureau who can lead them to another guy.