Thursday, September 24, 2009

Flashforward 1.01: No More Good Days

Every once in a while a concept comes along where I think, "Wow, why didn't someone think of THAT before??" Tonight, watching the new ABC series "Flashforward," I was struck with exactly that thought (unless I haven't boned up on my sci-fi enough, and someone other than Toronto's own Robert J. Sawyer really did already come up with it before he did). Shows like this one -- which is being billed as "the new Lost," ensuring all of us Losties will be glued to our sets -- are the sort of thing that make you put yourself in the shoes of the main characters and imagine what you would do under similar circumstances. If this had happened to me 6 months ago, when I had just celebrated my book coming out, I had two kids, I worked in publishing, I would have had a flash of my future -- still with two kids, another book just coming out, still working in publishing.

Er... hm. Is my life really boring??

Anyway, NOT SO with these characters, but that's the beauty of it. See, if your mind flashes forward 6 months from now, then presumably the next 6 months will be a complete rollercoaster as you deal with the strong emotions you had during the flash, try to figure out what it all meant, watch other people around you falling apart or lifting themselves up (depending on the nature of their visions), and wait for the inevitable to happen. It's a brilliant concept.

And, for my money, it was executed well in this opening episode. The cast is a great one. Joseph Fiennes is amazing as Mark, the FBI agent who belongs to AA, whose wife leaves him purposely nasty notes as an inside joke (rather than "I love you," she tells him that she hopes she never sees him again or that he's a crappy husband, and that's their own funny shorthand for "I love you"). His American accent is flawless; you'd never know this was the funny British guy from Shakespeare in Love and numerous rom-coms.

Sonya Walger (who we know as Penn-eh) doesn't handle her American accent very well (why not just make the actress a Brit and get on with it?) but otherwise she's great. I really enjoyed seeing her in a leading role, rather than playing second fiddle to the rest of the cast on Lost. The guy who plays Mark's AA sponsor, Aaron, has a terrible accent (I have no idea where he's from, but he sounded mostly Irish to me... watch, with my luck he's probably from Kansas). The actor looked somewhat familiar to me, but without the beard. I can't place him. But otherwise, he was great, and the scenes of him talking about his daughter were gut-wrenching. He was one of the more intriguing people for me.

The breadth of the visions is what will keep us going for the rest of the season. Mark saw a future where he is on the hunt of the person who caused the blackout, has fallen off the wagon, and his life is in danger. His wife saw herself with a different man who she was completely in love with and is devastated to think she'd cheat on her husband. Aaron, on the other hand, saw his dead daughter living again. While Olivia's colleague had a gun to his head the moment before the blackout, his vision of being alive and well in the future has given him a reason to live and realize this happier future.

And Demetri, Mark's partner, saw nothing. Which, to him, could only mean one thing.

Things I noticed:
• The directing in this was spectacular, from the long shot shown above where Mark jumps up on the bridge, to the shot behind Bryce's head as he stands on the pier and looks out over the water, to the closeups, to the whacked-out confusion of the flashes.
• One of the things Mark had written on his bulletin board was "Red Panda," and we saw it a lot, yet he doesn't recall it when he's going back over his memory.
• One might think, hey, the friendship bracelet from his daughter isn't the end of the world: just take it off and you thwart the future. But if your kid makes you a bracelet, YOU WEAR IT.
• Demetri's fiance wants their first dance to be "Islands in the Stream" (which made me laugh, because my mom was obsessed with Kenny and Dolly when I was growing up... every time I hear one of their Christmas songs, I CRINGE). One of the lines is "Sail away with me, to another world" which points to the otherworldliness of what is happening to everyone.
• Um... no Chah-lie?? :(
• Maybe we're supposed to think this, but the silhouette in the stadium at the end looked like Lloyd Simcoe. Or Neil Gaiman. OMG, Neil Gaiman is behind everything!!

Fun stuff for Losties:
• The very title of the series is reminiscent of Jack's flashforward from season 3, and the many ones we've seen since. This idea of showing us the future and then leading us up to it is definitely a Lost touch.
• I nearly jumped off the couch (OK, I TOTALLY jumped off the couch) when Mark was sitting in his car and in one shot you can see a billboard behind him for Oceanic Airlines!!! What an awesome homage to its predecessor. I couldn't see what was written on the side of the sign, but humanebean emailed me and I got his email just now, and he says it reads, "Perfect safety record." HAHAHA!! Maybe the time flash was caused by Jack dropping the bomb, which reset time and events and now Oceanic never crashed!! ZOMG!
• Not only is there time travelling (even if it's just consciousness-travelling, which is Desmond's specialty) but the overriding question of the season looks like it might be, once again, free will vs. fate. Are they all destined to live out what they saw? Can they change their futures through their own choices?

What did you think of the premiere episode?

43 comments:

B.J. said...

I was planning on working on my post about FlashForward 1x01 tomorrow in my free time at work, but you beat me to it.

I really enjoyed it, but I felt the ENTIRE time that it was LOST 2.0. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but it wasn't what I went in expecting.

Saza said...

Speaking of LOST homages......it seemed like kangaroos are the new polar bear.

Beth said...

I liked what I saw, but after a long day, fell asleep & missed the last 15 or 20 minutes, so--! Undoubtedly, it will be available online, though. It seemed like a promising start, but can they sustain it?

Annie said...

Wow- I'm excited! And wtf is with the kangaroo?

Did anyone else feel abnormally creeped out when we saw that guy at the end who was walking in the stadium when everyone else was passed out? Don't know why but that hit my really hard.

Jeff Heimbuch said...

I loved it!

My friend and I definitely drew a lot of comparison to Lost, from everything to the opening sequence, to the flashes, and even to the kangaroo.

I can't wait to see more!

And, like you, we were like "OCEANIC AIR!!!!" when the billboard popped up. Awesome!

Rebecca T. said...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I forgot that premier was tonight! shoot. Now I've got to go find out when they're going to post it online.

Anonymous said...

Not bad but this show wants to be Lost so bad it can taste it. Penny, Charlie and Casey...where are Eko & Shannon?

It brings up the old connumdrum of if you see the future and then consciously try to bring yourself to what you saw when do you actually decide to get there?

Worth another week.

-Tim

Robert Kuang said...

I was disappointed with the pilot. While the premise is just as interesting as I expected, the characters are not nearly as involved or three-dimensional as Lost characters.

I need to give this series some time, because I could just be a bad first impression, but the dialogue didn't connect with me. At all.

Sorry :(

Gillian Whitfield said...

I loved it! Except for one thing: where the HELL is my Dominic Monaghan?!

I thought there was something a little creepy about that little girl.

Lost is still my one and only thrill. FlashForward comes second.

asiancolossus said...

I really enjoyed the show, it didn't give me the same chills as Lost but I can definitely see potential here. I personally hope that they do not try to involve too many characters as they need to establish core characters to whom we need to development an attachment.

Fave moments:
- Oceanic billboard of course!
- Kangaroo hopping
- Man in the stadium walking around, that was incredibly spooky
- when the kids dad comes into the room and we realize its Penny's oops Olivia's future lover!

I've always loved shows about destiny. Of course many of us would like to know our future if it is a good one, but what if we flashforward to a future where we are unhappy, or sick, or something really tragic has happened in our lives? I think I personally would be in such a funk it would be a self fulfilling prophecy.

asiancolossus said...

Oh I have one question I forgot to post. What happens if this does last the entire season and we hit April 29, 2010, we find out if the visions are real, but where do the writers take it from there? Perhaps they should have given themselves a bit more breathing room and said April 29, 2011 or 2012?

Michelle said...

That's an interesting and intriguing thought that the bomb in Lost caused the blackout in Flashforward.

I liked the story being told. At first I was like, oh god this has been done before. But then I realized it was different. I wasn't too keen on some of the acting but I think it will grow on me since pilot episodes always are kind of weird to me as they try to get into character.

Kangaroo = polar bear. I like it.

The man in the stadium reminded me of the Observer from Fringe. Mostly because the actor who plays the Observer was sent around the US to make creepy appearances in character. I was at a Yankee game over the summer and I saw him there in character. It was totally a mindfuck.

So, Lost, Flashforward, Fringe...hmm.

Joan Crawford said...

I liked it though I must say some of the acting was kinda...too obvious. Like when that blonde lady is getting hauled in by the FBI guy. Man, that was embarassingly bad. "Sit down!"
::Woman flails about unconvincingly::
I dunno. I feel like they don't exactly know what they are yet. Are they live action like Lost or snappy scripted lines like CSI? The whole "conversation in the lobby" with the boss felt way too Grey's Anatomy to me, too.
Nikki - you're so sweet and open to new TV experiences...I am not so benevolent :)

Zari said...

@Beth and Sonshine, et all:
Flashforward pilot is being rebroadcast tonight! It's same- time-same-station, but check your local listings ;)

Eric said...

I had a similar thought about the friendship bracelet -- I would (of course) allowed my daughter to put it on my wrist, but the opposite wrist from what I had seen in the vision. Problem solved!

LVGirl said...

Both my husband, collegue at work, and a friend, really enjoyed the show. I think the main problem was not letting it have a 2 hour premiere. It gave us a taste, but for a new show of that magnitude it needed a longer beginning.

I had chills when they showed the lone man in the stadium. The Oceanic reference was great and I look forward to seeing Dominic Monihan. The kangaroo probably escaped from the zoo because its zookeeper was coming in the pen and collapsed releasing the kangaroo.

The little girl was a bit creepy, but to her there would be no more good days because in her vision she would have seen her parents split up.

The one character that I thought was the most convincing, was the baby sitter. She was acting how we would be, like it was 9/11 except worse than that, staring all day in oblivion to the TV trying to make sense where no sense can be made.

I really hope this show holds true and only gets better as we get to know the characters. The best thing for all to do, is let this show stand on its own. Yes, it's fun to see the Lost connections, but soon it will become its own.

I for one am not in the vein of the people who say Lost pilot was the best ever and everything went downhill from there. It all has to be taken as a whole. The only thing that I hope the producers of Flash Forward have learned from Lost is to know where you are going and how you want to end.

Nikki Stafford said...

Wow, glad so many of you watched it! (And Sonshine, ABC.com will probably be streaming it soon, if they aren't already...)

I didn't love it, but I really liked it. For me, I have to see the potential for where they're going to go with it, which is why I devoted a majority of my post to how they could have been sowing the seeds for what's to come.

What I can't understand is, if they're going to solve the problem by the season finale (which is what the producers have said) then... where's season 2?? It has the potential to be a Heroes in that department, which would be BAD.

Joan: Oh, you're very kind, but I'm actually trying VERY HARD this season to be open to new shows and give them a shot, simply because in the past I've been one ep, gone "blech" and that was it, only to have people come down on me as some sort of idiot for giving up on it (See: How I Met Your Mother & Bones.) So I'm trying.

But soon I'll have a post on a show that hasn't fared so well, even though I'm trying desperately to like it... ;)

And wowzers I can't believe I forgot to mention the kangaroo.

As for the Lost comparison, I agree that they're trying hard to make it Lost 2.0 (great comparison, Beej), but I also think they're inserting a lot of that in there to grab the Losties and pull them in early, and try to hold that audience. It's VERY difficult to get a show past its first season these days, and they need a core audience to do it, and what better way than to grab an existing audience that asks for challenging television that forces them to become interactive, than going for the Lost crowd?

Here's hoping they were early jitters, and they drop the Lost stuff soon. (That said, I'd be happy to see more billboards!) ;)

Anne Marie said...

They saw the Oceanic billboard before they had their blackouts, so the event can't have anything to do with Jughead resetting time... :(

yourblindspot said...

I enjoyed it too, though like you I see it more for its potential than any particular aspect of the pilot. My favorite 'ooh' moment was probably the kid who came into the hospital calling Olivia by name... creepy!

The guy who plays Aaron, the AA sponsor, is Brian O'Byrne, who is very much Irish (good guess!). He's done quite a bit of other work (tv-wise, he was in 'Oz' and had a recurring role in the Irish-American Gangster-themed 'Brotherhood'), but I am guessing you recognize him from the movie 'Before The Devil Knows You're Dead,' wherein he plays the second hood who brings the gun to the robbery and proceeds to ruin everyone's lives with bullets.

fb said...

i thought it was okay. not great, but okay. i don't know, maybe i was expecting ... more ... somehow?

i confess: part of the problem is i don't care for sonya walger. i never liked her much as penny, and i don't really like her here. i couldn't give you a concrete reason why, the actress simply rubs me the wrong way (sorry!). and i'm not much of a joseph fiennes fan, either. in fact, i thought they had zero chemistry. (i love john cho, though, and i was even willing to suspend my disbelief that the babysitter wasn't really married to roger sterling. ;))

overall, i'm with robert kuang, the dialogue and acting felt quite wooden to me, very two dimensional. i wish it were a cast of entirely unknowns, because for some reason, i'm having a hard time suspending my disbelief with the current set (and i suspect that'll only get worse when chah-lie arrives ...).

i understand the importance of carrying over a core audience, and i admit to squeeing when i saw the oceanic sign, but this did feel like it was trying too hard to be lost 2.0, as beej and others have said. i'm intrigued by the concept, and i'll watch again next week, but it didn't grab me the way lost's pilot episode did. (to be honest, i was ready to dismiss the entire series as "meh! next!" until that last scene, with the one guy walking around the stadium when everyone else was unconscious. creepy! THAT was enough to make me tune in again.)

Leah said...

Thanks for the epi recap, Nikki. I just TiVo'd it and you were spot-on, as always. I lurk on your blogs, but have two kids under three so I never properly comment. :) I am desperate for a new LOST to get through the show's end...maybe this could be it? If I am still able to come read Nik at Nite after each epi, it will make it so much easier! Thanks for the rewatch blogs as well...each blog is like a mini-vacation!

I hope this show is like LOST in that this pilot was the tip of the iceberg, and the show is sooo much deeper. However, it doesn't really have that "layered" feel. It's as if they sped up and showed half a season's worth of stuff in one show just to get everyone hooked. LOST took its sweet time, and that was part of the appeal.

Anonymous said...

Flashforward.
I loved it.
The very opening with the cars and fire and 'what the h just happened to us' and people screaming etc was so like first season pilot with crash. I felt directors must have decided to play on that. I repeat.... I loved it.
And to see the bill board for Oceanic I laughed and said 'Oh yeah..... too good.
I did not care for the fast camera shots of the actors. I hope they give just a second or two more on the faces for expression which helps me feel the character. Which is one of the thIngs I have loved about LOST.
I am 'looking forward' to next week.
Oh, didn't the preview of coming events just cap it all off..... seal the deal..... have to stay tuned for next eps.?
I loved the question posed to FBI by the woman they caught
"instead of asking how or who you should be asking Why."
Good enough.....why?
What do you think?
Dena

poker rakeback said...

I thought the premise of the show was intriguing since the first preview I saw. The final product is very impressive and the actors, plot, and action was tremendous. The little hints they offered at the end, like the bracelet Fiennes saw in his vision, that his little girl gave him at the end helps to really set the stage for an interesting season. Im hooked!

Lindsay said...

I recognized Aaron, too, and when I looked up I realized from where. He was in a Law and Order SVU episode a couple of seasons ago playing the thug-for-hire who tried to kill the Assistant DA Alex Cabot (if you watch that show). He's been in a lot of other TV shows, too. I thought this was the guy, but the beard really threw me off, too. :)

That said, I really enjoyed the premiere. Yes, the acting needs a little work, but it is a pilot. I think the show has a lot of potential if they can keep us the momentum. I, for one, hope it works out, because I'm going to need something to feed my LOST cravings when all is said in done next May.

annie a said...

thanks for the recap. I always enjoy your posts, and was hoping that you were going to get on this show's badwagon.

I thought it was good, too. I tried not to compare it to Lost too much, because pretty much nothing compares to that. Some of it was just too similar to ignore, though.

The opening crash scene was very similar to the plane crash in Lost.
and is it just me, or the dead-but-now-maybe-alive daughter (forgot the dad's name, sorry) really looks like Alex(Tania Raymonde) from Lost? is it the same actress?


and I wonder if the season finale for FF will happen to be April 29, 2010? that would be neat. we end up where they end up. :-)

how can this show go on for other seasons, though?

I just have to say; I happened to watch the premiere of Grey's Anatomy after Flashforward. gawd that show is horrible. every single character is annoying as hell. I used to be a fan in the first 2 seasons, but I stopped watching and will definitely not start again.

myselfixion said...

Is the season Finale for LOST airing on April 29th 2010? Is that the connection we all want so badly? That Flashforward will be a continuation of LOST somehow? The Oceanic billboard....the time travelling consciousness's... the creepy shadow figure? Also the new number enigma 137. Has anyone looked that up yet? It is associated with the Kabbalah and is represented in physics as alpha.
Come on, everyone, this is going to be fun!!!

V said...

The night I watched this show I had my own flash forward vision and I saw myself enjoying life after Lost ends!

I LOVED FlashForward. And I don't blame them for going after us Lost fans. Not only is it a very similar show, but we will all need something new to obsess about next fall.

My only disappointment was how much the previews had spoiled me on the best "OMG" moments of the episode. Especially when the two FBI agents were zooming into the baseball footage. The preview hadn't shown the guy walking in the stadium but we saw agents' reactions. So I already knew what to expect. But I do have to admit that it was those previews which got me interested in the show, so I guess I'll have to forgive them.

I don't worry about them reaching the April 29th date at the end of the season. I can think of several ways they could re-boot the show for the 2nd season. Maybe they learn what caused it but don't catch the "bad guys." Or maybe they catch the bad guys but the technology falls into someone else's hands. The finale could have everyone else falling down for another flash forward only this time they see the future 2 years from now.

I know it's early but I already trust these writers.

Manda'N@ said...

LOL Nikki - that did look like Neil Gaiman!

This show has me wanting more. I love the premise of the show. The next day at work my friend and I were talking about what a catastrophy it would be if everyone did black out for two minutes. It would be like 9/11 all over the place. And speaking of 9/11, the scene of Mark running past all of the accidents and maimed people just gave me chills and really reminded me of 9/11. I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares after watching that.

The other thing my friend and I were talking about is how seeing your future would effect what you end up doing. Would seeing your future make you choose certain paths because you knew where you had to end up? I think this show is going to give us a lot of cool things to talk about.

Do you think we'll see an alternate beginning somewhere else on the planet? Like in LOST when we finally catch up with the other passengers in the plane?

I really liked the first episode and I hope the series delivers what it promises!

The Question Mark said...

I wanna start off by saying I'm VERY intrigued.
Like everyone else has stated, the show mahy be trying to become LOSt 2.0, but Lost is just a different animal altogether; it's virtually incomparable to any other show on TV. However, I have my fingers crossed that FF will satisfy the need for weekly, serialized mystery-solving, deep character analysis, and blogging with Nikki!

Just a few thoughts:
-my friend and I both agree that the super-scary shadow in the stadium MUST be Chah-lee Pace himself! (At least, I hope it is. How cool would it be for Dom Monaghan to play, like, the Ben Linus of FF?)

-Also keeping with the Lost motif, Fiennes' dark eyes REALLY reminded me of Nestor Carbonell. I had to keep reminding myself that I was watching Flashforward, not "The Adventures of Penny & Dr. Alpert"

-I thinb Aaron is the most interesting character, and I found his acting very convincing: he seemed like a REAL guy to me, the guy next door who fixes your electricity.

-I also wanna give a shout out to the young African-American detective who said he had a flash about being in London: he plays Cyborg on one of my other fave shows, Smallville! Hooray!

-Did anybody else find the line "I dreamt that there were no more good day" WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too cheesy?

Robbie said...

Am i the only one who noticed Seth McFarlane as an FBI agent? LOL

Leah said...

Oh, another two things...the first scene was EXACTLY like LOST! It was showing Fiennes just like Jack was...laying down, opening his eyes to chaos. Was there a baton beside his head? :)

Also, did anyone notice the balloons floating up into the air as the suicidal doc opened his eyes? My question is....if those balloons were let go 2 minutes before, why weren't they further away? Picky, I know, but the producers should know better by now...LOST is scrutinized to the nth degree. This show will be as well.

Jazzygirl said...

Mother-f*&ker! My DVR didn't record this! I set it that afternoon because I had Parent Night at school. I came home around 10pm and it was recording the season premiere of a show I won't mention (wink) and was looking forward to watching Flashforward yesterday. Not recorded!! I have to review my Thurs. lineup. It recorded Fringe, the unmentionable, and Project Runway just fine. Flashforward was on at 8pm so there shouldn't have been conflict. My DVR can only record 2 at once. Maybe I miscounted or it got messed up due to the 2 hour premiere of said unmeantioned show. I've had issues watching shows on ABC's site but I will try for sure tomorrow. I don't want to read these comments until I see it and they make sense to me.

JS said...

This show is intriguing, but I immediately started worrying about how they were going to get past season 1! The creepy walking guy at the end was the hook for me.

I am also always disturbed when I see Lost actors on other shows - it just confirms how little of them we will see S6. I FF that I am going to be annoyed by Penny's accent all season.

Pilot's are always awkward, so I am willing to watch a few more episodes before making any final judgments. Just goes to show how awesome Lost is. I just re-watched the pilot again and it is still pretty great.

Susan said...

Like JS said, pilots are awkward, and I wasn't too impressed with the acting yet. Sometimes it takes actors a while to feel comfortable in their roles (not so much the case with Lost though).

Eric beat me to this comment, but when Mark was putting the bracelet on, I wanted to yell at him, put in on your other wrist!

@Question Mark - my husband thought Mark was played by Nestor Carbonell too.

Jazzygirl said...

Okay I finally watched it online AND read all the comments.
I'm just going to combine my thoughts on the show and my replies to people's posts together. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the actors and I enjoyed the suspense. I do think perhaps too many people on here are a bit TOO focused on worrying about where they'll go in S2, if it's trying to copy LOST in some respects, etc. Yes, I know they paid homage with the Oceanic billboard..and I loved that!! I think it's a compliment. Why don't we just live in the moment and watch S1 and enjoy the show for its own entity? I think we're all too used to scrutinizing and searching for things from LOST. Knowing LOST is ending in 8 months has me concerned enough. I am going to just enjoy the ride on this one. Good old fashioned Nikki Blogging with some of the best bloggers in cyberspace. :)
Michele...OMG, I would be completely freaked out if I saw that guy!!!
I also though Fiennes has Alpert's eyes. I do love Fiennes so I'm enjoying seeing him again.
As for where they'll go if they end on April 29, I agree with whoever posted something about what if they have another flashforward. I'm looking forward to next week...just have to fix my DVR.
PS. I usually avoid talking about shows that Nikki or most others on here don't like but I have to respond to the Grey's Anatomy comment. If you stuck with it you'd see that it really is a great show and has many more layers than it seems on the surface. I enjoy it thoroughly and this past week's premiere was absolutely amazing. *steps off soapbox*

Sarah said...

Robbie--you are NOT the only one!! I was already OMG-ing over the surgery on the little boy (a bit more graphic than I was expecting) and then cut to Seth MacFarlane--I flipped!

And Nikki, I'm almost certain the creator of the show said he presented ABC with a five year plan before they picked up the show, so apparently they know where they're going post-April 29th 2010.

Susan said...

Lost grabbed me the moment that Jack ran out of the jungle and saw the wreck of 815.

I found Flashforward to be OK with some potential(although trying too much to be like Lost), but the scene with the guy in the stadium grabbed my attention at least for next week.

One of the exec. producers is Brannon Braga, who was part of some of the best Star Trek episodes, so I have some hopes in that respect.

M9 EGO said...

Hi Nikki, FLASHFORWARD has just aired in the UK and as you suggested an EXCELLENT start !...such a simple concept with such complicated possibilites....it will keep me going untill LOST series 6 returns....wouldn't it have been more interesting if in Olivia's flashforward she cheated with Desmond ????????!

Unknown said...

Hey Nikki,

When I was watching Flashforward last week, something caught my eye and I figured it'd be online in a matter of minutes. Surprisingly, I haven't seen anyone else point out what I saw yet. Yes, they've pointed to the (possible and highly likely) importance of "Red Panda," but no one has pointed out that the Red Panda bus ad is strikingly similar to a Dharma/Hanso ad with the clouds and something about a "Better Tomorrow." Dunno if there's actually anything there, but for me, "...Better Tomorrow" has been and always will be a Dharma/Hanso slogan.

the bus: http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn173/thecurlmaster/Picture12.png

Unknown said...

Also, there's a LOST ad on this bus: http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn173/thecurlmaster/Picture9.png

Austin Gorton said...

So I finally got around to watching this, and totally dug it. It was definitely a pilot (with some of the faults inherent therein), but there's enough things going on to keep me interested. Plus, it's totally in my wheelhouse already, dealing with time travel and free will vs. fate themes and whatnot. I'm excited to see where it's going.

Did anyone else feel abnormally creeped out when we saw that guy at the end who was walking in the stadium when everyone else was passed out?

I was totally creeped out by it; I still get goosebumps just thinking about it.

What happens if this does last the entire season and we hit April 29, 2010

I wonder the same thing, though I'm sure the producers have a plan. I imagine this won't be the only flash forward we see.

Am i the only one who noticed Seth McFarlane as an FBI agent?

I did too! I kind of hope he sticks around. For all the voices he does on Family Guy and whatnot, his "normal" voice is very distinct and authoritative.

One of the exec. producers is Brannon Braga, who was part of some of the best Star Trek episodes

And the other exec. producer is David S. Goyer, who was one of the Batman Begins writers, so the show definitely has some pedigree in that department.

Rebecca T. said...

I FINALLY got a chance to watch the premier in time for the second episode tonight. I enjoyed it. I definitely think they're catering to the Lost audience, but that's because they know we're intelligent, savvy fans who want more from our shows. Now we just have to see if they can deliver and move away from the Lost references to make it their own show.

The creepiest moment for me was when the little boy called Olivia by name. Totally freaked me out.

@The Question Mark: Fiennes' dark eyes REALLY reminded me of Nestor Carbonell

Totally! I was like, whoa, he's been using Richard's Manscara!

@The Question Mark again: I also wanna give a shout out to the young African-American detective who said he had a flash about being in London

I don't watch Smallville, but I will always think of him as Jett Jackson - can never remember his real name, but I love seeing him pop up anywhere.

LoyallyLOST said...

I know I'm kinda late with my comments, so, sorry about that! I absolutely had been on pins & needles waiting for this show! It looked sooooo good & it did NOT disappoint!!! Only by watching the premiere the second time did I notice the Oceanic Airlines billboard! Awesome!!! Perfect record, my arse! Love that! Only Losties will get it. Sad. I love how they named Penn's daughter Charlie(sorry, can't remember her name in this one, she will forever be Penn to me!)! Oh, yeah! Olivia! I do agree with you~her accent is lame. You can hear her true accent come out once in a while. How come, when they need a British accent or American, they use the opposite? Strange! The last bit of the premiere episode sent chills up my spine! That guy walking around!*Cue the Twilight Zone music, please!*
Oh! The opening sequence of hunky guy Joseph Fiennes(he IS fine!)walking around right after the blackout was oh, so reminiscent of LOST! I loved it!
This show should have come out AFTER LOST ended. They KNOW we are going to be hungry!
Can't wait to see our Charlie! He should be with us a few episodes from now.
Can't wait to see how they are going to work all of THIS out!