FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discuss
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Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
When the FBI goes chasing people with guns, this show is really dull. People talking to each other about free will and predestination is more interesting. At least the agents didn't get into a fist fight.
The Tracy storyline fails miserably, because no one would worry about getting into trouble over massacring some women and children in Afghanistan. I wish, but it just isn't so.
When the FBI goes chasing people with guns, this show is really dull. People talking to each other about free will and predestination is more interesting. At least the agents didn't get into a fist fight.
The Tracy storyline fails miserably, because no one would worry about getting into trouble over massacring some women and children in Afghanistan. I wish, but it just isn't so.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Well, these discussions have absolutely trailed off.
Saw the whole thing coming with the tattoo. How in the world did none of the characters realize it?
Well, these discussions have absolutely trailed off.
Saw the whole thing coming with the tattoo. How in the world did none of the characters realize it?
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
This was an uneven episode. I thought the poker scene between Simon and Lloyd was dull.
I'm also finding myself more interested in the plot/mysteries than the characters.
Some of the characters are growing on me somewhat but several like Nicole, Bryce, Aaron are just "there". The only time I found myself perked up and really interested in what was going on were during the interesting scenes of revelation and exposition then with the quite good cliffhanger moment. I suspect Jericho contractor soldiers are the ones that wear the three star tattoo.
I know ABC wants this to be the next Lost but it still hasn't gotten there *yet*. It needs to be a little more compelling. I know these big mystery shows are slow burners but Lost and even season one Heroes even in the early stages had episodes that were crammed full of interesting information in almost every scene to the point where the entire episode was gripping and you had to decompress afterwards.
I'm sure as we get further down the road some of this stuff that seems less than interesting now will upon second viewing take on a more interesting context if it truly is in the Lost-mold. But for now as it is it is a tad underwhelming.
I'll give it an above average.
This was an uneven episode. I thought the poker scene between Simon and Lloyd was dull.
I'm also finding myself more interested in the plot/mysteries than the characters.
Some of the characters are growing on me somewhat but several like Nicole, Bryce, Aaron are just "there". The only time I found myself perked up and really interested in what was going on were during the interesting scenes of revelation and exposition then with the quite good cliffhanger moment. I suspect Jericho contractor soldiers are the ones that wear the three star tattoo.
I know ABC wants this to be the next Lost but it still hasn't gotten there *yet*. It needs to be a little more compelling. I know these big mystery shows are slow burners but Lost and even season one Heroes even in the early stages had episodes that were crammed full of interesting information in almost every scene to the point where the entire episode was gripping and you had to decompress afterwards.
I'm sure as we get further down the road some of this stuff that seems less than interesting now will upon second viewing take on a more interesting context if it truly is in the Lost-mold. But for now as it is it is a tad underwhelming.
I'll give it an above average.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
For me this show has been downgraded from "must watch with full attention" to "background noise while I work on other things". Now that we know all these visions may or may not come true, I just can't work up the energy to care that much. And it makes me wonder why I spent 5 episodes repeatedly being shown visions that may never come true.
And the whole "four of a kind, I win" followed by "surprise I have a STRAIGHT FLUSH" might be the most overused cliche of all time.
For me this show has been downgraded from "must watch with full attention" to "background noise while I work on other things". Now that we know all these visions may or may not come true, I just can't work up the energy to care that much. And it makes me wonder why I spent 5 episodes repeatedly being shown visions that may never come true.
And the whole "four of a kind, I win" followed by "surprise I have a STRAIGHT FLUSH" might be the most overused cliche of all time.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Officially starting to lose interest. Though the plot with Ruby (can't remember her name) was perhaps the most interesting part of the show. I do think that US military contractors committing atrocities in Afghanistan would be big news if it got out to the press. Of course these Jericho guys might've also been doing something related to the black out and the villagers were just in their way, I'm guessing, and I think if that's the case then there would be some powerful people who wanted Ruby rubbed out. Other than that storyline, it was a very weak episode.
I don't like how they have Courtney Vance lurking around the female FBI agent. Something tells me that he's going to be the one that impregnates her, either through intercourse or via sperm donation. In fact, why was the agent back in the office or in the field no less so soon after getting shot? They show a lot of people at that LA office. They couldn't have picked another one to do that? Where's Seth McFarlane?
I also thought the card game was lame. It was like some writer/producer thinking that poker is cool now so let's add it into the show. But would the Hobbit dude really let all they've done ride on a poker game? Especially after Simcoe admitted that he cheated? Wouldn't that admission invalidate the win and their deal? It would've made more sense for the Hobbit to just threaten Simcoe or take his son and/or use him as leverage to keep Simcoe from talking. Or the other people involved to threaten Simcoe and son.
I also don't get why Benford and the others would think that there couldn't be more than one person with the tattoo or why Olivia was so cool with the idea that Benford just killed a guy, mainly in the attempt to change their own futures.
The ending didn't do anything for me either. It didn't fill me with dread or anticipation. It just felt like they were adding another layer just to add on not necessarily because it was needed, but just to do it. I did like the quote though.
Officially starting to lose interest. Though the plot with Ruby (can't remember her name) was perhaps the most interesting part of the show. I do think that US military contractors committing atrocities in Afghanistan would be big news if it got out to the press. Of course these Jericho guys might've also been doing something related to the black out and the villagers were just in their way, I'm guessing, and I think if that's the case then there would be some powerful people who wanted Ruby rubbed out. Other than that storyline, it was a very weak episode.
I don't like how they have Courtney Vance lurking around the female FBI agent. Something tells me that he's going to be the one that impregnates her, either through intercourse or via sperm donation. In fact, why was the agent back in the office or in the field no less so soon after getting shot? They show a lot of people at that LA office. They couldn't have picked another one to do that? Where's Seth McFarlane?
I also thought the card game was lame. It was like some writer/producer thinking that poker is cool now so let's add it into the show. But would the Hobbit dude really let all they've done ride on a poker game? Especially after Simcoe admitted that he cheated? Wouldn't that admission invalidate the win and their deal? It would've made more sense for the Hobbit to just threaten Simcoe or take his son and/or use him as leverage to keep Simcoe from talking. Or the other people involved to threaten Simcoe and son.
I also don't get why Benford and the others would think that there couldn't be more than one person with the tattoo or why Olivia was so cool with the idea that Benford just killed a guy, mainly in the attempt to change their own futures.
The ending didn't do anything for me either. It didn't fill me with dread or anticipation. It just felt like they were adding another layer just to add on not necessarily because it was needed, but just to do it. I did like the quote though.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Nah, this one worked for me because he was right, he SHOULD have won (card counter, maybe?), but Simcoe cheated.
Nah, this one worked for me because he was right, he SHOULD have won (card counter, maybe?), but Simcoe cheated.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
You know for most of the episode I thought the card game was going to be the silliest thing I posted about then I realized these asswits don't realize that someone else could have the same tat... WTF? They're supposed to be investigators...
But hell EVEN THAT isn't the silliest thing. No the silliest thing comes from what was in the briefcase because it looks like they have magical rings that prevent someone from passing out in the blackout associated with the flash forward.
Maybe they got their rings from the same place that the vampires on Vampire Diaries get theirs that them survive in the sunlight.
You know for most of the episode I thought the card game was going to be the silliest thing I posted about then I realized these asswits don't realize that someone else could have the same tat... WTF? They're supposed to be investigators...
But hell EVEN THAT isn't the silliest thing. No the silliest thing comes from what was in the briefcase because it looks like they have magical rings that prevent someone from passing out in the blackout associated with the flash forward.
Maybe they got their rings from the same place that the vampires on Vampire Diaries get theirs that them survive in the sunlight.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Sorry, but for me, that mild "twist" wasn't quite enough to make a decades-old cliche seem fresh and exciting.
Sorry, but for me, that mild "twist" wasn't quite enough to make a decades-old cliche seem fresh and exciting.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
It would seem the people on this board are not the only ones who have lost interest in this show:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/13/tv-ratings-thursday-abc-edges-cbs-as-fringe-recovers/33566
With the convoluted storyline, and the fact that they just cut the show's central premise off at the knees, I just don't see this show winning any viewers back.
It would seem the people on this board are not the only ones who have lost interest in this show:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/13/tv-ratings-thursday-abc-edges-cbs-as-fringe-recovers/33566
With the convoluted storyline, and the fact that they just cut the show's central premise off at the knees, I just don't see this show winning any viewers back.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Geez, I decide to go to the movies instead of watching one of my new favorite shows for ONE NIGHT and look what happens...
Geez, I decide to go to the movies instead of watching one of my new favorite shows for ONE NIGHT and look what happens...
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
You mean they got them from the Buffyverse? I thought so too.
You mean they got them from the Buffyverse? I thought so too.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Urg...boring.
Is anyone buying the hobbit as a villain, because I sure ain't.
And why are these people continuing to act like they have the slightest idea how likely or unlikely those future visions are? They could all have .00001% of coming true, for all anyone knows, but they continue to obsess over this BS. Why not just take precautions against the visions coming true and get on with their lives? There's nothing unusual about people taking precautions against unpleasant future events. You do it every time you buckle your seatbelt. People manage to do that without obsessing over whether they might get into a car crash, so why is this scenario any different? There is no difference the premise between this show and boring normal life.
There are amazingly simple ways for these dolts to reduce the odds of the visions coming true. Demitri rents a vault and locks himself in for the day, or goes on vacation without telling anyone his destination - the Alaskan wilderness, a hundred miles from any other human. The babysitter, whatever her name is, goes on vacation, too - the Sahara Desert! How can you be drowned in a place where there are no bodies of water? Mark doesn't go in to work that day - how can the star tattoo guy get him if he isn't at work? And why is Olivia pouting over the black negligee? Does she think she can have an affair with that guy by accident? I don't get why the guy with the military daughter thinks his vision will come true in the slightest.
How does anyone in the world know that these visions were precognitive at all? They could just be psychic hallucintions in which certain people were mentally linked and saw the same hallucination which has no bearing on any future events. Mental telepathy is no more ridiculous than precognition - if anything, it seems more likely to be something that might exist in the real world. If you're not dealing with the future, you're not bringing in any sticky metaphysical issues.
At this point, I dunno if this show's premise is even workable as TV drama, but it certainly isn't workable the way they are doing it.
Urg...boring.
Is anyone buying the hobbit as a villain, because I sure ain't.
And why are these people continuing to act like they have the slightest idea how likely or unlikely those future visions are? They could all have .00001% of coming true, for all anyone knows, but they continue to obsess over this BS. Why not just take precautions against the visions coming true and get on with their lives? There's nothing unusual about people taking precautions against unpleasant future events. You do it every time you buckle your seatbelt. People manage to do that without obsessing over whether they might get into a car crash, so why is this scenario any different? There is no difference the premise between this show and boring normal life.
There are amazingly simple ways for these dolts to reduce the odds of the visions coming true. Demitri rents a vault and locks himself in for the day, or goes on vacation without telling anyone his destination - the Alaskan wilderness, a hundred miles from any other human. The babysitter, whatever her name is, goes on vacation, too - the Sahara Desert! How can you be drowned in a place where there are no bodies of water? Mark doesn't go in to work that day - how can the star tattoo guy get him if he isn't at work? And why is Olivia pouting over the black negligee? Does she think she can have an affair with that guy by accident? I don't get why the guy with the military daughter thinks his vision will come true in the slightest.
How does anyone in the world know that these visions were precognitive at all? They could just be psychic hallucintions in which certain people were mentally linked and saw the same hallucination which has no bearing on any future events. Mental telepathy is no more ridiculous than precognition - if anything, it seems more likely to be something that might exist in the real world. If you're not dealing with the future, you're not bringing in any sticky metaphysical issues.
At this point, I dunno if this show's premise is even workable as TV drama, but it certainly isn't workable the way they are doing it.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
What if later on it turns out that woman dies anyways? Then they'll just be wondering if all that guy did was remove himself from his FF but the bad thing happened anyways? Just because one guy killed himself doesn't throw EVERY last belief in the FFs out the window. It's just one guy.
What if later on it turns out that woman dies anyways? Then they'll just be wondering if all that guy did was remove himself from his FF but the bad thing happened anyways? Just because one guy killed himself doesn't throw EVERY last belief in the FFs out the window. It's just one guy.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
But Gough's flash forward can't happen now. Unless it's Zombie Gough.
So that rules out predestination, and rules in the idea that maybe nobody's flash forward will happen and they aren't flash forwards at all. Just psychic hallucinations. Or the odds of them happening are vanishingly small, and nothing for anyone to fret about.
Why is the entire world convinced of only one possible explanation? There should be a thousand competing explanations now - not just psychic hallucinations but that the whole thing is a government conspiracy caused by drugs dispersed in the atmosphere. Alien mind control. People insist on believing that Obama was born in Kenya. Can you imagine what kind of insane shit they'd come up with for something like this?
This show just doesn't depict people behaving like I know people behave.
It reminded me of last week's freak-show club - a screenwriter's idea of cool rather than something that the audience is interested in seeing, or furthers the character's development or the plot. Felt very artificial and imposed.
But Gough's flash forward can't happen now. Unless it's Zombie Gough.
So that rules out predestination, and rules in the idea that maybe nobody's flash forward will happen and they aren't flash forwards at all. Just psychic hallucinations. Or the odds of them happening are vanishingly small, and nothing for anyone to fret about.Why is the entire world convinced of only one possible explanation? There should be a thousand competing explanations now - not just psychic hallucinations but that the whole thing is a government conspiracy caused by drugs dispersed in the atmosphere. Alien mind control. People insist on believing that Obama was born in Kenya. Can you imagine what kind of insane shit they'd come up with for something like this?
This show just doesn't depict people behaving like I know people behave.
It fails because the Evil Military Contractors storyline has long since become a tired-ass cliche. I guess it goes with the tired-ass cop show cliches and the tired-ass doctor show cliches.
It reminded me of last week's freak-show club - a screenwriter's idea of cool rather than something that the audience is interested in seeing, or furthers the character's development or the plot. Felt very artificial and imposed.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Because none of that would add to the show and just eat up money and screentime. I wouldn't waste my time watching that, and the Showrunners wouldn't want to waste their money on making it.
Besides, acceptable behavior is a concept of the majority. As long as the majority of humanity believe in their FFs being FFs that is the acceptable behavior, while all that other stuff can go screw for all they care. Apparently one man's suicide wasn't enough to change the mass opinion.
Because none of that would add to the show and just eat up money and screentime. I wouldn't waste my time watching that, and the Showrunners wouldn't want to waste their money on making it.
Besides, acceptable behavior is a concept of the majority. As long as the majority of humanity believe in their FFs being FFs that is the acceptable behavior, while all that other stuff can go screw for all they care. Apparently one man's suicide wasn't enough to change the mass opinion.
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
Have they completely forgotten about the pylon they discovered in Africa?
Have they completely forgotten about the pylon they discovered in Africa?
Re: FlashForward: "Playing Cards with Coyote" 11/12/09 - Grade & Discu
I'm thinking that the FFs are supposed to happen but that Gough's suicide merely created a ripple effect that might cause them to happen in a different way now. Sort of like the Final Destination movies, where one person sees their future deaths, prevent it, but Death gets them in a different manner.
I'm thinking that the FFs are supposed to happen but that Gough's suicide merely created a ripple effect that might cause them to happen in a different way now. Sort of like the Final Destination movies, where one person sees their future deaths, prevent it, but Death gets them in a different manner.