We now return you...
...to your regularly scheduled Flash Forward post.
Man I started the episode with so much optimism ostensibly because I was hoping the Bryce/Keiko kiss was going to be in it and then everyone's life took a sudden sharp turn for the miserable.
And I mean everyone.
1. Plot Arc A: In which Mark Benford is an awesome dad but makes me yell at him. A lot.
So the Feds have finally caught Hellinger, head honcho in charge. Hooray! But he decides that instead of answering questions he's going to talk down to Mark condescendingly and draw him a mini truncated version of the future map Dyson Frost had on his wall and talk about how he's already seen so many different versions of their conversation and they all end the same way-with his eventual death.
Pleasant fellow.
Olivia then brings Charlie to the office so she can see her dad, because she's been having nightmares and angsting about the fact that it's the day her daddy's supposed to die. Thus leading to THE SWEETEST MOST HEARTWARMING FATHER-DAUGHTER MOMENT EVER between Mark and Charlie, which yanks the heartstrings right out of their sockets and makes me "aww" and shake my fist at the Lloyd/Olivia ship for breaking up such a beautiful family.
Mark then spends the rest of the episode being stupid and making me yell at him. Hellinger warns him pressing forward will lead to his death? Mark is stubborn and keeps on him. Hellinger tells him he'll get riled up and start wailing on him and thus be doomed? Mark eventually caves. (Though in his defense on that one, Hellinger had it coming for the nasty comment he made about how Charlie would be better off when Mark was dead. Insensitive prick.) Some random dude passes him a flask of alcohol which we know Mark should be avoiding at all costs if he doesn't want his flash forward to come true or at least be clear-headed enough to change things so he doesn't die? Mark looks at it in conflict a looooong time and then finally opens it up and takes a gulp while I scream at the TV, "NO! DON'T DO IT YOU IDIOT! SELF-FULLFILLING PROPHECY! DON'T DO IT! STUPID! STUPID!"
I really hate it when characters make me yell at them.
Mark drowns his sorrows at a bar and then... gets into a barfight which lands him in a holding cell. Huh. Seems like it would be difficult to get back to his office at the FBI in time for his flash from there. Mayhap he will use the time to sober up?
2. Plot Arc B: In which Demetri faces the consequences of sleeping with Janis.
Dem gets encouraged plural times to go to Hawaii with Zoey. He is conflicted and angsts. He tells Zoey about the night in Somalia, explaining he really thought he wasn't going to live past March 15. Zoey is, understandably, upset. She tells him she doesn't want him on the trip to Hawaii with her parents anymore. Their relationship hangs in the air uncertainly.
Dammit I thought Demetri/Zoey was past its danger of being sunk.
3. Plot Arc C: In which Simon and Janis have hot Foe Yay chemistry.
Simon explains how he wants revenge against the bigwigs who caused the blackout and implores Janis to help him get to the partical accelerator thing that he and Lloyd were testing (the one that amplified the global blackout). Sensing he's being honest, she believes him and the two almost make it out the door only for Demetri to show up right outside. Janis disarms Simon in this kickass arm-twist that I find strangely hot. His gun pokes her in the gut and she starts having problems with the baby presumably. At first I thought, "Aha! That's why she's in the OB-GYN's office in her flash forward!" but then she and Demetri and Simon all team up and head out to the partical accelerator together and are on a long loney stretch of desert road when we last see them.
Please be okay, Janis's baby!
4. Plot Arc D: In which Olivia does SOMETHING SENSIBLE FOR ONCE and Lloyd is taken aback.
The episode opened with Olivia comforting her daughter Charlie. Later, Lloyd calls Olivia for some reason and she brushes him off to take some more care of Charlie. Then after their cordial visit to Mark at the FBI office, Olivia finally does something smart.
She hits the road with Charlie and drives away from Los Angeles, in order not to be in her house when the time catches up to her flash forward.
Lloyd is shocked when he calls her again and finds this out. Of course given that his son Dylan may have helped him stumble across a vitally important breakthrough on the QED formula he is rather panicky about her not being in the proper place. Here's a hint Lloyd: GO TO THE FBI AND TELL THEM THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTEAD OF HANGING OUT WITH OLIVIA TO WORK ON THE QED FORMULA WITH HER AND THEN EVENTUALLY BANG HER.
Dylan's sad little, "They'll never come back." was a bit heartwrenching though, I admit.
5. Plot Arc E: In which Aaron Stark is also an awesome dad.
But Tracy looks like she's bitten it, nullifying Aaron's flash forward of her being alive.
Crud.
They do have the decency to finally connect Tracy to the overarching blackout plot by revealing she witnessed Jericho performing experiments on a group of villagers.
6. Plot Arc F: In which Nicole has guilt.
(Wow, they covered a lot in this episode didn't they?)
Nicole goes over to Bryce's to offer cupcakes and the weight of her knowledge of Keiko's location is obviously troubling her. Bryce is too busy snogging her and gushing about how he's drawn her picture RRRGH ARGH INARTICULATE RAAAAAAAAGEE and the date he's planning to take her on that night. Meanwhile Nicole flips back the page to where Bryce had previously drawn Keiko and looks forlornly at it. She asks Bryce if he's really okay settling for her. He assures her he is, in the proccess calling Keiko "some imaginary girl on the other side of the world". Well that explains why he forgot about her and started schmoozing with Nicole. Must've stopped believing she existed after the disasterous failure of his mission to Tokyo. Still makes him a jerk though.
Later they pack up for their picnic date and Nicole continues to make sadfaces and angsts about how she was drowning in her flash forward, musing about the feeling she had that she deserved it. Bryce vows he won't let her get hurt. Nicole finally spills the beans about Keiko.
Bryce is massively surprised. Yeah. Imagine that Bryce. The girl actually does exist. Who knew?
I'm... I'm not sure how to feel about this scene actually. On the one hand, yay for Bryce immediately switching his priorities/romantic interests back to Keiko. On the other, the way they're ending the Bryce/Nicole is much sadder than I'd hoped for. It's clear that Nicole feels massively guilty and awful for keeping her knowledge of Keiko secret from him (in her own words, "Because I was afraid you'd pick her."), but he's not really angry with her for it, just hurt. So I have no idea how things are between them when we check in on them to see Nicole alone at her(?) house, still sadfacing and angsting and loathing herself and Bryce at the ICE or whatever agency holds illegal immigrants looking for Keiko. (She's not there of course, details below.)
But from next week's preview it looks like Nicole might actually commit suicide because of her guilt about this, by driving her car into a pond wherein she will drown. (My mom theorizes that the person she saw in her flash that she originally thought was drowning her might actually be trying to save her from this attempt.)
Noooooooo Nicole! Don't kill yourself! You're a nice character and I like you! I know you feel badly about being an obstruction to the Epic Bryce/Keiko meeting but that's no reason to go and drown yourself! Stay alive and continue to be BFFs with Bryce! And get to know Keiko! Become gal pals with her!
Wow, I just noticed I'm in the strange position of not wanting Nicole to Die For My Ship but potentially having the canon itself make Nicole Die For My Ship in spite of my wishes. That's... that's a weird position to be in.
7. Plot Arc G: In which Keiko is adorable but about to be deported.
Poor Keiko hangs out in detainment until surprise of all surprises, her mother bails her out. Mommy says they have to leave to go home to Tokyo pretty much right away though, else the police will force her to leave or something. And Keiko gets the saddest crestfallen puppy face at the thought of missing her Epic rendez-vous with Bryce. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS GIRL A HUG!
Sheesh at this rate it looks like no one's flash forward is coming true. (Execpt of course for Bryce/Keiko's as was confirmed by spoiler pictures in my previous post. At least I'm assured that this will happen.)
LAST EPISODE NEXT WEEK. I AM HOPING FOR BETTER RESOLUTION ON THE STATUS OF MY OTHER SHIPS BUT I AM CONTENT AND HAVE MADE MY PEACE WITH THE SERIES'S ENDING. I WILL NOT EVEN GRIPE ABOUT HOW WE WILL NEVER SEE THE FRUITION OF THE MOSAIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE BLACKOUT OR THE DOOMSDAY PROPHECY.
Well, not too much anyway.
Man I started the episode with so much optimism ostensibly because I was hoping the Bryce/Keiko kiss was going to be in it and then everyone's life took a sudden sharp turn for the miserable.
And I mean everyone.
1. Plot Arc A: In which Mark Benford is an awesome dad but makes me yell at him. A lot.
So the Feds have finally caught Hellinger, head honcho in charge. Hooray! But he decides that instead of answering questions he's going to talk down to Mark condescendingly and draw him a mini truncated version of the future map Dyson Frost had on his wall and talk about how he's already seen so many different versions of their conversation and they all end the same way-with his eventual death.
Pleasant fellow.
Olivia then brings Charlie to the office so she can see her dad, because she's been having nightmares and angsting about the fact that it's the day her daddy's supposed to die. Thus leading to THE SWEETEST MOST HEARTWARMING FATHER-DAUGHTER MOMENT EVER between Mark and Charlie, which yanks the heartstrings right out of their sockets and makes me "aww" and shake my fist at the Lloyd/Olivia ship for breaking up such a beautiful family.
Mark then spends the rest of the episode being stupid and making me yell at him. Hellinger warns him pressing forward will lead to his death? Mark is stubborn and keeps on him. Hellinger tells him he'll get riled up and start wailing on him and thus be doomed? Mark eventually caves. (Though in his defense on that one, Hellinger had it coming for the nasty comment he made about how Charlie would be better off when Mark was dead. Insensitive prick.) Some random dude passes him a flask of alcohol which we know Mark should be avoiding at all costs if he doesn't want his flash forward to come true or at least be clear-headed enough to change things so he doesn't die? Mark looks at it in conflict a looooong time and then finally opens it up and takes a gulp while I scream at the TV, "NO! DON'T DO IT YOU IDIOT! SELF-FULLFILLING PROPHECY! DON'T DO IT! STUPID! STUPID!"
I really hate it when characters make me yell at them.
Mark drowns his sorrows at a bar and then... gets into a barfight which lands him in a holding cell. Huh. Seems like it would be difficult to get back to his office at the FBI in time for his flash from there. Mayhap he will use the time to sober up?
2. Plot Arc B: In which Demetri faces the consequences of sleeping with Janis.
Dem gets encouraged plural times to go to Hawaii with Zoey. He is conflicted and angsts. He tells Zoey about the night in Somalia, explaining he really thought he wasn't going to live past March 15. Zoey is, understandably, upset. She tells him she doesn't want him on the trip to Hawaii with her parents anymore. Their relationship hangs in the air uncertainly.
Dammit I thought Demetri/Zoey was past its danger of being sunk.
3. Plot Arc C: In which Simon and Janis have hot Foe Yay chemistry.
Simon explains how he wants revenge against the bigwigs who caused the blackout and implores Janis to help him get to the partical accelerator thing that he and Lloyd were testing (the one that amplified the global blackout). Sensing he's being honest, she believes him and the two almost make it out the door only for Demetri to show up right outside. Janis disarms Simon in this kickass arm-twist that I find strangely hot. His gun pokes her in the gut and she starts having problems with the baby presumably. At first I thought, "Aha! That's why she's in the OB-GYN's office in her flash forward!" but then she and Demetri and Simon all team up and head out to the partical accelerator together and are on a long loney stretch of desert road when we last see them.
Please be okay, Janis's baby!
4. Plot Arc D: In which Olivia does SOMETHING SENSIBLE FOR ONCE and Lloyd is taken aback.
The episode opened with Olivia comforting her daughter Charlie. Later, Lloyd calls Olivia for some reason and she brushes him off to take some more care of Charlie. Then after their cordial visit to Mark at the FBI office, Olivia finally does something smart.
She hits the road with Charlie and drives away from Los Angeles, in order not to be in her house when the time catches up to her flash forward.
Lloyd is shocked when he calls her again and finds this out. Of course given that his son Dylan may have helped him stumble across a vitally important breakthrough on the QED formula he is rather panicky about her not being in the proper place. Here's a hint Lloyd: GO TO THE FBI AND TELL THEM THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTEAD OF HANGING OUT WITH OLIVIA TO WORK ON THE QED FORMULA WITH HER AND THEN EVENTUALLY BANG HER.
Dylan's sad little, "They'll never come back." was a bit heartwrenching though, I admit.
5. Plot Arc E: In which Aaron Stark is also an awesome dad.
But Tracy looks like she's bitten it, nullifying Aaron's flash forward of her being alive.
Crud.
They do have the decency to finally connect Tracy to the overarching blackout plot by revealing she witnessed Jericho performing experiments on a group of villagers.
6. Plot Arc F: In which Nicole has guilt.
(Wow, they covered a lot in this episode didn't they?)
Nicole goes over to Bryce's to offer cupcakes and the weight of her knowledge of Keiko's location is obviously troubling her. Bryce is too busy snogging her and gushing about how he's drawn her picture RRRGH ARGH INARTICULATE RAAAAAAAAGEE and the date he's planning to take her on that night. Meanwhile Nicole flips back the page to where Bryce had previously drawn Keiko and looks forlornly at it. She asks Bryce if he's really okay settling for her. He assures her he is, in the proccess calling Keiko "some imaginary girl on the other side of the world". Well that explains why he forgot about her and started schmoozing with Nicole. Must've stopped believing she existed after the disasterous failure of his mission to Tokyo. Still makes him a jerk though.
Later they pack up for their picnic date and Nicole continues to make sadfaces and angsts about how she was drowning in her flash forward, musing about the feeling she had that she deserved it. Bryce vows he won't let her get hurt. Nicole finally spills the beans about Keiko.
Bryce is massively surprised. Yeah. Imagine that Bryce. The girl actually does exist. Who knew?
I'm... I'm not sure how to feel about this scene actually. On the one hand, yay for Bryce immediately switching his priorities/romantic interests back to Keiko. On the other, the way they're ending the Bryce/Nicole is much sadder than I'd hoped for. It's clear that Nicole feels massively guilty and awful for keeping her knowledge of Keiko secret from him (in her own words, "Because I was afraid you'd pick her."), but he's not really angry with her for it, just hurt. So I have no idea how things are between them when we check in on them to see Nicole alone at her(?) house, still sadfacing and angsting and loathing herself and Bryce at the ICE or whatever agency holds illegal immigrants looking for Keiko. (She's not there of course, details below.)
But from next week's preview it looks like Nicole might actually commit suicide because of her guilt about this, by driving her car into a pond wherein she will drown. (My mom theorizes that the person she saw in her flash that she originally thought was drowning her might actually be trying to save her from this attempt.)
Noooooooo Nicole! Don't kill yourself! You're a nice character and I like you! I know you feel badly about being an obstruction to the Epic Bryce/Keiko meeting but that's no reason to go and drown yourself! Stay alive and continue to be BFFs with Bryce! And get to know Keiko! Become gal pals with her!
Wow, I just noticed I'm in the strange position of not wanting Nicole to Die For My Ship but potentially having the canon itself make Nicole Die For My Ship in spite of my wishes. That's... that's a weird position to be in.
7. Plot Arc G: In which Keiko is adorable but about to be deported.
Poor Keiko hangs out in detainment until surprise of all surprises, her mother bails her out. Mommy says they have to leave to go home to Tokyo pretty much right away though, else the police will force her to leave or something. And Keiko gets the saddest crestfallen puppy face at the thought of missing her Epic rendez-vous with Bryce. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THIS GIRL A HUG!
Sheesh at this rate it looks like no one's flash forward is coming true. (Execpt of course for Bryce/Keiko's as was confirmed by spoiler pictures in my previous post. At least I'm assured that this will happen.)
LAST EPISODE NEXT WEEK. I AM HOPING FOR BETTER RESOLUTION ON THE STATUS OF MY OTHER SHIPS BUT I AM CONTENT AND HAVE MADE MY PEACE WITH THE SERIES'S ENDING. I WILL NOT EVEN GRIPE ABOUT HOW WE WILL NEVER SEE THE FRUITION OF THE MOSAIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE BLACKOUT OR THE DOOMSDAY PROPHECY.
Well, not too much anyway.